Fit and Comfort

Seen above is the FiiO FT1 placed on a mannequin head, to help show how these headphones would look on the human head. Note that the head is slightly under average sized, so account for the discrepancies accordingly. As with all headphones, getting a good fit and seal is crucial, so make sure to properly use the headband sizing in addition to the ear cup swivel and rotation on offer. The FT1 weighs 340 g without the cable, which is on par for closed-back dynamic driver sets even before the machined solid wood ear cups come into play. The foam supports on the headband can help here, and this is the main reason I would not suggest going for support/comfort strap mods immediately. If you find the headband to be not as wide or supportive, then by all means consider something such as the Capra strap. The bigger issues are likely to be for those with larger heads and/or ears, with the spring-loaded ear cups potentially causing some added inward pressure on the temple and the stock ear pad spacing not as large as some aftermarket pads. On the other hand, my partner found the clamp force to be slightly less than they'd prefer, so clearly this is highly dependent on the individual. I had no issues personally, and the plush ear pads combined with the solidly designed ear cups worked wonderfully for me. It's closer to winter here in the UK as I test the FT1 and thus I obviously did not feel my ears get warm either, although I suspect those in more tropical climates and during the summer months may begrudge the lack of any ear pad ventilation. Sound isolation is decent with the FT1—you get a good seal around the ears, yet the vent in the ear cup can leak some sound to the outside. Likewise, those with thicker hair or glasses may find the seal to break easily given the softer ear pads used, and this in turn can result in some bass loss.

Audio Performance

Audio Hardware

As with the FT3 we saw before, the FiiO FT1 differs from the norm by using extremely large—for dynamic driver headphones—60 mm drivers, which should theoretically be capable of producing deeper bass and at lower distortion throughout, which is one of the reasons planar magnetic drivers have become popular and also are much larger than the average dynamic driver. This driver is newer and FiiO claims is specifically designed for the FT1, with a ~100 µm thick spruce wood fiber + carbon fiber composite diaphragm that is inspired by paper cone speakers. There is also a polyurethane surround in a W-shape, another design choice taken from speakers and something FiiO has also adopted in its dynamic driver IEMs, allowing for a more uniform and increased vibration area. This allows for a large voice coil—up to 25 mm diameter—to be used, which in turn is made of Japanese copper-clad aluminium wire, with each ultra-fine wire core being 35 µm thick. There's also a cotton damping sheet placed in the ear cups to dampen resonances, and there is a U-shaped damping tube to add passive isolation while improving bass extension. The drivers are angled to fire directly into the ear canals as we saw on the previous page, and there is a cone-shaped baffle on the front to break up unwanted standing waves. The end result should be a fairly smooth sound, but we'll test that for ourselves. The FiiO FT1 packs a good amount of engineering inside thus, and we end up with a set of closed-back headphones which are quite easy to drive with a rated impedance of 32 Ω and sensitivity of 98 dB/mW (113 dB/Vrms) at 1 kHz. As such, you can easily pair it with a decent portable DAC/amp on the go just as well as a desktop source if you want to use this for home use.

Frequency Response Measurement and Listening

I will mention that I have a general preference for a warm-neutral signature emphasizing a slightly elevated bass and smooth treble range with detailed mids and good tonal separation. I also generally prefer instrumental music over vocals, with favored genres including jazz and classical music.


Our current headphones test setup uses a set of two custom in-ear microphones for the two channels. These microphones closely adhere to the IEC711 class, but have been tweaked to be more reliable in the >10 kHz frequency range, the precise issue with my previous setup, that is otherwise still very good and will continue to be used for IEMs and earphones. Two soft silicone pinnae are installed on the sides, separated by a distance matching my head, and multiple "height" adapters have been 3D-printed for further customization, based on fit, head size and shape. Each set of microphones has an XLR output I separately adapted to 3.5 mm. I used a transparent source—the FiiO K19—for measurements, although I also used the FiiO M15S DAP, as seen above, to confirm it was no different for this purpose. This artificial head simulator feeds the microphone lines into a reference USB sound card, which in turn goes to a laptop that has ARTA and REW running. I begin with an impulse measurement to test for signal fidelity, FFT to test for headphone seal, calibrate the sound card and channel output, account for floor noise, and finally test the frequency response of each channel separately. Octave smoothing is at the 1/12th setting, netting a good balance of detail and signal-to-noise ratio. The default tuning was used for testing, and no app or program-based EQ settings were chosen, unless specifically mentioned. Each sample of interest is measured at least thrice with separate mounts to account for any fit issues, and an average is taken of the individual measurements for statistical accuracy.


As before, you can find my headphone frequency response measurements on VSG.squig.link along with all the earphone measurements. Scroll to the bottom and choose different targets there, including two from Harman Kardon, developed after years of R&D. Those who have read my headphone reviews would have noted how I typically go for the "Harman Combined" target based off the Harman 2018 over-ear target but with the lower bass target from the Harman 2013 curve instead. I prefer this for open-back sets which it feels far more natural to me, but I refer to the full over-ear Harman target for closed-back sets owing to that bass shelf energy they tend to have. This is not to say that I want headphones to be tuned to this target though—what matters in the end is whether the headphones are tuned with sensible direction and the tonality is executed well. After all, there are always personal preferences and what matters more is how a pair of headphones ultimately sounds to you. Before we get talking about the sound signature of the FiiO FT1, I want to briefly talk about the measurements themselves and the channel balance achieved here. I think a single look at the measurements above can confirm the excellent driver matching on my set, and this is all the more impressive when you realize this is one of the more affordable headphones on the market. That said, please note that this is one of the first units made and may also have been given extra attention, even if I now know FiiO makes so many products that cherry-picking samples isn't very practical.

