FiiO FT3 Headphones Review.

So, with moderate expectations, I started listening to the FiiO FT3 headphones. They are moderate in price ($299.00), and I expected a moderate-sounding pair of headphones. Not so. These headphones look expensive and sound quite a bit better than their modest price suggests. The fit and finish, and details many brands skimp on, like the quality of cables and the case, are very nice and well thought out.

The FiiO FT3 headphones come with everything you need to start, with a variety of connectors including 3.5mm, 4.4mm, 6.3mm, and XLR 4-pin terminations. The cable itself is 3 meters (10 feet) long, which is a bit bewildering. With an impedance of 350 ohms, it is neither easy nor particularly hard to drive, but getting everything out of the FT3 and the frequency extremes will strongly suggest you have a beefy amplifier. Overall, I find the FT3 headphones to be a real bargain at their price, and a pleasant surprise for this grizzled headphone tester.

I’ve been using headphones since my college days of working in radio. Back then Sennheiser HD414 was all the rage, and I bought a pair for listening in the dorm so as not to disturb others (who had no hesitation to disturb the whole floor with loud Pink Floyd or the Iron Butterfly).

So, I’ve heard a lot of headphones and a vast amount of music.

FiiO has been around for a long time, starting in 2007, and from the start getting noticed in the HiFi world for products that were better than the typical “made in China’ clones of Western electronics. They have created a notable series of DACS, DAPS, and Amps. I have a FiiO M15 digital audio player, which I have reviewed for Secrets, and it has served me well with reliability and high-quality playback when I travel. My experience made me anxious to hear what the company was doing with headphones, so here we are.

The FiiO FT3 is pretty stunning to look at, especially at its price point. It features a Beryllium-plated gasket and composite diaphragm. The material is lightweight, contributing to comfort. The headphone body consists of a 3-axis swiveling design for a good fit, and they keep the drivers parallel to the ear. The entire frame is aluminum alloy. It looks like it belongs on more expensive headphones. FiiO provides two slightly different sounding sets of ear pads, one suede, and one leather to provide different sound signatures. That’s a unique feature at this price.

The FiiO FT3 is very nicely presented. It comes in a stylish black box, and when you open it, you see the lovely leather case.

Inside are the variety of cables mentioned above, and a 10-foot cord. Below the case is the extra pair of ear pads, and a manual. Getting ready to listen is just a matter of choosing which cable terminations you will use. For my auditions, I used both the balanced and unbalanced jacks. FiiO provides every cable you will need to accommodate any equipment.

For playback, I listened most often to high-resolution tracks served by my Roon server over a gigabit ethernet network. I also listened on my FiiO M15 DAP. I had some headphones standing by for comparison, including Focal Clear Mg headphones, and some Sennheiser and HIFIMAN products.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, so just put on tracks known to be of high quality, and tracks I know well. All the comparison headphones I listened to were more expensive than the FiiO FT3.

My first impressions were good ones. I liked the sound and comfort of the FiiO FT3 right away. Since they are around the ear designs, there’s scant pressure on my ears, and I did not find the FiiO FT3 headphones heavy. I did try both ear cups but did not hear a significant sound difference, although the different coverings felt different on my face. I didn’t have a particular preference.

I think value is where the FiiO FT3 headphones shine. The quality of the headphones itself is high, the cables are of excellent quality, and the leather carrying case is more than one would expect at $299.00. While the FiiO FT3 are not the very best headphones I have heard, it is superior to anything I’ve auditioned at or near its price.

There is a lot to like in these headphones. Construction-wise, it seems over-specced at its price point. The sound is analytical. I could not describe it as warm or lush, things that some listeners will want in a headphone. I just want what the program material provides. I think these headphones would find a good home in a recording studio where you don’t want anything imposed by the designers.

By the same token, I would not call these headphones cold. When there is a richly ambient recording environment, you can hear it. In a damped-down studio, you can concentrate on the vocalists or the instruments.

The FT3 headphones image nicely. The positions of performers are well etched in their respective positions.