Final Audio A4000

Intro:
I’ve received this Final A4000 for a quick review. This is my impression of it after 10 hours of using the A4000

Packaging:
The package looks very minimal. Inside the box is a small case which house the iem unit itself and the cable, along with a box full of Final E black tips with size from S to LL



The cable is way too thin for my taste. I doubt I’d ever use this case if I have to be honest

Design/Build/Comfort

The housing is made entirely out of plastic, which makes it very light, but also feels very cheap

As jagged as it is, the housing is incredibly comfortable. I can where this for 10 hours easily

Sound impression:

Source: Poco F3

Dongle: Hiby FC4, Ibasso DC04 Pro

Eartips: stock Final E black tips

Tonality: Neutral bright

Bass 3.5/5: The bass have fast response, very precise,yet the overall bass shelf feels kinda lean. Subbass over midbass. The midbass thump is there, I can hear it, yet it doesn’t have a lot of body and weight to it. The bass decay way too fast, which doesn’t give me that lingering bass feeling I can get from usual EDM tracks. “Pillowy, dry” are the words I would use to describe the bass of A4000

Mid: 3/5 It’s…weird. With how lightweight the bass region is, male vocal just lack that heft to it. Female vocal also suffer from this, just less affected. They sound forward yet still have that thin characteristic. The uppermid range boost makes the vocal sounds more bright, sibilant and unnatural. Overall just straight up lacking in vocal performance. At least both male and female vocal doesn’t sound shouty
Piano sounds nice, although it sounds a bit veil. Violin sounds lively, precise with a decent bite from the bass to boot

Treble: 3.5/5
With how boosted the 4-10k region is, the treble is the star of the A4000. It’s not peaky, energetic, vibrant. Some may say it even has hot treble, which I agree. Bad recording can be easily spotted because of this. Microdetails are slightly above average. Intruments like cymbal strikes and hi hats are very forward, yet it doesn’t linger around as much, making it loosing that shimmering characteristics that I know of.

Technicalities: The easiest thing to noticed is the stage: It’s wide, deep with above average height. Imaging is decent, I can separate the many layers of instruments in complex orchestra tracks.. Timbre on the other hand doesn't sound natural.

Driveability: I know I need to use the 4.4 port on my dongle immediately. The A4000 does shine with more power.

Volume scaling: Medium to medium high volume. My ears would be ringing from that boosted 4-10k region before I reach my enjoyable level of bass.

The gripes: One of the thing I discovered is that my A4000 unit has reverse polarity on both sides. Some may say it doesn’t matter as long as it’s not out of phase with each other, but in my experience, it does affect the staging for worse. Normally, I can try to reverse the cable since my cable doesn’t have earhooks. But with how A4000 is built (look at the notch in the cable port), it can only use the cable as is and accept the fate of it being reverse polarity



Comparison:

Tanchjim Oxygen:

In short, this iem cooks the A4000 in almost every way I see, with my library. Timbre was way more accurate on the A4000. The stage, although not as deep, but way wider and more holographic. Bass is noticeably thumpier with better texture, although A4000’s bass have faster transient. Female vocal sounds more lively and correct compare to A4000. Instruments like hihats and cymbal strike sounds straight up better than the A4000 due to better sustain and decay, which also means I observe more micro details on the Oxygen.

Conclusion: Would I buy this? No. It’s not suitable for my taste, it’s more of a one trick pony – the grand stage of it. I do have to give credit to Final for what they achived with this iem. I heard that their new A5000 is an upgrade to the A4000, which I hope I can try it someday.

Thank you for reading.

# Intro/disclaimer :

- Bought myself, no relation to any dealer/brand. The product is nearing its 2 year anniversary, and this market has been shaken up a lot during these years. It's interesting to compare it against the pack and see how it fares !


# First Impressions :

- Unboxing : I really, really like final's approach to boxing. The stuff is simple, but much sturdier than the chi-fi stuff I get to review. The years of experience really do stand out.
- The case for it is highly usable and pocketable, which is still rare these days, no matter the price bracket. So a real plus for me.

- The cable is awesome, although I see people online complaning because of it's flimsiness. Coming from multi braided, rubberized cables that are way too heavy and common in cheap & expensive IEMs, I find it a breeze of fresh air. It's light. It doesn't tangle. It doesnt catch on any fabric, doesn't twist on itself. It's perfection. However I agree that it's not the most confidence inducing piece of kit ever, being plain plastic and quite thin.
- The eartips provided enjoy so much popularity, I need not to expand on them. Great material, does not make your ear sweat exceedingly like an S&S will, no pressure buildup in the ear canal (compared to foams, or again the S&S for that matter), tonality wise it of course matches perfectly with the A4000. I don't like them so much on other IEMs, but that's outside the topic of this review.
You get 5 pairs of the Final Type E, from much too small to decently large.

- I've been used these since June of 2022, for multiple hours per day. The comfort while wearing the A4k is unmatched in the IEM world, it's that simple. They're lighter than any conventional IEM you've ever seen, and their shape makes it so you don't feel the body of the earpiece at all. Even bullet style IEMs aren't as comforrtable, because of the deep insertion of the tip required with them.


