FIIO JT1 REVIEW

>>I am brazilian and I speak portuguese, so forgive my english, I’ll use translation tools to help<<

INTRO:

Lots of news on the website! The first one is: Headphones on IEMs And Music?? Yes, my friends, how could I deny a cooperation with FiiO just because I had never evaluated a headphone? I think it only increases my experience in this audio world. The JT1 is currently the company’s entry-level headphone, it’s a good opportunity for me to dive into this other side that is headphones. For those who still don’t know, Jade Audio is a subsidiary from FiiO.

The second is: I’m also here with a Hifiman HE400SE, so I’ll let you know in advance that we will have the review of this headphone later on. Of course, the main focus of the website will still be the IEMs.

And the third is: Now we are going to have a “pros and cons” section in the reviews. Unfortunately, we will have to leave behind the musical genres section, it was a very subjective part that became somewhat unused over time.

Price: $69.99 USD
Colors: Black

FiiO Reviews: FH3, KA1, HS18 (in portuguese), JD7, KA5, FD11, Q11, M11S, KA11 (in english)

FIIO LINKS:

https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oCKrYOX

SPECIFICATIONS:

– Closed Over-ear Headphones
– (1) 50mm Dynamic Driver (DD) PEC+PU +aluminum foil per side
– Frequency range: 15Hz – 30kHz
– Impedance: 32Ω
– Sensitivity: 103dB/Vrms (@1kHz)
– Cable with Mic + 1 button
– Connectors: 3.5mm TRS (detachable)
– Plug: 3.5mm (straight design)
– Cable material: Paracord (nylon) OFC
– Cable size: about 150cm
– Headphone weight: 303.5g (without cable)
– Cable weight: 51.5g
– Total weight (box, headphones, etc): 684g
– Packaging size: 22cm [H] x 20.5cm [W] x 11cm [D]

UNBOXING:

PHYSICAL ASPECTS:

Construction: The JT1 has a more modern design, with a metal arch that strongly reminds of Meze headphones. The quality of the JT1 materials is very good, the malleability of the product is also very good, and I found it to be a lightweight headphone (if compared to the 400SE for example).

Something that intrigued me was the headphone not being open… even though it has an external grid that is all hollow and you feel the sound coming out there, FiiO describes the product as closed. Here I don’t have enough experience to affirm anything, and indeed the JT1 isn’t open like a Sennheiser HD600 or the Hifiman HE400SE.

Headband: The detail of the headband is that it has an adjustment system through “elastics” (wires), so here you don’t have size levels, but a variable adjustment according to the size of your head. Perhaps the only point to be criticized in the construction of the JT1 are these wires… but not that the system doesn’t work well, on the contrary, it works very well, the question is the durability of these wires, I found them very thin. In my tests here everything was Ok, but I can’t guarantee for a distant future.

The Pads are removable and I found it very easy to remove and put on. They can also rotate according to your fitting needs, I found this to be a very positive point. The pads have good quality, they are very comfortable, very soft, the material is like a synthetic leather. Now, I think the 400SE pads are of a slightly better quality, although the 400SE has almost double the price of the JT1 (official price). The internal space of the pads I thought could have a little more space, or maybe I’m taking as a parameter the 400SE pads that are very open.

Cable. The cable is made of Paracord (nylon). I found it to be a very good cable, very robust, resistant, easy to roll up to store. The plug connectors for fitting in the headphone are 3.5mm TRS and the main plug is also 3.5mm TRRS. Now, the points that I didn’t find so positive were: first I found the cable to be heavy, in fact I think it could be thinner and lighter (it weighs 51g), for example, in the 400SE I use a balanced 4.4mm OpenHeart cable that weighs 35g. Second is that: the JT1 cable presented microphony, and it also keeps a little memory (undulation). Saying that I still prefer Paracord cables than rubberized type cables, I think the durability of the Paracord is greater, I’ve had headphones in the past that the rubberized cables simply dried out and broke.

Microphone: The JT1 cable comes with a built-in microphone. The quality of the audio that the JT1 mic captured was excellent, much better quality than these TWSs that I have been testing. For me it was like from water to wine, I could hear my voice with a lot of definition, clean and transparent audio, without noise. The sensitivity of the mic is so great that it captures the microphony of the cable, and the sound goes straight to the recording, so, here is the observation that if you keep bumping the cable while using the mic, it won’t be very good. In conjunction with the mic, we have a control button with the following commands: press 1x is play/pause, press 2x is advance the track, press and hold is call the voice assistant.

Fit and comfort: Here I found a very positive point of the headphone, the Clamping (or force/pressure) of the JT1 I found perfect, I didn’t feel pressure, the headphone fits super well on my head. As I said in the construction paragraph, the headphone is very malleable, I think it doesn’t exert pressure against the head. This is partly subjective too, my head is small.

Accessories: The JT1 comes with a 3.5mm female to 6.35mm male adapter. It also comes with a velvety bag to store the headphone. The cable comes with a rubberized strap to keep it from getting loose.

