Final Audio Design Heaven Viii

INTRO:
 
I am not a believer of the faith nor am I religious in any way, but being a citizen who is fairly exposed to a religious society, I've picked up a few things or two about the so called "heaven". And I think what I am presented with in this review is the whole depiction of that paradisiacal utopia. Yes, thanks to Final Audio Design's Heaven VIII single balanced armature earphone, I am pretty damn sure that I have finally reached my final destination. 
 
Calling the Heaven VIII as an endgame IEM may be a bit questionable to some, however both its sonic qualities and physical beauty can easily live up to many people's expectations. Though when it comes to personal opinion, I tend to have a sweet spot for Japanese manufacturing - their continuous effort in bringing about the greatest of quality in their products is something one could grandiosely admire. Japan's stupendously competitive nature in the work force as well as their unwavering diligence can be at times, the formula of achieving greatness, or at other times, the cause of utter struggle. However, as a result of that preposterous nature, the Japanese audio company had successfully produced a product of a significant, awe-inspiring standard. 
 
PACKAGING / ACCESSORIES / BUILD:
 
I had purchased my pair as a used product, but when it came everything was in near immaculate condition.
 
  
 
In terms of packaging, the whole package arrived in a fairly large cardboard box with fake, crocodile leather feel. Although not geniune, it was quite good looking. Upon lifting the topside of the box, the earphones were shinning at me as if some lady had exposed her assets hiding beneath her fur jacket. Truly an amazing view. But to no surprise, it's very Japanesey of them to offer us this load of pleasure (If you know what I mean).
 
The accessories provided were of very high quality. The metal cigarette case feels very sturdy and that the springs supporting the opening of the case were also quite firm. The insides of the casing were of a suede-velvety material, and exhibited soft cushioning just beneath it. The brown tips included were in pairs of 5, varying from very small to somewhat large. To my surprise, the tips were quite thick and overall very good quality. 
 
 
 
And as expected of Final Audio, they've yet again (maybe accidentally) released another pair of stunning earrings, and have kept that consistency running throughout their entire Heavens line-up. The housing of the earphone is made up entirely of stainless steel and is extremely solid. Solid as it is, it is also quite heavy; though that heaviness to me is just another sensation of trying to fully admire its glorious build quality. Furthermore, the intricate cuts of the diamond-like design along with its overall polish is just a bonus when it comes to admiring its looks. Besides the build, the colour is an absolute hit or miss -  it may not fit everyone's tastes, and how it might also come off as too "blingy" may be another drawback. Though colour aside, I overall think it is quite charming of an earpiece. 

 

COMFORT / ISOLATION:

 

At first, I had expected these to be more on the uncomfortable side due to the large housing and weight, but I overall found the comfort to be fairly pleasing with the included tips, and that they didn't fall off due to its heaviness. I although did have quite a deep insertion, so the main issues and worries were neglected due to that. If for whatever reason you wish to choose these earphone to jog with, as long as a good fit is sealed, you probably would not need to worry about it falling off. Isolation of the Heaven VIIIs were good. I raised my hands to the ear level and tried clicking my fingers, but at a medium to loud level of music playing, I couldn't hear the clicking at all. To summarise, the comfort and isolation of the VIIIs is well above decent, though of course, your mileage may vary. 

 

AUDIO:

 

All listening had been sourced from my own Fiio X5 DAP, and all tracks played were in lossless formatting. As the Heaven VIIIs were used previously, I didn't opt for the extra burn-in period.

 

Tracks listened to are as listed: 

 

Amber Rubarth - Kiss To Build A Dream On

Diana Krall - Fly Me To The Moon

Diana Krall - Peel Me A Grape

Diana Krall - Frim Fram Sauce

Norah Jones - Don't Know Why

Olivia Ong - Driving

Phoenix Wright Jazz - Objection!

