Hisenior Fe3 Universal: Neutrality, Clarity and Detail

Hello mates and this is my second review of another product from Hisenior Audio, the Hisenior Fe3 U.

I've already posted their first product that they have send to me and I have a pleasant experience on how good the tuning was on their first product. I am more keen to have a better expectation on their Hisenior Fe3 U as it should be a more refined sounding and have a better tuning for they are asking for higher price range due to the additional of  one more balanced armature and an improved design of its shells for better fitting and also more design choices on the faceplate to appeal aesthetically.

Once again, I'll introduce to you about the Hisenior Audio and its objective to audio market. Hisenior Audio is an audio company based on China that specialize on designing and manufacturing of In-ear monitors use for professional and audiophiles alike as they are also known to offering the CIEMs (Custom In Ear Monitors) at very affordable price that it doesn't even break a bank for budding musicians, audio engineers and audio enthusiasts.

Hisenior Fe3 U is an all-balanced armature driver set-up in a premium resin shell enclosure. This is currently available on Hisenior official site and cost around US$249/£181 with an optional offer to CIEM mould if you want perfectly sealed IEM into your lug holes.

These set are packaged in a black box along with its accesories. Utilitarian aesthetic approach is the indeed the best design on aiming for professionals. The accessories included are the white 8-core SP OCC cable that looks premium and fancy, a seven (7) pairs of wide bore silicone eartips of different sizes, another two (2) pairs of memory foam eartips, cleaning cloth, and last is a cleaning tool to remove any unwanted residues that usually formed in the nozzle area.

Like its budget sister, The T2U Classic, Fe3 U shell is made of a high quality Egger resin shell, It has an improved UIEM mould with a redesigned helix and cymba part in the base for optimum fitting to all ear sizes. I've tested them to rate their fitting and damn, they do really perfectly fit snuggly into my lug holes, these are one of the most comfortable and pleasant IEM that I've ever wear, so light that I can wear them for a long listening session. Another notable change is that they add more balanced armature and at this time they are using another premium balanced armature drivers from other audio solution company which has also have a reputable name, Sonion. I also like the choice of a glittering blue, pink and purple tinge on its face plate with a cursive print "Febos" in both sides. Another feature that I've notice here is the connector, they implement a 2-pin connector which are more reliable and ease on doing cable swapping. This IEM is an unvented one that might cause some discomfort to some individuals due to build-up air pressure generated by the BAs.

 These are easy to drive IEMs despite that they have an impedance rating of 40Ω but this was compensated with higher sensitivity mark. And these units will scale even better if this set will plug in to better sources like audiophile-grade DAC/amps.

When it comes to sound signature and technicalties, this was tuned different compare to Hisenior T2 classic. I categorize this one as reference-neutrals or even neutralish bright due to that slightly boost on bass and more pronounces and more emphasis on mids and treble but they still sound flat in my ears. Technicalities this set has even more improvements compare on that T2 classic.

For now, I'll do a description of sound characteristics of each part of audio spectrum.

LOWS/BASS:

     This has a tight, accurate and concise bass quality. As it uses a woofer BA, this one delivers a faster transient response as it got off instantly across the audio spectrum. Sub-bass is nothing to be praise about as it does have a minimal to almost non-existence presence of rumbling sound due to less reach on the lowest depth of the low frequency range. The mid bass has that ample texture that it doesn't sound hollow especially on bass kicks, bass guitars and even bass-baritone vocals. Overall, it has good "neutral" bass but you know bassheads, not their a cup of tea.

MIDS:

    The mids in this set is translucent in nature, detailed and clean. Female vocals here are more forward and revealing on this set as they sound more affront, good lucidity in nature and unveiling its niceties as you will discerning their quality emotionally. The sounds of musical instrument from percussives to winds has that detail and clarity but there some little concerns that I paid attention into it and that is that BA timbre that it sounds less organic in some tracks due to "over-detailisation" of its intended tone colour of each instrument.

