FiiO FF3s Earbuds – Warm and Fuzzy Sound
FiiO FF3S is a $89 USD pair of earbuds with detachable cables, and dual cavity design. Today we will review the FF3S and see how they sound like, as well as what the wearing experience feels like with them.
Introduction
FiiO is one of the most popular brands for Chifi audio, having under their banner products ranging from entry-level IEMs all the way to flagship DAPs, as well as speakers, DAC/AMPs, and everything in between. They are available for purchase through most channels, even in electronics stores here in Romania, and FiiO always carries a high price / performance ratio for their products, as well as great support. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases, and using the purchase links in my reviews helps me maintain this website and Youtube Channel. FiiO has provided the sample for this review, in exchange for my honest opinion.
PROs – Great package, good value, detachable cable, large dynamic driver, easy to drive and not overly sensitive to noise. If earbuds work for you, you will love them. The slow texture and warmer midrange makes most instruments realistic, natural and fun to listen to, while the sharper treble gives acuity and detail to music.
Cons – Comfort does not work with every pair of ears, earbuds have no passive noise isolation, a lot of leakage, strong roll off in treble and in the bass. With even slightly bad fitting, the sound will be very different, so my review will only apply if you get a good fit with them.
Product Link
You can grab one here – https://amzn.to/4cudBc2
Build Quality/Aesthetics/Fit/Comfort
FiiO FF3s is a pair of earbuds, and they use Dual Drum type bass cavities to produce their sound. The IEMs are made of aluminum and they feel really nice in hand, and they are to my knowledge, the only earbuds with 0.78mm 2-Pin detachable cables on the market. To help with the perceived bass quality and quantity, FiiO implemented bass-enhancing flute design, and FF3S has large 14.2 dynamic drivers at their core.
The drivers of the FF3S are made of a Beryllium plated dome + a PU gasket diaphragm. The cables included in the package are made of high-purity silver-plated monocrystalline copper, and they have swappable plugs, with options for both 3.5mm single ended jacks, as well as 4.4mm balanced jacks. There are 2 types of sponge covers included in the package, one designed to be transparent, and one designed to enhance the bass. There is also a silicone wing hook to help with the fitting and comfort of the earbuds, and to further enhance the comfort.
Subjectively, FF3S feels lightweight, and the silicone wings do help with the comfort, but you can expect almost no passive noise isolation as there is no full contact with your ear canal, the earbud mostly covering the opening of the ear, but not going any further.
My personal experience with earbuds in general has not been great, as I don’t get much of a fit with most earbuds, and FF3S, while more comfortable than moist earbuds, still had to be manually kept inside of my ears for this review. They are easy to drive and I can’t hear any background noise or hissing with any source. The list of sources I have used to drive the FiiO FF3s earbuds includes iBasso DX180, HIFIMAN EF400, Burson PlayMate 2, ddHIFI TC35 PRO E2 Eye 2, and HIFIMAN EF600.
Sound Quality
Overall Signature – As earbuds generally have a bass roll-off, I think that the graph offered on the FiiO website is mostly correct, and the sound has a full bass roll-off below 100 Hz, as it rolls off with almost -20dB at 20 Hz, the progress being quite linear below 100 Hz. This means that for each 10 dB, you lose about 3-4 dB of bass energy and presence. At about 2kHz there starts a growing peak, which stays strong until about 10 kHz, with some coloration in between, creating a strongly mid-centric sound which is warm, thick and generally easy to appreciate for vocal acuity and clarity, but which rolls off above 11 kHz quite quickly. This means that the sound is open, bright, thick, warm in the mids, and rolled off in the bass.
Bass – As the bass rolls off linearly below 100 Hz, you can expect most of the low end presence to feel like a warm tone and body to instruments, but very little presence below 70 Hz is still audible, most of the bass sounds taking energy from the mids, and the low-end sounds rolled off, yet thick, slow, heavy and gives all music a fuzzy feeling to it.
Midrange – The midrange is clearly the focus with FF3S, and both on the graph offered by FiiO for their Frequency response and to my ears the IEMs sound quite colored, with well defined peaks at 2.5 kHz, 6 kHz, and 11 kHz, with valleys in between the peaks defining a pretty sharp, bright, and open sound. Those peaks have an energy of around 10 dB above the body and presence of music present between 100 Hz and 1 kHz, so you can expect male voices to sound thin and warm, slow and thick, while female voices are energetic, emotional, vivid, forward and fun.
Treble – The treble rolls off as well above 11 kHz, but for most people this is plenty of extension and energy, so FF3S will sound fairly bright and open to most, even sharp at times, if the song has extra sharpness and aggressiveness inside. This is because the peak at 11 kHz is quite high so you will hear a lot of air, brilliance and energy in the treble with all music.
Dynamics / PRaT / Textures – The sound of the FF3 s is slow, impulse response is sloppy and creates a satisfying oomph and warmth to each sound, the body of each instrument is really heavy and slow, effectively countering the feeling of sharpness and brightness that gets created in the treble and upper midrange. Textures are generally slow and heavy, having a lot of warmth and thickness inherited from the bass and the lower midrange.
Volume Control – The sound gets warmer, more relaxed and cleaner at lower volumes, and it gets more aggressive, dynamically more compressed, and brighter, with less body and shoutier at high volumes. As there is no passive noise isolation, FF 3s is best enjoyed in a quiet environment, with low listening volumes.
Soundstage – The stage is quite wide, with little definition to each instrument, as the earbud design allows a lot of air to escape, and most instruments blend a lot together, creating an open airfield sound more than a traditional audiophile experience. If you bring the FF3s loud, you will even get physical crossfeed as sound from left will blend with what you’re hearing on the right earbud.
Value and Conclusion
If you generally get along well with earbuds, FiiO FF3s has one of the richest packages out there, they come with a lot of accessories, detachable cables and modular cables, being literally kings when it comes to offering a great package and high value for the money.
If you’re looking for a warm, mid-centric sounding earbud with a high energy in the voices, good acuity and which makes lyrics easy to understand, but still provides a warm and thick sound, you will enjoy the FF3S, and especially if you want no passive noise isolation, you will have a lot of fun.
Product Link
You can grab one here – https://amzn.to/4cudBc2
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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