The astounding growth of the Head-Fi revolution has created a lot of opportunities for Chinese manufacturers to develop products that often offer superior performance to their rivals from North America and Europe. When you look at the quality of the products coming out of FiiO, Questyle, Xduoo, HiFiMAN and Cayin — it’s clear that there are a lot of talented domestic engineers.
Music listeners have benefitted enormously when you consider the availability of so many affordable IEMs, DAPs, Dongle DACs, and headphones from these companies.
FiiO launched its first pair of over-ear open-back headphones, the affordable FT3, earlier this year and they offer an amazing level of performance at their price. Whilst some were probably surprised to see the FT3, the reality is that FiiO has a strong track record of creating superb IEMs and these open-back headphones were on the drawing board for awhile.
The FT3 have already been a success for FiiO but there were some who felt that they could have created different color ways and a model that was easier to drive.
Meet the FiiO FT3 32Ω Headphones.
Featuring 60mm Dynamic Drivers; 3.5mm Singled-ended, 4.4mm & XLR Balanced Audio Plugs; Interchangeable Suede and Leather Earpads; and Monocrystalline Copper Cable, the FiiO FT3 have proven a huge success with audio fans around the world.
Now, expanding the FT3 line-up, FiiO announces two new models: The FT3 32Ω Edition in Black, together with new White version of the original FT3.
Just like the original FiiO FT3, the upcoming FT3 32Ω Edition is an open-back pair of headphones featuring large 60mm Dynamic Drivers, housed in an aluminum alloy shell that is both strong and lightweight, weighing in at just 391 grams.
However, whereas the original FT3 was rated at 350 ohms, the FT3 32Ω Edition comes in at just 32Ω. This allows these headphones to be easily driven by lower-powered DAPs, Headphone DACs, and smartphones.
To deliver a large 60mm dynamic driver that would still be easy to drive with this low 32Ω resistance, the engineers at FiiO tested several materials for the driver diaphragm.
They opted for the FT3 32Ω Edition to utilize an LCP Aluminum-plated + Aluminum Metal Composite diaphragm.
Both the FT3 and FT3 32Ω Edition both come supplied with a with a set of interchangeable connector plugs. Choose from 3.5mm and 6.35mm (single-ended) or 4.4mm and XLR-4 (balanced) – enabling these headphones to be enjoyed with everything from Digital Audio Players (DAPs) and smartphones; PCs and FiiO’s own next-gen desktop hi-res audio player, the R7 which was introduced earlier this year.
Both the FT3 and FT3 32Ω Edition featuring a 3-axis swivel design to provide the best fit and their drivers are also placed at an angle, ensuring they are parallel to the ear when worn.
This not only serves to assist in reducing any high-frequency response distortion, caused by sound waves hitting the contour of the ear and not entering it; but also minimizes any those reflections caused by the shell of the headphone that can lead to standing waves and further unwanted distortion.
Comparison
| FT3 | FT3 32Ω Edition | |
| Colour Options | Black / White | Black |
| Headphone Type | Open-back | Open-back |
| Driver Type | Dynamic | Dynamic |
| Driver Size | 60mm | 60mm |
| Driver Diaphragm Material | Beryllium-plated Gasket with Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) | LCP Aluminium Metal Plated & Aluminium Metal Diaphragm |
| Frequency Response | 7Hz – 40kHz | 7Hz – 40kHz |
| Sensitivity | 105dB (1Vrms) @1kHz | 110db (1Vrms) @1kHz |
| Impedance | 350Ω | 32Ω |
| Cable Length | 3m | 1.5m |
| Cable Material | Furukawa Monocrystalline Copper | 392 Wire High-PuritySilver-plated MonocrystallineCopper Cable |
| Detachable Cable | Yes | Yes |
| Cable Connectors | Dual 3.5mm | Dual 3.5mm |
| Cable Plug Connectors | 3.5mm (Single-ended) 4.4mm (Balanced) 6.35mm (Single-ended) (Via Supplied Adaptor) XLR-4 (Balanced) (Via Supplied Adaptor) | 3.5mm (Single-ended) 4.4mm (Balanced) 6.35mm (Single-ended) (Via Supplied Adaptor) XLR-4 (Balanced) (Via Supplied Adaptor) |
| Weight | 391g (Excluding Cable) | 391g (Excluding Cable) |
| Earpad Pressure | 4.0N±0.3N | 4.0N±0.3N |
| Supplied Accessories | 1 x 3.5mm Single-ended Interchangeable Plug 1 x 4.4mm Balanced Interchangeable Plug 1 x 3.5mm to 6.35mm Single-ended Adaptor 1 x 4.4mm to XLR-4 Balanced Adaptor 1 x Headphone Cable 1 x Removable Protein Leather Earpads (Pair) 1 x Removable Suede Earpads (Pair) 1 x Leather Storage Case 1 x Instruction Booklet | 1 x 3.5mm Single-ended Interchangeable Plug 1 x 4.4mm Balanced Interchangeable Plug 1 x 3.5mm to 6.35mm Single-ended Adaptor 1 x 4.4mm to XLR-4 Balanced Adaptor 1 x Headphone Cable 1 x Removable Protein Leather Earpads (Pair) 1 x Removable Suede Earpads (Pair) 1 x Leather Storage Case 1 x Instruction Booklet |
Price & Availability
Supplied with 2 pairs of removable ear-pads — one pair suede, one pair leather — and a leather carry case the FiiO FT3 (White), and new FiiO FT3 32Ω Edition, open-back headphones are available for $299 at Amazon, £289 at Amazon.co.uk and $466 at Amazon.ca.
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