J.S Bach, Peter Wispelwey - Suite no, 1 in G Major

Hibike Euphonium - RYDEEN

Hanazawa Kana - Trace

Masaru Imada - Alone Together

Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto in D Major

 

Early Impressions:

 

Paired with the Fiio X5, the Heaven VIIIs yielded great results. Welcomed with a tiny bit of hiss, which is for some reason is common on most of the Heaven range, the Heaven VIIIs performed exceptionally throughout most genres and recordings. I also found them to be quite forgiving towards the older and poorer mastered recordings - which was quite a bonus. The Heaven VIIIs produce a substantially warm signature that gives off a light and comfortable sensation, and at the same time, features lots of details which do not seem fatiguing at all.
 

 



 
BASS:

 
Whatever you might throw at the VIIIs, you might be left with second thoughts regarding the low-end frequencies. From my listening period, I found that tracks with vocals presented further away from the mic tended to become a bit swallowed up by the bass, leaving a somewhat muffled sound - nothing too bad, though. Although with most of the other tracks where bass is prominent, the VIIIs do a superb job of reproducing bass instruments. But where bass is even more prominent, things started to get a little boomy. However, listening to orchestras where the string sections pluck their strings, a nice sensation rings through, and the overall staging of the recording can be heard due to the amount of airiness the bass notes produce. Not only strings, but other low end instruments including bass drums and taiko drums deliver incredible amounts of energy, and vibrates very cleanly without edging towards the above frequencies. The bass is not only well controlled, but only appears when it is necessary, meaning that other low-pitched instruments e.g. euphonium, trombone, do not sound boomy as they do on cheaper earphones. The bass extends fairly low and does hit the sub-bass well.

When going through Diana Krall's live album, the bass becomes the hero of the songs, as again, the airiness produced becomes the reason why her performances becomes so immersive. Contrabass and low-end piano notes sounded lifelike, and was overall creating a greater sense of liveliness. In summary of the low-pitched instruments, a great deal of timbre is reproduced, and a quality, creamy tone is provided to achieve a stunning level of "realism". 
 
MIDS:
 
I am an unabashed fan of female vocals, and it's quite a relief knowing that the VIIIs can reproduce their higher-pitch voices at a realistic standard. Akin to the Heaven VIs, the vocals are very organic, and in no way had they ever begun to sound grainy, or tinny. Focusing on instruments that govern the middle frequencies, instruments such as oboes, saxes, and clarinets all possess good tone and extension. Vocals and those instruments never become peaky, nor sibilant. 
 
The lower-mids I find to be quite a sweet spot; coupled with the lower end, male voices show good texture, and deeper voiced females, mainly Diana Krall, sound extremely satisfying. Though with most female singers and their upper-mid ranged voices, I found them to be sweet, and relaxing to listen to - often addicting as well. Voices in general were well defined, and showed great amounts of detail retrieval. Listening to the music, but focusing on the vocals can come out to be quite emotional at times. 
 
TREBLE:
 
Between the mids and treble, the detailing is immense. For the entire spectrum to be on the more warm and luscious side, and to also exhibit a wide array of detail, you can only begin to question what kind of sorcery is taking place. What came out as most surprising in the treble section were the high-hats and cymbals. In Phoenix Wright's Jazz album and Hibike Euphonium's marching band piece, where the high-hats and cymbals were played frequently, I could not help but to be amazed by how natural it had sounded, as well as how it had so much crisp, and a perfect amount of decay. The Heaven VIIIs were by far are the best I have heard when it comes to producing those instruments. 
 
The detail that the VIIIs had presented was a pleasure. Listening to my favourite live recordings, and expecting all the subtle details within the audience and band members was breathtaking. From the energetic applause given by the audience, to the coughs and fidgeting of the audience, nothing was missing. The tuning of the treble section was extremely blissful, and had left me craving for more listening.
 
SOUNDSTAGE / IMAGING:
 
Yeah. The sound staging is wide. The imaging is precise. What more could add to the overall realistic representation of a well recorded album? 

Orchestra performances and Jazz band recordings were sublime. Instruments were quite out of the head, and distances between them left a great impression on the airiness. When Amber Rubarth's binaural album came on, there was good height, as well as width within her tracks. The VIIIs performs well, creating a more immersive and 3D environmental sound. 
 
