Larger driver, bigger willy? Adolescent jokes aside, it's fair to ask what 60mm buys us. In general, more cone/dome surface equals more air movement so lower louder bass and greater macro dynamics. In fact, greater surface area has perhaps been the calling card of planar headphones. From loudspeakers we also know that as diaphragm diameters grow, so do the challenges of greater moving mass versus graver demands on stiffness to prevent deformation. FiiO's diamond-like coating speaks to hardness, beryllium to lightness. Would the FT3 cash in on intuitive expectations re: its burly driver? Would being more hung steal from HF resolution and speed? It's easy to see how any behavioural trends must lead to lengthy tuning R&D to insure that innate advantages minimize parallel liabilities and coalesce in a well-balanced design. For the 32Ω¹, it's meant an "LCP aluminium-plated metal composite" diaphragm. To know what it means in practice needs listening to both; and a good ancillaries mix to see what qualities migrate and which are exclusive to a specific combo. I'm only reporting on the 32Ω version.

For a bit more on headphone Ω, out of four Beyerdynamic full-size Pro models for mixing and mastering, two are 250Ω, one is 48Ω and one comes in 32, 80 and 250Ω variants. We might perhaps say that high-Ω headphones have roots in pro audio's higher voltage rails whilst low-Ω variants consider the battery life and lower output voltages of portable kit to be the consumer versions. The jury seems out on whether higher impedance sounds better wherever power is no issue since it tends to mean thinner voice-coil wire, more turns and a stronger electromagnetic field with better noise rejection. Having never tested two otherwise identical 'phones of dissimilar impedance into high-power amplifiers, I nurse no opinion on the matter but ignominious ignorance. That wraps my intro.
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¹ This sliver of intel—that FiiO's engineering didn't simply change voice coils but revisited their driver's material makeup for the 32Ω version—is suggestive. It could mean that indeed, changing impedance changes the sound and to make it 'the same' again requires quite elaborate adjustments elsewhere. But if indeed these low-impedance sonics are a very close even perfect match, we're none the wiser about how just changing voice-coil impedance affects the sound. Yet should the sonics of the two FiiO versions be quite different, having altered more than one parameter would mean that we still couldn't categorically point at just impedance for cause. Either way, comparing FiiO's 32/350Ω wouldn't answer my personal question on how, if we merely changed impedance and applied a sufficiently powerful amp to do justice to all our values, the sound responds. My befuddlement on the matter continues.

For more current 2023 facts and figures, FiiO have their very own video.

Annual production volumes of 2'000'000 units? This is not a small operation. Quite the contrary.

For the FT3, FiiO adopted 6 o'clock connections to make channel identification reliant on markings. Here we get three: in bold white on the inside of the swivels; in bold white on the 3.5mm cable barrels; plus discretely etched into each frame next to its 3.5mm port. The cushion grill-post mounts make removal and reattachment a cinch. Simply align the pillow seam with the cable plug then snap.

Compared to our big Final D8000 or HifiMan Susvara planars, the FT3 cups are decidedly smaller as are their cushion openings. They still work as over-ears for my compact pink bits but hobbits could find them more on-ear. The self-adjusting headband leaves a good finger's width of clearance against the bridge even on my tall skull. These ought to fit all but the most extreme head cases.

I find clamp pressure mild so very comfortable and weight distribution equally assured so long-wear happy. Even the cable sheathing deserves credit for being rather non-microphonic and far nicer to the touch than rubber or plastic treatments.

On the companion R7 streamer/headfi brick below, I hover at ~80 out of a possible 120 in the lowest of five gain settings. That leaves truly wicked headroom to spare. The fixed 4.4mm cable end plugs into FiiO's XLR4 adapter without any screwing.

The faux-leather hard case feels unusually classy to come bundled with a €299 metal headphone. In toto, this is a high-value quite loaded deal. FT for Fat Treasure? Before I strapped in and on, the Meze 99 Classic connection held strong whilst giving FiiO a clear edge on accessorization and hi-tech feel. The latter contrasts with the Romanians' more organic vibe to likely appeal to two distinct buyer groups. I shall call the FT3 from Mars, the 99 Classic from Venus.

 Enough star gazing now. Back down to Earth past the six moons to get ears on.