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FiiO FH1s Knowles 2 Driver Balanced Armature-Dynamic Hybrid In-ear Monitors

The new FiiO FH1s Knowles 2 Driver Balanced Armature-Dynamic Hybrid IEM is expected to feature a number of innovations and detail improvements. It is the successor to the highly successful FiiO FH1 in-ear headphones and is available in four different designs.


Headphones have always been one of the main product groups of FiiO Electronics Technology Co Ltd, especially In-ear headphones. The specialist for personal audio solutions can justifiably boast a particularly broad product range, with many a model that can clearly be described as an audiophile solution with outstanding technical features.

A very successful model in the FiiO Electronics Technology Co Ltd product range is clearly the FiiO FH1 Hybrid In-ear Monitor, which the company already introduced in 2017 and which is designed as a two-way system. This combined a classic dynamic driver with a balanced armature driver to achieve a highly detailed, dynamic playback. These in-ear headphones were correspondingly popular, especially as they were offered at an extremely attractive price.

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Now this in-ear headphone is being replaced by the new FiiO FH1s Knowles 2 Driver Balanced Armature-Dynamic Hybrid IEM, which the company first presented at the Winter Launch Event in February 2020.

According to FiiO Electronics Technology Co Ltd., the new FiiO FH1s Knowles 2 Driver Balanced Armature-Dynamic Hybrid In-ear Monitor is expected to differ from its predecessor with a number of new features and detail improvements, making it once again a thoroughly audiophile solution for price-sensitive users looking for an in-ear headphone to complement their portable hi-fi players.

The new FiiO FH1s Knowles 2 Driver Balanced Armature-Dynamic Hybrid In-ear Monitors, for example, are of course designated as a Hi-res audio solution and carry the corresponding seal of approval from the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA).

Of course, the new FiiO FH1s Knowles 2 Driver Balanced Armature-Dynamic Hybrid In-ear Monitor once again focuses on the combination of dynamic driver and balanced armature driver, the latter being the Knowles 33518 Balanced Armature Driver. The Dynamic Driver is a 13.6 Diaphragm Dynamic Driver, which has some special features. For example, the developers rely on a polymer biocomplex diaphragm, which is enclosed in a special brass vibration damping ring and driven by powerful N50 magnets. The new FiiO FH1s Knowles 2 Driver Balanced Armature-Dynamic Hybrid In-ear Monitors will be able to reproduce a frequency range between 5 Hz and 40 kHz with an impedance of only 26 ohms at a sensitivity of 106 dB.

All of this is packed into a particularly elegant housing, which was of course developed with ergonomic aspects in mind. Both the violet and grey versions have a very effectively designed exterior with three-dimensional light reflections from a so-called celluloid panel. What is interesting from a purely technical point of view is that the housing features the so-called Dynamic Airflow balanced technology, so that dynamic and balanced armature drivers work coherently.

One more detail should be emphasized: the Sound Tube, i.e. the connection between the housing and the piece that is actually pushed into the ear canal, is made of bronze, which has also been refined with gold.

It is also worth noting that the new FiiO FH1s Knowles 2 Driver Balanced Armature-Dynamic Hybrid In-ear Monitor comes with numerous ear-tips in a variety of styles and sizes, so there is something for every ear. After all, six ear-tips and a pair of foam ear-tips are included in the package.

Another special feature is the cable of the new FiiO FH1s Knowles 2 Driver Balanced Armature-Dynamic Hybrid In-ear Monitor, as the developers have used a special structure and a particularly pure alloy. No less than 120 wafer-thin High Purity Monocrystalline Copper strands form the structure of the four cable strands, with the cable terminating at one end in a 90° angled 3.5 mm stereo mini jack plug and at the other end in 0.78 mm two-pin male connectors. To emphasize this, the cable is removable and can be replaced with other options, such as the Bluetooth solutions offered by FiiO Electronics Technology Co Ltd.

FiiO Electronics Technology Co Ltd. itself, when first unveiling the new FiiO FH1s Knowles 2 Driver Balanced Armature-Dynamic Hybrid In-ear Monitor, initially stated that delivery would probably start in March 2020. This could not be completely kept, but now the time has indeed come and the new FH1s Knowles 2 Driver Balanced Armature-Dynamic Hybrid In-ear Monitor is available in stores in this country. One promise was clearly kept, however, and that was that these headphones would be offered at a particularly attractive price. For example, the manufacturer’s recommended retail price is only € 64.90. Not forgetting, of course, that this new pair of inear headphones once again comes with a robust, waterproof transport case.

The FiiO FH1s Knowles 2 Driver Balanced Armature-Dynamic Hybrid In-ear Monitor is available in black, green, purple and yellow.

Getting to the point

The new FiiO FH1s Knowles 2 Driver Balanced Armature-Dynamic Hybrid In-ear Monitors is designed to differ from its predecessor through a number of new features and improvements in detail, once again providing a consistently audiophile solution for price-sensitive users who are looking for a suitable in-ear headphone for their portable hi-fi players. The fact that there is a choice of four different designs also speaks for this solution.

Manufacturer:FiiO Electronics Technology Co Ltd.
Distribution:NT-Global Distribution GmbH
Price:€ 64,90
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Michael Holzinger

Michael Holzinger, founder and editor-in-chief of HiFi BLOG and sempre-audio.at, has been working for years as a journalist in the fields of IT, photography, telecommunications and consumer electronics.

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