Disclaimer:
I received these earbuds from Fiio in exchange for a fair review which I intend on giving.
Introduction:
I have to admit, until not too long ago, I despised earbuds. Why? Whenever I heard earbuds, they were the kind that were packaged with an inexpensive electronic item of some sort. I seemed to find them at the bottom of drawers around the house and, every so often, I would try them. I really had little respect for earbuds and did not like the way they seemed to just loosely lay inside your ear.
What changed? Well, having a 13 year-old daughter that hates IEM’s or anything inside her ear canal, she continued to defy me by using horribly cheap earbuds. I would see her lying in her room with a set of no-name earbuds attached to her MP3 player. When she would go to sleep, I even checked the sound to see if I was missing something—I wasn’t.
Anyways, the poor sound was really bothering me, so I ordered a used, inexpensive pair of Yuin PK3’s. These seemed to be a significant upgrade as were the Apple earbuds we found lying around. Shortly after the PK3’s arrived, one of the ears went out and I was frustrated with the build quality (and still am, it seems to be a common complaint).
I have since purchased used earbuds in a group that have opened my eyes to the possibility of how good earbuds can actually be. I have yet to try high-end earbuds, but I have tried some good sounding earbuds. These earbuds are the Blox BE3 and the Baldoor E100—and now, the Fiio EM3.
Purpose:
My purpose in this review is to focus on reviewing the Fiio EM3’s, primarily in the sound. For $9.99, I really don’t want to spend a lot of time on accessories and want to keep that section brief. After reviewing the sound of the EM3’s, I then want to compare the EM3’s to several other pairs of earbuds I have on hand. I will focus on listing from greatest to least in various sound categories and will comment on any areas that stand out. My hope is that people will get a good feel for the sound of the Fiio EM3’s, which are a fantastic value for the performance to cost ratio. I also hope people will understand how other pairs stack up against each other in different areas to better help people choose an earbud they might like.
All comparisons will be at the end of this review, under the “Comparison” section.
Packaging:
I have to admit, I really don’t care much about packaging, especially for an earbud that has an MSRP of $9.99. I often get headphones used or open-box as I’m more concerned about sound than anything. I can say that the small, thin box (about the length of a pen) is easy to open and looks professional. The clear window showing the earbuds has a frosted look that is more appealing, but overall it’s pretty basic. It looks like something that hangs from the pegs from a large box store, much like I see Skullcandy or Sony doing. This seems to be a great idea if Fiio is aiming at a younger, more mainstream demographic. I can say that I would much rather grab a set of Fiio EM3’s off the rack than the other choices I often see in the same price range (not that I’ve ever seen Fiio at a box store).
Accessories:
In terms of accessories, you don’t get much. Inside the small box you will find a manual and a small box containing three pairs of foam covers inside a small, Ziploc bag. The foam covers are standard and no doughnut style covers are included. Due to the warmer and darker sound of these earbuds, having doughnuts might help as I can’t imagine they would add considerable cost on Fiio’s end and may brighten up the sound. Also, there is no case included which would have been nice considering the cord tends to curl up and get tangled.
Design/Build Quality:
According to Fiio, the EM3’s have 14.8mm diameter dynamic drivers with a 47ohm impedance designed to sound the same regardless of source. I definitely found this to be true as I tried the EM3’s with my Fiio X3 (1st Gen.), LG G3, and Ipad 2. The EM3’s are tuned for popular music and are said to produce powerful bass.
Fiio also claims that they tested the fit of the earbuds with numerous artificial and real ears for long-term comfort and fit. They are easy to find a good fit but I did need to have the felt covers on to really hear the bass. Also, I found the metal mesh covering the driver to be uncomfortable after awhile if I didn’t use a foam cover. Just a side note on the metal mesh: it seems to be very similar looking to the metal mesh design on the Awei ES10. I don’t know if Awei had anything to do with Fiio on this project, but I thought it worth mentioning. The black high-gloss plastic blends with a duller finish black plastic that seems to be of high-quality and I don’t have any concern for these falling apart or the earbuds pulling apart, exposing the driver. The strain reliefs seem to be decent and the stems are fairly long, so I would imagine the connection to last (but I have no way to confirm this right now).