SOUND ASPECTS:

When I started listening to the JT1, the first thing that came to mind was: very similar to the sound of Truthear Nova (tonally speaking). Of course, it just reminded me, because they aren’t the same. The point here is, there’s a similarity because you hear the bass and the upper-mids highlighted, although I still think the upper-mids of Nova are a bit more forward. My headphone parameter so far is the Hifiman HE400SE, but since I haven’t evaluated it yet, I won’t make a comparison between them. What I can allude to so far is that, the JT1 has a proposal closer to the Harman target, while the 400SE would be more neutral-analytical.

The sound of the FiiO JT1 is more geared towards fun, the sound is warm, it generates a softer, cozy, fatigue-free sound. I don’t put the JT1 as energetic because it has more relaxed/linear treble, so I wouldn’t say it’s a V-Shape headphone.

Bass:

Quantitative: There’s no doubt that the JT1 is a headphone where the bass is the most prominent part of the headphone’s sound. Guaranteed presence, I think they are moderate to high bass. I think people who like bass will like the JT1, even bassheads will be happy with what is here. I recommend the JT1 for those looking to listen to genres that need more quantity in the bass, like EDM, Hip-Hop, POP, or even Metal or more contemporary Rocks. Sub-bass is very present, and mid-bass too, now, I think the sub-bass appears more in the presentation, the sound can reach very underground notes. I didn’t feel roll-off, the extension is good.

Qualitative: They are strong, massive bass, they have weight, they have “ground”, they fill the presentation. They are bass that make the sound warmer, more “cozy”, softer. Fortunately, they are bass that don’t invade the mids, but they take up quite a bit of space in a general context. They have good definition, but they aren’t the last drop in detail, in some circumstances they give the feeling that they could have more resolution and speed. They have texture and physicality. The impact is strong and has a more expansive characteristic, that is, they are fuller, looser bass, instead of being delineated and tight bass. Here it is inevitable not to mention the Hifiman HE400SE, which has cleaner and more detailed bass, but it doesn’t have the same activity in the sub-bass region that the JT1 has. So, the JT1 ends up having bass that seek fun, relaxation, for songs that you won’t be analyzing detail by detail.

Mids:

Quantitative and qualitative: Positive point for the JT1. Even though it is a bass headphone, the mids manage to have a nice projection. The upper-mids region manages to deliver a frontality to the sound, but I wouldn’t say it is essentially “forward”, exactly because the upper-mids don’t sound aggressive or hard, on the contrary, they have an ideal measure to neither sound recessed nor too forward. The mids have good transparency and definition, although they aren’t the last drop in detail, but for the price of the headphone, there’s nothing to question. Voices, guitars, pianos have a more “natural” timbre.

Voices: Both types of voices were good on the JT1. The headphone can extract warmth and texture from lower voices, and it can also have an interesting performance with higher timbre voices. Of course, being a headphone with a relaxing proposal, it makes the higher timbre voices not have the best possible performance, but from what I listened here, it still manages to deliver something very satisfactory.

Treble:

Quantitative: I think the treble of the JT1 are moderate… of course, if you compare with the bass and with the upper-mids, certainly the treble are at a lower level, but in the presentation they sound linear. Great headphone for those who are sensitive to treble, you will hardly hear anything out of the ordinary, unless the recording is bad, then it isn’t the headphone’s fault. I felt that the JT1 has a slight roll-off in the higher treble, although the extension was not impaired. Being a warmer and more relaxed headphone, the JT1 is not my style to listen to genres like Jazz and classical music, because I look for a bright and more analytical sound for these (it’s subjective).

Qualitative: They are smooth treble, versatile, linear, controlled, don’t present coloration, nor peaks. Treble 100% free from causing hearing fatigue. I didn’t feel stridency, harshness, piercing, or sibilance. The sparkle has a more polished characteristic, although it doesn’t sound completely off. For my taste, I think it could have a little more detail and airy, just as I already noticed in the Hifiman HE400SE. On the JT1, drum cymbals are very natural. Hi-hats are smooth, without harshness. Chime brings a polished shine, free from stridency.

Soundstage: The soundstage sensation I found good. As I come from IEMs, it’s evident that I felt more spaciousness in the sound with the headphone, but I confess that I expected even more, probably because the JT1 has slightly more highlighted upper-mids, this makes the presentation sound closer. Still, in my perception, the sound develops very well in depth and width, only in height that I think isn’t so good.

Imaging: The instrumental separation I found good. The stereo image is very good. It’s possible to hear the instruments playing with good space between them. Another good characteristic is to hear the instruments projecting in different places in the presentation (the separation can vary according to the recording).

Amplification: I used the FiiO KA11 and the FiiO M11S to do this review. In my understanding, the JT1 is an easy-to-play headphone, it doesn’t require extra amplification. The KA11 itself did the job, and still had some left, with 10 levels of Android volume, the JT1 was already loud enough, the bass 100% correct. In the 3.5mm output of the M11S the same thing, with 80-85 steps of the 120 available (and high gain mode), the sound was already of good size. I also did a test with the 4.4mm balanced cable and I found that it didn’t change much, the 3.5mm is already necessary for the headphone to play correctly. Is it possible that you play the JT1 with an adapter or directly from the smartphone? I would say yes, but I always recommend having at least a quality dongle at your disposal. Note that with a KA11 you lose the functionality of the JT1 microphone, since the KA11 doesn’t support microphone, but apart from that detail, it’s the dongle that I recommend at the moment.

PROS AND CONS:

GRAPHS TECHPOWERUP:

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