My review of the FT1's sound signature is contingent on a good seal, which I ended up getting without any problem. You may lose some bass if you wear prominent glasses or have thick hair, so keep that in mind. Overall, I'd say the tonality leans bassy and warm followed by a relatively linear mid-range and then treble that can go from smooth to jarring depending on the listener and what is being listened to. Bass is clearly well extended here, with a bump around 150 Hz that is prominent in the ears. This makes for a punchy sound too, albeit can shift focus away from the mid-bass to an extent. The drivers can take EQ well enough to re-work the lows to your preference, especially since I did find toning things down at ~200 Hz slightly makes for a much cleaner sound while still keeping the sub-bass impact. Detail retrieval isn't necessarily a strength here, however. There's a general haziness beyond simply tuning, although it can be improved upon. Some of this could be from the slightly recessed ear gain, which for me made notes feel slightly blunted. The acoustic damping on the front and back may also be contributing to this, so there is modding opportunity here with the damping material in the ear cups.

Imaging is quite decent, especially for a closed-back set, and the colored tuning can make for a wider soundstage than you might think—especially for orchestral recordings with strings and organs. Vocal-centric tracks come off more intimate though, and this can emphasize some slight sibilance as a result of the more relaxed ear gain and more emphasized 5-6 kHz region. On the flip side, I started to realize the FiiO FT1 could be a genuinely good gaming set. You have that bass shelf for racing games and gunshots/explosions, enough midrange depth for footsteps with imaging to help isolate the sound in a relatively accurate soundstage too. Pair it with a good USB microphone and this can easily best a lot of gaming headsets on the market, including many which are sold for a lot more. I wouldn't recommend the FT1 for work involving music mixing and mastering though, the resolution can be lacking to discern individual notes in complex tracks and the tuning is colored to the point where you might as well get a reference/neutral set and EQ to your preference instead. Treble is going to be divisive, with that excess 6 kHz energy compounded further by the dip thereafter making the FT1 seem bright for some. I noticed it more in terms of that general haziness to tracks as opposed to be overly bright and untolerable. There is a remarkably smooth mid-treble here for strings, harps, piano keys etc., before things get airy to the point of being again potentially fatiguing and annoying to some, while also contributing to that wider soundstage on offer.


The FT1 is not FiiO's first foray into closed-back headphones, with the Fiio & JadeAudio JT1 taking that slot. This is ~$70 set which can now be had for even less, goes for a plastic build that is cheaper in more ways than one, and you can tell the FT1 is clearly tuned for audiophiles vs. the more mainstream V-shaped tonality of the JT1. This hurts a lot for vocals and many instruments as expected, and also makes the JT1 less attractive for gaming. Timbre is quite plasticky, with there also being some ungainly reverb in the mids from that excess bass. You can EQ it a lot, yet it will still have resonance issues, and the JT1 even makes the FT1 sound way more detailed. There's a reason I didn't bother doing even a quick look article for the JT1, it really wasn't the best that FiiO had to offer and the FT1 is a much, much better product even at over twice the price. While HIFIMAN might not be the brand you'd think of first for closed-back headphones, the recent round of aggressive price cuts has made quite a few things more interesting. The Sundara Closed, for example, went from $399 to $129—far more representative of what you get. While it's built better than some more expensive HIFIMAN headphones, the buffed and polished wood feels a touch too fake and the headband has no ear cup swivel. It's still wide enough though, and the suspension band helps with comfort. The biggest issue is tuning, with HIFIMAN yet to really put out a decently tuned closed-back over-ear set, let alone a good one. FiiO easily wins here, and this is even before we talk about the better accessories on offer. That said, the HE-R9 with the Bluemini R2R add-on for $179 can be quite neat for a bassy wireless set with an R2R DAC/amp—especially if you EQ.

Sivga also competes here, albeit its direct competitors are actually $50 more at MSRP. The Robin got a lot of influencers raving about it, albeit mostly for the wooden ear cups and "dat bass," yet the newer Oriole is a better take on that formula. Neither is anywhere as well tuned as the FT1 though, especially if you prefer anything other than lots of bass. Fill up that 200 Hz hole with the Oriole with EQ though, and suddenly you have a really strong contender. The Oriole also comes in two wood/color options, is quite comfortable to use and lighter than the FT1, offers a more relaxed take in the treble, but gets bested fairly comprehensively on the accessory front. I will give FiiO another win here thus, and note that the AKG K371 is something that I don't have on hand here. It's been a while since I last heard it too, so I realistically just can't compare the two. That's a set that many recommend in this price range, so please see other reviews for this comparison or, better yet, hopefully demo the FT1 and K371 against each other yourself if you can.