krishtrinity
Active Member
Introduction
These days you could get plenty of good deals on audiophile headphones and earphones at low prices,before you are stuck with sony,shure,bose etc to get good quality audio which also cost a fortune to buy.With the rise of audiophile quality earphones for cheap,we have so many options to choose from.Few months ago i reviewed Vsonic vsd5 which was anything unlike i have heard before.The price to performance ratio was incredible,Fidue a73 at 150$ is more than double the price of vsd5.Does it means it has also double the quality?that would be amazing.
Build Quality and Comfort
At 150$ you expect a certain level of premium quality to the A73,i am glad to say the build quality is actually very nice.I like the design and i think it has better rigidity than the VSD5,the cables are also much better quality with thicker cable.Microphone is on right splitter cable of right labelled earphone which means you don't have to pick the cable up to get better audio quality when calling.The earphone has strain reliefs to prevent accidental breaking.The accesories that came with the package could be better,other than the included eartips there is no earhooks or comply tips both of which was available with VSD5.
Comfort wise they are very good,i could easily use it for hours of use,even during movie watching you forgot it is in your ear.Isolation is also good,you won't hear anyone speak when you are playing music.That is good or bad depends on how you are using it.The cable is not tangle prone like that of VSD 5,which was one of the main problems of VSD5.
Performance.
Even though i own a reasonably high end speaker,A73 is the most expensive earphone or headphone that i have ever bought.I was actually planning to buy Sennheiser mommentum headphone when i stumbled across this and i could safely say that i made the right choice.I am using the Fidue A73 with schiit Modi DAC and Fiio E12 headphone amplifier,which may seem like an overkill for a 150$ earphone,it's definitely overkill for a VSD5 but the A73 is much better suited to be used with a good amp and source.Make sure to use it in low gain unless you want to blow the drivers.Sound is slightly vshaped with good instrument seperation,bass is tight with good amount of sub bass,treble is very clear and detailed can be described as smooth.There is no hint of harshness to the treble even with heavy metal music.I also didn't notice any sibilance to the sound either.Fidue A73 is a hybrid earphone meaning it has dual drivers which in my opinion is better than a single driver dynamic driver,if you listen carefully you could tell the audio is coming from 2 drivers like that of a speaker.Soundstage is also reasonably wide,did some gaming and watched some music and even though it's not as wide as the vsd 5,the detailed bass,mids and highs make it one of the best i have heard.For 150$ it's definitely a steal,for this price you could get a ATH M50x which just for the hell of it,compared with A73,comfort wise and sound wise A73 is much much better value.
Radiohead-Let Down(flac)
Vocal heavy track from Radiohead is one of the best songs i have heard,and fidue A73 do justice to the song,the treble is detailed,with mids never bleeding into the bass.You can clearly hear the instrument seperation with not even slight harshness.Vocals from different singers come from different direction creating the feeling that i only get when i listen to this song with speakers.
Radiohead-Wierd Fishes/Apreggi(flac)
The drum beat is punchy,you could feel the sub bass of the drums,the mids are not perfect but can be forgiven because these earphones have to make some sacrifices,does not mean the vocals are muddy or anything.Mids are much better than the M50 headphone,but i have to find atleast one negative thing about this earphone.Overall this earphone can be used to showcase what a real gem of a band is Radio Head.
Ensiferum-Victory Song(320 kbps)
This song is what i use to find the limits of any headphone or earphone,with vsd 5 they are great,but the harshness in treble is noticeable,also the lack of sub bass doesn't give justice to the song.With vsd 5 it's like listening to the song with subwoofer turned off,Fidue on the other hand,clear detailed treble,agile punchy bass with enough kick to make you start head bobbing that will make your wife or gf to think you are crazy.I wish i had the lossless audio files of this band,i could definitely hear there is a bit of compression in the song,not the fault of the earphone though.Good instrument seperation and wide soundstage makes it perfect.Mids could be better,only noticeable if you are expecting it.
Steven Wilson-Regret#9(24 bit lossless flac)
No vocals in this song,but whatever magic he does with that guitar and keyboard only god knows,anyway the agility of the sound of Fidue a73 really noticeable with the song,the tight bass and clear highs really makes me wonder why they have priced this earphone this low.Fiio e12 and modi brings out the clarity in fidue that i couldn't get when using it with one plus phone.
Conclusion
A worthy earphone giving performance that are many times better than it's rivals at the price point.By rivals i mean not the Chinese manufacturers but the Sennheisers and the shures,last time i underestimated a Chinese earphone VSD5 happened.Anyway as you could guess,if you are in the market for a earphone,you could spend 500$ and get a really high end earphone or you could get fidue 150$ and spend the rest for a portable dac/amp.Seriously the A73 will satisfy 95% of audiophiles out there.
