Over the past 24 months, we’ve have witnessed a rather interesting pivot from our friends at FiiO. Rather than remain comfortable hanging out with the cool kids from Schiit Audio and Topping, the Chinese manufacturer has clearly decided that it no longer wishes to be considered the third wheel and that it can be the category leader in multiple segments. Based on our experience with a wide range of their latest products — the competition should be very concerned.
And wait till they see the new turntable and network streamer that will be released at High End Munich 2024.
FiiO FA19
Building upon the success of previous award-winning portable audio equipment, and utilizing the expertise that has produced its highly respected range of Digital Audio Players (DAPs), Headphone DACs and Desktop Streamers, the new FA19 are FiiO’s flagship In-ear Monitor (IEM) headphones.
Designed from the ground-up — and incorporating several innovative technologies — with the FA19, FiiO’s engineers have delivered a pair of outstanding IEMs that offer an incredibly musical sound and robust impactful bass, alongside a dynamic & balanced soundstage.
Key Features:
10 Knowles Balanced Armature Design
The new FA19 IEMs utilize 10 Balanced Armature (BA) drivers per ear: 4 x Custom Knowles Bass BA Drivers, 2 x Knowles ED Mid BA Drivers, and 4 x Knowles SWFK Treble BA Drivers.
Custom Knowles Bass BA Drivers
To ensure the FA19 deliver a truly coherent and resolving sound — alongside hundreds of hours of listening & careful tuning of the IEMs frequency response curve — FiiO’s engineers collaborated with renowned audio component manufacturer, Knowles, to develop a custom enhanced bass balanced armature driver specifically designed to provide a deep low-frequency listening experience.
By improving the airflow throughput these enhanced bass drivers, overall energy has been significantly enhanced. FiiO also worked closely with Knowles to optimize the mid and high-frequency drivers, ensuring a highly detailed, smooth sound output.
Negative Feedback Bass Enhancement System
With the FA19 able to deliver a highly controlled robust bass, FiiO’s engineers made use of advanced DLP-3D printing technology — with a precision of up to 0.0375mm — to create an IEM shell that helps to guide these low-frequencies into the earphone’s rear cavity.
This effectively lowers the resonant frequency there, enabling a unique negative feedback bass enhancement system. The result is an In-ear Monitor able to deliver an extremely powerful, deep bass, uncommon among IEMs of its class.
This innovative negative feedback system also improves overall comfort — by ensuring that the front cavity of the FA19 IEMs is adequately vented, FiiO has significantly reduced wearing discomfort that can sometimes be caused by excessive pressure in the IEMs front cavity.
Mid-frequency Notch Filter
In addition to 4 x Custom Knowles Bass BA Drivers, the FA19 utilizes 2 x Knowles ED Mid BA Drivers which are renowned for their high resolution. However — in certain implementations — there may be instances of sibilance which could impact upon the overall listening experience. To address this the FA19 incorporates a specially designed Mid-frequency Notch Filter to weaken the high-frequency signals of the mids unit — thus achieving bandpass physical crossover — in three ways:
- Enhanced mid-range: By increasing the sound pressure levels between 1kHz and 3kHz, the FA19’s Mid-frequency Notch Filter ensures a seamless mid-range reproduction, lending a more detailed and lifelike sound reproduction.
- Sibilance elimination: The Mid-frequency Notch Filter effectively filters out the 8kHz peak of the mid-frequency BA driver. Doing so reduces the overlap in frequency response range between the mid and treble BAs, eliminating sibilance and enhancing overall clarity.
- Refined treble: Additionally, the Mid-frequency Notch Filter shifts the crossover point between multiple drivers to 3.5kHz. By establishing a clean separation between the mid and treble drivers, both sets of drivers properly work to their maximum potential within their designated frequency ranges without any interference.
Rubycon Audiophile-grade Crossover Capacitors
The FA19 employs audiophile-grade film capacitors as its electronic crossover components, which boast exceptional precision. Whereas typical resistors used for crossovers can have an error tolerance of around 1%, the FA19’s resistors have an impressively low error tolerance of just 0.1%.
Compared to ordinary ceramic capacitors, the FA19 not only attains more accurate crossover points, but also features enhanced high-frequency resolution without sacrificing finesse.
‘Monitor/Hi-Fi’ Mode Switch
The FA19 allows users to choose between two carefully crafted listening modes, by easily flipping a switch on the back of the IEMs. ‘Monitor’ mode, delivers clean detailed sound, enhancing the treble. ‘Hi-Fi’ mode enhances the mid-range and bass.
S.Turbo Patented Acoustic Design
The FA19 incorporates FiiO’s patented S.Turbo Acoustic Turbine-shaped Design. By extending the tube that guides low frequencies, it serves as a filtering device that effectively eliminates high-frequency sound waves from the bass BA drivers, ensuring a smooth transition between low and mid frequencies.
High-end Cable with Swappable Plugs
The FA19 comes supplied with a high-purity pure silver cable, consisting of 8 strands of 28 wires each for a total of 224 wires. Each individual wire is independently insulated, and the cable is twisted using a Litz structure. The cable sheath is made from transparent TPU; effectively prevents yellowing due to prolonged use and stiffening of the cable due to use in low-temperature environments.
In addition, the FiiO FA19 comes with two twist-lock swappable jack plugs — 1 x 3.5mm single-ended, and 1 x 4.4mm balanced — ensuring the IEMs can be used with a wide range of audio devices including, Digital Audio Players (DAPs), Headphone Amplifiers, PCs and more.
Price & Availability
The FiiO FA19 will be available from May for $999 at Amazon (£999 / €1,099).
FiiO will be demonstrating the FA19 alongside other products at the upcoming Munich High-End Show in Hall #1, Booth B05, from 9-12th May.
For more information: fiio.com/fa19
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