FiiO FT1 Review – Endgame for $149
The FiiO FT1 cups are made from carefully selected American black walnut in FAS quality. The smooth grain of the wood, which is unique to each piece, and the fine texture bring out its natural beauty. This very dense solid wood also helps to effectively reduce cavity resonances and minimize standing waves.
The FiiO FT1 features a newly developed 60 mm second-generation dynamic driver specifically designed for FiiO’s first closed-back over-ear headphones. The larger-than-average driver improves the efficiency of energy conversion and provides a solid foundation for powerful bass. In addition, the larger size of the driver results in lower resonance points at low frequencies, allowing for deeper bass, dynamic sound, and an overall authoritative sound.
The cone of the FiiO FT1 is mainly made of carefully selected paper wood fibers based on 90-year-old spruce wood from Northern Europe. European spruce is a premium raw material for musical instruments and fiber products, known for its clear and natural sound. Mature northern European spruce wood undergoes a series of processes including soaking, boiling, and beating to produce a specific pulp. A certain amount of carbon fiber material is added to meet the acoustic resilience requirements.
The membrane is then baked and molded in a further round so that it finally reaches a thickness of around 0.1 mm, and is light and resistant. To bring out the full acoustic performance of the nano wood fibers, a lightweight PU material with high internal resistance is used for the suspension seal, which improves the compliance of the diaphragm and increases elasticity in the low-frequency range, enhancing the density of voices from the sound source.
In keeping with its overall acoustic concept and high-quality listening experience, the FiiO FT1 uses a nano wood fiber cone. This membrane consists of carefully selected paper fibers in combination with a lightweight PU (polyurethane) suspension seal. This driver works in harmony with the FT1’s other acoustic design elements to deliver a specially tuned frequency response for a pure and pleasing sound experience.
The FT1, FiiO’s first closed-back over-ear headphones, pioneers a new generation of in-house acoustic technology – the W-shaped suspension seal. The 25 mm diameter voice coil is larger compared to similar models and has been specially optimized and tuned. Compared to typical, similarly sized cones, the W-shaped cone achieves a 25.8 % larger effective vibrating area, allowing it to store more energy reserves. The FT1’s cone with a hard dome and a compliant suspension seal allows the 25 mm voice coil to drive the stiffer dome region directly. This design minimizes vibration losses between the different materials and reduces distortion caused by driver break-up.
The FiiO FT1 uses a specially imported Japanese ultra-fine CCAW (Copper-Clad Aluminium Wire) voice coil with a diameter of up to 25 mm. A longer copper wire of the voice coil can directly improve the efficiency of the transducer and the drive capacity, resulting in a better transient response. Each wire core in the CCAW coil has a diameter of approx. 0.035 mm and is therefore as thin as a hair. In addition, the voice coil frame of the FT1 is made of lightweight KSV (Kapton), which also contributes to a significant reduction in overall cone mass. The result is improved response speed and minimized reverberation.
The FT1 is FiiO’s first closed-back over-ear headphones and incorporates several features specifically designed to enhance the closed-back listening experience. A series of sound-absorbing components in the FT1 effectively reduce ambient noise, including external voices and ambient noise, by up to 26 dB.
The U-shaped sound attenuation tube specially developed for the FiiO FT1 not only improves passive noise reduction but also ensures that sound energy is channeled through the flute over a certain length and angle, increasing the air viscosity and reducing the resonance frequency of the cavity. This further improves the bass expansion.
Based on the characteristics of the FT1 dynamic drivers, the development team has designed a conical baffle for them. This device allows the entire driver to be positioned parallel to the human ear, breaking sound convergence and avoiding standing waves. The result is minimal attenuation of high frequencies.
The FiiO FT1 is designed to provide users with a high-quality hi-fi experience in various usage scenarios. To achieve this, the FT1 has a low impedance of 32Ω and offers an acoustic sensitivity of 113dB/Vrms@1kHz (equivalent to 98dB/mW@1kHz). This significantly reduces the need for drive power.
To make the FT1 headband more portable and lighter, it is equipped with high-quality steel rails that significantly increase the durability of the headband. You will feel the precision and sophistication of the mechanical construction every time you adjust the headband. In addition, compared to similar products, the FT1 offers an extended adjustment range from 0 to 11 clicks to adapt to different head sizes. The part of the headband that comes into contact with the head is made of lychee leather for a soft and comfortable feel.
The FT1 has inherited the excellent ergonomic design of the FiiO FT series. The adaptive 3-axis headband allows free rotation at different angles. This design adapts to different head sizes and ensures a snug fit on the head for improved comfort and minimized sound loss.
The FiiO FT1 has a frequency response of 10 Hz to 40 kHz, providing a studio-like listening experience. Every little detail is reproduced cleanly, just as you would expect from a professional audio device.
Experience comfortable long listening sessions and say goodbye to congestion. The FT1 is equipped with breathable fabric ear pads, which are made of a textile material that comes into contact with your skin. The high-density, breathable mesh design efficiently dissipates the heat that builds up between the ear pads and your ears. The side of the ear pads is made of protein leather, which not only looks good but feels good too.
The FiiO FT1 features two 3.5mm TRS headphone jacks, allowing you to easily switch and upgrade to a different headphone cable.