These days you could get plenty of good deals on audiophile headphones and earphones at low prices,before you are stuck with sony,shure,bose etc to get good quality audio which also cost a fortune to buy.With the rise of audiophile quality earphones for cheap,we have so many options to choose from.Few months ago i reviewed Vsonic vsd5 which was anything unlike i have heard before.The price to performance ratio was incredible,Fidue a73 at 150$ is more than double the price of vsd5.Does it means it has also double the quality?that would be amazing.
Build Quality and Comfort
At 150$ you expect a certain level of premium quality to the A73,i am glad to say the build quality is actually very nice.I like the design and i think it has better rigidity than the VSD5,the cables are also much better quality with thicker cable.Microphone is on right splitter cable of right labelled earphone which means you don't have to pick the cable up to get better audio quality when calling.The earphone has strain reliefs to prevent accidental breaking.The accesories that came with the package could be better,other than the included eartips there is no earhooks or comply tips both of which was available with VSD5.
Comfort wise they are very good,i could easily use it for hours of use,even during movie watching you forgot it is in your ear.Isolation is also good,you won't hear anyone speak when you are playing music.That is good or bad depends on how you are using it.The cable is not tangle prone like that of VSD 5,which was one of the main problems of VSD5.
Performance.
Even though i own a reasonably high end speaker,A73 is the most expensive earphone or headphone that i have ever bought.I was actually planning to buy Sennheiser mommentum headphone when i stumbled across this and i could safely say that i made the right choice.I am using the Fidue A73 with schiit Modi DAC and Fiio E12 headphone amplifier,which may seem like an overkill for a 150$ earphone,it's definitely overkill for a VSD5 but the A73 is much better suited to be used with a good amp and source.Make sure to use it in low gain unless you want to blow the drivers.Sound is slightly vshaped with good instrument seperation,bass is tight with good amount of sub bass,treble is very clear and detailed can be described as smooth.There is no hint of harshness to the treble even with heavy metal music.I also didn't notice any sibilance to the sound either.Fidue A73 is a hybrid earphone meaning it has dual drivers which in my opinion is better than a single driver dynamic driver,if you listen carefully you could tell the audio is coming from 2 drivers like that of a speaker.Soundstage is also reasonably wide,did some gaming and watched some music and even though it's not as wide as the vsd 5,the detailed bass,mids and highs make it one of the best i have heard.For 150$ it's definitely a steal,for this price you could get a ATH M50x which just for the hell of it,compared with A73,comfort wise and sound wise A73 is much much better value.
Radiohead-Let Down(flac)
Vocal heavy track from Radiohead is one of the best songs i have heard,and fidue A73 do justice to the song,the treble is detailed,with mids never bleeding into the bass.You can clearly hear the instrument seperation with not even slight harshness.Vocals from different singers come from different direction creating the feeling that i only get when i listen to this song with speakers.
Radiohead-Wierd Fishes/Apreggi(flac)
The drum beat is punchy,you could feel the sub bass of the drums,the mids are not perfect but can be forgiven because these earphones have to make some sacrifices,does not mean the vocals are muddy or anything.Mids are much better than the M50 headphone,but i have to find atleast one negative thing about this earphone.Overall this earphone can be used to showcase what a real gem of a band is Radio Head.
Ensiferum-Victory Song(320 kbps)
This song is what i use to find the limits of any headphone or earphone,with vsd 5 they are great,but the harshness in treble is noticeable,also the lack of sub bass doesn't give justice to the song.With vsd 5 it's like listening to the song with subwoofer turned off,Fidue on the other hand,clear detailed treble,agile punchy bass with enough kick to make you start head bobbing that will make your wife or gf to think you are crazy.I wish i had the lossless audio files of this band,i could definitely hear there is a bit of compression in the song,not the fault of the earphone though.Good instrument seperation and wide soundstage makes it perfect.Mids could be better,only noticeable if you are expecting it.
Steven Wilson-Regret#9(24 bit lossless flac)
No vocals in this song,but whatever magic he does with that guitar and keyboard only god knows,anyway the agility of the sound of Fidue a73 really noticeable with the song,the tight bass and clear highs really makes me wonder why they have priced this earphone this low.Fiio e12 and modi brings out the clarity in fidue that i couldn't get when using it with one plus phone.
Conclusion
A worthy earphone giving performance that are many times better than it's rivals at the price point.By rivals i mean not the Chinese manufacturers but the Sennheisers and the shures,last time i underestimated a Chinese earphone VSD5 happened.Anyway as you could guess,if you are in the market for a earphone,you could spend 500$ and get a really high end earphone or you could get fidue 150$ and spend the rest for a portable dac/amp.Seriously the A73 will satisfy 95% of audiophiles out there.