There is also a one-button inline remote that is compatible with Android and iPhones and various series of clicks produce various functions to include next track, previous track, play/pause, call answer, and end call. The strain reliefs going in and out of the inline mic concern me some as they really don’t tighten around the thin cord and the cord moves around considerable as it enters and exits the mic. Since I have had numerous issues with mic/cord issues over the years, I might be concerned about long-term reliability. The inline remote seemed well placed near the mouth and my wife received calls that were clear, even on a windy day. One of the problems I’ve had with inline remotes are mics that lie lower on the cord and rest on my shoulder. This has caused microphonics and static and can be difficult to hear. I had no problem with this on the Fiio EM3’s.
As for the cord, Fiio has a picture of hands pulling the cord apart and Fiio claims the cord has high-elasticity and high tensile strength. I don’t think I’ll try pulling on the cords like Fiio did, but I do like the feel of the cord. Below the Y-split, the cord has a nice, solid feel without being sticky. There does seem to be some memory but nothing too bad. Above the Y-split, the cords are thinner but feel solid and well made. I have seen some cords above the Y-split that are very thin and give me concern about reliability—these do not. In addition, I listened to these while moving around on a windy day and did not notice much in the way of microphonics, which was surprising.
There is a 3.5mm gold-plated L-shaped jack that has a flexible strain relief that seems to be very well made. I played with the jack connection at the strain relief and it moved freely and did seem effective in removing stress from the jack and cable connection. This is a nice design as I found the Yuin jack poorly made and it seems to be a common source of failure (in other brands/designs as well). Overall, the jack seems to be made for the long haul.
Sound (with standard foam covers):
I would describe the sound of the Fiio EM3 as warm and dark with a boost in the lower region and laid back treble. The mids are clear and enjoyable and seem to stand out despite the tuning towards popular music. The detail level is mediocre and tends towards a “one-note” feel across the spectrum. Before I move on to each area of the sound, I would like to mention that I am nitpicking a $9.99 earbud. Overall, I felt these are excellent in terms of price to performance ratio.
Bass:
The sub-bass extends well and is present on most music I listened to, which was surprising for an earbud. I have found it difficult to find an earbud with much in the way of sub-bass. The sub-bass region seems to have more “slam” or “punch” compared to the mid-bass and seems boosted in comparison to the mid-bass.
The mid-bass region, which I have found many manufacturers to boost for popular tuning, actually seems more neutral than the sub-bass. That being said, the mid-bass is still very present but doesn’t have the same “slam” as the sub-bass. In my opinion, if the mid-bass was boosted more, the overall sound would sound muddier and would interfere with the clarity of the mids. The mid-bass is still present enough that it gives the EM3’s a warm presentation that leans toward a darker sound. I also noticed the bass lines in blues and rock had good quality and was very enjoyable. Overall, I would say the mid-bass had more quality and the sub-bass more quantity.
Mids:
The presentation of the EM3’s mids are very enjoyable to me. They have a warm presentation with nice detail and smooth vocals. I enjoy the sound of electric guitars with these but would prefer more in the upper-mids and treble for rock music. The EM3’s are still very enjoyable for about every type of music you could listen too, though. I would say that the lower-mids are more of a positive than upper-mids. Male voices had good detail and were very smooth whereas female voices were a little too rolled off for my taste. It just seemed that there was less detail and crispness in the upper-mids. I can say that these are not going to be too “hot” for anyone and will generally be very enjoyable for most people.
Treble:
I can hear details in the mids but they seem boring to me. There isn’t a crispness and they seemed tuned to be smooth and inoffensive. The mids seem to stand out more than the treble and may be an indication of the mids overpowering the treble. If you are sensitive to treble, these earbuds will be a good match as I really didn’t get any sibilance and found them to be very smooth and lack any shimmer in cymbals and brighter sounds. I personally prefer a little more crispness in the treble, but overall the treble is well done, especially for a $10 earbud. In fact, considering the price, these are pretty remarkable.
