Sound:
Tonality:
On the inside of the in-ears there is a tiny ventilation port on each side, which is found on most in-ears with dynamic drivers. This opening on the inside is in almost all cases responsible for the acoustic tuning of an in-ear and directly influences the bass levels - a larger opening reduces the bass, while the same driver in a similarly sized but closed cabinet would produce more bass.
Now the position of such a vent is in most cases quite unfavourable, as it can be covered depending on the anatomy of the ear. In the case of the FiiO F1, the difference between a completely open and completely closed vent is approximately 5 dB (~ 8 dB compared to slightly more than 12 dB bass emphasis); in most cases, the vent of such in-ears is almost completely blocked when worn, resulting in a bassier sound.
So how does the F1 sound? Its sound can be characterized as "bassy, dark and laid-back".
The bass of the F1 has an emphasis of approx. 12 dB, which extends over the entire bass range and does not fade away towards sub-bass. This emphasis, which starts at around 550 Hz, also radiates a bit into the fundamental range and thickens the lower vocal range, but without exaggerating the warmth too much like many other in-ears in the budget price range.
The midrange is present and slightly elevated in the presence range, making voices more intimate. However, the F1's midrange does not tend to appear bright due to this, which is due to the warmth of the fundamentals and the subsequent high frequencies which are very relaxed and set back.
"Very relaxed" is almost an understatement here, because above 3 kHz the in-ear lacks up to 10 dB in the highs, which means that the treble is only half as loud as the midrange and only a quarter as loud as the bass. This bypasses unpleasantly sharp peaks, but the sound in the upper frequency range is also quite muffled and hi-hats appear as if they were playing in a soundproof room under 10 thick blankets - you can still barely perceive them, but they have no audible decay and can only be detected with concentrated listening.
Of course, this tuning doesn't seem natural either, and especially deep male voices appear very veiled, while the high frequencies additionally being absent.
Resolution:
I can't really write objectively here, because on some days I thought the F1 had a rather bad resolution, which is typical for the low price range it's positioned in, whereas on other days I thought it wasn't too bad for the price, even though there were better alternatives.
I could agree that the F1 sounds the way you would expect it to sound in the low budget segment and is not a positive outlier. Those who expect a similarly good performance and sound base for the price as the Titan 1-based FiiO EX1 will be quite disappointed, because the F1 doesn't manage to keep up with the cheap models from Knowledge Zenith, Superlux or Xiaomi in terms of technical quality.
To my surprise, the bass isn't too soft or boomy (in relation to the price and tuning), but relatively tight for a cheap in-ear, and retains a pretty good level of control even with faster tracks. On the other hand, the bass, especially the low bass, lacks definition, which makes the bass sound a bit dull on more complex tracks.
The midrange is "okay", even if the detail and speech intelligibility don't reach the level of better in-ears.
The treble remains rather disappointing, even if you adjust it to the correct volume with an equalizer. Details don't really want to come out and the presentation is rather dull. You shouldn't expect any real separation of individual notes either.
Soundstage:
The stage of the F1 is rather compact, but it doesn't seem narrowed and offers rather good depth - yes, I would even say that the stage has a bit more spatial depth than width in my ears.
You shouldn't expect any real separation precision, but nevertheless the imaginary room remains somewhat better connected than expected with fast and complex music and doesn't seem too blurry.
Tonality:
On the inside of the in-ears there is a tiny ventilation port on each side, which is found on most in-ears with dynamic drivers. This opening on the inside is in almost all cases responsible for the acoustic tuning of an in-ear and directly influences the bass levels - a larger opening reduces the bass, while the same driver in a similarly sized but closed cabinet would produce more bass.
Now the position of such a vent is in most cases quite unfavourable, as it can be covered depending on the anatomy of the ear. In the case of the FiiO F1, the difference between a completely open and completely closed vent is approximately 5 dB (~ 8 dB compared to slightly more than 12 dB bass emphasis); in most cases, the vent of such in-ears is almost completely blocked when worn, resulting in a bassier sound.
So how does the F1 sound? Its sound can be characterized as "bassy, dark and laid-back".
The bass of the F1 has an emphasis of approx. 12 dB, which extends over the entire bass range and does not fade away towards sub-bass. This emphasis, which starts at around 550 Hz, also radiates a bit into the fundamental range and thickens the lower vocal range, but without exaggerating the warmth too much like many other in-ears in the budget price range.
