Audiophilepure

Ranged against some of the competition, the JOAL is pleasingly open-sounding with a fairly spacious soundstage, especially along the X-axis.

I have spoken a few times about how much further the vocal imaging is than previous ABYSS iterations. Whilst this does create a somewhat more intimate quality, it’s nowhere near as narrow-sounding or as in your face as the POET and, to some extent, the NOIRE XO. 

I do think it has less height than the NOIRE XO, but it does allow for that smooth midrange performance to come through strongly.

The NOIRE XO has stronger treble levels, but it introduces a brighter, more attack-minded upper midrange that, whilst more dynamic, can be more fatiguing than the comparatively relaxed imaging of the JOAL.

ABYSS DIANA series headphones fourté has always been about speed and space, so I would say the JOAL has retained some excellent space, but it has dropped the pace a little.

FiiO has challenged that price structure with a flagship that is well under a thousand dollars. How they do it is a mystery to me, because all the materials from the carbon fiber to the genuine leather headband and lambskin ear pads are premium materials. FiiO chose real zebra wood over a plastic version. Even the 6N liquid nitrogen frozen monocrystalline copper stock cable is premium.

Fairly easy to drive, the FiiO FT7 can be enjoyed with a portable DAC/amp, though it reaches its potential on a quality desktop amplifier.