FIIO FA1 REVIEW: ONE IN THE CHAMBER

In terms of build quality and design, I’m very impressed. The smoke variant of the FA1 comes with a wave-embossed faceplate layered over with a smooth acrylic surface. It catches light beautifully, showcasing intricately-cut ridges and crests with a metallic sheen. Since it’s layered over with the smoke resin, it also has a neat effect where the resin layer obscures the wave-surface beneath at certain angles.

The FA1’s shells are exceptionally finished, there’s not a single smudge, bubble, or imperfection I can find in the housing. To my surprise, the shells are also completely solid, filled throughout (as opposed to hollow, like many handbuilt C/IEMs) resulting in a slightly smokey, mostly transparent housing that looks and feels premium. I’ve paid upwards of $1000 for custom-built IEMs that don’t come close to the level of consistency in the FA1’s resin shell. If anything’s to nitpick, there are vertical lines that can be seen in the IEM (byproduct of the 3D printing process), but since they’re all uniform it just looks like a design cue.

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Author: Justin Wei; From: Portableharmony
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