Finder X1 – initial impressions
Had the Finder X1 for a little under a week now, and as they have managed to impress me so much in the short time I’ve had them I thought I’d pop some initial impressions up here for anyone who’s still thinking about pulling the trigger on these little beauties at the Indiegogo price while it’s still available. This is my first impression/review attempt, so please take it all with a pinch of salt – YMMV.
About me: newly minted audiophile, long time music fan and reasonably inept drummer. Listen to at least 2 hours of music a day on my commute to work – prefer IEMs for out and about, and a large pair of headphones when I have the house to myself and a glass in my hand. Recently started converting my library to FLAC and 320kbps MP3, and do most of my other listening through Spotify or Tidal HiFi. I am a fan of rock, acoustic (apart from folk) and sarcasm. Oh yeah, and a small amount of EDM. Not a basshead, but I do love a sound sig with some body to it.
Unboxing
For a first effort, the packaging is top-notch. The box and supplied earbuds and carry case definitely feels like a premium product, so once these things hit their expected RRP of $199 I don’t think anyone will feel short-changed by the packaging. I would also suggest that Gilly and the team consider sending the filter section of the box to the Rubik Foundation for consideration as their next puzzle if they ever get bored of cubes – getting a filter the size of a reality TV stars brain out of a foam bed shouldn’t make you feel like a contestant on The Cube! After resorting to a series of bladed instruments and tweezers (and narrowly avoiding graduating to a carving knife) I managed to get mine to safety, but the box didn’t fare so well.
Build quality
Again, for a first effort, the general build quality can’t be faulted. The shiny titanium shells of the IEM feel light, strong and incredibly well-made, and the thread on the filter system is so fine it is practically invisible. The cabling is silver mesh encased in a see through plastic jacket, and exudes the sort of quality you would expect to see on a high end CIEM. It is tangle free and microphonics are minimal when worn down, and pretty much non-existent when worn over-ear. The cable terminates in a straight 3.5mm jack which isn’t to everyone’s tastes, but it is reasonably short and finished in a matching material to the IEM shells so looks very slick. From a practical standpoint, the short strain relief makes it pretty practical as well, compared so some of the elephant-trunk style cable finishings I have seen on other products in the same price bracket. Speaking of strain relief, there has been a lot made of the apparent lack of strain relief where the cabling enters the IEM housing – apparently Echobox have a new solution to that where the strain relief is built inside the housing itself. If it does work as intended, then I think a lot of other firms will be following suit as it does add a very streamlined look to the product – fingers crossed it stands the test of time! The video on the Echobox site shows the housings being run over by a truck with no ill effects, and it is very easy to believe that once you have the product in your hand. The only possible downside I can see with these is that they will make other universal IEMs in your collection look like Fisher-Price toys if laid next to them, so may induce jealousy among other Head-Fi users!
Ergonomics and fit
The horn-shell design of the IEM is fairly unusual, but fits well into my ears and seems very comfortable and pretty secure (I have been told by my girlfriend and family on numerous occasions that I have a head the same size as a small cow so my ears are correspondingly large). The supplied silicon tips give a good fit, but I have found the enclosed COMPLY tips to provide the best sound isolation and overall security of fit for day to day use. I have worn these for extended periods of time with no need for adjustment or removal, so can see these easily getting through a whole day of use without causing any discomfort.
Sound quality
Test gear:
Sony NWz-A15 (unamped and with Fiio E6/Topping NX1/Brainwavz AP001)
LG G Flex 2 (as above)
Microsoft Surface Pro 2 (straight from the output jack)
Test tracks (mainly 320kbps MP3 or FLAC/Tidal HiFi):
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats – S.O.B. / Wasting Time
Blackberry Smoke – The Whipporwill (album)
Slash – Shadow Life (my reference for bass impact and attack, guitar “crunch”)
Otis Redding – various
Elvis – various
Leon Bridges – Coming Home (album)
Foy Vance – various
Blues Traveler
Daft Punk – Random Access Memories (album)
Sigma - various
Rudimental – various
Rodrigo y Gabriela - various
Filters used
White (bass) and black (reference) – I have tested all three and settled on the white (bass) so the below observations are based on both bass and reference, the red treble filters were just a touch too sharp for my preference.
