[TWerk]

I ultimately sold my FT3 a few weeks back. Good studio monitor style sound. I think the main weakness or complaint I had is they lack a bit of soul. They were a bit too clinical sounding in my opinion. Just something about them didn't agree with allowing me to lose myself in music. I think they deff are nice and appealing for the price and sound quality if you are looking for this kind of sound but I just didn't feel like I could get totally sucked/lost into the music with them like some of my other headphones. Just wanted to mention this as I'm not sure anyone else hears it too - maybe just me.

 

[rkt31]

I ultimately sold my FT3 a few weeks back. Good studio monitor style sound. I think the main weakness or complaint I had is they lack a bit of soul. They were a bit too clinical sounding in my opinion. Just something about them didn't agree with allowing me to lose myself in music. I think they deff are nice and appealing for the price and sound quality if you are looking for this kind of sound but I just didn't feel like I could get totally sucked/lost into the music with them like some of my other headphones. Just wanted to mention this as I'm not sure anyone else hears it too - maybe just me.

They are flat, fast, transparent and closer to reality. Problem is that in real life vocals have been processed so much and mixed so thin that it sounds too clinical on a headphones made like ft3. For poor recorded vocals I use slight eq of -1 or -2 click at 20khz in mojo 2 and it becomes a complete end game.

 

[Vamp898]

I ultimately sold my FT3 a few weeks back. Good studio monitor style sound. I think the main weakness or complaint I had is they lack a bit of soul. They were a bit too clinical sounding in my opinion. Just something about them didn't agree with allowing me to lose myself in music. I think they deff are nice and appealing for the price and sound quality if you are looking for this kind of sound but I just didn't feel like I could get totally sucked/lost into the music with them like some of my other headphones. Just wanted to mention this as I'm not sure anyone else hears it too - maybe just me.

I understand why you feel like that, but as an musician i have to disagree that they have an studio monitor style sound.

Studio Monitors are much more neutral in the mids. Compared to an Studio Monitor, the lower-mids to mid-mids are slightly recessed and so the upper-mids, lower-treble are slightly pushed.

So compared to an Studio Monitor, the sound is a bit more thin and lifeless. Studio Monitors actually sound "fatter" and bigger but at the same time less clear.

It is based on an Studio Monitor sound, but then adjusted for more clarity with all its advantages and disadvantages

 

[KaiFi]

I ultimately sold my FT3 a few weeks back. Good studio monitor style sound. I think the main weakness or complaint I had is they lack a bit of soul. They were a bit too clinical sounding in my opinion. Just something about them didn't agree with allowing me to lose myself in music. I think they deff are nice and appealing for the price and sound quality if you are looking for this kind of sound but I just didn't feel like I could get totally sucked/lost into the music with them like some of my other headphones. Just wanted to mention this as I'm not sure anyone else hears it too - maybe just me.

That was my experience as well. But that's how I hear all headphones with recessed mids and elevated low and top end (i.e. V-shaped), which seems to be the "hi-fi sound". Not all of us prefer it though.

 

[TWerk]

I understand why you feel like that, but as an musician i have to disagree that they have an studio monitor style sound.

Studio Monitors are much more neutral in the mids. Compared to an Studio Monitor, the lower-mids to mid-mids are slightly recessed and so the upper-mids, lower-treble are slightly pushed.

So compared to an Studio Monitor, the sound is a bit more thin and lifeless. Studio Monitors actually sound "fatter" and bigger but at the same time less clear.

It is based on an Studio Monitor sound, but then adjusted for more clarity with all its advantages and disadvantages

Yeah, I'll agree it isn't studio monitor style exactly but generally speaking it gave me that kind of vibe - like a clinical sort of approach and delivery of a song.

I agree at the end result you describe as well - kinda lifeless (IE lacking soul). That can certainly be attributed to something going on in midrange.

Of course all studio monitors differ in their presentation so it is a hard thing to nail it to that exactly - just in a general sense it felt like that kind/category of sound delivery.

 

[M3NTAL]

I've seen mixed comments about what can and can't power these. I found that the Qudelix 5K with PEQ and single ended - still had plenty to give and sounded great. There wasn't an included 2.5mm for balanced on the 5K, but it should be relatively easy to find one in shorter length.

If the cable included were an aftermarket HD6X0 cable - companies would charge more than what FiiO is asking for these headphones in total. I've priced out that wire for my own builds. Nothing was cheaped out on with the wire. The male connectors at the earcups were slightly cheaped out on. Look to be a copy of the Focal's for no apparent reason. Wish there was a little more strain relief at the cup. Currently is a fulcrum waiting to break.

