FiiO JT7 Review - $119 Planar Benchmark Headphone?

Today I had I had fo for lunch.

>> Oh yeah.

>> Like you know like the Vietnamese soup.

And

>> do

Yes, I know what it is.

>> Yeah. And I I spilled the soup I just I

I dropped my soup spoon into the bowl

and it splashed soup directly onto my

crotch and has left this particular

stain on my pants that makes me look

like I've aggressively pissed myself.

And I had to walk from the faux place

all the way back to my apartment and

past all the people along the way.

>> Yeah. They all think you peed your pants

like a little baby. Like a little baby

boy.

>> That's right. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, that's

what I'm dealing with today. But, uh,

how how are you doing?

>> I'm chilling.

>> All right. So, today we're going to talk

about the FIO JT7. And it's a overear

openback planer magnetic headphone that

is like $120. It's It's super

inexpensive, which is awesome. When I

got this sent to me, this is shout out

to Fio for sending it, by the way. It

came in the most adorable tiny package,

and that's because they also fold. And I

thought that there's no way there's a

headphone in here. But but there is. So,

but that was pretty cool, dude. I

thought exactly the same thing. Yeah, I

love the packaging. It's It's very small

in a nice little compact form factor.

And the fact that it's folded was also

Yeah. a surprise. And it's really

lightweight. And yeah, I mean, yeah. How

How does it fit on your head? Is it is

it chill?

>> It fits spectacularly. Uh this is very

much reminiscent of the HD490 Pro from

Sennheiser for its mechanical and

ergonomic design. And this is one of

those things if you're going to emulate

stuff from somebody, emulate the good

stuff, right? And it seems like they're

they're going for that kind of design.

Even if it's not intentional, it's a

it's a nice coincidence because it's

it's awesome for its mechanical design.

>> Yeah, pretty much full agree. I do wish

it had maybe a little bit more head

padding. I have a smaller head. This

thing fits on my head without extending

the headband rods at all, but that does

tend to mean I get a little bit more

weight on top than distributed with

clamp. Yeah. No, it's uh it fits me uh

at the smallest. Uh I assume it fits you

and you don't need to go really near the

largest.

>> It fits me fine. It's a little just a

little bit of clamp force, but I think

it's it's not in a way that I feel uh

bad about it. It's like it puts a little

bit of pressure on the side of my head

that's kind of like it reminds me of

when I went to get the endoscopy done

where the nurse presses my head into the

pillow and tells me to stop crying. It

feels a little bit like that. But so

it's like it's like a pressure but in a

nice way. Anyway, there's a snug kind of

pressure when I wear it for my larger

head, larger than average head. So you

you'll notice that I have some different

pads on here right now and that's

because uh they also sent a whole bunch

of different pads for me to try and you

can pad swap these with your heart's

content. And we'll get into the sound of

the different pads in a moment, but I

just want to note as part of the

mechanical design. The pad swapping is

very easy cuz it's just this lip pad

ring lip around the edge of the baffle.

And uh you can pop on different pads to

your heart's content. And I like this

better than clip systems where you have

to use whatever proprietary clip uh

thing that they whatever pad they made

work with their proprietary clip system

like they did with the FD13. I prefer

this. So this is this is nice. One thing

to note is that if you are going to be

swapping pads aggressively, be very

careful not to touch the membrane or the

anything to do that's in in between the

magnets because uh the with planer

magnetics they're very very very fragile

and they're just sort of exposed to the

elements there without a pad on it. So

just be careful of that.

>> I haven't weighed mine but I think the

stated weight is like around 320 gram

and [music] you know for a planer

magnetic headphone I feel like that's

that's pretty damn light isn't it? Like

I I felt like when I took it out of the

box, you know, I was hit by that initial

like, yeah, this feels cheap. [music]

But like, as I've been using it, I've

kind of been loving how lightweight it

is for a planar cuz that's usually kind

of the price you pay um for an

inexpensive planar. Um most of them that

are around this price also kind of have

worse headbands in terms of just comfort

and weight distribution. So I think

there are maybe some things I would

change, but for this price, it's it's

very hard for me to be upset at this

mechanical design. It's like a little

bit cheaper feeling for the plastic

pieces than what you'd expect on like

the 490 Pro, but like uh that's that's

it.

>> Yeah, but not as much as you would think

for the price differential.

>> You obviously got a got a taste of how I

felt about the sound from the members

stream. I've since spent more time

listening to it. I have some general

thoughts, but I I think the things that

I said in the members stream uh hold up.