The midrange is present and slightly elevated in the presence range, making voices more intimate. However, the F1's midrange does not tend to appear bright due to this, which is due to the warmth of the fundamentals and the subsequent high frequencies which are very relaxed and set back.
"Very relaxed" is almost an understatement here, because above 3 kHz the in-ear lacks up to 10 dB in the highs, which means that the treble is only half as loud as the midrange and only a quarter as loud as the bass. This bypasses unpleasantly sharp peaks, but the sound in the upper frequency range is also quite muffled and hi-hats appear as if they were playing in a soundproof room under 10 thick blankets - you can still barely perceive them, but they have no audible decay and can only be detected with concentrated listening.
Of course, this tuning doesn't seem natural either, and especially deep male voices appear very veiled, while the high frequencies additionally being absent.
Resolution:
I can't really write objectively here, because on some days I thought the F1 had a rather bad resolution, which is typical for the low price range it's positioned in, whereas on other days I thought it wasn't too bad for the price, even though there were better alternatives.
I could agree that the F1 sounds the way you would expect it to sound in the low budget segment and is not a positive outlier. Those who expect a similarly good performance and sound base for the price as the Titan 1-based FiiO EX1 will be quite disappointed, because the F1 doesn't manage to keep up with the cheap models from Knowledge Zenith, Superlux or Xiaomi in terms of technical quality.
To my surprise, the bass isn't too soft or boomy (in relation to the price and tuning), but relatively tight for a cheap in-ear, and retains a pretty good level of control even with faster tracks. On the other hand, the bass, especially the low bass, lacks definition, which makes the bass sound a bit dull on more complex tracks.
The midrange is "okay", even if the detail and speech intelligibility don't reach the level of better in-ears.
The treble remains rather disappointing, even if you adjust it to the correct volume with an equalizer. Details don't really want to come out and the presentation is rather dull. You shouldn't expect any real separation of individual notes either.
Soundstage:
The stage of the F1 is rather compact, but it doesn't seem narrowed and offers rather good depth - yes, I would even say that the stage has a bit more spatial depth than width in my ears.
You shouldn't expect any real separation precision, but nevertheless the imaginary room remains somewhat better connected than expected with fast and complex music and doesn't seem too blurry.
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Compared to other In-Ears:
Knowledge Zenith HDS1:
The HDS1 has a pretty good cable, too, but it's a bit too rubbery compared to the FiiO.
The HDS1 is much more balanced in tonal terms - its bass range is a lot more reserved and goes more into a neutral direction, so it has about the same quantity as the InEar StageDiver SD-2 or Logitech UE900, but with a slightly rolling off level below 80 Hz. In the high frequencies, the HDS1 is relatively neutral except for a small dip in the mid-high frequencies, in contrast to the FiiO, which is quite dark here.
In the bass range, both in-ears are roughly comparable in terms of tightness and speed, and the HDS1 only plays a nuance tighter, but a good bit more defined. Even in the highs, individual tones are better on the Knowledge Zenith In-Ear and are reproduced with more detail, even if you adjust the FiiO level using an equalizer. In particular, however, the HDS1 sounds a good deal more resolving in the midrange than the F1 and has a clearly higher speech intelligibility.
As far as the stage is concerned, both in-ears have a quite comparable presentation, while the FiiO has only a minimal advantage in terms of size.
Xiaomi Piston Colorful Starter Edition:
The FiiO has the much better cable and a nice storage case. But that's it with the things it does better.
The Xiaomi has a slightly more restrained, yet still audibly accentuated bass range and much more treble than the FiiO, which was quite predictable. The Xiaomi is even a bit accentuated in the upper frequency range compared to an in-ear that is neutral in the highs and thus presents a sound that could rather be described as loudness tuning or "v-shape". The treble of the Piston could be more even than it is, so it's a bit metallic, but that's okay considering the low price.
As far as the resolution is concerned, the Xiaomi is superior to the FiiO by about one class - for example, it offers an even tighter, noticeably better defined bass, has a better resolution in the midrange and can also convince in the highs even if you adjust the FiiO with an equalizer, with better separation and definition.
The stage of the Piston is wider, with less spatial depth. The Xiaomi also offers slightly better instrument separation.
Conclusion:
Sound-wise, the F1 is a quite a disappointment, even for the very low price at that it is offered, as there are better sounding in-ears offered by the competition costing just as little as FiiO.