Fiio FT1 Headphone Review

[mr.at]

Yeah I agree subjectively - I have these, and I don't like em at all - the sound is the issue. Worst of all my cans.

 

[Curupira]

Maybe Amir really got a bad unit. RTings also doesn't show either the heavy mid-range distortion nor channel imbalance: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/fiio/ft1

Their distortion graph follows Amirm's to a T. Maybe you were looking at the weighted version (WHD) ?

 

[CedarX]

I prefer these over the K371. Do the K371 require less EQ and still sound better? Maybe, but after EQ, they both sound very good to me. But no matter how hard I EQ, the FT1 keeps looking stunning!
Sometimes, owning a nice device (i have the beechwood version of the FT1) is enough to tip all the scales…

 

[Rincewind42]

I bought these because they were rather cheap and I was curious. Without EQ they're unbearably boomy. I have no idea what the mainstream reviewers were thinking when they talk about "natural, neutral sound" in their Fiio FT1 reviews.

Amir's EQ is not bad, but no amount of EQing can turn these into something I enjoy listening to. For reference, I love the sound of my HD6xx without EQ, then I have a couple of modded Fostex T50RPs from 10 years ago and the T50RP 50th anniversary edition is my most recent acquisition (which I EQ heavily, but then it's like a dream).

I thought I'd give these another chance, so I've been switching back and forth between the FT1 and the HD6xx and T50Rp 50th for the past 2-3 hours. Man, for me the FT1 is just worse in every single aspect (admittedly, I'm one of those who thinks the HD6xx is perfect and doesn't need more bass, and subbass generally annoys me). There's a sort of artificial, plasticky quality to the high mids & low treble on the FT1, some weird boxiness somewhere, and a general lack of sparkle and air. None of this can be fixed with EQ, it's all over the place. Then the bass is just boomy overall. Reducing the bass with a low shelf helps somewhat, but the boominess always remains until you pull down the bass so much that it's almost gone. No matter how I try to EQ it, the results are just oscillating between muffled, harsh, boomy, and the artificial plasticky quality is always there, no matter what. It's like a global effect over the audio, something I don't hear with the HD6xx and especially not the Fostex which is crystal clear to my ears. The Fostex, in particular, takes EQ like no big deal; even bigger EQ moves sound quite natural, it's weird and not sure how to describe it.

So... dunno. I'm not a fan. I guess the Fostex and Sennheiser have really "spoilt" me.

A question to you all, what do you think could be the cause for this "EQ resistant" plasticky quality in the mids and treble? All I could think of is distortion. I'd like to understand what measurable property of the headphone correlates with this "effect" so I can avoid similar headphones in the future.

 

[Curupira]

what do you think could be the cause for this "EQ resistant" plasticky quality in the mids and treble? All I could think of is distortion.

Peaks and dips that are manifestations of distortion and/or cup reflections and resonances, either destructive or constructive. Creating closed ear designs that sound as "natural" as open ear solutions can be challenging because it requires a lot of acoustic planning. That type of incoherence, IME, is very common with those designs, though it's not impossible to get a coherent solution on the cheap, like the AKG K371.

 

[Rincewind42]

Peaks and dips that are manifestations of distortion and/or cup reflections and resonances, either destructive or constructive. Creating closed ear designs that sound as "natural" as open ear solutions can be challenging because it requires a lot of acoustic planning.

Thanks, that's informative. Probably the best course of action for me is to stay away from closed cans. Luckily, I don't really need them, and the semi-closed Fostexes are isolating enough for me and have none of these problems.

I just gave it another try with a piece that features a rather "violent" violin solo in the upper registers. On the T50RP, the attack and "force" of the notes clearly come through, and there are no weird resonances. On the FT1, most notes are both harsh and muffled at the same time (the attack part sounds a bit compressed) and every second note jumps out because of some weird resonance. Plus the boxiness is back with a vengeance in the busier passages.

 

[FTB]

Thanks, that's informative. Probably the best course of action for me is to stay away from closed cans. Luckily, I don't really need them, and the semi-closed Fostexes are isolating enough for me and have none of these problems.

I just gave it another try with a piece that features a rather "violent" violin solo in the upper registers. On the T50RP, the attack and "force" of the notes clearly come through, and there are no weird resonances. On the FT1, most notes are both harsh and muffled at the same time (the attack part sounds a bit compressed) and every second note jumps out because of some weird resonance. Plus the boxiness is back with a vengeance in the busier passages.

I had the same impression with the FT1, both muddy (too much bass) and harsh (peak somewhere on the upper registry).

 

[Curupira]

Thanks, that's informative. Probably the best course of action for me is to stay away from closed cans.

That is a general heuristic, but you can seek closed designs that offer a smooth FR. The trick is to look for unsmoothed measurements like Amirm's, that show if there are a lot of peaking and dipping. There are also known brands that strive for that type of response, like DCA's recent offerings, as they have a lot of R&D into their designs, often with very creative (and patented) solutions. They are pricey, though.

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That, or, as I said before, go for IEMs.

