AKG K371 vs FiiO FT1

[isostasy]

To throw a spanner in, I think the Adam H200 looks promising (construction and FR wise)

Not sure what's happened to Cammy I can't find their squig.link to compare the above with other headphones on their rig.

 

[staticV3]

To throw a spanner in, I think the Adam H200 looks promising (construction and FR wise)

Not sure what's happened to Cammy I can't find their squig.link to compare the above with other headphones on their rig.

Massive fit variability:

Source

 

[markanini]

Massive fit variability:
View attachment 448672
Source

It's prudent to qualify: Compared to what on which rig? Note that closed backs have increased fit variability vs open backs. Each type of design has inherent systemic advantages and disadvantages. More needs to be known before making a meaningful judgement.

 

[petebone]

Yes they are as they can be repeated with the same results.
That's the definition of science.




Maybe you are not a Harman person and that's fine. I like harman curve as I usually like the headphones which measure well on this target.
The HD560S was too shooty (treble peaking is obvious to the ears) and you can see this or these treble peak(s) on measurements made by Amir, DIYaudioheaven, Crinacle or Oratory.

I don't think that is for no reason that these famous reviewers use the harman target.

You keep thinking that you are making some scientific argument based on measurements that someone at some point has deemed as ideal. If we want to use science, then everyone's ears should hear things exactly in the same way, correct? That isn't the case so you making some argument that certain headphones and IEMs are "unbearable" to listen to for everyone is plain incorrect.

 

[FTB]

You keep thinking that you are making some scientific argument based on measurements that someone at some point has deemed as ideal. If we want to use science, then everyone's ears should hear things exactly in the same way, correct? That isn't the case so you making some argument that certain headphones and IEMs are "unbearable" to listen to for everyone is plain incorrect.

I am not making myself scientific argument as I am not the author of the work we talk about.

The Harman curve from Dr Sean Olive is, in fact, a preference curve but made with a scientific method : a large panel of people from different countries, age, gender... who determined with several iterations that can be repeated their preference curve.

Is it not about "one person" liking more this curve : two third of the population like it.
Sean Olive describe the other cases in this PDF (women, elder have different tastes) : https://danishsoundcluster.dk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Olive_DSD_2022.pdf

There are some limitations about this curve (in the pdf again) but it is the first very good start we have about measuring headphones, like Floyd Tool made in the eighties for speakers.

Denying this is obscurantism.

What I agree with you is the uselessness of the curves made by one and only headphones or IEM reviewer. That's not the case for harman.

 

[FTB]

RTings released their review of the Fiio FT1 :

FIIO FT1 Review

FIIO has made a name for itself as a competitively priced audio enthusiast company with products that fill niches like standalone portable audio players, headpho...

www.rtings.com

They use their own preference curve so the results are of course different from Oratory's measurements made with harman.

We can still see the bloated bass around 100 Hz (like the ATH-M50x) and some peaking around 5-8 kHz.

It is hard to compare with the K371 they also measured as their review tool changed over time, v1.5 for the AKG and v2.0 for the Fiio.

By the way it is the Fiio FT3 (350 ohms version) which look very cool if you like harman target :

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Pretty enough bass for open headphones and globally very good compliance with the target. The K371 still has this big dip at 4 kHz.

 

[audio1200]

RTings released their review of the Fiio FT1 :

FIIO FT1 Review

FIIO has made a name for itself as a competitively priced audio enthusiast company with products that fill niches like standalone portable audio players, headpho...

www.rtings.com

They use their own preference curve so the results are of course different from Oratory's measurements made with harman.

We can still see the bloated bass around 100 Hz (like the ATH-M50x) and some peaking around 5-8 kHz.

It is hard to compare with the K371 they also measured as their review tool changed over time, v1.5 for the AKG and v2.0 for the Fiio.

By the way it is the Fiio FT3 (350 ohms version) which look very cool if you like harman target :

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Pretty enough bass for open headphones and globally very good compliance with the target. The K371 still has this big dip at 4 kHz.

8.0 score for the bass is too much, it has bloated bass like a gaming headset, its not controlled bass like k371.

 

[Pictus]

8.0 score for the bass is too much, it has bloated bass like a gaming headset, its not controlled bass like k371.

EQ is our friend, Oratory EQ and measurements.

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[audio1200]

EQ is our friend, Oratory EQ and measurements.

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

k371 doesn't need eq, this is why even with issues no closed back comes close to it. it's lightweight (fiio is 350g), confortable and sounds just right

 

[markanini]

EQ is our friend, Oratory EQ and measurements.

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

EQ is useful, but not a possibility for every setup. Sometimes elevated bass is used to cover up treble issues, which will be worse when the bass is corrected with EQ.

 

[audio1200]

EQ is useful, but not a possibility for every setup. Sometimes elevated bass is used to cover up treble issues, which will be worse when the bass is corrected with EQ.

the elevated bass definitively covers that 6khz peak, so you'll want to eq that as well. using full oratory profile without tweaks is not ideal.
to make it sound good with eq it takes a lot of trial and error and it's not trivial

 

[FTB]

EQ is not always possible, e.g. portable use with smartphone and a streaming service like Spotify or apple music.
The built-in android EQ isn't really one.
The k371 still sound good without EQ, that's why I find these headphones interesting...

Whatever some people will say measurements are bullshit and frequency response doesn't matter.