God I hated that IEM. It's so damn bright. I literally reviewed it yesterday. Then again, you may be right in that is the best Fiio has to offer. I love that little pouch that comes with the FH3. It's adorable.
FiiO FH3 will forever be my favourite entry-level set (sentimental). Moondrop Variations is my comfort set (also favourite). UM Mest II is my endgame (least used).
The only FiiO basshead set I can think of is FHE Eclipse but it's not really basshead in the modern meta since it as no midbass tuck, so it's boosted across the entirety of the bass. If that is your style I would also recommend the QoA Adonis New. If you like tucked, sub-bass prominent basshead style the others like Dunu ITO would suit better.
As someone who also loves the Explorer, I suggest you try the Fiio FH3. It's also $99. It's very similar to the Explorer but it has better mid bass and slam (with slightly less sub bass). It's closer to the Explorer than the Defiant in the upper mids and treble.
The Martilo has tons of sub-bass but is quite lean in the mid bass. Personally I much prefer mid bass to sub bass, at least in IEMs (it's hard to get both because the sound easily gets congested).
I used to be all headphones (and I still prefer speakers if that is an option) until relatively recently a friend lent me his ie200 for a bit. And … damn.
Been looking for something just as detailed and resolving and just slightly warmer for a while (ended up with a Moondrop Lan so far, and a Fiio fh3 I received as a gift).
Dracomies