 

[FTB]

That is a general heuristic, but you can seek closed designs that offer a smooth FR. The trick is to look for unsmoothed measurements like Amirm's, that show if there are a lot of peaking and dipping. There are also known brands that strive for that type of response, like DCA's recent offerings, as they have a lot of R&D into their designs, often with very creative (and patented) solutions. They are pricey, though.

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That, or, as I said before, go for IEMs.

It's sure 50$ IEMs like the Truthear Zero Red are better than 150$ headphones like the FT1 or K371 in term of target compliance and smooth response.
I talk about Zero red because Zero (the blue ones) are a bit too shooty for me.

 

[_Piotr]

Purely subjective, but I really like them. I only have three dynamic headphones HD650, MDR-MV1, and these. Out of the three, these have the best sub-bass. I also prefer them without any EQ.

 

[amirm]

Maybe Amir really got a bad unit. RTings also doesn't show either the heavy mid-range distortion nor channel imbalance: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/fiio/ft1

Those tiny graphs they post are useless in this regard. Click to enlarge them and you see differentials. They don't allow linking so here is a snippet of it:

Clearly differences in bass and then in treble.

 

[Rincewind42]

Update: Okay, I was hellbent on turning these into something usable for gaming purposes at least as it doesn't make much sense to sell such a cheap pair of headphones with a loss.

It turns out Oratory1990's EQ makes a huge difference and turns these cans into something enjoyable (but still hyped) for my ears. That will do nicely for gaming. I made the following tweaks to his settings:

Bass shelf: 3.5 dB (was 5.5 dB stock)
Treble shelf: 3 dB (was 5 db stock)

To my ears, this is a vast improvement over Amir's EQ. The annoying "sheen", "plastic" and "boxy" feeling is 80-90% gone on most materials. Classical sounds quite natural, no weird resonances on solo instruments, electronic music with hyped bass and treble sounds well, still hyped, but within my "acceptable" margin and not annoying anymore (treble can be a bit on the shrill side at times, depending on the track, but it's alright). The sound is actually quite enjoyable now, I'm rather surprised.

So yeah, if some of you are annoyed by the stock sound, I recommend trying Oratory1990's EQ adjusted to taste with the shelves (check out his PDF for details).

That's 9 bands and the resulting curve is rather funky, but I don't even care. If it sounds good, it's good

 

[DillonK1992]

I noticed channel matching problems and too much bass within the first 10 seconds of listening...
Thanks again Amir for another brilliant headphone review.

 

[DillonK1992]

Those tiny graphs they post are useless in this regard. Click to enlarge them and you see differentials. They don't allow linking so here is a snippet of it:
View attachment 483627

Clearly differences in bass and then in treble.

Those tiny graphs they post are useless in this regard.

That's right... ASR is actually much better for headphone reviews. We get info that otherwise wouldn't be available on other sites. Salient information that can make or break a purchasing decision after an audition. Measurements here prove that problem areas exist; due to design flaws and substandard engineering.

 

[solderdude]

Those tiny graphs they post are useless in this regard. Click to enlarge them and you see differentials. They don't allow linking so here is a snippet of it:
View attachment 483627

Clearly differences in bass and then in treble.

The version I measured (no pinna/ear canal) also had channel differences in the same ballpark (plot smoothed 1/6 octave).

 

[Subob]

That's right... ASR is actually much better for headphone reviews. We get info that otherwise wouldn't be available on other sites. Salient information that can make or break a purchasing decision after an audition. Measurements here prove that problem areas exist; due to design flaws and substandard engineering.

Tbf, I only needed a very short time listening to this headphone before dismissing it as 'poor' in terms for sound quality, at least for my tastes. That was long before this review.

Others, thinking of blinding buying this without having seen Amir's review will be duped by endless online hype into thinking this headphone performs way way above its price bracket. It simply doesn't. What it excels at is looks for its price bracket, certainly.

Personal auditions, when possible, can prove to be priceless.

 

[FTB]

Tbf, I only needed a very short time listening to this headphone before dismissing it as 'poor' in terms for sound quality, at least for my tastes. That was long before this review.

Others, thinking of blinding buying this without having seen Amir's review will be duped by endless online hype into thinking this headphone performs way way above its price bracket. It simply doesn't. What it excels at is looks for its price bracket, certainly.

Personal auditions, when possible, can prove to be priceless.

So much stuff in audio are hype BS... from blind reviewers who don't do any measurements and are biased by subjective feelings.

"These headphones sound good for x music genre"

"This amp have better pace"

"These speakers reach 20 Hz"

...

 

[Blimple]

I

Thanks for the review! Do you measured GD?

 

[solderdude]

Thanks for the review! Do you measured GD?

Amir might not have generated the plot or forgot to add it.
Here's my GD plot of the FT1 (in case Amir does not add one).

It shows very little and low in frequency pad bounce (40Hz) and some resonances at 150Hz, 240Hz and 650Hz.
You can also see the 240Hz and 650Hz resonances in the FR plot from Amir

 

[Blimple]

Amir might not have generated the plot or forgot to add it.
Here's my GD plot of the FT1 (in case Amir does not add one).

Thank you!