FiiO JT7 (champagne gold)

The JT7 is FiiO's way of making planar sound affordable: an open-back headphone from the Jade Audio line with a 95 × 86 mm planar driver developed entirely in-house. A planar driver moves a thin flat film with the voice coil spread across it, instead of pushing a cone from one point; the JT7's film is 3 µm thick and has a textured surface FiiO calls F.E.S. (FiiO Elastic System), which works like the soft surround of a speaker cone and lets the film move further for fuller bass without extra distortion. The coil is plated onto the diaphragm with the same 28 nm process as FiiO's FT1 Pro and FT7. Being open-back it sounds spacious but leaks sound both ways, so it suits a quiet room. FiiO's numbers are 18 Ω and 92 dB/mW, and it recommends a balanced output with more than 500 mW (a stronger dongle or player) and a desktop amp for the fullest bass, so plan on more than a phone's own headphone output. At about 318 g it is light for a planar, it folds flat, the breathable mesh pads and headband cushion come off for cleaning, and it ships with a 3.5 mm cable, a 4.4 mm balanced cable and a 6.35 mm adapter. This is the champagne gold version, with brown pads and headband cushion.

• 95 × 86 mm planar driver, 3 µm diaphragm
• Open-back, 18 Ω, about 318 g, foldable
• 3.5 mm and 4.4 mm cables included