FINAL THOUGHTS:
 
On a side note; I am a pianist so I know what a piano should sound like.
 
As a piano offers bass, mids, and treble, it is very difficult to for audio devices to reproduce its tones to a good standard. Some come close, however many always end up lacking in either one of the departments. The Heaven VIII is so far the best phone I have listened to that correctly reproduces the sound of a piano. The bass offered in the Heaven VIIIs shows similarity in that of many grand pianos I have (with extensive hours) played on - strong force, deep tone, and even subtlety. As for the mids and highs, they're typically not hard to reproduce. However, in that regard, the mids sounded very natural, and the highs produced nice sparkle and crispiness - just what I would want to hear. 
 

The Heaven VIIIs remind me of speakers, as the qualities of both tend to be featured within the VIIIs. As some speaker enthusiasts would agree that speakers outclass earphones and headphones in many aspects due to their larger drivers and superior housing, others will say that earphones and headphone can almost achieve that same level of sonic ability. In my situation, I am both highly interested in speaker systems as well as headphones/earphones, and the one thing that stood out to me about the VIIIs, was the reproduction of that low-end, and the sense of liveliness. They are in the same ballpark as some expensive speakers that I have auditioned, I believe. And for the RRP, I find the Heaven VIIIs to be a great purchase. The typically over-done Japanese packaging and the included accessories were of great quality, and they did certainly have that high-end feeling bestowed upon them - however, it all adds up nicely considering how eargasmic they sound. 

Yet again, a big round of applause to Final Audio Design for their diligent effort. 
 

 

Details: Single balanced armature flagship universal IEMs from Final Audio Design
Price: Heaven VII EU 550; Heaven VIII EU 600
Specs: Driver: Single BA | Imp: 24Ω | Sens: 106 dB | Freq: not stated | Cable: 1.2m straight plug
Preferred tips: As supplied
Wear Style: Straight down
Disclosure: I purchased the Heaven VIIIs with my own money and have no affiliation with Final Audio Design
 
Strengths (Heaven VIII)
 
- Generally excellent mids and highs
- Highs have excellent decay (cymbals)
- Lovely timbre
- Good detail
- Impressive soundstage / instrument separation
- No shortage of bass quantity
- Fatigue-free listening
 
 
Weaknesses (Heaven VIII)
 
- Bass is slow and tends towards the boomy
- Coloured presentation (bass hump) may not suit all listeners
- Microphonics can be annoying
- Expensive
 
_________________________________________________
 
 
This is my first full-length review for Head-fi.
 
I came to the Final Audio Design Heaven VII and VIII (hereafter referred to as the Heaven 7 and 8) via ownership of IEMs including the Etymotic ER6i, Vsonic GR-01 and Future Sonics Atrio M5, and several headphones from Sennheiser, including my favourite portables - the Sennheiser HD 25 1-IIs.
 
I generally prefer a flat sound signature.
 
During a recent visit to Japan I visited a discount electronics store where I had the opportunity to audition an amazing array of IEMs which were available at (relatively ...) bargain prices. After trying all the top offerings from brands including FAD, Sony and Audio-Technica, I settled on the Heaven 7 (selling for the equivalent of USD $420) and 8 (USD $500) as being the most impressive models.
 
Upon reading the specs, I was surprised to find that both FADs possess no more than a single balanced armature. The reason for my surprise was that the Heaven 7, which I had tried first, had immediately impressed me with its wide soundstage and excellent instrument separation. The top Sony and Audio-Technica models I tried did not come close in those respects and, from memory, nor did any of my earlier IEMs. I had not suspected that a single BA could isolate instruments so well within such a broad and tall space.
 