I have a similar sense of it now that I

did before, which is that I don't love

the sound, but I would I would not be

mad at this for 120 bucks or whatever it

is, right? Like I just with the default

pads, you know, out of the box, it's uh

it's a little bit shouty and a little

bit blunted. Not quite as nice as the

FT1 Pro for the treble, but overall it

was there's not so much that I could

complain about at this price. Um, what

about you?

>> Yeah, like very similar thoughts. Uh, I

was I was pretty surprised when I took

it out of the box and listened to it.

Like that first like two minutes or

three minutes listening to it, I was

just like, "Yeah, dude. I'm jamming.

This is this is totally totally cool."

For $120.

>> Does doesn't suck.

>> Absolutely does not suck. Uh, yeah. When

you spend a little bit more time with

it, you know, you do kind of notice

there's this glare like in the in the

upper mid-range to presence region

transition like that 3 to 4 kHz area.

There was another peak on my head around

like 6K and then another around like 13

14K. you know, typical planar headphone

things. But, uh, I think as an overall

package, like I was surprised that it it

didn't come across as bright in terms of

its overall tilt to me. Like the first

thing I was hit with was kind of the

warmth in the in the bass and mid-range.

There was this kind of coziness. It's a

little bit stuffy, but, you know, chill.

Uh, and then, you know, once I started

listening to more music, the treble

problems became more apparent. But, you

know, I think for people that are

looking for an inexpensive headphone,

this is like a take on this kind of

hi-fi man and now FD1 Pro like signature

that has some upsides versus things like

the FD1 Pro and some downsides uh which

we can get into.

>> Let's talk about some of the upsides.

The FT1 Pro also had [music] pretty good

bass just by default without EQ. I think

the bass on this is better.

>> Yeah. No, full agree. Yeah. Like easy

agree. integrated leak uh getting that

air gap base res base boost behavior

which is really nice and importantly

does not have the excursion limit issues

that the FT1 Pro has. So if you did want

to EQ this in the bass you could go even

higher. You could give it more. So I I

would describe the bass as like not this

textured or round or rich bass. It's

more of like a thudding plotting kind of

bass but that is better I think than

many planars that are just like

flatliner bass all the way across.

Right. So, um, it it has enough presence

there to kind of, uh, be the ballast for

the ear gain. That's intense on this

headphone.

>> Yeah. And that's kind of what I want to

touch on actually is the relationship to

the ear gain. Cuz, yeah, I totally

agree. It is better than the FT1 Pro.

And I think a lot of it has to do with

what's going on in its relationship to

the ear gain. So, when it comes to like

bass instruments, like bass guitars

don't necessarily sound that much better

to me. They sound very similar, but the

kick drum sound uh is marketkedly

different. Um, and I think it's because

that 3 to 5 kHz push on JT7 does kind of

bring forth a little bit more like

clackiness and a little bit more of that

like hardness [music] to specifically

kick drums. That makes them like more

more palpably like punchy than something

like an F21 Pro or like an Edition XS or

something like that. So, you get that,

you know, fun base relationship, but the

price you pay is that, yeah, that upper

mid-range push is more forward than it

was on the FT1 Pro, and it was already

kind of problematic there. So, I I do I

do find it to be a little bit too glary,

a little bit scratchy of a listen.

>> Things I don't like about this, as you

said, the kind of glary presentation for

the low treble. I don't know, the ear

gain transition there, but that's I I

kind of didn't like that about the FT1

Pro as well. Well, like I'm not sure if

it's exactly there, but that that for me

was a little overbearing, that sort of

ear gain rise. Uh, the other thing that

I don't like about this is it does sound

a little bit blunted to me. And I

realize the reason why is is that it's

it's a bit sort of upy- downy throughout

the rest of the treble. And I find that

this is one where I notice the dips a

little bit more. So, there's a little

there's a sense of dullness that that um

and a sort of unrefinedness that comes

through. But, I wouldn't say that this

is like harsh or fatiguing. It's not

like there's a a stride and see or like

a a siblance going on. It's just a

little bit on the on the duller side for

me. But how did you get on with it?

>> Yeah, I mean much much the same

complaint. Again, the the upper

mid-range is kind of a problem. Uh but

also I did find that there was some

roughness in the treble. Like there's

again a 6k peak and then like a 8k dip

and then it comes back up with a

vengeance in the upper treble as planers

usually do. So, I did find it has this

kind of dark bright characteristic where

there is a little bit of muffliness due

to the upper mid-range recession around

2 kHz and then the dip around 8k, but

then there's also this brightness on

certain elements um like vocal siblance

and symbols and stuff like that. Um, so

it it definitely isn't a very refined

treble presentation overall, but I do

think the sense of overall tilt between

like bass and treble is actually quite

even such that again when I was first

listening to it, I didn't I didn't get

anything that smacked of an immediate

problem, right? And I I would assume the

same happened to you. And I think I

think the same is probably going to be

true for most people who pick up this

headphone and listen to it for the first

time. Nothing's really disastrously

wrong with it. There are just these

these things that become clear with the

closer listening.

