Almost everything you could want from a closed back under $200

The FT1 is the latest headphone from FiiO, and it is a beautifully crafted closed-back headphone which might be your next closed back.

Read on to find out if the FT1 might be your next closed back headphone purchase.

Background

I recently attended the Canjam London with a few goals of what to see (and hear) and one of those goals was the check-out the latest closed backs. I am working back in an office a few days a week now, so while I could use an ANC headphone, I do find they can sound ‘unreal’ and have a ‘pressure build up’ over time. I could also use some of my wonderful IEM’s but my preference has always been a good closed back.

For most of my working career I was a Sennheiser ‘headphone guy’ using many of their closed and open back headphones (at different price ranges) but when I got back into the hobby a few years ago I sold most of my older Sennheiser’s (though I kept my HD600) and I bought a few of the ‘recommended’ closed back headphones including the AKG K371 and the Hifiman Sundara Closed - well that wasn’t recommended but at its sale price and using Oratory’s EQ it is a good deal. While these headphones have their finer points, I was never fully happy with either for working all day in a busy office, hence this new search for a new closed back.

So I initially spent some time in the ZMF room at the Canjam, briefly chatting to Zach and Bevin, and then trying some of their closed backs. But mostly I was in awe of the beautiful wooden headphones:

But of course all of these are too expensive for both my pocket and my needs. But I was in envy of anyone buying one of those headphones. I did also try the new Sennheiser HD620s and the new Focal Azurys, more on both of these headphones later on in the comparisons section.

But then I spotted some new headphones at the FiiO stand, I have the FT5 and FT3, so I have had some great experience with FiiO open back headphones but what I spotted was the 2 new models of the FT1, and I was intrigued:

I believe the other colour of FT1 is not available yet, but I especially liked how premium the ear pads look on that model:

So was this headphone good enough to get my over my ZMF envy?

My immediate listening impression at the show was that the FT1 was slightly V-shaped but read on to find out.

First lets check out the unboxing experience.

Packaging and Accessories

The FT1 box has reasonable nice and clear design:

Removing the sleeve you get the box:

Opening the box reveals a pretty nice (for the price) case:

Opening the case reveals the headphones and the cables in some plastic:

Note: If you read my previous reviews you will see that FiiO FT3 and FT5 headphones came with amazing accessories, while not quite at those levels, you still get a pretty good package with the quality case and the 2 cables.

The American Black wooden cups do look amazing (not quiet at the ZMF level but closer than any $150 headphone has the right to be):

The swivel and extension mechanism is pretty solid, though I do feel I have to be a little careful with it:

The mechanism does stretch well. It has a little click as the ball-bearing slide rails as you stretch them. I am only using 2 notches up on both sides but there 10 on each side.

Given length it can stretch, I imagine this headphone can support very large heads:

The ear cup are very comfortable and a good size easily fitting my fairly large ears:

While I didn’t remove the ear pads, they are replaceable with the standard ear pads you could pick up almost anywhere.

Each cup takes a now fairly standard 3.5mm connector:

You get both a 3.5mm single-ended and 4.4mm balanced cable which is pretty great. While neither of the including two cables are as nice as the one you get in the FT3 and FT5, they are actually arguable better than the standard ones you get with typical hifiman headphones below $500:

So overall, while not as premium as the FT3 and FT5 unboxing, the FT1 provides a good experience.

Build, Comfort, and Design

While eventually I might replace the ear pads they are very comfortable:

They have a decent depth so my ears never touched the drivers:

There is even enough depth to these ear pads to accommodate people wearing glasses and mostly keep a good seal especially with thin frames. But more on how this can change the sound potentially for the better, in the measurements section later.

The suede leather headband offers good comfort during extended listening sessions and doesn’t get as warm as I thought it might possible because of the design:

There is enough swivel in each ear cup to provide some flexibility to the fit:

Note: One minor complaint is that the ear cups do not swivel down flat for carrying, so you do really need that nice carrying case when travelling with the FT1.

Ear cup comparisons:

I thought it might be interesting to just compare the sizes and shapes of the FT1 ear cups with some of my other headphones.

So first compare to the FT3 and FT5, the FT1 is at the bottom and the FT5 is on the left:

I do think all three headphones show excellent build qualities in the price ranges:

The Oval shape of the FT1 ear cups means it needs slightly more adjustment to make sure it fits, while the FT5 has slightly more room.

Next compared to the Hifiman Sundara Closed: Again, similar to the FT3 above, the oval shape subjectively might not fit as well as the circular earcups on the Sundara.

As for the ear cup design, I think the FT1 beats the Sundara closed for the looks of its wooden finish:

Finally, compared to the AKG K371, There really is no comparison the FT1 has much more comfort in its earcups:

And while I appreciate that the K371 folds down well for travelling I would take the looks and build quality of the FT1 over it:

Sound Quality

So as I mentioned my initial impression of the FT1 was slightly V-shaped that was on the main floor of the Canjam so not the ideal situation for fully evaluating a headphone. But I was not too far wrong, but what I came to appreciate over my first week listening with the FT1 was its bass quality when paired with a fairly neutral midrange and a mostly decent treble gave a very fun and satisfying listening experience.

Bass

The FT1’s bass is pronounced, offering deep and textured lows that are particularly engaging for bass-heavy tracks. However, the bass can be slightly overwhelming for those preferring a more neutral sound, but this can be easily managed with EQ adjustments and if you wear glasses while listening to the FT1 you may feel the bass is excellent as I found that when I wore glasses (when writing this review) it sounded perfect.

