Sound Impressions
Summary
I wanted to detail the overall tone of these headphones before I get into the specific physical qualities in the later sections beyond this point. These headphones are a weird conundrum of a headphone to say the very least.
But, not in a bad way. In fact, I have been waiting for what seems like an eternity for someone to make headphones just like this.
The FT3 has a studio-monitor headphone sterility to it, a lot like the older Shure SRH840 and SRH440 headphones, and like the Sennheiser HD800 as well. However, it is not snappy, impactful, icy, or annoyingly thin feeling (when properly powered).
The FT3 is something I’ve wanted for so long that when I finally got them, I didn’t know how to even feel about it. Almost nobody has made soft, relaxing, and moderately bassy studio-monitor-toned headphones before. I can’t even think of one off the top of my head as I write this.
Imagine if the HD800 (if you have heard it before) were thick feeling and had a great low-end rumble and heft to it, as well as the treble reduced in quantity but improved in overall weight factor. I am kind of awestruck by this.
For the first time in what seems like forever, someone made a studio monitor sterile and analytical tonality in a headphone that also feels a bit thicker than usual, but also has a softer and relaxing physical strike factor.
Sterility and analytical tone usually meant harsh impact, bright treble, and lacking bass thickness and weight. But not here.
Bass
The FT3 without any EQ is shoulder shrug worthy in bass quantity, balanced feeling, and just fine overall for the price. It wasn’t until I dropped an extra +6dB and more that the FT3 became a little bit of a bass curiosity!
There comes an excellent rumble factor with extra boosting, especially even more on the CEntrance HiFi-M8 V2 DAC/amp that has a dedicated extra bass switch plus the source app on my phone with added bass as well then the FT3 became one of the most satisfying low ends I have in my entire arsenal of headphones.
That quantity factor can really withstand a lot of extra juice on bass equalization, and it remains firm, strong, and very clean. I am rocking upward of a +10dB and the headphones are almost mystically staying in excellent control. FiiO, those drivers are crazy responsive to alterations, in the best way possible.
Without that EQ added, the experience is like most other studio monitors, relatively lacking in quantity but clearly intended to not block out the mids or the treble above. Weight factor and heft once again alter with more voltage, and just a bit extra dB is added via EQ. But overall, the bass experience for $299 is among the cleanest I’ve heard in an open-back.
Mids
The FT3 is not overly forward, it certainly looms a step or two pushed back and is quite relaxing in placement. But this is odd, in a good way.
One can denote the placement of mids and relaxing processes of measurements when comparing lots of headphones in a row. For example, the beyerdynamic T5 Gen 3 sounds more forward in the midrange and the Sennheiser HD800 sounds much more recessive.
This FT3 isn’t quite “relaxed” though, it is right between forward and middle ground, so I am not sure if I could call it still as overly forward.
The FT3 is a step down from forward feeling but still well within the forward range for overall placement, I don’t have any other headphones that feel the same. Pretty much all of them are either well into very forward or very relaxed.
Mids Purity
As for the purity factor, again, I literally do not have another $299 tier headphone that sounds this clean. The Vocals are moderately weighty, but the tone of the FT3 is sterile and clinical. How strange!
Again, I harken back to if the sterile sound of the HD800 were thicker and weighted, meatier, but also much softer on the strike factor. This isn’t a common sound of headphones but I really like it.
But what really does it for me is that the drivers are basically funneling a huge image and pushing a tall and wide-feeling vocal experience. Singers and songstresses feel massive compared to most other $299 headphones.
The FT3 is a lot like the Sony MA-900 if it were on steroids. These two headphones sound pretty much the same. Massive drivers, open design, angled, clinical tone, soft impact, large bloomed mids. I admit though the Sony as I recall felt much thinner, most of the other traits are eerily similar in my memory banks.
Treble
The FT3 treble can get a little tizzy at times and struggles with fast-paced music tracks. I find this saddening because lately, my favorite band is Polyphia, a guitar fusion collab of some of the best musicians out there and they play fast.
Screaming guitars and fast speed don’t seem to mix on this model. It’s not a clarity issue, it’s just the overall tone of the top side gets meshed sometimes when there are a lot of trebly instances in the music.
Thankfully, the top side is relatively tame and not impactful and painful, as most clinical tone headphones tend to be. The FT3 is slightly bright but never sharp. A step into accurate and clinical tone is good, so long as it doesn’t slam hard.
