[gavinfabl]

Been 2 weeks with the FT5 and I’m absolutely loving them with the pleather pads. I also got the Sennheiser HD 490 Pro, which IMO don’t get close to the musicality , slam and overall performance of the FT5.

 

[Shane D]

Been 2 weeks with the FT5 and I’m absolutely loving them with the pleather pads. I also got the Sennheiser HD 490 Pro, which IMO don’t get close to the musicality , slam and overall performance of the FT5.

I am guessing the 490 is dryer, cleaner and more accurate. However, the FT5's are more fun.
How did I do?

 

[Rakyan]

Been 2 weeks with the FT5 and I’m absolutely loving them with the pleather pads. I also got the Sennheiser HD 490 Pro, which IMO don’t get close to the musicality , slam and overall performance of the FT5.

Interesting, how about the soundstage on the two?

 

[gavinfabl]

I am guessing the 490 is dryer, cleaner and more accurate. However, the FT5's are more fun.
How did I do?

Not far off Definitely dryer. I wouldn’t say cleaner and more accurate as such. The FT5 are detailed and feel like they have more dynamic range. Definitely the FT5 are more fun, but I’d go as far to say, far more musical as well. I just can’t feel my music moving me emotionally with the Sennheiser HD490 Pro. The 490 Pro aren’t a bad headphone, but I personally think the FT5 are better.

 

[gavinfabl]

Interesting, how about the soundstage on the two?

The Sennheiser soundstage is slightly broader. See my comment above as well.

 

[LoyK]

I also had a FT5 loaner for a week and now have HD 490 Pro. Biggest difference for me is weight and comfort: FT5 had too small pads and thus created pressure at the ears. So for bigger ears Sennheiser is way more comfortable and also super leightweight - you forget wearing them. Headband adjusting on FT5 is hit or miss aswell because you can´t really adjust it to your head - it will either be good or bad on your head. (For me it has not enough clamp to sit secure when playing guitar for example...)

Soundwise they are really not that comparable: FT5 is super laid back listening with a quite unique tuning which I also liked. HD 490 Pro has better soundstage and a tuning more neutral. Both sound signatures can be changed a bit with the different pads each headphone provides...So I think they could complement each other pretty well if you want a planar and a dynamic for a fair price and you end up with four different flavors in the end.

 

[Shane D]

I am looking forward to getting these back on this weekend. I almost forget what they sound like.

Put them on Jan. 6 and went straight through to the 14th. Went through three other headphones since then and looking forward to getting back to my FT5's.

 

[Rockin_Zombie]

Been enjoying the FT5 immensely since yesterday. There are limitations in terms of adjustments and comfort, but luckily they seem to be custom made for my head .

The sound signature is quite laid back. The only other planars I have owned are HE6s (properly amped), and found the treble fatiguing tbh. No such issue with these, been listening to them for the last couple of hours non-stop. Plenty of slam. My preferred genres are rock, metal, EDM. They might be a bit too warm for classical/jazz.

Love the industrial build, the case, and the high-quality cable and connectors. Fiio has a winner here.

 

[Alucard1]

Congratulations. Yes, they are winner. I said that all the time here and on 3 other forums in my country. They are perfect for these new non audiophile genres prefered by younger generations of listeners. But older guys propably finde them amusing too. Everybody should listen them, they are rockin hard ald have that thick planar sound with dynamic driver speed and snap. They afe still a little bit too small for me tho. If they just be little bit bigger, score should be 10/10.

 

[Shane D]

I put my FT5's back on today. Quite a large difference from the HD660S2's. I originally got them on Jan. 6th and wore them until Jan. 14th. Took a break and rolled a few other headphones. Now time to give them a second run through.
Love the look and the feel. Sound is warm and bassy. Using the pleather pads, but I might swap out this week.
They don't sound as open or full range as my modded S2's, but every headphone is different.

Looking forward to the next week.

 

[00headphone00]

Interesting how some people experience the FT5 as not very open and small soundstage, while others experience them as very wide.

I tried back my HD650 (which I find sounding wider than the HD660S2) a few days ago. It still is a very competent headphone, especially the correct tonality and just doing everything correct and never crossing the borders. Despite the much bigger bass of the FT5, the HD650 still don't sound thin or sterile. It's the difference between a studio album (HD650) vs a live concert (FT5). HD650 very polite and correct, their sound is between my ears. the FT5 big (bass), bold (warm mids/vocals) and sounding around my head. Especially vocals feel very live despite a bit more colored . .

Still using the suede paths. I found the leather/pleather sound much smaller/more closed. Maybe I should try the leather/pleather for some longer, trying to adjust to their sound. . .

 

[gavinfabl]

Been enjoying the FT5 immensely since yesterday. There are limitations in terms of adjustments and comfort, but luckily they seem to be custom made for my head .

The sound signature is quite laid back. The only other planars I have owned are HE6s (properly amped), and found the treble fatiguing tbh. No such issue with these, been listening to them for the last couple of hours non-stop. Plenty of slam. My preferred genres are rock, metal, EDM. They might be a bit too warm for classical/jazz.

Love the industrial build, the case, and the high-quality cable and connectors. Fiio has a winner here.

I really love classical, jazz and blues with my FT5.

Easily one of my favourite headphones. I look forward to listening to them and for hours.

 

[Rockin_Zombie]

Interesting how some people experience the FT5 as not very open and small soundstage, while others experience them as very wide.

Wonder how much the amp affects the sound. I have tried with my Dacmagic headphone out, and straight out of macbook. Both get uncomfortably loud (another thumbs up to Fiio for making a decently sensitive planar) but from the macbook it distorts faster as you increase the volume. Getting the ifi Diablo tomorrow which I'm hoping will give a little more oomph.

 

[Alucard1]

Wonder how much the amp affects the sound. I have tried with my Dacmagic headphone out, and straight out of macbook. Both get uncomfortably loud (another thumbs up to Fiio for making a decently sensitive planar) but from the macbook it distorts faster as you increase the volume. Getting the ifi Diablo tomorrow which I'm hoping will give a little more oomph.

With Diablo they crack your skull open. I have the IFI GO Link and they rockin even with that and Xiomi Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G smartphone + ROON Arc.

 

[00headphone00]

Wonder how much the amp affects the sound. I have tried with my Dacmagic headphone out, and straight out of macbook. Both get uncomfortably loud (another thumbs up to Fiio for making a decently sensitive planar) but from the macbook it distorts faster as you increase the volume. Getting the ifi Diablo tomorrow which I'm hoping will give a little more oomph.

I remember trying them in someone their laptop. I was surprised how dull it sounded. They nowhere had the dynamic even my cheap smartphone delivers. They sounded dark and flat on it. I found them also very closed like between my head again. My own smartphone just misses bass, my own desktop pc sound fine although a external DAC/amp gave me just a little bit less distortion.

So they seem to be somewhat sensitive to the source, although the laptop, smartphone and desktop output compared are all very cheap and low-end. I will be surprised if they really sound different using two decent amplifiers with low output impedance (like most non tube amps are including popular ones from FIIO themself).