Soundstage:
I found the soundstage to be good but less than others I’ve heard. The instrument separation is good but falls behind some other sets like the Blox BE3 in my opinion. With songs panning from left to right or songs that lend towards soundstage, these are going to be middle to upper pack (at least out of the earbuds I have). Maybe more treble presence would increase the soundstage.
Sound (no cover):
Forthcoming
Sound (donuts):
Forthcoming
Comparisons:
This section will compare the Fiio EM3, Blox BE3, Baldoor E100, Awei ES10, Sansa earbuds (came with Sansa Clip Zip), and Apple earbuds. Initially, I will have the EM3, BE3, and E100 and will add the others later. Once the Yuin PK3 cord is repaired, I will also include that one. In addition, I will try to do comparison using felt pads, donuts, and no pads. This section will be simple as it will be greatest to least with a few key observations.
W/Felt Pads:
As you can see, I am quite impressed with the Blox BE3’s in comparison to the other earbuds. The BE3’s have a very musical and immersive sound that I really enjoyed. One thing to consider is that the BE3 costs about $35, the E100 $20, and the EM3 $9.99. I can’t say that the BE3 is three times better than the EM3, it’s just smoother and more detailed with a larger soundstage. As for the E100, I prefer the EM3 to the E100 due to the E100’s brightness. The E100 seems like every area of its’ sound has been boosted, especially in the upper regions, which seems to boost detail but seemed unnatural at times. In fact, there were some times that the E100 sounded strange, which my daughter described as “digital sounding”.
W/ Donuts:
Forthcoming
No Pads:
Forthcoming
I received these earbuds from Fiio in exchange for a fair review which I intend on giving.
Introduction:
I have to admit, until not too long ago, I despised earbuds. Why? Whenever I heard earbuds, they were the kind that were packaged with an inexpensive electronic item of some sort. I seemed to find them at the bottom of drawers around the house and, every so often, I would try them. I really had little respect for earbuds and did not like the way they seemed to just loosely lay inside your ear.
What changed? Well, having a 13 year-old daughter that hates IEM’s or anything inside her ear canal, she continued to defy me by using horribly cheap earbuds. I would see her lying in her room with a set of no-name earbuds attached to her MP3 player. When she would go to sleep, I even checked the sound to see if I was missing something—I wasn’t.
Anyways, the poor sound was really bothering me, so I ordered a used, inexpensive pair of Yuin PK3’s. These seemed to be a significant upgrade as were the Apple earbuds we found lying around. Shortly after the PK3’s arrived, one of the ears went out and I was frustrated with the build quality (and still am, it seems to be a common complaint).
I have since purchased used earbuds in a group that have opened my eyes to the possibility of how good earbuds can actually be. I have yet to try high-end earbuds, but I have tried some good sounding earbuds. These earbuds are the Blox BE3 and the Baldoor E100—and now, the Fiio EM3.
Purpose:
My purpose in this review is to focus on reviewing the Fiio EM3’s, primarily in the sound. For $9.99, I really don’t want to spend a lot of time on accessories and want to keep that section brief. After reviewing the sound of the EM3’s, I then want to compare the EM3’s to several other pairs of earbuds I have on hand. I will focus on listing from greatest to least in various sound categories and will comment on any areas that stand out. My hope is that people will get a good feel for the sound of the Fiio EM3’s, which are a fantastic value for the performance to cost ratio. I also hope people will understand how other pairs stack up against each other in different areas to better help people choose an earbud they might like.
All comparisons will be at the end of this review, under the “Comparison” section.
Packaging:
I have to admit, I really don’t care much about packaging, especially for an earbud that has an MSRP of $9.99. I often get headphones used or open-box as I’m more concerned about sound than anything. I can say that the small, thin box (about the length of a pen) is easy to open and looks professional. The clear window showing the earbuds has a frosted look that is more appealing, but overall it’s pretty basic. It looks like something that hangs from the pegs from a large box store, much like I see Skullcandy or Sony doing. This seems to be a great idea if Fiio is aiming at a younger, more mainstream demographic. I can say that I would much rather grab a set of Fiio EM3’s off the rack than the other choices I often see in the same price range (not that I’ve ever seen Fiio at a box store).
