Sorry in advance for the “Dear diary” looking post.
I purchased the FT1 recently, it’s very interesting. I thought I would like it much more than I do.
No real complaints about build and comfort, build seems pretty good for the price, and the comfort is fine. The ear pads could be a bit bigger, and the headphone likes to slide around a bit on my head.
Sound: Keep in mind that what I experience will not be the same for anyone else necessarily. This headphone has some odd HpTF features for me.
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Bass is really, really good. Resolve said it nicely how it balances that sense of impact and “texture” in a good way. It doesn’t really bleed into the mids very much either. No complaints.
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The midrange is generally fine until the upper midrange/ear gain, I find it to be a bit of a mess. 2kHz is excessively forward on my head, which makes midrange overtones sound shouty, honky and nasally. And then 3kHz is a bit recessed, which somewhat reduces clarity.
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Both of these combined features make different tones in the mix sound subjectively “Mushed together” likely because my mind is so focused on the shouty upper mids, but then there isn’t enough clarity either.
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Not many measurements I could find online highlight that 2kHz feature I experience, except for the measurement done by Joe at GadgetryTech. If you place the FT1 and his 6XX together on his squiglink, that difference around 1.9kHz is pretty accurate to what I am hearing.
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The treble, mainly the mid treble is on the darker side for me, but is also uneven. Also, there is some forwardness around 4.5kHz which makes percussive hits sound a bit “Pinched”
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The elevation around 6kHz in relation to the frequencies around it is not sibilant, since overall amplitude is low, which is nice! But that unevenness, combined with excess 10kHz makes treble harmonics sound a bit splashy and shimmery on my head.
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Also, 7.5-8kHz is a bit too dark, but 9/10 headphones are too dark in that region for me.
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Of course, once EQ’ed, the headphone is pretty stellar for the price. The only required filter is reducing 2kHz, because the stock forwardness in that region makes it borderline unlistenable for me.
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I am okay with the forwardness in the upper mids of Harman, and I love headphones such as the HD 600, so it really seems like a weird and unfortunate HpTF feature of the FT1 on my head.
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Otherwise, 10kHz is kind of annoying. And then everything else is more of a nitpick.