FiiO FT3 Headphone Review

The FiiO FT3 headphone is a new fully open-back dynamic driver headphone that is priced at $299 and is surely set to change what people think of chi-fi headphones. This headphone features a 60mm driver with beryllium-plated gasket and DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) coated diaphragm. The product is sold by APOS Audio in the United States, and can be found at the following link: https://apos.audio/products/fiio-ft3-open-back-dynamic-driver-headphones

This product was provided for an extended loan from Apos. It was probably longer than normal mostly because I found myself a bit busy with other commitments in my life that I did not review this in the normal time period. That said, this is still a loaned out unit, and I will be shipping this back to Apos following the review period.

Now for a little bit of personal background on my thoughts on the state of "chi-fi" and over-ear headphones. The market is ripe for a disrupter, and many of the previous chinese-brand headphones I've tried in the past have come up quite short, despite providing decent price points but with average to mediocre sound tunings and build quality. The exception to this, is of course, Hifiman, which is probably the most consistent brand with a tuning that fits well with me. I own and have owned many Hifiman products in the past including currently the $6000 Susvara and the $100 HE400SE.

Chinese brands have attacked the market, and have become incredibly successful in the IEM market in the past decade, and it continues to grow. They've hit the mark with great tuning, amazing price points, and good build quality, and now you can grab a very good product for no more than the price of lunch or dinner. They are very competitive in this space, but this has not translated as well to the over-ear headphones market thus far.

The FiiO FT3 may change that. This headphone has a very nice build quality, with well design metal and plastic components and "protein leather" pads on the headband and pads themselves. The product comes with a cable with modularity that works with all different sources, and 2 sets of pads to choose from. I primarily stuck with the default pads, which are suede and sound great.

The product also comes with a leather carrying case that is well designed and of good quality and looks.

Sound Impressions

The FiiO FT3 headphone has a very balanced and slightly V-shaped sound signature. It has a slightly elevated bass range that focuses a little bit more on the mid-bass range. The mid range is slightly recessed, while the upper-mids are a touch forward, with the treble being just slightly brighter than I would prefer for this tonality -- which I admit, is very close to what my preferred tonality is for an over-ear headphone. This is generally a well-tuned headphone and one that I was surprised to hear given the lackluster over-ear headphones I've heard in the past from other Chinese-brands.

When you compare it to the Harman target, it definitely has a larger mid-bass emphasis, than the Harman research preference target suggests, but for my personal preferences, the Harman target is a tad too lean in this area and that makes the entire tonality of the target a little bright. The FT3, luckily skews closer to where I prefer in the bass range.

I still find the overall tonality to be a tad bright, but nothing distracting or glaringly annoying or fatiguing. For example, when I listen to Chris Stapleton's latest record, "Higher", and the first track, "What Am I Gonna Do", I do find his voice is sometimes a little bright around the edges when he does his typical gritty "wails" at the end of each lyric line. 

On "Seabed" by Nanna, the FT3 presents a great balance of dynamics and smoothness. The female singer from Of Monsters and Men has a gentle and very unique voice that has subtleties that come out with exacting details on the FT3. The sweeping bridge of the track is smooth and sounds accurate to me. During some of the build-up areas of the song, I am missing a bit of sub-bass impact that I hear on my IEMs and the planar-magnetic headphones, that provide more impressiveness to this beautiful song, and I feel it's a little lacking here on this dynamic driver headphone. For whatever reason, few dynamic driver headphones excel in sub-bass, and I find this more present and to my liking on planars instead.

One track that I really like to check the bass performance on is London Grammar's "Hey Now". There's a part in the introduction around 1:20, right when singer, Hannah Reid, says "Hey Now". The bass line right at this point drops very low and on some headphones, its skull rattling, while still being very controlled and with a lot of texture and tactile. Unfortunately on the FT3, I don't get the full sensation of it here. It's well-controlled but quite a bit more toned down and lacking that deep bass emphasis that I really enjoy. But that's not to say it sounds bad. It's just not the headphones' speciality.

The FT3 shines more on traditional rock and folk music, where electronic-sub-bass isn't used and most instruments and vocals fall in-line with where the FT3's best parts lay in.

On the popular older track, "Maneater" by Halls and Oates, the FT3 does a great job of keeping the steady drum and bass lines in perfect harmony with the vocals. I never sensed this track sounding astray from what I expect it to sound.

On one of my favorite tracks of all-time, "Last Goodbye" by the late Jeff Buckley, the FT3 shows off the guitar introduction exceptionally well, while delivers Buckley's falsetto vocals wonderfully at the same time. This track can have the tendency to come across as fatiguing and overly forward on some headphones due to the constant mixture of his voice, the cymbal and guitar attacks, and the constant snare drums, but I find the FT3 presents this with smoothness and ease, and in good definition.

Comparison to the Sony MDR-MV1

The Sony MDR-MV1 is my most used over-ear headphone in my arsenal right now. I've been using it much more frequently than my Hifiman Susvara and my Sennheiser HD600 headphones. The MV1 has a more laid-back and warmer tonality than the other two, while also still have good sub-bass performance and a slightly bright treble, which increases its soundstage psychoacoustic presentation above the HD600, but still smaller than the Susvara.

When I compare it to the FT3, there's a few things that stand out that make them similar and also unique to each other. For similarities, they are priced in the same range at $299 and $399. The Sony is a tad more expensive, and some of that probably comes from the brand recognition.

They both also are lightweight open-back headphones that are easy to wear. The Sony, however, is significantly more comfortable due to its lighter-weight, softer and larger pads, and generally perfect clamping force.

They also both feature sound signatures that have more bass than normal open-back headphones, and both do it tastefully, and without too much muddiness, and for the most part are considered balanced tonalities.

The differences are still there though. The FT3 sounds clearer, and more resolving. It has a slightly more forward and brighter tonality in the upper-mids, which helps make it sound more clean. The Sony MV1 has more sub-bass performance, while the FT3 focuses a little more on the mid-bass range. You trade a little bit of impact for punch and vice-versa.

And finally, I think that while the FT3 probably sounds a little more accurate in its presentation, the MV1 beats it in overall comfort and a more laid-back and pleasing presentation.

Final Thoughts

The FiiO FT3 is a very good headphone and comes in a great price at $299 where it should remain very competitive with the Sennheiser HD600/650 and the Sony MDR-MV1. The FT3 has a good combination of great build quality, accessories, and tuning that makes this a really solid entry into FiiO audio line-up that I continue to be more impressed with as they progress. 

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