Anyone able to compare the 300 ohm to the 32ohm verson, while I like the OG FT3 I donno how well that sound translates over.
FiiO&JadeAudio Over-Ear Headphones Discussion & Impressions Thread
preauxtip
Head-Fier
I'm a bit confused by all the posts about how difficult to drive the 350ohm version of the FT3 is, because based on the numbers and based upon my own experiences it is not hard at all to drive, in fact it is easier to drive than headphones less often put in this arena like the Sennheiser HD58x.
I have seen people mostly referring to the voltage swings that will be required for this headphone to operate and that a higher Z headphone will require higher voltage swings and I feel like this is a big oversimplification. Really what should tell you about the voltage required is the Sensitivity rating of the headphone (when given in Vrms). 1v = how many db SPL. Less sensitive, more volts. No impedance required. Now, there is a bit of a trend you can see when you graph impedance vs voltage on several models but it isn't the most predictive outside of maybe the different Beyer models.
I gathered the data on 20 different headphone models, including both the 32 ohm and 350 ohm version of the FT3 to showcase this better:
Here is the raw data for 20 models, sorted by Vrms required for 120db SPL (very loud, yes). Due to the higher sensitivity of the 32 ohm version it does require fewer volts to achieve the same SPL. But worth noting it also requires over 3x the power to do so, which is certainly another restriction when deciding how easily something is driven. Compare both models to the HD58x which at 150 ohm requires a higher voltage and requires a lot more power than the 350 ohm FT3.
Also interestingly enough I was shocked to see the Thieaudio Ghost requiring as much voltage as it does, I had to double check my numbers. I run these out of a normal headphone jack all the time, not much power needed but definitely a lot of voltage.
Here's our same chart as above, but this time sorted by power. Again quite interesting how only 2 of the 20 models on here require over 1w to achieve 120dB SPL, and those two require an absolute truckload of power at 5w and 10w. Also interesting is how these two models get to the power required, for the HE6se it is very insensitive but a rather average impedance. Meanwhile the Moondrop Para is more sensitive but having the impedance of loudspeakers means it requires a lot of current.
For your data enjoyment here are a few scatterplots too! (Anything with power or amps is in a log scale)
We can see that sensitivity and Vrms have the expected logarithmic relationship. And we can also see a bit of a trend with voltage and impedance but it's very weak.
So back to the Fiio FT3 350 ohm, is it hard to drive? My 7hz dongle dac would say no, these get uncomfortably loud at max power over this little $45 dongle and are even fine running directly out of my laptop headphone jack. They require a bit of voltage yes, but not an extreme amount, and they require very low current resulting in very little power required.
I have seen people mostly referring to the voltage swings that will be required for this headphone to operate and that a higher Z headphone will require higher voltage swings and I feel like this is a big oversimplification. Really what should tell you about the voltage required is the Sensitivity rating of the headphone (when given in Vrms). 1v = how many db SPL. Less sensitive, more volts. No impedance required. Now, there is a bit of a trend you can see when you graph impedance vs voltage on several models but it isn't the most predictive outside of maybe the different Beyer models.
I gathered the data on 20 different headphone models, including both the 32 ohm and 350 ohm version of the FT3 to showcase this better:
Here is the raw data for 20 models, sorted by Vrms required for 120db SPL (very loud, yes). Due to the higher sensitivity of the 32 ohm version it does require fewer volts to achieve the same SPL. But worth noting it also requires over 3x the power to do so, which is certainly another restriction when deciding how easily something is driven. Compare both models to the HD58x which at 150 ohm requires a higher voltage and requires a lot more power than the 350 ohm FT3.
Also interestingly enough I was shocked to see the Thieaudio Ghost requiring as much voltage as it does, I had to double check my numbers. I run these out of a normal headphone jack all the time, not much power needed but definitely a lot of voltage.
Here's our same chart as above, but this time sorted by power. Again quite interesting how only 2 of the 20 models on here require over 1w to achieve 120dB SPL, and those two require an absolute truckload of power at 5w and 10w. Also interesting is how these two models get to the power required, for the HE6se it is very insensitive but a rather average impedance. Meanwhile the Moondrop Para is more sensitive but having the impedance of loudspeakers means it requires a lot of current.
For your data enjoyment here are a few scatterplots too! (Anything with power or amps is in a log scale)
We can see that sensitivity and Vrms have the expected logarithmic relationship. And we can also see a bit of a trend with voltage and impedance but it's very weak.
So back to the Fiio FT3 350 ohm, is it hard to drive? My 7hz dongle dac would say no, these get uncomfortably loud at max power over this little $45 dongle and are even fine running directly out of my laptop headphone jack. They require a bit of voltage yes, but not an extreme amount, and they require very low current resulting in very little power required.
Great post
The FT3 350 isn't really hard to drive. Don't know about dongles, haven't really tried, but none of my desktop amps did them injustice. The performance was surprisingly consistent a cross both power and price of the amp.
The FT3 350 isn't really hard to drive. Don't know about dongles, haven't really tried, but none of my desktop amps did them injustice. The performance was surprisingly consistent a cross both power and price of the amp.
interesting data, thanks for sharing! Who needs to listen at such a high volume? 120 dB peak level implies an average level of more than 100 dB even with the most dynamic recordings, which is dangerous for our hearing
preauxtip
Head-Fier
Nobody needs to listen to 120db. I chose this number because of a couple reasons
1) It's an RMS number, so it doesn't really take into account the peak power requirements of quick transients.
2) Dynamic range, like you mentioned
3) You probably don't want to be running an amp near the top end of its range so headroom is good
4) Worst case scenario example, in the end we're just comparing between models so the dB SPL number I choose isn't super relevant.
Announcement Regarding the Sold-out FT3 Furukawa Monocrystalline Copper Cable LL-RC
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This is a very good overview – thank you very much for it.
Is it possible to expand the table to include two models? FIIO FT5 and AKG K702
preauxtip
Head-Fier
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tzrrMI9_YSSfKjmF6CMdGB8CnKgRT4PmvmYa_78qfQI/edit?usp=sharing
Easiest to just provide the link to it at this point since the table has gotten rather large. I added a ton of models.
Great stuff!
Just curous how many of you run the FT3 with the velour pads?
I definitely prefer the velours
dailysmoker
100+ Head-Fier
Just got the Fiio JT1 and man i am loving this thing. Rocking this song and sounds pretty amazing for the price. Also have the ATH WS1100 and that was around 260$ and the bass in that dances around my ears but the JT1 is not far behind and does the same. So i guess the JT1 is also semi open cause it slams almost the same. And give it a phat 8 and the WS1100 a 9.
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