[hotsnacx]

Just picked up ft3. Was deciding between 880, r70x, Luan, Zeus lite. I have k7, sh9, jotunheim, and dx300. Hopefully one of those sound good on them!

Edit:
Also was looking at Ibasso sr2/sr3 (open box)

 

[Silence33]

Hello everybody,
Excuse me for my simple english.
Can you help me to decide?
I am between the Fiio FT3 , Hifiman Sundara and Edition XS .... in sound quality wich of this is better?
Thank you in advance

 

[Silence33]

Forget mention I have the Fiio K9 amp/dac ...
Thank you

 

[EQlizer]

FIIO FT5 ~ FIIO's first headphone with planar drive driver 最終更新日: 2023.09.27

FIIO FT5 was announced at an audio event held in Nanjing, China on September 24th. At the same time, the product overview was also published on Weibo. In this article, I will summarize the contents of the FIIO FT5 announcement translated into Japanese. However, this time there are many technical terms and there may be some mistakes in the translation, but I have translated it so that you can understand the general meaning, so please read until the end.

FIIO FT5 is a headphone equipped with a 90mm planar driver. FIIO has already released headphones equipped with a 60mm dynamic driver called FT3, and FIIO FT5 is FIIO's second wired headphone. This is FIIO's first headphone equipped with a planar driver. FIIO also points out the ease of driving as a feature of this FT5. It can also be driven by portable products such as DAPs and dongle-type DACs.

FIIO FT5 release date/price
Release date: Late October 2023 (China) *Unknown in Japan Price: 2,999 yuan (approximately 60,000 yen) *Unknown in Japan

The price of FIIO FT5 was 2999 yuan, an increase of about 1000 yuan compared to FT3. Many headphones with planar drive drivers are priced close to 100,000 yen, but the 60,000 yen price is a surprise for FIIO. I would like to expect Japanese prices based on FT3's track record, but with the yen currently depreciating by nearly 150 yen, it is possible that prices will be higher than Chinese prices. Our blog estimates that it will be around 70,000 to 85,000 yen, but it may be cheaper depending on the dollar-based list price.

FIIO FT5 spec information
FIIO FT5 has a sensitivity of 96dB/mW and an impedance of 36Ω. According to FIIO's explanation, although they are headphones with a planar drive driver, they can also be driven well with the KA5 dongle-type DAC

FIIO FT5 accessories
FIIO FT5 has a wide range of accessories, just like FT3. The cable has a 3.5/4.4 interchangeable plug, and the headphone side has a 3.5mm/2-pole plug, making it easy to re-cable. It also seems to come with an XRL/6.35 conversion adapter and headphone case.

The FIIO FT5 project started in August 2022. Planar drive drivers are still less mature in design than dynamic drivers. This is FIIO's first planar drive driver development. FIIO FT5 took over a year from the start of the project to its launch. Because the headphone structure follows the FT3 architecture, most of the energy for the FT5's development has been focused on research and development of the planar driver, including magnetic circuit design and diaphragm material development. All design, research and development of FIIO FT5 is done in-house at FIIO.

FIIO FT5's first public appearance was at a Japanese exhibition in July 2023. Since then, FT5 has undergone three major version upgrades. This has been upgraded to create the most balanced sound, including the material of the diaphragm.

(Blog supplement) It has been said that there have been three major version upgrades since FT5, which was exhibited at Potafest held in Akihabara in the summer, so it seems to be almost completely different. On the other hand, the Japanese distributor informed us that the specifications were for the product version at Potafest held in September, so it seems to match that. I'm looking forward to FT5, which has been updated after receiving user feedback for about 3 months since its release.

Headphones equipped with planar drivers have multiple magnets stacked together, which inevitably increases the weight of the headphones. For this reason, FIIO adjusts the weight with the headphone shell material while guaranteeing sound quality. FIIO FT5 is made of magnesium alloy, this material has 64% volume of aluminum alloy. The use of magnesium alloy reduces the weight of the FT5 and provides a comfortable listening experience for extended periods of time.

FIIO FT5 uses a 90mm planar driver. Compared to traditional dynamic drivers, planar drive drivers can apply a uniform force to the diaphragm during vibration, and the acoustic energy is evenly distributed throughout the diaphragm unit, reducing the effects of distortion caused by the diaphragm material. I will not receive it. FIIO FT5's planar driver uses a 6μm film sheet. This film is much thinner than dynamic driver units. Typical dynamic drivers are 22μm~. Of course, this 6μm thickness is not the thinnest among planar driver headphones. The thinnest diaphragm in FIIO's research and development was 1.5μm. The reason FIIO chose 6μm is to achieve balance.