>> Yep. The the upy downiness. Uh let's get

into the the pad swaps and some of the

different pad some of the changes that

that uh create. So the default pads

we've shown you the measurements of the

default pads. Fio were kind enough to

send over three additional pads for me.

That's the FT1 A, B, and C versions. The

C versions are kind of similar to the

default pads. They're a little bit

smaller for the ear opening. The

performance on them is pretty similar in

terms of it has a similar characteristic

overall for the ear gain and the treble.

The B pads are the ones that are on here

right now are the most interesting to

me. They're more this kind of velvet

material. They feel really nice. They're

very comfortable. And I found that they

also make it less shouty. So they they

I'm not going to say that fully fixed

the overall character of that ear gain

presentation, the lower treble kind of

glariness, but it it reduces it by a

notable amount.

>> [music]

>> and the whole thing kind of gets a

little bit warmer. So, while it still

has that somewhat blunted characteristic

that I talked about with the default

sound signature, the upy downiness is

still there, the relationship, I guess,

for a more broadband kind of

characterization of the ear gain and

then the rest of the treble is a bit

more balanced so that it doesn't come

across as fatiguing or glaring and it's

more versatile, I find. And then there's

the FT1A pads which are this leather or

leatherrett material. And those ones do

not work so great. They kind of

emphasize the shout I found and made the

all of the rest of the treble more dark

and dull and blunted sounding. So if I

had a recommendation for a pad swap, it

would be the velvet pads. Uh but again,

I went kind of back and forth with the

velvet pads and the default pads. And I

found it while it sounded different, it

wasn't like an obvious leveling up. It

was just a little bit different and

probably in a way that was better for

me.

>> I don't have any of those FIO pads. I

just had a pair of like Yaki TH900 pads

that I tried and they kind of like

reshaped the ear gain a little bit like

brought forth the 1K. Uh dipped a little

bit of the ear gain and treble for sure.

I wasn't sure I preferred it cuz yeah,

it did kind of expose more of that kind

of [music] dippiness in the in the mid

treble for me while still being again

too too bright in the air. So I kind of

just rolled with stock pads. Uh, and I

was chilling with that. But, you know,

again, it is one of these things where

because it just has that simple lip

design and it's just kind of like a

simple circle. Uh, you can throw a ton

of different types of pads on there. So,

I know Done probably has a bunch that

fit on there. [music] Um, Yaki probably

has others that fit on there. So, you

know, if you want a cheap headphone just

to experiment with pad rolling that's

like well extended uh, and comfortable

just on a chassis level, the JT7 seems

like a great choice for that, honestly.

>> Uh, let's get into EQ and potentially

some foibless here. You can do lots with

EQ. You can basically turn this into

something that sounds incredible if you

want to, it's a good platform for it

because not only is it not excursion

limited, which means that it's not going

to have the clipping issue that the FT1

Pro had. Um, it's also ergonomically

great, mechanically welldesigned, so

it's makes sense to do that. U, the

concern that I have, a little bit of a

concern here is that there's quite a lot

of harmonic distortion for this once you

push it to like, you know, crazy volumes

like 110 dB and stuff like that. uh

right at 5.3 5.4 kHz like it's it's

intense for the harmonic distortion.

We're talking like 30%. So there there

is a limit to this to this driver.

Basically at 100 dB after that you start

getting some pretty wild harmonic

distortion behavior in the treble which

is not great. So that's where I say it's

it's kind of limited in in the EQ sense

for EQ potential there. I mean, whether

you're going to hear this with music is

another question, but I I would just be

cautious about how much I push things.

>> Yeah, just definitely don't push things

in that region. Like, if you're if

you're going to boost, uh, you know, the

bass is probably a safe place to do it.

And thankfully, in this region, most

people will be cutting, but yeah,

definitely something people are going to

want to look out for.

>> That's basically all that I have to say

about it. Is there anything that you

want to compare this to? Um, like is

this is this in your mind the new

default go-to at around $120? I think

the main competition there is going to

be the H400 SE from Hi-Fi Man right

below it and the FD1 Pro right above it.

And I'm going to say right now like I'm

not really sure the FD1 Pro is worth the

money over this. Like they're very

similar. Frankly, I just like the

comfort of the JT7 considerably more.