Accessories:
In terms of accessories, you don’t get much. Inside the small box you will find a manual and a small box containing three pairs of foam covers inside a small, Ziploc bag. The foam covers are standard and no doughnut style covers are included. Due to the warmer and darker sound of these earbuds, having doughnuts might help as I can’t imagine they would add considerable cost on Fiio’s end and may brighten up the sound. Also, there is no case included which would have been nice considering the cord tends to curl up and get tangled.
Design/Build Quality:
According to Fiio, the EM3’s have 14.8mm diameter dynamic drivers with a 47ohm impedance designed to sound the same regardless of source. I definitely found this to be true as I tried the EM3’s with my Fiio X3 (1st Gen.), LG G3, and Ipad 2. The EM3’s are tuned for popular music and are said to produce powerful bass.
Fiio also claims that they tested the fit of the earbuds with numerous artificial and real ears for long-term comfort and fit. They are easy to find a good fit but I did need to have the felt covers on to really hear the bass. Also, I found the metal mesh covering the driver to be uncomfortable after awhile if I didn’t use a foam cover. Just a side note on the metal mesh: it seems to be very similar looking to the metal mesh design on the Awei ES10. I don’t know if Awei had anything to do with Fiio on this project, but I thought it worth mentioning. The black high-gloss plastic blends with a duller finish black plastic that seems to be of high-quality and I don’t have any concern for these falling apart or the earbuds pulling apart, exposing the driver. The strain reliefs seem to be decent and the stems are fairly long, so I would imagine the connection to last (but I have no way to confirm this right now).
There is also a one-button inline remote that is compatible with Android and iPhones and various series of clicks produce various functions to include next track, previous track, play/pause, call answer, and end call. The strain reliefs going in and out of the inline mic concern me some as they really don’t tighten around the thin cord and the cord moves around considerable as it enters and exits the mic. Since I have had numerous issues with mic/cord issues over the years, I might be concerned about long-term reliability. The inline remote seemed well placed near the mouth and my wife received calls that were clear, even on a windy day. One of the problems I’ve had with inline remotes are mics that lie lower on the cord and rest on my shoulder. This has caused microphonics and static and can be difficult to hear. I had no problem with this on the Fiio EM3’s.
As for the cord, Fiio has a picture of hands pulling the cord apart and Fiio claims the cord has high-elasticity and high tensile strength. I don’t think I’ll try pulling on the cords like Fiio did, but I do like the feel of the cord. Below the Y-split, the cord has a nice, solid feel without being sticky. There does seem to be some memory but nothing too bad. Above the Y-split, the cords are thinner but feel solid and well made. I have seen some cords above the Y-split that are very thin and give me concern about reliability—these do not. In addition, I listened to these while moving around on a windy day and did not notice much in the way of microphonics, which was surprising.
There is a 3.5mm gold-plated L-shaped jack that has a flexible strain relief that seems to be very well made. I played with the jack connection at the strain relief and it moved freely and did seem effective in removing stress from the jack and cable connection. This is a nice design as I found the Yuin jack poorly made and it seems to be a common source of failure (in other brands/designs as well). Overall, the jack seems to be made for the long haul.
Sound (with standard foam covers):
I would describe the sound of the Fiio EM3 as warm and dark with a boost in the lower region and laid back treble. The mids are clear and enjoyable and seem to stand out despite the tuning towards popular music. The detail level is mediocre and tends towards a “one-note” feel across the spectrum. Before I move on to each area of the sound, I would like to mention that I am nitpicking a $9.99 earbud. Overall, I felt these are excellent in terms of price to performance ratio.
Bass:
The sub-bass extends well and is present on most music I listened to, which was surprising for an earbud. I have found it difficult to find an earbud with much in the way of sub-bass. The sub-bass region seems to have more “slam” or “punch” compared to the mid-bass and seems boosted in comparison to the mid-bass.
