Introduction

FiiO has had a great time lately with lots of impressive product launches and new product lines, be it headphones, speakers, desktop streamers, or even keyboards. While the brand is still synonymous with its desktop DAC/amps, I'd say FiiO has also made a name for itself with its in-ear monitors. As of the day I write this review, FiiO has several product lines that comprise just IEMs—the FD series that use a single dynamic driver, the FH with a hybrid driver configuration, the new FX line with tribrid drivers, FF with earbuds, and FW with TWS IEMs. This is even before we get to the Jade Audio sister brand! One of FiiO's IEM lines has been less successful relative to others though. The FA series, which contains IEMs that only use balanced armature drivers, has been getting overshadowed by the competition not only within FiiO's own product stack but from others too. Take the FA7s, for example, which has long since been forgotten despite being around for under two years.


FiiO is hedging a lot on its latest entry to the FA series to the point where it might make or break the continuation of this lineup. The new FA19 is a flagship in this lineup, effectively replacing the older FA9 as per FiiO's somewhat convoluted naming scheme. This uses 10 balanced armature drivers per side, in addition to expensive components throughout, and—as per FiiO—some cool engineering tech to help differentiate this in a highly competitive market. There's also a switch to choose between two tuning modes and a bunch of included accessories is basically guaranteed with anything FiiO. So let's see how the FiiO FA19 stacks up in our review which begins with a look at the product specifications in the table below. Thanks to FiiO for providing a review sample to TechPowerUp!

Specifications