# Sound :

- Stock tuning is quite good, approaching excellent even. There is a lot to like for a lot of people, in all regions. It seems the set was tuned more for Jpop and electronic music though, as suggested by the similarity to the Blessing2 Dusk in their graphs (you can compare both frequency responses on timmyc.squig.link). I find the mids too recessed in relation to the ample amounts of energy both in the bass and the high mids & treble (a 13dB difference between the lowest point @700Hz versus the higheest @8000Hz) which leads to some instruments lacking balance in their replay, otherwise the rest of the experience is very enjoyable. You might find this treble peak (which is preceeded by a high mids peak @3kHz) too much with certain genres of music, otherwise for movies and multimedia it's a perfectly useable set, just a very contrasty one at that.
- The value of this IEM is in my opinion very good, you get a lot of resolution, sound isolation, and comfort for the 150$ it's asking. Compared to the very crowded market of IEMs nowadays though, especially with the latest wave of planars out now in April 2023, it's not the obvious choice anymore. Sets like the TangZu Heyday, for instance, are better tuned and more resolving for the same amount of money. So it's up the the rest of the technicalities to keep up for this set to remain relevant against the fierce Chinese competition. Fortunately, I 'm happy to say that the A4k delivers.

- The bass is so enjoyable on the A4000. No matter how busy your track might be, the bass amount is sufficient and precise enough for you to hear everything happening. It's not the fastest transient response ever in the lows, even compared to other dynamics drivers, but the sense of authority it can produce is very rare, and the rumble it very convincing. The moments you're going to notice it's "slower" characteristic is when listening to synth bass, manipulated samples and other instant midi kicks.
- The midrange is among the most natural you can find, and by far the best at its price point. Although relaxed, it's an incredibly rich and faithful to instruments replay. Orchestrals and chamber music are a pleasure to listen to with this set.
- The treble is kind of the wrench thrown in the engine, there's no better way to describe it. It throws the balance of the set out of whack, and even though the A4k has a lot of qualities up to its upper mids the excess energy makes the lows and the mids appear thin in contrast to the treble. When playing rock, electric guitars will sound much too shrill because of the relaxed mids and the ferocious high mids. It's also too much even when listening to the target genres of pop and electronic music (to my tatstes anyways) as the treble energy overtakes the rest and fatigues the listener after a short while. A shame considering how well extended, well resolved and capable it is.


# Technicalities :

- Soundstage. I managed to write this whole review without mentioning it once. Kind of stupid when it's the ONE thing the A4k is known for, even nicknamed "the baby 800S" on forums. I happen to have an 800S at my desk, and it's my day to day headset for everything. I know its soundstage damn well.
Well this reputation is kinda deserved, but at the same time it's not. The 800S sounds much wider than other headpones, even some twice or thrice the price (the Utopia comes to mind). The A4k sounds much wider than other IEMs, even some 10x the price (use the A8000 as a comparison). But this similarity doesn't mean the A4k has anywhere near the soundstage of the 800S, we're far from it.
It's nonetheless the best experience you can currently get, maybe at the exception of the A5000 (that I have yet to try)
- Detail retrieval was impressive at first with the A4k, and it sure is very capable in this domain, just not to the very-top level anymore. Things like the S12, the Heyday and many others have joined the fray and are giving the A4k a tough battle to fight. In my opinion the A4000 still manages to win out the others because it has many pros and almost no cons where the chinese planars always represent some compromise in their replay, be it closed stage like the Tangzu or the off timbre on the S12.
- Imaging is also top notch. This IEM has earned a reputation among gamers because of its ability to help you during competitive play thanks to the accurate audio spatialisation. And I can definitely attest to that. Discerning the stage when listening to music, placing the instruments, or having objects move around you and accurately track them in games, it excels in these departments. It's not even in the same league as offferings in it's market and you gotta look at IEMs twice as expensive to find something comparable or better, like a Blessing2 or a TSMR Sands.


# final words :

- The standard against which everything should be measured. I think it deserves that strong of a statement, because realistically it's what I always end up doing. "Is it as comfortable as my A4000 ?" If not, then I'm not going to grab that next IEM as much as the A4k I already have. "Is it as light as my A4000 ?" If not, I'm not going to wear it for long, and end up not touching that next thing because of that. "Does it sound as good as my A4000 ?" If yes, then that IEM is certainly special and deserves a review. While far from cheap the A4000 sits at a reachable price point for many and challenges products twice as expensive in many ways (weight, practicality, ease of use) or even any IEM on the market in others (soundstage, imaging, comfort)
- This is not the best sounding IEM in the world. I'm somewhat enthusiastic in this review and I'm aware of it, because during the year I've been using I've never lost the excitement I felt when first using it. But I'm also aware of the competition, of everything I've heard since and the reality is that it's not the most detailed IEM you can get. Not by a long shot. However it's far more detailed than the cheaper alternatives, and significantly so. To the point that I feel the price is totally justified. So it gets a 4 star review, not 4.5 or 5