The mid-bass region, which I have found many manufacturers to boost for popular tuning, actually seems more neutral than the sub-bass. That being said, the mid-bass is still very present but doesn’t have the same “slam” as the sub-bass. In my opinion, if the mid-bass was boosted more, the overall sound would sound muddier and would interfere with the clarity of the mids. The mid-bass is still present enough that it gives the EM3’s a warm presentation that leans toward a darker sound. I also noticed the bass lines in blues and rock had good quality and was very enjoyable. Overall, I would say the mid-bass had more quality and the sub-bass more quantity.
Mids:
The presentation of the EM3’s mids are very enjoyable to me. They have a warm presentation with nice detail and smooth vocals. I enjoy the sound of electric guitars with these but would prefer more in the upper-mids and treble for rock music. The EM3’s are still very enjoyable for about every type of music you could listen too, though. I would say that the lower-mids are more of a positive than upper-mids. Male voices had good detail and were very smooth whereas female voices were a little too rolled off for my taste. It just seemed that there was less detail and crispness in the upper-mids. I can say that these are not going to be too “hot” for anyone and will generally be very enjoyable for most people.
Treble:
I can hear details in the mids but they seem boring to me. There isn’t a crispness and they seemed tuned to be smooth and inoffensive. The mids seem to stand out more than the treble and may be an indication of the mids overpowering the treble. If you are sensitive to treble, these earbuds will be a good match as I really didn’t get any sibilance and found them to be very smooth and lack any shimmer in cymbals and brighter sounds. I personally prefer a little more crispness in the treble, but overall the treble is well done, especially for a $10 earbud. In fact, considering the price, these are pretty remarkable.
Soundstage:
I found the soundstage to be good but less than others I’ve heard. The instrument separation is good but falls behind some other sets like the Blox BE3 in my opinion. With songs panning from left to right or songs that lend towards soundstage, these are going to be middle to upper pack (at least out of the earbuds I have). Maybe more treble presence would increase the soundstage.
Sound (no cover):
Forthcoming
Sound (donuts):
Forthcoming
Comparisons:
This section will compare the Fiio EM3, Blox BE3, Baldoor E100, Awei ES10, Sansa earbuds (came with Sansa Clip Zip), and Apple earbuds. Initially, I will have the EM3, BE3, and E100 and will add the others later. Once the Yuin PK3 cord is repaired, I will also include that one. In addition, I will try to do comparison using felt pads, donuts, and no pads. This section will be simple as it will be greatest to least with a few key observations.
W/Felt Pads:
- Sub-bass: EM3 > BE3 > E100
- Mid-bass: E100 > EM3 > BE3
- Bass Quality: BE3 = E100 > EM3
- Lower mids: BE3 > EM3 > E100
- Upper mids: BE3 > E100 > EM3
- Mids Quality: BE3 > EM3 > E100
- Treble BE3 = E100 > EM3
- Just a side note, the treble is very different between the BE3 and E100. The E100 is much brighter and boosted whereas the BE3 is smoother but very clear. They seem equal but in different ways to me.
- Treble Quality: BE3 > E100 > EM3
- Sparkle: E100 > BE3 > EM3
- Soundstage BE3 > EM3 = E100
- Separation: BE3 > EM3 = E100
- Detail: BE3 > E100 > EM3
- Comfort/Fit: EM3 > BE3 > E100
As you can see, I am quite impressed with the Blox BE3’s in comparison to the other earbuds. The BE3’s have a very musical and immersive sound that I really enjoyed. One thing to consider is that the BE3 costs about $35, the E100 $20, and the EM3 $9.99. I can’t say that the BE3 is three times better than the EM3, it’s just smoother and more detailed with a larger soundstage. As for the E100, I prefer the EM3 to the E100 due to the E100’s brightness. The E100 seems like every area of its’ sound has been boosted, especially in the upper regions, which seems to boost detail but seemed unnatural at times. In fact, there were some times that the E100 sounded strange, which my daughter described as “digital sounding”.
W/ Donuts:
Forthcoming
No Pads:
Forthcoming
