FiiO FT7 is out

[Soria Moria]

Launch price is approximately $699. These are FiiO's latest headphones and based on their recent track-record with the FT1 and FT1 Pro I have high hopes for these.

The only measurements I have seen are these official ones by FiiO:

 

[InfiniteJester]

Insulting. Pure nonsense.

 

[InfiniteJester]

The planar driver uses high-performance PET as the diaphragm substrate and selectively applies 24K gold and pure silver to create a multi-layer coated driver – leveraging the advantages of both of those precious metals.

Take out the 24K gold, the pure silver and the cryogenic treatment, and you may end up with a competitive product.

 

[ErinPraline]

Considering Fiio pulled out of the US we'll likely never see this tested here. Honestly though Dan Clark Audio are the only ones making well tuned planar magnetic headphones.

 

[Noodles]

“Frozen nitrogen”, gold and silver to coat a diaphragm for what is essentially a speaker.
Chat gpt generated slop again.

 

[ErinPraline]

“Frozen nitrogen”, gold and silver to coat a diaphragm for what is essentially a speaker.
Chat gpt generated slop again.

I highly doubt it's chatgpt. This is just what audiophile marketing looks like unfortunately. Fiio has made some decently designed products like dacs amps combos and even some headphones/IEMs so I wouldn't write them off completely but they do resort to audiofool marketing

 

[Noodles]

Well given their track record regardless of snake oil peddling, I’ll check them out once they come out.
But they should really keep to the no nonsense approach they had with their previous entries.

 

[Nutul]

I am more concerned about the "frozen" Nitrogen... in its liquid state is already very bloody f***ing cold... at -196 C it is already boiling.

 

[Noodles]

Well tbh if they added a few more degrees to the negative (past -210 C). It would have even sounded believable, though I’m not even sure what would be the point of freezing copper to that temperature… maybe cool “would it blend” videos ?

 

[salmo]

Still waiting for 'Liqiud Helium Frozen Cables' - LHFC technology

 

[Nutul]

Still waiting for 'Liqiud Helium Frozen Cables' - LHFC technology

Considering that Helium is still liquid at 0 K, this would be a big achievement in cryogenic-treated audio cables, uh?
1. make the cable
2. immerse in liquid He
3. wipe the cable dry
4. pack and ship it.
Mindblowing...

 

[unpluggged]

I highly doubt it's chatgpt

OK, Deepseek then.

 

[mc.god]

Given the skyrocketing price of gold I'll buy some, melt their drivers and sell gold

 

[Oldson]

the headphone is interesting but Fiio have no credibility with me now after that frozen cable nonsense.

 

[Noodles]

With FiiO it’s always been an internal struggle for me. On one hand the price proposition is very appealing, but on the other hand if you have an issue with software specifically … good luck getting it fixed anytime soon if not ever.
What they have done here is try to justify the higher price tag … but they used the wrong approach.

 

[deitrick]

I'm curious to see what reviewers say. I'm hoping they fair well. Fiio has been good to me over the years (and so has Hiby). I love to see the little guys start swinging big.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

I wonder if the diaphragm is similar to the one used in XK Serene\Susvara

 

[Uncle Dubbs]

Well tbh if they added a few more degrees to the negative (past -210 C). It would have even sounded believable, though I’m not even sure what would be the point of freezing copper to that temperature… maybe cool “would it blend” videos ?

It’s for overclocking! ‍=p

 

[ModernViking]

The nitrogen usage is from the OCC process, nothing new. It yields a more pure copper.
Don't know about frozen nitrogen though, I think that was a typo.
You can read about it here: https://6moons.com/audioreviews/interconnects/interconnects_3.html

 

[NihilGuru]

marketing bullshit aside, it might seem like snake oil but it isn't. Nitrogen is normally used for the OCC process. Silver is used for its excellent intrinsic properties while gold is used to protect the silver from oxidation. Nothing strange, nothing sensational. Have you ever wondered why your jacks are gold/silver/rhodium plated? There are non-plated jacks but, what's the point of using them? In the vast world of electronics in general, silver and gold have always been used. I don't understand the surprise of some. It's obvious that it's pure marketing for audiophiles, but they're not saying that their cables will make you have bass below 20hz and that you will hear the warmth of the instruments as well as a larger soundstage and "cold" voices, like certain Nordost or Audioquest 30k cables They're just telling the truth, that is, better conductivity. Sorry for the bad English, I don't usually speak it and I have a hard time digesting it in everyday life. p.s Look at the structure of OFC and OCC copper under the microscope.