First, portable fitness. On my entry-level Shanling M3 Ultra, the FT3 off its 4.4mm plug wants ~40 out of 100 in low-gain mode. That leaves plenty of ungrazed pastures higher up the amplitude mountains. Already in the lowlands of voltage gain, these cans rise to the occasion like a stringed kite flying high above the Mongolian steppe.

That makes them ideal for a mini bedside rig. A simple USB-C cable keeps my DAP charged as it plays. If the sandman didn't call, I could be up all night grooving to nearly 20'000 tunes on a 1TB SD card. Actually, that'd take seriously longer than one night. Regardless, the 32Ω version is a portable team player just as advertised. I don't use smartphones for audio so can't report back on that score. But already a modern entry-level DAP swings enough voltage to get these airborne. Your ears will shut down well before such a player runs out of steam.

Low Ω mission accomplished. FiiO for new sheriff in town?

It depends on what we pack. Off the M3 Ultra's batteries, I met meaty bass and thickness for a down-bass view. That looked from the mids down into the abyss rather than classically bottom up. But forget top down altogether. The textures of compressed fare with potent synth beats like Smadj's Dual grew extra dense like a wet wool sweater in a hot dryer. This made for an overt wall-of-sound feel without much separation or air to speak of. Ditto micro-dynamic nuance. It was all about physicality, warmth, bloom and mass. Heavyweight slugger not fluttering flicking fencer.

Swapping to the companion R7's crisper stationary 30-watt SMPS reined in LF lushness to exercise more apparent damping. It also opened a few skylights in the treble to inject first separation powers and open up ambient recovery. Now the very well-produced Jopek/Marsalis collaboration of Ulotne included more treble energies though Branford's soprano sax still lacked the familiar full sheen and jubilant brilliance.

Moving €299 cans onto multi-thou amplification isn't something most buyers should do. Calling on our Cen.Grand Silver Fox then Vinnie Rossi L2 Signature followed by a Kinki THR-1 only became a brief detour. I wanted to push the outermost limits of the FT3's performance envelope.

Two stationary extremes. In company which senselessly outclassed the FiiO's fiscal standing, the FT3 emerged as true equal-opportunity employer for all frequencies. I neither expected nor got highs that were as shimmery and aerated as our Susvara, never mind the outrageous Raal-Requisite SR1a ribbons. Yet one of my go-to tracks—"Promenade" from Melos, an ECM production with pianist Vassilis Tsabropoulos and cellist Anja Lechner plus assorted hand percussion—showcased fiery triangle rises and fine upper harmonics of right-hand piano registers. The triangle strikes had proper steepness and energy. The piano harmonics and this recording's inherent billowiness weren't quite as free. I suspect that despite unlimited bandwidth from the preceding electronics, even a best-case scenario still shows up this big driver's ultimate treble limits. Mind you, this was vis-à-vis most unreasonable competition. But it's still fair to say that to unpeel the FT3's full HF abilities needed elite ancillaries. I don't have top A&K, iBasso or equivalent DAP to know how close battery-powered output stages that squarely trump my Shanling might get. With our big stationary kit, it took the combo of boutique ER50 direct-heated and here direct-coupled triodes into Exicon lateral Mosfets in the Kinki amp to arrive at full equal opportunity for all freqs aka unassailable linearity.

What one may then squeeze from modest cans is really quite the shock. Back in the real world of price-appropriate mates meanwhile, common expectations for bigger/heavier drivers and their particular strengths and liabilities hold. As electronic drive and damping diminish in stages—mine stepped down from these two über systems to the all-in-one FiiO R7 then Shanling M3 Ultra—the liabilities get more prominent. It's as though Tolkien's all-seeing eye on Mount Doom turned away and darkness crept in. Think virtual tilt function of diminished treble for increased bass. It's followed by a loss of separation, the compaction of inter-image space and a loosening of bass grip for bloomier textures with ever more bleed. In culinary terms we move from fine dining to comfort food to fast food. The portions get bigger, there's more sauce so less separating distinctiveness or resolution. Once we stop at McDonald's in my case the Shanling DAP, it's mostly primary stuff so mucha grasa. A FiiO R7+FT3 combo stops well short at comfort food. It's a warm dense voicing, somewhat opaque on top, midrange forward then very extended in the LF and potent in the sub bass. Bass heads and electronica fiends should rejoice. Ditto libraries of lesser production values which now aren't outed for steeliness or tonal malnourishment.

The perhaps most relevant phrasing considering a €299 placement multiplies the model name's F and 3 into Friendly Filling Fun. It harvests tonefullness from even modest ancillaries. It focuses on the physical chunky aspects of playback to make bright crispy lean productions an easier more satisfying listen. I found it Zu reminiscent for focusing on the macro and what Sean Casey calls shove and big tone. Like his 10.3" widebander, FiiO's 60mm too are atypically large. They move more air to produce greater scale and substance. To open up the mental-observer aspects of micro detail and more fastidiously mapped staging requires ancillaries which for the most part won't be price appropriate. The 32Ω FT3 is capable of far higher magnification powers and sorting specificity than it lets on; or than most buyers will ever know. I simply don't see that as its primary playground or raison d'être. It's a popular not esoteric proposition. Just so, it's also a throwback at a more vintage than hi-res aesthetic. In that it mirrors the planarmagnetic renaissance. Whilst more current planar flagships certainly do high resolution, the more modest and certainly the earlier majority plays it bigger and beefier in the bass, less lit up in the treble, generally wetter and more macro than micro.

The FiiO pursues the same gestalt with a dynamic driver, more compact form factor and smaller coin. I suspect that for the extra €100, HifiMan's Ananda might be the closest planar equivalent and possibly trade bass wallop for more treble illumination. Personally, the FT3 has become my nightstand transducer off FiiO's R7. These cans are small enough but stay properly put to wear lying down in perfect comfort. I find them ideal not for critical but immersive listening. That's not about counting leaves from a distance but drowning in the tunes. When I'm not reviewing to break sound down into parts like a demolition man, that's what I really want. The FiiO not only gives me that but a quality build down to a proprietary driver, metallic cable splitter and all conceivable connections. That 4.4mm is the default speaks to a preference for balanced drive. It's how I use the FT3 exclusively. In my book it really is this year's Meze 99 Classic discovery. Because I no longer have a 99, I can't otherwise comment. But even against the well more than twice-priced Meze 109 Pro which I do have, the FiiO isn't outclassed. That marks it quite the find. 32Ω or 350Ω? There I still have no answer. But loving the 32Ω for what they are, it's no pressing matter at all. Taking one for the team has rarely felt this good…