The FT1 comes with a high-quality headphone storage bag, made with the same materials and techniques used by top French brands. It offers a refined and elegant look rarely found in this class but is undoubtedly useful for protection.
The brand-new FT1 has two headphone cables – 3.5 mm plugs (single-ended) and 4.4 mm plugs (balanced). Both cables are identical and consist of an oxygen-free, copper-coated silver wire base with 392 wires, have a thickness of 24AWG, and are 1.5 meters long. This makes the FT1 compatible with many audio devices as you can easily switch between cables. They produce a transparent yet robust sound so that you can enjoy lossless audio quality to the full.
Features
- Solid American black walnut shells
- 60 mm dynamic driver nano wood fiber composite diaphragm
- Nanowood fiber composite diaphragm
- W-shaped suspension seal
- Closed-back design
- U-shaped acoustic damping tube
- Conical baffle plate
- 32 Ω high-sensitivity design
- Frequency Range: 10 – 40 000 Hz
- Sensitivity: 98 dB/mW@1kHz, 113 dB/Vrms@1kHz
- Sound Isolation (up to): -26dB
- Earpad pressure: 4.5N +/- 0.3N
- Cable length: 150cm
- 3.5 mm and 4.4 mm headphone cables included
- High-quality headphone storage bag
- Weight: 340 g
- Detachable Cable
- Price: $147.58
Unboxing
Sound
The FiiO FT1 is a fun headphone with good resolution, good dynamics, and excitement. It has a forward and dynamic signature with good definition and crispness. To me, it’s a good headphone for fun listening, especially for modern music. The FT1 left me with the impression that it was tuned to popular music genres, and it doesn’t have an audiophile tuning overall.
Lows
The bass response of the FiiO FT1 has good rumble and sub-bass emphasis. It’s very enjoyable and impressive, especially for modern recordings where you have a lot of bass. It feels like it’s tuned for a more mainstream crowd, instead of the audiophiles.
So the sub-bass performance is very impressive and there’s a good texture, kick, and definition here. The mid-bass area is a bit diffused when compared to the sub-bass, which creates a space that is not very realistic, but certainly fun. So, great sub-bass, but the mid-bass could’ve been stronger for a more realistic tuning. It has good enough quickness and dynamism, as well as recovery.
So overall, the bass performance is good, and well separated from the mids. That provides a good sense of space that feels a bit unrealistic since the mid-bass is held back. But in terms of enjoyment, bass lovers would be well-impressed. I’m pretty much OK with it though since I think this headphone is targeted for mainstream music.
Mids
The mids are very clean sounding with great resolution for the price. I’m blown away by the resolution level for 149$. Even some 500$ headphones don’t provide this much resolution, detail, and transparency in the mid-range.
For the overall presentation, the mid-range is quite forward and lively, as well as being very dynamic. The upper mid-range is the most boosted area, which feels a bit unnatural but female vocals are some much fun because of this. There’s a very good definition here, especially with vocals, and the positioning is quite nice.
The headphone manages to provide a good amount of air and the vocals are especially breathy. So the bass response plays an important role for the FiiO FT1. Since it hits clean and physically away from the midrange, the vocals and instruments have a good room to shine, without any overshadowing from bass hits. However, there’s a price for it. The mid-range lacks the realistic timbre and foundation when it comes to fullness and mid-bass emphasis.
Apart from that, there’s good resolution and transparency in the midrange, which is the headphone’s strongest ability in this region.
Treble
The treble presentation is something I would call relaxed but well-defined. Once again, the resolution level is very impressive, and it gives a great micro-detail performance which is not expected from the price.
It reproduces the treble in a crispy way, but there’s no harshness whatsoever. Highs have a very good definition and they sound articulated. If you like your treble crisp and dynamic, the FiiO FT1 would give you that. The treble has very good transparency as well.
Highs are also nicely extended. The timbre is excellent in this region, and the openness and clarity of the treble are excellent. The timbre here is better than the timbre in the mid-range, as the treble has excellent balance, articulation, and extension for a closed-back budget headphone. The fun signature may suit many people nicely depending on the genres they prefer to listen to.
Staging
The FiiO FT1 excels in staging, partially due to its extended sub-bass and reserved bass, as well as its impressive extension that creates spacious headroom. As a result, instruments sound more spread out, while vocals, especially lighter voices, take a front position and are well-separated.
The FiiO FT1 also offers good depth perception, and its moderately responsive membrane, particularly when paired with less powerful devices, effectively reveals bass details and airy qualities.
When it comes to acoustic instruments and pianos, there is adequate detail, although the impact may feel slightly subdued, and the holographic effect is not as pronounced. Pairing the FiiO FT1 with linear sources will give it a better balance if you focus more on the instruments.
Sum-Up
Once in a while, there are some audio gears that become famous/legendary in time. The reason for this is mainly their price/performance ratio, meaning you get a lot of fun for the price you pay. The FiiO FT1, in my opinion, is one of these headphones. For the price you pay you get a lot of everything. Sound quality, build quality, rich box content, and the joy of this purchase. It is a truly great-sounding all-rounder headphone. It feels like an endgame for just $149.