Firstly I would like to thank Michael at Fidue for sending me these IEM’s to review, I always try to write honest reviews. These received over 50hrs of burn-in, no differences were noted.
Gear Used:
iPod Classic 7G > A65 (Snugs tips)
Dell XPS 15 > Oppo HA-2 > A65 (Snugs tips)
Specification
Driver Unit: 8mm dynamic Drive with Titanium Composites
Frequency response: 16Hz – 22000 Hz
Rated impedance: 16Ω
Sensitivity: 101db
Distortion: <1%
Max Input Power: 30mW
Plug: 3.5mm mini stereo gold-plated plug
Cable: 1.3m
Sensitivity of Mic: -42+-3db
S/N Ratio of Mic: ＞55db
MSRP: $65
Packaging, Accessories and Build Quality:
The A65 come in a small white and green box, which is made of nice quality card, specifications are on the back of the box, and a little info about the IEM’s can be found on the front. Once you open the box you are greeted with the A65 neatly held in a velvet coated foam insert, underneath this insert you will find the carry case. The extra tips are held in the insert next to the IEM’s, they have done a good job of offering quality packaging at a low price.
Accessories are good, you get single flange silicone tips in the usual S, M and L along with a pair of bi-flange tips. Also included is a soft carry case, a shirt clip and also strap for keeping the cable tidy when in their case. At this price point I cannot complain about the accessories, the tips I found to be a little stiff and I ended up using some Snugs tips I had made for me recently, but some comply tips would work well with these.
Build Quality is very good, the cable rubbery and has 4 cores, the jack, y-split and mic all have a metal sleeve, and the housing is metal. The strain relief is a little on the stiff side, but providing you look after them I cannot see them failing any time soon.
Comfort, Isolation, Cable noise and Driver flex:
Comfort with the stock tips was not brilliant, I found the tips to be too stiff and irritated my ears after a short amount of time, but with comply tips or Snugs tips, the comfort is fine, the housing is not too heavy so they don’t fall out and the housing is smooth.
Isolation is fairly average for a pair of IEM’s, again different tips can help with this, but the housing is vented so this will always be a limiting factor.
Cable noise is present, but you can wear them with the cable behind your ear with no real problems, this eliminates the cable noise, the shirt clip also helps to some extent, but there is not chin slider on the cable unfortunately.
Driver flex is not too bad on these, so nothing to worry about here, again this is tip dependent, none with the snugs, but some with the stock tips.
Sound:
Lows: The lows are full with good definition and extension, they really fill out the sound without overpowering the mids. They are quick enough to keep up with faster music, dig low enough to keep EDM interesting and yet subtle enough that acoustic also shines on these. Kick drums have body to back them up, bass guitars sound articulate and the lows just keep well balanced and add some warmth and body to the sound, they are slightly north of neutral without sounding dominating or overpowering.
Mids: The mids sit just behind the lows in terms of presence, but they do not sound recessed. Vocals shine through with good detail and no sibilance, both male and female vocals sound even in their presentation. Electric guitars have power, and the mids are always present and engaging, acoustic guitars have body and decay.
Highs: This is where budget IEM’s tend to fair as they are usually quite harsh in the treble or splashy. Well these do not fail in the highs, ok they might not have the best presence but they do have good definition and air in the highs. Highs are quite often track dependent also, as listening to Gomez they shine through with great definition, but listening to faster tracks they tend to get left behind in the mix a little. So a little boost in presence wouldn’t hurt but then again these are non fatiguing to listen to.
Instrument separation is good, everything is well separated but these have a fuller sound with less air than some others.
Soundstage is nothing special, but slightly wider than normal.
Conclusion:
Fidue are right up there with SoundMAGIC and Dunu in terms of bang for buck IEM’s, there are many great budget IEM’s around, it is trying to find the right one that is hard. With these they lend their hand to all genres equally well, yet don’t excel at any either. A smooth, non fatiguing sound with good tonality and likeable sound, it’s engaging yet has enough detail to keep things interesting. Yet another great IEM from Fidue, these surpass the A63 by quite a margin, which they replaced.
Sound Perfection Rating: 8/10 (Better tips and more sparkle would make these 10/10)
I gave then a 1* review on amazon uk, then returned them, I found the treble very harsh, unbearable on some tracks, in other areas they were fine, the returned phones were tested as OK, so it was not the case that they were faulty, conclusion not fit for purpose, also had Sound Magic E50's, returned them too as no bass, the hunt goes on for a decent in ear phone for under £50
Hi Chris,
You are welcome to your opinion, again all of my reviews are subjective. But here are my thoughts:
One, maybe you are a real bass head in which these don't satisfy your craving for bass, how you find the treble harsh is not how I heard them.
Two, going from other reviews and my own, both the A65 and E50 have plenty of bass impact and body, with no hint of harshness in the treble. Most likely as you have experienced this with 2 models that are classed as smooth and non fatiguing, you are not getting a good seal with the eartips.
What you describe is what happens when you don't have a good seal, so I suggest you try different tips, including Comply, as I find they work the best for my ears.