Theoretically, the thinner and lighter the diaphragm, the higher the sensitivity and the better the high range. However, due to the elasticity of the diaphragm material itself, strong tension tends to lead to distortion. After dozens of debugging and sample verifications for FIIO FT5, we finally settled on a thickness of 6μm, and by strengthening the coating process on the diaphragm, we were able to obtain a well-balanced sound.

Next, for the voice coil, after repeated tests, we decided to use a lightweight aluminum alloy as the coil material and mix it with silver to increase conductivity. As a result, we succeeded in reducing the weight of the FIIO FT5's diaphragm in line with the acoustic target, making it easier to drive the diaphragm and achieving accurate high-frequency resolution. The weight of this material is negligible and the emphasis is basically on its coating. Typical diaphragm coating materials are silver, aluminum, gold, and titanium, with the order of density being aluminum < titanium < copper < silver < gold. FIIO FT5 applies the high-end production technology of the semiconductor industry's 28nm chip-level process to the diaphragm coating, which not only results in a more delicate finish, but also matches the overall thickness of the coil and makes the weight even. By ensuring that the diaphragm has greater precision and better consistency, the acoustic performance is more accurate.

While ensuring comfort (in terms of weight), the FIIo FT5 has a total of 20 magnets on one side, 11 on the inside of the diaphragm and 9 on the outside, for a total of 40 magnets. I am. By arranging the magnets in a well-balanced manner, the aluminum-plated alloy coils are reasonably distributed in the magnetic field, and by completing the design of the matrix magnetic circuit system, the left and right diaphragms exert a balanced force. This ensures consistent amplitude across the diaphragm and reduces distortion. Furthermore, we achieved the following three things. ① Achieves highly efficient sound energy conversion performance. ② Adopts 20 1.5T high magnetic flux density N52 neodymium magnets on each side to support the flat diaphragm with strong and abundant driving force. ③ Magnets and both sides. By arranging the coils in parallel, the conductive coils are evenly distributed in the magnetic field, maximizing the headphone driving force and fully demonstrating the accurate acoustic performance of flat panel headphones.

This is a summary of the FIIO FT5 announcement.

How was that. I'm really looking forward to this product. I'm also planning to purchase FIIO FT5, so I'm planning to review the actual device. We hope you continue to enjoy our blog.

Thank you for reading until the end. If you found this article helpful, please follow us.



https://earl4proxyvoting.com/archives/7164

 

[EQlizer]

 

[el_monkey]

these looks beautiful

 

[webkinks]

Looks great! was waiting for ft5 price, it I hope its around 500$ in foreign market.

 

[Trance_Gott]

Addendum 32 Ohm version:

Meanwhile I also have the new 32 Ohm version of the FT3. Externally, it does not differ at all from the 350 Ohm variant. Also weight-wise and from the comfort I can not determine any difference.

I already reviewed the 350 Ohm version here: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/fiio-ft3.26449/reviews#review-30941

In the scope of delivery are also a storage box, an additional pair of ear pads (synthetic leather), 4 different adapters (3.5mm, 4.4mm, 6.35mm, 4 pin XLR), but a different connection cable than the 350 Ohm variant. Here is a shorter cable 1.5m instead of 3m included, because the 32 Ohm variant is intended exclusively for mobile use. That's where the length really makes sense. The cable is a very high quality monocrystalline copper cable with a diameter of 23 AWG. Visually, it's also an eye-catcher.

What else has changed in the 32 Ohm variant? This has a sensitivity of 110dB instead of 102dB as in the 350 Ohm variant. This makes the new FT3 much easier to drive! Is a beryllium coated driver also used? No, FiiO has opted for a driver with an LCP/aluminum coating. This not only makes the driver lighter, but also stiffer. Due to movements of the large 60mm driver, this leads to less distortion. Additionally, FiiO talks about an extremely extended frequency response and thus an improved sound image. So by and large we are dealing with the same driver size here namely 60mm, but different coatings of these.

I tested the FT3 32 Ohm on my DX320 MAX Ti. In contrast to the 350 ohm variant, I hardly went beyond gain level 1 to hear really loud levels. So the greater efficiency is directly noticeable.