Nasalness is also a non-issue and feels coherent to the last drop on every track I could muster up. For $299, this is a very good experience. In slower to moderately paced music tracks, the top side sheen is lovely and enjoyable. Gently bright, my favorite type of treble.
Imaging
Well damn. Ok. What do I even compare this with to make this a fair oversight of the headphone? I can’t. I don’t have any other open backs for $299 that sound this good in the staging department.
This is one of the best imaging experiences I’ve ever heard for the price. Even the ESP/95X set feels small, and the width factor of the Sennheiser HD-series models that are open-backs feels much less wide than this FT3.
FiiO did a great job here, the angled drivers and the massive size of the drivers truly do push an excellent and spacious image. I am happy with it.
When a reviewer doesn’t have much to even compare it to, then you know FiiO did something right. At best, I could drop the Fidelio X2 on and get 2/3 the size of the image of the FT3 and that would be as far as I could get for $299ish today.
I don’t think there is another $299 headphone with equal imaging factors of the FiiO FT3, the width factor, the height, and the air and coherency are all excellent. Not even just good. Excellent.
Coherency and midrange blood only add to the pleasantly realistic feel of the experience. Forget the size for a second, the FT3 generates excellent coherency and realism factor for the price, so you are getting great imaging in physical prowess, as well as a great realistically formed experience.
That density factor in overall bass and mid-tone helps a lot with this and I find it absolutely a winner for $299. Side by side with the HD650 and the X2 series, as well as the Hifiman models, this isn’t even a fair fight for imaging factors. The FT3 mortal wounded them in the staging department.
Select Comparisons
Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX
The HD6XX fit is much more form-fitting and snug on my head than the FT3. Almost humorously, the imaging of the FT3 feels like double the size and thicker and more weighted on the bass end.
The FiiO has more rumble and digs deeper on the bass. The HD6XX treble feels overly muted, the FT3 is prominent, brighter, and much cleaner.
Both headphones scale massively with proper amplification but the FiiO scales even higher, I can use the HD6XX on lower powered gear and still get great sound out of it. I cannot do that on the FT3.
Koss x Drop ESP/95X
The FT3 is a dynamic driver, and the Koss is electrostatic, but both cost around the same these days and with the Koss, you get an amplifier with it too.
The build on the FiiO is lightyears ahead of the Koss, which feels like thin cheap plastic that can snap if you blink wrong.
The Koss, though, sounds effortless, slick, lustrous in tone, and more realistic in vocal experiences. As good as the FiiO is with the realism factor, it still feels like a great dynamic driver and dynamics don’t push the coherency factor of electrostatic headphones.
And the Koss gets a lot better on Stax amps, so just as the FiiO scales, so does the Koss. The bass on the Koss is liquid-like, pure, and natural in tone and texture. The bass on the FiiO is thicker and woolly, and overall, the headphone feels darker.
Drop + HIFIMAN HE5XX
For reference, the tone of the HIFIMAN is overly thin versus the much thicker feeling FT3. I do also feel like the HD5XX has a purer and razor-like bass that doesn’t feel as weighted or wooly as the FiiO FT3 offers.
Beyond that, the FiiO sounds like it is two 5XXs stacked on each other on imaging properties. The FiiO also is more sterile in treble tone, and the HIFIMAN feels more natural, less colored into the bright tier.
Yes, the FiiO has tame treble, but it is still a bit bright and feels colder, and a bit icy. Not too much though.
Our Verdict
FiiO seems to own the middle tier now and that especially rings true with sound staging. At $299, FT3 is a great bargain. You can retain excellent bass control even at +8dB extra, and that is a lot.
The build of the headphones is excellent, I’m not happy about the suspension system and how it feels on my head, but it’s not a big deal. I’d rather have gotten a 2.5mm than a 4.4mm, but that’s just me.
Overall, the FiiO FT3 is a soundstage nightmare for everyone else in the middle tier. Good. This will force others to innovate and catch up next year. For now, FiiO is leading the pack with a headphone that combines clarity with a thick heft, which is a rare combo these days.
FiiO FT3 Technical Specifications
- Impedance: 350Ω
- Sensitivity: 102dB
- Frequency Response Range: 7Hz-40kHz
- Driver Type: 60mm Dynamic Driver
- Diaphragm Material: Beryllium-plated Gasket + DLC Diaphragm
- Weight: 13oz (391g)
- Earpad Pressure: 4.0N±0.3N
- Cable Length: ~9.8ft (~3m)