 

[rkt31]

tried fiio ft3 with tt2 +hms few days back vs mojo 2. tt2+hms obviously ahead in terms of imaging and depth but then you lose the advantage of eq with tt2. to me fiio ft3 needs one or two click down at 20khz to deal with most commercial recordings. with very clean recordings fiio ft3 with tt2+hms is like the complete end game set up. i could barely go beyond -18L or -17L with most recordings. so tt2 in low gain out of headphone se out is enough and the cleanest way to drive headphones imo.

 

[dpump]

Question for FiiO:

I just received a used pair of FT3 to go with my first pair of FT3. I am using the suede pads on the pair I just received and the leather pads on my original pair. I always check the driver resistance with my digital multimeter when I receive a pair of phones or iems to confirm that the drivers are well matched to each other. Checking the resistance isn't the same as checking the impedance, but it will tell you how closely matched the drivers are. Normally you will see a small difference between the drivers, but if you see a larger difference, it can mean there is a problem with one driver. On my original pair of FT3 the drivers measure 343-ohms and 347-ohms. On the pair of FT3 I just received the drivers measure 343-ohms and 371-ohms. The driver that measures 371-ohms is, to me, out of spec and indicates some sort of problem. When one driver is too far apart from the other driver, you will usually hear an imbalance in the sound. I think I am hearing that the 371-ohm driver is slightly lower in volume than the 343-ohm driver, which would be normal since the higher resistance driver should be somewhat less efficient than the 343-ohm driver.

My question to FiiO is, do you consider the 371-ohm driver to be out of spec and should I return the phones for another pair?

 

[FiiO]

Question for FiiO:

I just received a used pair of FT3 to go with my first pair of FT3. I am using the suede pads on the pair I just received and the leather pads on my original pair. I always check the driver resistance with my digital multimeter when I receive a pair of phones or iems to confirm that the drivers are well matched to each other. Checking the resistance isn't the same as checking the impedance, but it will tell you how closely matched the drivers are. Normally you will see a small difference between the drivers, but if you see a larger difference, it can mean there is a problem with one driver. On my original pair of FT3 the drivers measure 343-ohms and 347-ohms. On the pair of FT3 I just received the drivers measure 343-ohms and 371-ohms. The driver that measures 371-ohms is, to me, out of spec and indicates some sort of problem. When one driver is too far apart from the other driver, you will usually hear an imbalance in the sound. I think I am hearing that the 371-ohm driver is slightly lower in volume than the 343-ohm driver, which would be normal since the higher resistance driver should be somewhat less efficient than the 343-ohm driver.

My question to FiiO is, do you consider the 371-ohm driver to be out of spec and should I return the phones for another pair?

Dear friend,

We checked with the engineer that 371ohm is within design requirement still.

Best regards

 

[rkt31]

Has it been measured by in ear fidelity or asr?

 

[bizkid]

Got my FT3 today, i wanted this set to complement my calibrated Studio Monitors sonically, and it totally does with the Pleather Pads. The velours are too warm and bassy for my tastes. However as unlucky as i am, my left side distorts with bass at medium volume, the right one is perfectly clear. I could send them back to amazon but i prefer, if possible, to go through the german distributor for a replacement pair. Let's see.

Edit: strangely the distortion disappeared after re inserting the cable on the left cup.

 

[bizkid]

Accidental post removed

 

[rkt31]

Got my FT3 today, i wanted this set to complement my calibrated Studio Monitors sonically, and it totally does with the Pleather Pads. The velours are too warm and bassy for my tastes. However as unlucky as i am, my left side distorts with bass at medium volume, the right one is perfectly clear. I could send them back to amazon but i prefer, if possible, to go through the german distributor for a replacement pair. Let's see.

Edit: strangely the distortion disappeared after re inserting the cable on the left cup.

Generally the culptit of one side distortion is the volume control of the amp.

 

[bizkid]

Generally the culptit of one side distortion is the volume control of the amp.

It came back, and i get this with all my playback chains, digital volume controlled ones too. Might be just a hair on the driver, as often reported by Grado owners. I have no idea but it shouldn't happen on a new pair of headphones.
EDIT: It comes and goes now randomly, so its likely just a hair on the driver. I have no idea how to get rid of it though, tried the obvious thing, i have a small bellows(?) from my camera cleaning kit but that didn't help.

 

[M3NTAL]

I'd love to see the time domain measurements compared to the others in this price range. They are very revealing and ride a razors edge on being on the leaner side - Memory serves me - things like the Audio Technica ATH-AD2000, Sony SA-5000, Sony MDR-MA900.

Really enjoying these in my collection. I really missed some of the ones I listed above and these are hitting that spot pretty hard.