FT1 vs FT3 (350Ω): which needs more amplifier?

The FiiO FT1 is 32Ω at 98.0 dB/mW; the FiiO FT3 (350Ω) is 350Ω at 100.4 dB/mW. This page is only about what they ask of an amplifier — not how they sound, which no specification on either sheet can tell you.

The FT1 needs 2.4 dB more than the FT3 (350Ω) to reach the same loudness — 1.6 mW against 0.91 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationFT1FT3 (350Ω)
Impedance32 Ω350 Ω
Sensitivity98.0 dB/mW100.4 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)112.9 dB/V105.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB1.6 mW0.91 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.23 V0.56 V
Current for 100 dB7.0 mA1.6 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
4.00 Ω43.75 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

Where the two part company

Every source in the database that drives one of them drives the other. On power, the choice between these two changes nothing about what amplifier you need.

20 sources are low enough in output impedance for the FT3 (350Ω) under the one-eighth rule but not for the FT1 (Zoom AMS-22, Arturia MiniFuse 2, Arturia MiniFuse 1, 17 more).

280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both. That count is about power only — the output-impedance and hiss lines above are separate questions, and a source can pass this one and fail those.

Both pages in full

Each model has a page of its own with the full source list, the hiss estimate and the provenance of every figure above: FiiO FT1 and FiiO FT3 (350Ω). Every figure on this page comes from what FiiO published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.