Little Dot GYFU Review

Little Dot FYGU

Sound – Intro

 

The designers from Little Dot describe the GYFY in the following way: “One of the highlights of GYFU is its driver configurations. Those three drivers are performing and complementing each other so well that you are able to enjoy deep powerful bass, while also an amazing middle frequency. 8mm high frequency driver excels normal headphone with extraordinary high resolution.”

Immersive Bass & High Resolution

If you see that Little Dot is describing the GYFU’s sound in this way, you can of now what to expect already. Let’s dive in!

Sound – General

For the part on sound I have used a series of tube and solid state amplifiers and DACs as well as portable sources. As the GYFU has a dual tuning depending on the position of the ear pads (Wide harmony mode with thick part in front and Close vocal mode with the thick part at the back), we will describe both. We’ll also do a short comparison between single ended and balanced but the main description is in balanced mode as I feel this delivers the best sound quality.

Sound – Balanced / Wide Harmony Mode

The GYFU has a light v-shaped kind of signature where bass takes the lead. The midrange is more to the back and the upper midrange and treble to the front. More so than the bass. These overall are very full sounding headphones and they carry a bigger amount of body in the bass and highs, and a little less in the mids. You can say it’s a fun and engaging tuning, more than it is a high performing one.

Sound stage wise the GYFU in width is ok and it definitely is better in depth, with nice layering. The GYFU with its open back design of course does sound open and airy, but it’s not the most open sounding headphone at all. Let’s say it’s somewhere in between naturally open and intimate open. Makes sense?

Little Dot FYGU

In regards to detail retrieval, the GYFY does just ok in my opinion. It’s not the technically strongest headphone and the competition is tough. There certainly is room for improvement. In regards to clarity, the upper midrange and treble score best. Vocals are definitely more to the front and they draw a lot of attention.

The GYFU is a fun headphone to listen to but the first time you listen to this headphone your ears really have to adapt to its atypical sound. The GYFU also needed quite some hours of burn-in to make it sound how it should. I’m not always a big burn in believer, but in this case there certainly was an impact.

Bass

Always present, full and heavy. Bass is one of the most important characteristics of this headphone. The dynamic driver does a good job in regards to upper and mid bass. But it doesn’t have any impressive sub bass presence/rendering. Quality wise the bass in regards to detail, speed and layering isn’t the strongest. It’s more fun with good impact than it is technically strong bass. It gets your feet tapping and head nodding, but your ears will be left wanting more precision. At least my ears.

Mids

The mids have the least focus in this headphone and the vocals have a more upfront presentation. Several headphones apply this type of tuning but it’s not something everyone likes. The mids are lighter in body, but they’re spacious and airy. The mids have quite a particular tuning.

Little Dot FYGU

Treble

The treble is wavy and the lower treble is accentuated. The higher treble is rolled off. It’s a very tuning we see more often but it’s not for everyone and it is not particularly extended or spacious/airy. The treble tuning does sort of make sense looking at the typical bass, midrange and vocal tuning but it’s quite special.

Sound – Balanced / Close Vocal Mode

Time to turn the ear pads 180 degrees. For me this results in a stronger v-shaped presentation. Bass is still very present. Midrange is a little more to the back and the vocals and lower treble more to the front.

I’m having a hard time deciding which tuning I like most, but the difference is there and it’s easily audible. I think that if you like a bass heavier tuning and a v-shaped tuning with vocal forwardness, the Close Vocal mode will be the most to your liking. If you’re more in favor of balanced tuning, the Harmony mode will be more to your liking, but not very much. It’s a difficult headphone.

Sound – Single ended vs balanced

The biggest improvement for me is that you in balanced more get a more spacious and deep presentation, where positioning is much better compared to the flatter, more intimate sounding single ended config.

In balanced mode you also get better overall extension as well as note extension. In single ended mode it’s more into your face, like a closed kind of headphone. As such I see no reason to use this headphone in single ended mode.

Little Dot FYGU

Sound – Conclusion

Making 3 drivers work together in a full sized headphone still is tricky and I haven’t heard too many multiple driver headphones that could really please me from a sound point of view. I’m sorry to say that it here, to my ears is no different with the GYFU.

The headphone is more fun and engaging than it is a technically strong headphone. If you like a more v-shaped tuning where the bass and vocals have the most importance, then the GYFU signature will probably please you. I’m sure many people are looking for this tuning but in general we can say the GYFU isn’t the kind of headphone we call balanced or technically strong.

The GYFU has its own very unique tuning. Do try it if you get the chance and let us know in the comments what you think of its tuning.

Amplification

Looking at the impedance and sensitivity, the GYFU isn’t a hard to drive headphone. That being said, I have almost always used it with a dedicated amplifier. In this section we in short describe the GYFU’s performance with 3 different types of amplifier: Desktop (Tubes), DAP and USB Dongle.

Little Dot FYGU

For the extra desktop amp we have chosen the Little Dot LD-H1 with the Violectric V850 DAC, in an all balanced configuration. Here you more or less get the same sound described as in the general sound part. The ‘extras’ the LD-H1 and GYFU combo brings to the table are more energy and bass depth/layering. Extra energy is good but at the same time it does accentuate the vocal forwardness. The bass as expected is usually but it here is technically slightly stronger because of the more clear layering and sub bass detail.

DAP-wise the Cayin N6ii/R01 is one of the hottest DAPs of the moment. In balanced config the bass is impressive here but the overcall clarity and energy levels are high. It brings a bit of excitement and life into the GYFU. Logically the vocals are still more to front, but the clarity, treble extension and energy here do make is a more exciting headphone to listen to. This probably is my favorite source with the GYFU.

Dongle wise I lately tend to use the AQ Cobalt and Earmen Sparrow most. In this case I chose the Sparrow as it sports a balanced output. With this DAC/AMP in balanced mode, the v-shaped experience gets enhanced but you also get a lighter amount of body overall. That’s good for the bass region but not so for the rest and it’s making the FYGU sound thinner. It’s also not the most spacious and extended sound. So in this case, it’s not the best pairing.

Little Dot FYGU

Conclusion

We can only applaud Little Dot for experimenting with different technologies. While using multiple drivers in IEMs is the most normal thing in the world, it seems to be much more difficult when it comes to headphones.

Little Dot with the FYGO deserves credit for being innovative. The result however is a very special tuned headphone which isn’t for everyone. With a more v-shaped tuning, the GYFU has bass body, vocal forwardness and a lower treble accentuation. It’s a fun headphone to listen to with the right kind of music, but it’s not a balanced headphone that will please the big crowd. If linearity and technical excellence is what you’re after, then you have to look elsewhere.

That being said, if you like a v-shaped presentation and a full bodied sound with a high vocal presence, this could be an interesting headphone for you.

Little Dot FYGU

Page 1: Little Dot, GYFU, Design, Comfort & Build Quality, Specs, Price & Accessories

Page 2: Sound Intro, General, Dual tuning, Single Ended, Amplification, Conclusion

4.2/5 - (78 votes)
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Lieven is living in Europe and he's the leader of the gang. He's running Headfonia as a side project next to his full time day job in Digital Marketing & Consultancy. He's a big fan of tube amps and custom inear monitors and has published hundreds of product reviews over the years.

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