Midrange

The midrange is where the FT1 truly shines. Vocals are rich, forward, and full of life, making them the focal point of any track. The FT1’s tuning mostly follows the Harman Over ear curve, but with a bit more emphasis in the upper mids, resulting in a sound that is both warm and engaging.

Treble

The treble is clear and pretty detailed for this price range, with a slight emphasis that adds a little sparkle without becoming harsh. It is tuned fairly safe with very little chance of sibilance.

Soundstage and Imaging

A closed back never really has a wide a soundstage (at least without psycho-acoustic tricks like ‘Spatial Audio’ ) but the FT1 does well for its price class for closed backs. While
slightly less impressive than the Sundara Closed back, it is better than the K371. Imaging was very good for its price class, I got a good 3D layering of audio and a good separation and clarity between instruments.

Specifications and Measurements

Key specification here are the impedance and the sensitivity. 113dB means the FT1 is super easy to drive even off the Apple Dongle, no special amplifier is needed for the FT1.

In fact, it has lots to headroom for some minor EQ tweaks which I will present later in this section.

Frequency Response:

So as I mentioned earlier there is a bass emphasis:

It shows a strong bass response with a mostly very good midrange there is a slight dip in the treble between 3K and 5K - which in my EQ recommendation I added a little fix.

Frequency Response with Glasses:

So someone asked me on discord what would the response be like with glasses, so I used my reading (and writing) glasses like this:

In my raw measurements you can see this evens out the bass response

And this measurement compared to Harman:

I noticed DiyAudioHeaven also measured various sizes of glasses, so obviously the thicker the glasses the more bass you will lose:

Note: I recommended also reading DiyAudioHeaven measurement based review here

Distortion

The distortion is well controlled:

EQ recommendation

I will be writing a separate review of the JadeAudio/FiiO JA11 at some stage, but for my second week with the FT1 I have been using JA11 with the FT1 with just 4 fairly minor filters ’tidying’ up the frequency response, and it has been a fantastic experience. I would highly recommend buying a few JA11’s (though it does occasionally generate some distortion when connected, and you have to unplug and plug back in again), it is a great way to ‘fix’ up those little FR issues on a headphone while being “permanently connected” to headphone so you can move devices and applications be guaranteed you get the same reference sound.

So assuming you will use either the JA11 or some EQ application here are my recommendations:

This EQ on the JA11 will ultimately generate this measurement (this is actual measurement after this EQ not the predicted):

Comparisons

Since I have a few similarly priced closed backs already and I specifically listened to other more expensive closed backs at the Canjam I thought it might be interesting if I at least gave some subjective comparisons.

But first since I have the Hifiman Sundara Closed and the AKG K371 here are the objective measurement comparison on my KB501X soft ear pinna:

So let me get into some comparisons:

AKG K371 / K361

So while I have the K371, I did listen to the K361 (sadly after I bought the K371). Both are the poster child for cheap ‘Harman tuned’ closed backs with lots of strong recommendations on various websites. And having got back into the “hobby” a few years ago, I wanted to get a Harman Over ear target headphone, so I picked the K371 the idea being its easily (and safer less distortion) to EQ down Bass than EQ up Bass.

But how does the compare with the FT1, I think the FT1 is much better for the price. It has a similar bass but slightly more neutral bass (the K371 has too much bass IMO) but even more without using EQ (i.e. just wearing glasses) the bass on the FT1 can be well controlled. I haven’t seen a measurement comparing the FT1 and the K361 but I would guess it would be similar but given the build issues with the K3X1 series and the overall comfort I found compared the K371, I would always recommend the FT1 over the K371/K361.

Hifiman Sundara Closed

While I love most of my Hifiman planar headphones and I thought the Sundara Closed was much better than most of the online reviews suggested (especially at its current price and with a little EQ) I would still recommend the FT1 over the Sundara, with EQ the FT1 is clearly better and with EQ the Sundara Closed becomes much closer in quality there are still some issues and I would still recommend the FT1 for looks and comfort, though some people may still like Sundara earpads.

Sennheiser HD620s

This comparison is based on a brief 20-minute session with the HD620s at that London Canjam, but I am hopeful to eventually be able to do a review of the HD620s. My initial impression was how impressive the isolation was, a Canjam is incredible noisy ( ironically so considering everyone wants to really hear differences in their listening sessions) but it suddenly went silent, really impressive without ANC. Sound wise I felt it was pretty good better in some ways than the FT1 but also a bit boomy with some tracks (more so than the FT1). The HD620s is also roughly twice the price of the FT1.

Focal Azurys

I had a similar brief listening session with the Azurys and they are a very premium closed backs with a more balanced sound than the FT1 without EQ (though as I mentioned above the FT1 takes to EQ very well) and obviously the Focal’s have a much more premium look and are lighter than I expected (having previously listened to the similar looking Focal does feel very nice to Bathys).

Rating

With a price of $150 and given it offers an excellent balance of quality, comfort, and performance, it has to get a 5-star pragmatic rating.

While the metal housing might show some wear over time (it remains to be seen), and the bass is slightly pronounced, these are minor issues considering how easy it is to EQ adjustments. For its price, it has excellent build comfort, measurements and even the accessory package FiiO offer is great in its price range. So there really is nothing to mark down with the FT1.

Conclusion

The FiiO FT1 is a fantastic closed-back headphone, with nice wooden cups, decent comfort, a decent Harman inspired sound signature. With these features and sound signature, I feel much less ZMF envy than I did when I was in the ZMF room at that London Canjam.

If you’re looking for a closed-back headphone that offers some ‘style’ but with plenty of substance, the FiiO FT1 is a fantastic choice below $200 (in fact below $300 it is still a great choice).