In this feature, Louis reviews the FiiO FX17, a new tribrid 10mm dynamic, quad BA, and 8 electrostatic driver flagship universal IEM currently priced at $1499.99.
Disclaimer: I received this sample in exchange for my honest opinion. Headfonics is an independent website with no affiliate links or services. I thank FiiO for their support.
You can click here to learn more about the FiiO audio products previously reviewed on Headfonics.
This post follows our current scoring guidelines, which you can read in more detail here.
FiiO just took another step up the manufacturing ladder and poured all its know-how into its latest TOTL tribrid multi-driver IEM release called the FX17, which is currently priced at $1499.
In this write-up, I will cover in depth the new FX17 hybrid IEM, which, in my opinion, currently places FiiO on a higher level alongside the top IEM makers.
I have been anticipating the release of the FX17 for some time now, since I enjoyed their FX15 IEM, but I always felt they had aspects that could have been improved.
Knowing FiiO, they usually have a couple of future releases lined up, and they’re not known as a company that leaves well enough alone. I like that, and it’s what makes FiiO a great company to follow and what brought the FX17 to the product line.
Features
The new flagship FiiO FX17 is a tribrid universal IEM featuring 13 drivers per side and a 5-way hybrid physical and electronic crossover. It is rated at 16Ω and 104 dB/mW.
The precise grouping is a single 10mm dynamic driver with a Lithium-Magnesium alloy diaphragm for the lows, 4 custom Knowles BA for the mids and highs, and a whopping 8 Sonion EST drivers for everything above 6k.
This complex IEM incorporates all of FiiO’s patented designs, including their S Turbo acoustic design and a resonant back cavity that’s married to a custom 10mm driver inside a rather large shell alongside a plethora of other drivers.
Another FX17 feature is the PCBA fixed support that holds all the drivers in place, along with the crossover PCB, a voltage amplifier, and a 3D-printed cavity that channels all the goods to the output nozzle and into the ear canal.
Two new cool additions for the FX17 also include interchangeable cable jacks, one of which is a small, USB-C dongle DAC amplifier. Once installed, it seamlessly becomes part of the cable.
Design
The FiiO FX17 seems to employ an all-business-oriented design, and the overall look of the IEM is on the industrial side of the coin. The design does attempt to present the eye with some sexy curves and a side of artistic appeal.
The shells are made from highly polished pure Titanium. They’re minimalistic and sport an all-silver appearance. They remind me of the Tri I3 I reviewed some years ago, in which I also commented on them being the ideal IEM, appearance-wise, for Terminator 2, the liquid metal one.
The only artistic touch the FX17 employs is on the backplate in the shape of a raised lip that resembles a slim version of a sneaker swoosh, a Titanium swoosh, that is.
There’s a small, rounded, rectangular vent in the form of a perforated plate. Other than that, there’s not much else to the overall design except for the expanded MMCX female connectors, which are red and blue color-keyed to make it easier to identify the left and right IEM.
Aesthetics
For an IEM that’s all polished metal, it’s not too prone to smears and fingerprints. And if you do get some on them, they wipe clean easily. Just make sure you use a non-abrasive cloth. FiiO conveniently includes one inside the box.
I was surprised to see that the output nozzle is fixed, and this time around, FiiO didn’t incorporate the swappable output nozzles as many other FiiO IEMs have.
This time, FiiO went with a single proper tune that doesn’t need much help or change. Even the output nozzle uses a simple-looking grill and is nothing fancy. That all translates into a simpler design that optimally performs.
Comfort & Isolation
The FiiO FX17 is a comfortable-to-wear IEM, but a bit girthy. They’re not that heavy at around 12 grams, but they feel a bit massy and substantial.
One thing I can say is that the FX17 output nozzle is angled such that the IEM tends to anchor itself in the ear canal, and they give the wearer some resistance when you have to remove them. They’re a good choice for active audiophiles since they don’t come out easily.
Some might worry about these IEMs feeling cold due to their all-metal construction. If you do some research on Titanium, you will find that this metal adapts and sustains temperature in a very efficient manner, so it tends to adapt and retain the body temperature well while you’re wearing it.
They also isolate well. You get very little outside interference when you’re listening to them. Technically, they’re a closed-back design, and I’d say they’re up there with the best as far as isolation goes. I did notice that they suppress outside high-frequency sounds better than low frequencies.
Ear Tips
FiiO IEMs tend to be somewhat insensitive to tip selection, which is one of their outstanding qualities, and the FX17 is just the same or even more so. I could break the seal between the tip and ear canal a bit and still receive a reasonable amount of bass.
If there are any changes between tips they’re subtle and mostly rely on the distance that the tip puts the tip of the output nozzle to your eardrum.
But in general, the tips that affect the sonic signature the most are the spin fits, and the ones that sound the most like the stock tips are the HS18. They tend to give the midrange a push forward.
FiiO does include a generous amount of tips to choose from, but it’s the only customization out of the box since this set does not come with interchangeable output nozzles or any other sound-altering features like tuning switches, for example.
Stock Cable
There’s not much to dislike about the FiiO FX17 stock cable. It’s a 360-strand cable that has a tri-cable system composed of some silver wires, copper wires, and gold wires in multiple 8-wire strands. It does pick up some noise if rubbed on, but it’s not an unbearable amount.
The individual elements are twisted into groups and then braided. Each group of strands is insulated in what seems to be clear silicon. A tri-brid cable for a tri-brid IEM makes sense.
The cable comes equipped with a swappable connector system, and FiiO includes a 3.5mm tap and a 4.4mm balanced one as well. They’re easy to swap. They use a 4-pin system and a ring to lock the plug in place.
They also include a USB-C dongle that is capable of producing a little over 30mW and can decode up to 32-bit/384k PCM audio. This is a nice item to have that gives the FX17 some added out-of-the-box usability.