Of the two models the Heaven 7 is supposed to have the more linear sound signature, which would normally be my preference, but after extensive A-B testing I was seduced by the apparently fun bass of the Heaven 8 and went with that model. Upon arriving back at my capsule I played around with the tips (there are five sets) and WHAMMO! - it turned out that the 8's bass was much stronger than it had seemed in-store. There were likely two reasons for my lapse of judgement: firstly, the store was quite noisy and the FADs do not isolate particularly well, making it difficult to listen critically and, secondly, the tips used on the store model were one size smaller than optimum for my ears. Of course, a poor seal nearly always undermines bass response.
 
Anyhow, let's take a look at this beast.
 
 
WHAT'S IN THE PACK?
 
The Heaven 8 comes in a large textured box that opens to reveal lots of plush furry goodness, highlighting two pretty gold IEMs:
 

 
The IEMs are made of solid stainless steel, making for a relatively heavy 29g for the pair. There is a non-removable filter at the end of each nozzle:
 
 

 
As can be seen below, the tips and cable are brown. The cable is flat. The plug is straight. The Heaven 7 looks identical, but is silver rather than gold.
 

 
The barrels are etched with the word "final" ...
 

 
... are backed with an unusual multi-angled steel surface ...
 

 
... and are marked "R" and "L" for - you guessed it - the left and right ears. These markings are difficult to see in poor light and there is no other physical way to distinguish between the two earphones.
 

 
 
ACCESSORIES
 
Under the furry-goodness thing are a two-year warranty card, a set of four tips (a fifth set is already attached to the phones) and an attractive steel case with sponge interior. This case is prone to fingerprints and (according to other reviewers) scratches. It's also a bit too heavy for everyday carry, in my opinion. Still, it's useful for keeping the IEMs protected at home.
 
 

 

 
There are no accessories for cleaning. A booklet suggests cleaning the filters with a toothpick.
 
 
TIPS / ISOLATION
 
The tips are unusual in that they sit in the outer part of the ear rather than deep in the canal. I've used many tips over the years and have always struggled to get a good seal in my right ear, even with Etymotics. I had no trouble at all getting a seal with the Heaven 8 tips, which was a great relief.
 
One side-effect of using shallow tips is that isolation is average at best. On the Shinkansen bullet-train from Kyoto to Tokyo I was able to hear that an announcement was being made even while listening to music. The IEMs do isolate well enough to deaden most of the noise on public transport, to the point where I think it is possible to keep the sound at safe listening levels.
 
 
CABLE / PLUG / MICROPHONICS
 
The cable looks nice and seems to have adequate strain relief at the point where it enters the IEM bodies. At the other end, it terminates at a straight plug. The cable is prone to microphonics, and this can be annoying while walking or otherwise moving about. It is difficult to wear the cables over the ear. A shirt-clip would help, but none is included in the package.
 
 
SOUND QUALITY: GENERAL
 
This is the important stuff, right?
 
The core strength of both FADs lies with their ability to project an unusually expansive soundstage with excellent instrument separation and a good amount of detail. To my ears, the Heaven 8 creates a semi-spherical soundstage from within my head to some distance beyond each ear with clearly defined spaces for instruments. Although I no longer have the Heaven 7 to hand, it did strike me as offering a wider soundstage. This may have been because of its more linear presentation, giving a sense of space and air rather than a bass-heavy response.
 
In general, the Heaven 7s might be considered the flatter and more technically capable phones whereas the Heaven 8s are darker, bassier, and built for "fun".
 
 
SOUND QUALITY: BASS
 
This is the most interesting aspect of the Heaven 8's sound because bass is both its strength and its weakness. It is a strength because its sheer weight belies the fact that this is a single BA IEM. The Heaven 8 gives the impression of having plenty of bass power with excellent extension into the lower registers and little noticeable roll-off.
 
However, there is a caveat here because when played through my iPhone 5S, the Heaven 8's bass is remarkably slow compared with other IEMs I have owned. It lacks the punch and control of the GR-01s, for instance, even though it bests them easily for power.
 
It does not stop there. The bass hump colours the mids, making them sound recessed on some tracks. Vocals and keyboards can sound, at times, distant enough to detract from the overall listening experience.
 