How does it look sonically, are there differences here? With the textile pads, the 32 Ohm variant sounds a bit crisper in the bass and minimally faster. However, you have to level very precisely to make out the differences. The midbass range is also a bit stronger. In terms of tonality and stage, you can clearly hear that both belong to the same family. Here they sound pretty much the same. The most significant difference for me is the treble. In recordings where the 350 ohm version seems slightly sibilant at slightly higher volumes, the 32 ohm version has a slightly smoother high end. Again, these aren't huge differences, but you can hear it out. In the 32 Ohm variant with a little more bass, I can also recommend the synthetic leather pads. The sound image gains in audibility, without the bass range becomes too slim. Here, however, it can be a bit rougher in the highs, similar to the 350 Ohm version with textile pads.

All in all, I prefer the 32 Ohm version, because it is really super easy to drive and has the softer treble range and minimally more bass.

 

[Ichos]

Dear friends, here is my FiiO FT3 review (350Ω version).

 

[rkt31]

Got a used ibasso dx160 wifi dap and stacked with mojo2. Dx160 has coaxial out which is more robust connection than usb, specially when using ferrite clips on the cable. Earlier I tried stacking with my Android phone and usb out but usb c despite being better than micto usb, still can lose connection during evening walk or travel, specially when keeping the stack in pocket or taking out. Usb connection once lost stops the music and connection has to start again. Coaxial doesn't have this problem, even if there is intermittent loss of connection. So i needed a dap with streaming and coaxial out. Dx160 has 3.5mm coaxial out unlike newer daps which have coaxial via usb c out. Now I installed uapp on dx160 and set to upnp with bit perfect out upnp renderer running. Installed bubble upnp on my Android phone and logged into qobuz and cast to uapp renderer of dx160. Dx160 sharing the hot spot of phone, was visible to bubble upnp. M connect and uapp on my phone did not find dx160 as upnp renderer, while sharing hot spot. So now I have an extremely clean and reference mobile set up in the form of mojo2 and fiio ft3 headphones. Mojo 2 stacked with dx160. While phone sending qobuz lossless to dx160, all this can be used while walking. Mojo 2 has -1 click tiny eq at 20khz. The sound is unbelievably 3d and life like and very very musical. No need to add anything extra like amp in the chain to degrade the realism. I just added few ferrite clips on the 3.5mm mono to 3.5mm mono cable around 4mm thick 0.9m long, with right angled plugs, which marketed as some patch cable, working flawlessly between dx160 and mojo 2. Those ferrite clips helped in removing last bit of emi rfi noise from transport and helped in improving the transients, vocal and musicality.

 

[Shane D]

Dear friends, here is my FiiO FT3 review (350Ω version).

Did you get the FT5 yet?

 

[Ichos]

Did you get the FT5 yet?

Not yet. I don't have an ETA.

 

[Shane D]

Not yet. I don't have an ETA.

Just checking.

 

[rkt31]

This is the mobile set up of mojo2 with dx160 dap as wifi transport and fiio ft3. The coaxial cable may seem a bit overdone with ferrite clips which also made the set up heavy to hold in hand while walking but totally worth because of unprecedented sound quality this gear is churning up. I used ferrites in full 0.9m length, with two rounds around some thicker clips and single round with others. Each addition of clip rewarded with cleaner and more focused vocals, better organization of sound stage and imaging to the point of inducing goosbumps. Fiio ft3 supplied cable is very long so i am using a diy cable which I made for hifimam he400se which works for ft3 too. This diy cable uses the legendary oyaide pcocc A cable which was earlier available in the form of very cheap fiio headphone extension cable. Now since fiio has very limited stock left of oyaide pcocc A cable so this fiio headphone extension cable is discontinued. But incidentally fiio ft3 supplied cable also uses oyaide pcocc A cable except that it is too long. Again this is such an unbelievably clean and musical set up which is able to directly connect to the singer.

PS.- the file being played is dsd dop encoded flac file of take five. it is being streamed to dx160 from my phone using bubble upnp app. mojo 2 sample rate white light indicating that mojo 2 is correctly recognizing the dsd dop flac as dsd not pcm, establishing the bit perfection of the chain, my go to go test for bit perfection.

 

[rkt31]

Kudos to fiio for such a game changer headphone. I believe Ft5 will also set new records for sound quality beating many much more expensive planars. Dca expanse may be a benchmark but sadly out of reach for most.