It's less heavy. Um I also kind of just

like the way it looks a little bit more

as well. Versus the HT400SE. I do prefer

it to the AT400SE. I just find its mids

to be a little bit more textured [music]

and alive feeling. And I find the treble

of H400 SE to be quite annoying in a way

the JT7 isn't quite as badass. It's a

little bit more expensive, but I do

think because it's a lot more

comfortable and it's more extended in

the bass uh and it just kind of sounds

better in stock configuration. I think

if people can yeah spend a little bit

more money, the JT7 is going to be

better than the H400 [music] SE for most

people. I think

>> so. So, I would take the JT7 over the

H400 SC purely for its mechanical

design. Forget the sound quality. This

design is better. But, but the reality

is that people aren't going to be doing

EQ as much as we are. [laughter]

Say stock sound, no changes to anything,

no changes to pads or anything like that

cuz that costs money as well. Uh, would

I take the H400 SE over the JT7? I think

it's close. And the things that I like

about each of them are different and the

things that I dislike about each of them

are different. It kind of just depends.

Like if I'm more averse to this kind of

like shouty or blunted kind of sound, I

would probably choose the H400 SE.

>> Yeah. Yeah. H400 SE is definitely more

chill.

>> But if I'm like averse to the treble

spikes like the 9 kHz resonance of death

on the H400 SE or if I want that bass, a

little bit better bass quality, I'm

going with the the JT7. But then

compared to the FT1 Pro, stock sound, no

EQ, I would choose the FT1 Pro. I still

think that it sounds notably better

because it's not as shouty and it's not

as upy- downy. It's it's a step up to go

to the FT1 Pro. But then again, it's

like it's it's it's hard to really say

this would be meaningfully worse if you

did EQ because that one is excursion

limited in the bass. And I always love

headphones where it's like all you need

to do is add a bass boost. Maybe this

one you do a little bit more, but like

at least with this one you can add a

bass boost. It's not going to clip. So

>> yeah. So So maybe maybe that is the

difference. Like I I am thinking about

it in terms of like if I would like

which I would rather own and because the

JT7's mechanical design and weight

specifically is better than the FT1 Pro.

It would be my choice. I think in terms

of stock sound profile like yeah FD1 Pro

is just a little bit smoother, a little

bit more refined, a little bit easier to

listen to, but I do kind of find it more

sleepy and just kind of softer in a way

that I was surprised the JT7 didn't uh

really sound that sleepy to me. like at

that price, I think it's, you know, more

technical than probably either of them.

That's kind of why I'm into it. But, you

know, I I totally like understand the

perspective and agree that if someone

isn't EQing at all, uh the FT1 Pro is

probably going to be the safer [music]

pick and maybe the one that's a little

bit more of an all-rounder for more

people.

>> So, we've been doing scores up on

headphones.com. If you want to check

that out, that'll be linked in the

description. You go to headphones.com,

click on the ranking list, and then

you'll be able to see our rankings for

this. Uh Griffin, how would you score

the JT7 for sound quality and then

overall? So, [music] in terms of sound

quality, it's a 4.95 out of 10 for me.

Uh, if you want to round it up to a

five, go ahead and do it. I certainly

would. I think totally competent

headphone. Totally reasonable price. And

then when you uh bring in the overall,

which includes kind of the value and the

comfort and that stuff, I give it a 5.5.

I mean, it's not a headphone I'm in love

with by any means, but I think it's a

solid entry, and uh I think it's a

headphone that deserves to exist. How

about you?

>> I rate this lower. I rate this at around

a four. Well, I like the bass, so maybe

I'll bump it up to a 4.2. But it's funny

because I've rated other headphones in

the past where it was like I really

liked one aspect of it, but another

thing was a major dealbreaker. There's

not really any major dealbreakers with

this. It's like they're better and worse

qualities about it, but nothing is like,

you know, I actively hate this part

about this headphone. So, it's it's just

competent and decent all around. And so,

as a result, it's going to get Yeah,

I'll give it a 4 point. I'll give it a

4.2 too for sound quality. And then

overall, I'm going to bump this up to a

five because the comfort and the

ergonomics are very good. It's one of

the best mechanically designed

headphones [music] um at any price. So,

uh really good, really good for that.

And yeah, I I recommend it at $120.

Can't complain. I would not be mad, as I

said in my live stream. All right, and

that's going to do it for this video.

Let us know if you guys have heard this

headphone. How did you get on with it?

But otherwise, if you want to chat with

us, you can do so at our forum at

forum.adphones.com or in our Discord,

also linked below. And until next time,

we'll see you guys later. Bye for now.

Bye guys.