# EQ :

Preamp: -2.36 dB
LSQ 300 Hz Gain -1 dB Q 1.04
PK 840 Hz Gain 0.7 dB Q 1.6
PK 1200 Hz Gain 1 dB Q 0.8
PK 3400 Hz Gain 5 dB Q 0.8
PK 3400 Hz Gain -7.1 dB Q 2.48
HSQ 7000Hz Gain 1.2 dB Q 0.7
PK 7700 Hz Gain -5.5 dB Q 1.41

This is an optional step as I think the stock tuning is enjoyable by itself, but I've come to love EQ and I now use it on pretty much anything. The goal is just to get things to sound "right" to me, as in the most natural sounding version of whatever device I'm using.
So here it is, a toned down version of the A4k.
Slightly lowered the bass, as I found subbass could get overwhelming pretty fast on genres that didn't benefit from the push in that region.
Slightly raised the mids, so that guitars and voices would sound more even.
Lowered the energy in the high mids and the treble, to enjoy the A4k with balance to its sound.


# Conclusion :

Posting a review on an IEM fallen out of fashion in a market dominated by reviews of Chi-fi is sure to not get me any more visibility, but I think this product is still a worthy choice in the current market, the same way the OH10 from 2019 remains a valid choice today.
If you're after natural timbres, immersive soundstage & imaging, and the best comfort found on any IEM (why would you not ?) then this is a perfectly valid choice for you. If you're after detail/$ only, there are options for you (the Heyday is very good). If you're only after smooth tunings, there are options for you (the Galileo is pretty much unbeatable, but you could argue for the IE200 paired with the right tips). But the A4000 has strong arguments that you will never find anywhere else.

After getting curious about the final audio A4000 due to me reading that it had a large sound stage for an IEM, I wanted to see for my self. This being my first Final Audio IEM.

The A4000 comes with Very small, Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large ear tips, While they did not hurt my ears, All except the Extra large tips didn't keep the seal and was loose in my ears, even after a slight movement of my head. I kept having to push the IEM's to get the seal back. This is the first time I ever had this much of a issue with tips where I had to use the largest size just to get them to have a seal and stay in place, normally I wear medium size ear tips. Now I don't know if they are the actual Type E tips, just with all grey base instead of the red and grey. I just know that I had to use a size I normally don't have to use to get an seal.

The cables being removable is good but sadly it helps nothing when the A4000s connector have a large notch in the way, which means your forced into using the stock cables, unless you modified a 3rd party cable so the connector can fit around the notch on the inside of the connectors inside the IEM's. So far the cable haven't caused me any issues and feel durable to me.

The ear loop is a nice it makes it easier to get the cable around your ears, but it slides around at times and you have to put it back into position, and if you wear glasses it could be an issue.

The IEM carry case was a nice addition but I wish it was bit bigger and more user friendly, and more secure. I think a small carry box would been better. So it could be more secure and not open up in your portable as well allowing you to store your portable dac/amp and lighting/Type C cables along with the IEM's.

The Source I used was Fiio BTR5 2021 and it's 3.5mm jack, and software I used was music bee with it set to wasapi bit perfect and I used my music library.

These have the largest sound stage I ever heard in a IEM, None of the IEM's I owned in the past was this large. I def hear it being projected outside of my head in compression to my er2SE's which are inside my head. In a song with a lot of atmosphere it felt like I was surrounded by the notes of the pads and the other sounds if that make sense, I not sure how to explain it.

I found the details to be good,i didn't have any issues with hearing the instruments and each one had good enough spacing as they wasn't ganging up upon each other. The only time I heard a bit of brightness is when it was a bad quality song. Other songs didn't have that issue and if it did it was slight or none at all.

Low end bass when it comes to genre's like DnB,Dub-step,Downtempo bass focus genre's,I found it to be in all your face and with some ump as if your getting punched in the face with a bass drum. At the same thing it wasn't muddy and I could hear all of the bass notes. Some songs in the back beat and Synth-wave genre and some rap song's that I tried, it wasn't in your face,but wasn't in the background.

When it comes to genre's like chip-tunes,electronic,RnB,cyberpunk,Dark Synth just to name a few it was in the background. So it depending on the song or genre it's pretty much in your face, or in the background chilling, it doesn't add it self if it isn't in the song from the start.

Vocal's sound good and can be heard clearly, they also wasn't thin sounding.
In MJ”Wanna be Startin Some thin” Remastered. I'm able to hear the instruments, Micheal Jackson and his background singers and their location. When his right background singer stepped closer to the mic to whisper, it creep me out because it sounded like she was right here in the room with me and whispered in my right ear directly. Since this song doesn't have bass notes, none are added.

For non music usage such as for gaming,movies anime, The A4000 works really well for gaming and movies /w Atmos/TV(Netflix) when I used Dolby atmos headphones. It also made my anime sound wonderful with the OST anime have, it sound great this was of course with atmos disabled.

After using these for a almost a month, I happy because of how well these work and paired with my BTR5 2021. I do wish any 2 pin cable worked without being modified to fit the A4000's, or at-least being able to get replace cable if something happen to the cables. Since Final doesn't offer 2 pin just their mmcx cables. If 3rd party cables fitted then this would've been perfect.