Packaging & Accessories
FiiO has further refined its packaging for the FX17. They took the same materials and made a box with drawer-type slide-out sub-boxes. Three to be exact.
What’s behind the box? Inside the right side box, you’ll find FiiO’s storage case, and it seems they went back to the old HB5 style, which I did prefer over some others. They just gave it a darker armchair brown color, and it’s now made from protein leather.
In the other drawers, you’ll find a FiiO magnetic clip, a small cleaning brush, an MMCX tool, a cleaning cloth, plus one of the analog cable tips with the USB-C dongle. The 4.4mm plug comes preinstalled on the cable.
I counted 22 sets of tips in my set that included SpinFit variants, some HS20 and HS18s, a couple of foam tips, and some double flange variants. There’s also a manual and a custom plaque with your set’s serial number.
Sound Impressions
My testbed consists of FiiO’s M11 Pro with a THX power amplifier section and an AK4493 DAC section, which, in general, provides a neutral dynamic tone. I also used the Rose Technics RT-5000 for some fun and subtle coloration and the SMSL SU-X/SH-X stack.
To test the included USB-C dongle, I used a Motorola Edge. I also used FiiO’s KA17 on the same mobile device for a brief period.
Summary
When I first heard the FiiO FX17, the word frisson came to mind because they tend to provoke such a reaction. Not so much because of the fullness and richness in the overall sonic scape they were producing, yeah, that too, but in the amount of detail and realism they were producing.
The FX17 has an uncanny ability to sound revealing, with plenty of micro detail present in its performance. When combined with a natural, punchy, and dynamic character, they tend to keep you glued to the canvas, and you just want to keep listening to these Titanium gems.
They have an uncanny ability to make music sound very lifelike. They attempt to feed you the tracks true to the source with an appealing sonic pictograph.
The magic trick here is that my gut tells me that these are not neutral; there’s some color here. But there’s an incredible amount of balance and full-frequency response, plus a coherent sonic signature.
I would say that they fall between monitor-like and reference-like, but with lots of body and depth served up with a side of musicality, and that makes it enjoyable to listen to. However, their emphasis is placed mostly on clarity and separation.
You get the best of both worlds here with all the detail you could ask for, with the nuances for the analytical, but simultaneously gives a feeling of enjoyment to everyday music listening. It’s not a sterile listen, there is some coloration here as I said, but it’s a tasteful all-around presentation.
Bass
When I ran a tone sweep on the FiiO FX17, the bass demonstrated to be effective down to 24Hz. Below that point, the bass output drops considerably fast and is ineffective at 20Hz or below.
What’s above the 24Hz point is a flat curve that I hold responsible for such a high level of bass note distinction.
The bass is tight, fast, and well-controlled, and that allows one to hear bass notes distinctly. The bass quantity is in balance with the rest of the spectrum, and the bass never sounds bloated or too heavy.
I do like to raise the bass levels on these IEMs below 60Hz a couple of decibels, but on some recordings, that can produce some excess.
These are best left alone since their tuning is just right for my tastes and they tend to accurately produce what’s being fed to them, but simultaneously give you that deep, occasional bass bellow.
The bass never gets overwhelming, but it comes through with plenty of low-end energy and the occasional low-end rumble when called upon to do so. It’s a clean tune that never bleeds into other frequencies.
Midrange
Knowles and FiiO produce some fine-sounding midrange arrays when they get together, and the FX17 is a good example of that since this set produces a highly enjoyable midsection that’s smooth and free of harshness.
The midrange is creamy and a touch on the warm side of the scale, but it excels at producing a natural timbre and tonality that grabs you and pulls you into the music with a great sense of realism and proper timbre.
Vocal tracks excel when played on the FX17 because of the absence of coloration and accurate portrayal of the source.
For example, I could feel Eden Artwood breathe in ‘Blame it on my youth’ and hear every breath she takes on this track. Again, it’s detail-oriented and realistically produced midrange.
The mids are produced transparently, yes. Then add to that a nuanced, detailed performance, and you start to get a sense of what FiiO is bringing to the table here. Lots of accuracy, precision, and enjoyment.
Treble
I did find a peculiarity with the treble response on the FX17 when I ran a tone sweep, particularly above the 6 kHz point.
The output was decreased above that frequency, and as I recall, that’s the crossover frequency used to transition into the Sonion tweeters. But that doesn’t carry over while listening to music.
The treble section seems to play in balance with all other frequencies, and they portray a sense of restraint, yes, but that doesn’t impede the FX17 from producing all the details being fed to them in an onward manner and with a lack of shyness.
What also comes through is a treble response that is accurate, fast, and precisely pitched, with an uncanny ability to produce clean, well-defined notes.
The FX17 produces a well-extended, detailed, and airy treble response that brings high hats and cymbals to life, and although they have a wide sense of airiness, they never lose focus or immersion and never lose coherency.
Staging & Dynamics
The FiiO FX17 is punchy and highly dynamic in presentation, but they like to be played at low or moderate to near-loud levels, and they can get exorbitant if you crank up the volume.
The FX17 produces a room-like characteristic in the soundstage because it sounds wide and spacious, but again, they never lose focus on what they’re producing. The staging can also be described as natural and slightly expanded.
The FX17 paints an expansive scape, and it paints an accurate, tight soundstage that depth-wise is abyssal with an ability to place sound anywhere in that frontal stage. The FX17 excels in all dimensions: height, width, and depth.
There’s lots of micro staging and micro placement, and they tend to produce a soundstage that surrounds the listener with a 3d panorama that contains lots of layering. Horizontal and vertical layering often occurs and is abundant in the FX17.
Click on page 2 below for my recommended pairings and selected comparisons.
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