The iPhone 5S has a lot of grunt for a portable player which suggests that - when paired solely with a portable device - the Heaven 8 offers bass quantity, rather than quality. To be blunt, its bass is big and flabby. It does, however, have excellent extension. The sub-bass matches the mids for presence.
 
In contrast, the Heaven 7 offers more subdued bass - presenting less of the bass strength and also less of the bass weakness of the Heaven 8s.
 
I should mention that the Heaven 8's bass tightens up a little when paired with a more powerful source. However, not everybody likes to carry an amp.
 
 
SOUND QUALITY: MIDS AND HIGHS
 
The mids and highs are a strength of both IEMs.
 
Both IEMs offer - outside of the bass frequencies - good to excellent detail, separation, soundstage and extension. Both IEMs have smooth mids and highs with none of the peaky aggressiveness of, for example, TWFK phones (I'm comparing from memory with my Vsonic GR-01s).
 
The Heaven 8s have slightly relaxed highs that make for fatigue-free listening sessions. Although subdued, the highs do not lack extension and are capable of presenting themselves with authority when the track calls for it. At all times, the highs are detailed.
 
The Heaven 8s render cymbals unusually well, with natural shimmer and decay. Cymbals do tend to sound a little distant but, again, they are there.
 
The Heaven 8s only very rarely display sibilance and, on those occasions, source quality is likely the cause.
 
The Heaven 7s have more prominent highs, which are accentuated by the relatively controlled and subued bass. They sound more airy than Heaven 8s.
 
 
 
NOTES
 
Much of the time, I've found the Heaven 8s to be too dark in their natural state for enjoyable listening and have taken to tweaking the EQ on my laptop and phone. With the iPhone 5S, I've found the "bass reducer" and "spoken word" presets best for subduing the bass and lifting the mids. Using these settings, when compared with the HD25 II-1s, the Heaven 8s are smoother, are inferior in bass quality, and are superior in soundstaging / instrument separation.
 
I do often find myself turning off the EQ for rock and classic rock tracks, which can benefit from Heaven 8's naturally enhanced bass. In this sense, the Heaven 8s are superior to the Heaven 7s (on the basis that it's easier to remove bass than it is to add bass with BA phones).
 
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All of the following notes relate to the Heaven 8s:
 
Led Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused offers a good test of driver distortion from 3:30 onwards. The Heaven 8s handled this passage with ease.
 
The Stranglers' Nice 'n' Sleazy benefits from the enhanced bass, but with a hint of sibilance (source quality?)
 
Cornerstone Roots' Light also carries a rare hint of sibilance (source quality?)
 
Timbre - Radiohead's Faust Arp has lovely warm timbre with EQ set to bass reducer.
 
Some 1980s tracks benefit from the Heaven 8's enhanced bass, for example Hello Sailor's Gutter Black (the soaring trumpets survive).
 
My recording of Wagner's Die Walkure: Ride of the Valkyries sounds great - the slow but weighty bass gels nicely with the orchestral arrangement and the Heaven 8 projects a realistic sense of space.
 
The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again, without EQ,  sounds too dark for my tastes.
 
On Nirvana's Come As You Are, without EQ, Kurt Cobain's vocals lack presence.
 
On Skrillex's bassy, electronic Slats Slats Slats, the Heaven 8's bass manages to rouse itself to a semblance of quickness.
 
On Ram Jam's cover of Black Betty, the cymbals are reproduced excellently, with good presence and impressive decay.
 
The outro of Supergroove's Sitting Inside My Head highlights the Heaven 8's ability to produce (reproduce?) lovely timbre.
 
Disco sounds freaking awesome. Don't tell anyone, but the Heaven 8s have forced me to listen to Stayin' Alive more than once.
 
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After several days of ownership, the Heaven 8s finally seduced me while listening to Fat Freddy's Drop's Cays Crays, with EQ set to bass reducer. Dallas' voice drew me in and kept me there. Until that point, I'd been suffering just a bit from buyer's remorse, wishing I'd gone with the Heaven 7s ...