HIGHS/TREBLE:

  The treble is on the bright side of audio spectrum as it is shimmering, possess a good clarity and brimming with detail retrieval. Occasionally while listening on vocal-centric and treble-laden tracks in moderate listening pleasure , I experience some sort of unpleasant stridency and tinny sounds due to that peaky presence  part on the treble. But this kind of tuning is more preferable to keyboardists and singers with higher octaves ones due to the upper mids reach to monitor their own vocal quality ranges. The airiness of brilliance part of treble is above average to its extention reach. Cymbals and hi-hats are more on splashy side but not the most splashy and garish cymbals strike that I've experience in some other IEMs. It is still a well-tuned treble that trebleheads will nodding agreeingly with appreciation on its quality.

SOUNDSTAGE AND IMAGING:

    The width of the soundstage's dimensional size is very spacious and expansive with adequate reach on both height and room depth. Think of a large concert hall or inside of a huge cathedral. Layering and separation of each instruments have a good gap of spacing on one another. I even perceived even a row-like arrangement on the placement of instruments. The imaging is even impressive as I was able to pinpoint the location of each instruments along with the placement of singer/s accurately and precisely. Specifically, That this is one the best techinical perfoming UIEM that I've heard in under $300.

    As I conclude my assessment of this set.  The price hike that Hisenior asking for this IEM does really make sense at all as it is a reasonable to be purchase due to its well-tuned , high technical aspect and well-planned design ergonomics of its shell for the comfortable and listening tool for both audio professionals and audiophiles. This tuning is intended for professional use but audiophiles can even use this on their critical listening mode. This IEM might have some slight flaws on their tonality but those flaws can be augmented with superb technicalities.

Pros:

- A bargain pricing for a well-tuned all-Sonion BAs.

- Reference-neutral tuning.

- Snugly fit to all ear sizes

- Like all Hisenior products, It uses premier Egger resin as its material for it shell

- Superb technicalities.

- Translucent detailed mids.

- A gorgeous-looking stock 8-core cable.

- Implementation for a well-tested 2-pin connector for longevity.

Cons:

- Treble-sentivities will probably stay away on this kind of tuning.

- Occasional splashy sound on cymbals strikes.

- Probably too clinical sounding and analytical tuning for those who loves a coloured sound signatures.

SPECIFICATION:

MODEL: HiSenior Fe3 U

IMPEDANCE: 40Ω

SENSITIVITY: 112dB

FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 15Hz-22KHz

CABLE LENGTH: 1.2M

PIN TYPE: 2-pin CONNECTOR

PLUG TYPE: 3.5mm

DRIVER UNITS:  Three(3) Sonion Balanced Armature Drivers

Some Tracks Tested: ( * = 16-bit FLAC, ** = 24-bit FLAC, *'* = MQA, '*' = DSD, *'= .WAV)

Alison Krauss -When You Say Nothing At All *

Jade Wiedlin - Blue Kiss**

Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks **

Mountain - Mississippi Queen *

Queen - Killer Queen **

Guns N' Roses - Patience *'*

Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven '*'

Sergio Mendes- Never Gonna Let You Go '*'

Pearl Jam - Daughter **

Roselia - Hidamari Rhodonite *

Assassin - Fight (To Stop The Tyranny)*

Celtic Frost- Visual Aggression *

New Order - Blue Monday *

The Corrs- What Can I do (unplugged version) *

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child *

The Madness- Buggy Trousers *

Metallica - Motorbreath **

Mariah Carey- Always Be My Baby *

Destiny's Child - Say My Name *

X-Japan - X *

Mozart - Lacrimosa *

New York Philharmonic Orchestra - Dvorak- Symphony 9 " From the New World." *

Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold (Sting cover)*

Michael Jackson - Give In To Me *

Exciter - Violence and Force *

Diana Krall - Stop This World **

P.S.

I am not affliated to Hisenior nor receive monetary incentives and financial gains as they provide me a review unit for an exchange of factual and sincere feedback from yours truly.

Once again, I would like to thank Gareth Chan for this providing this review unit, I truly appreciate on his generosity towards me and other reviewers.

Hisenior Audio's official site:

https://www.hisenior-iem.com/products/fe3universal?_pos=1&_psq=fe3&_ss=e&_v=1.0&variant=39580055797796