FiiO’s Newest Balanced Armature IEM Announced – FA1

There’s no denying it; FiiO is becoming a total powerhouse when considering the fast growth of their product portfolio. It was just a little while ago that they announced the FA7 – a quad balanced-armature IEM – and now they’re releasing a new, more affordable option called the FA1.

Meet the FA1

The FA1 seems to have the same exceptional shell as that of the FA7, one that is very well designed and comfortable. Produced via a 3D printing process, these shells look and feel like something you’d expect from a high-end CIEM manufacturer.
Compared to the FA7 there seems to just be a few minor design tweaks here and there, the most prominent of which is the faceplate.

Like the FA7, the FA1 is built around a balanced armature driver platform. However, where the FA7 is built around a quad-driver setup, the newer member to FiiO’s family makes do with just a single Knowles ED-33357 balanced armature driver. Don’t think that this is necessarily a bad thing, as there are many IEMs out there that sound exceptional despite only having a single balanced armature driver. 
Having only one driver means an ultra-low impedance of just 15-ohm, and coupling that with a sensitivity of 111dB/mW means that the FA1 is super efficient and won’t require a very powerful source. But, as is usually the case with low-impedance/high sensitivity BA driver setups, this could also mean that the FA1 could be prone to picking up hiss from the headphone output. We’ll just have to wait and see when they are released if this is indeed the case. 

Availability and Pricing

Apparently the FA1 is already on it’s way to a number of FiiO’s global distributors and comes with a recommended price-tag of $110 (which can change depending on your region and applicable shipping charges and/or taxes).
Be on the look out for a review from Samma3a over the next few weeks.

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