Highs
There have been many comments on the bright signature of these IEMs on here already – my personal preference is for a headphone/IEM that has a good tight and punchy bass, full mids and a slightly rolled off treble so I wasn’t expecting to get on too well the highs. How wrong I was! Initially, the treble can be quite sharp, but after a few hours of use/burn in and settling on the COMPLY tips, it settled into a beautifully detailed and airy sound. Cymbals and hi-hat come across with a lovely sense of detail, and just enough “splash” – on some tracks it does actually make you realise that they are there in the background, rather than being drowned out by the other competing sounds. That being said, the treble never feels overpowering, and just adds to the feeling of detail retrieval that these IEMs bring. Also, despite the crystal clear highs, I have not managed to hit any sibilance, despite picking some deliberately screechy music to push them. Everything sounds clear and smooth, and I have not had any issues with fatigue so far despite prolonged listening sessions. Whether than means my ears have taken one too many hits from the sound system at my local gig venue over the years remains to be seen, but I find these to be a good blend between sharp (for detail and “air”) and smooth.
Mids
After a few hours use and burn in in between, the mids have settled into a reasonably neutral and detailed presentation. They aren’t as emphasised as the treble or the bass, but to my ears this doesn’t feel like a massively V or U shaped IEM. The detail retrieved is very good, and the tone it gives both male and female vocals in my opinion is what makes this IEM so special. Listening to Elvis through these made the words practically drip out of the microphone into my ears. Smooth and creamy has been used already to describe these, and I can only echo that. As a reasonably new convert to this hobby, it is still one of life’s small pleasures to me to hear the breath moving in and out of someone’s mouth when they are singing and the background echo from the recording room in the audio – all almost imperceptible, but clearly present when using these IEMs. When pushed with some more driving rock, they also impart a greater sense of energy and “fizz” than other IEMs I have used in the past. The crunch and drive of Slash’s guitar work is brought to the fore, and makes for an almost “live” presentation which really draws you into the music. I have found myself taking an extra lap of the local area on my walk back home after work on more than one occasion just to enjoy a few more songs.
Bass
Ever using the bass filters, these aren’t an IEM for those lovers of tooth-rattling boom at the expense of everything else (or Beats users, as they are otherwise known). For everyone else, I would say these are damn near perfect, however. The bass extends inhumanly low, with plenty of quality, but not at the expense of the rest of the sound. There is a slight mid-bass hump according to some more learned head-fi’ers out there, but I find that helps bring a good sense of depth to rock and other guitar music without bleeding into the main sound, so it works very well for me. The pace and control of the bass are both excellent, and listening to something like Daft Punk through these gives a great sense of sub-bass, without sacrificing any of the clarity in the mids and upper registers. There is punch aplenty, so for those lovers of crunching rock riffs, these will be perfect. The best way I can think of describing it is like the difference between a hot bath and a shower if the bass is the water – both equally satisfying, but once the shower stops, you aren’t left surrounded in a soup of water and other soapy scum until the plughole drains out, you just get piping hot amounts whenever the tap is on.
Difference between the filters
I tried all three, but the red (treble) were slightly too hot for me, and gave up a bit too much bass to make the presentation enjoyable – they are strictly for lovers of a thin and crisp sound. The difference between the reference and bass filters is small, and I would be perfectly happy if the IEM came tuned to either of these without the filter option. The reference filter still has plenty of bass punch, and is probably the most “audiophile” sound – the slightly lower bass presence lends an impression of air and space to the sound that is slightly bigger than the bass filter. The bass filter is my favourite – there is still heaps of detail and space in the sound, but it just lends a touch more substance to the riffs and a weightier timbre on the singer’s voice for me – it was a close call though.
Soundstage/separation
For an IEM, these have a good soundstage and excellent instrument separation. As with all IEMs, the stage is more akin to an evening in Ronnie Scott’s than a night out at the Grand Ol’ Opry or Webley Arena, but does allow enough room for the music to breathe freely. Separation and positioning is also excellent – listening to Leon Bridges, you can “feel” where in the room the backing singers are coming from, and where the sax player is standing, which all adds to the live presentation feeling this IEM manages to bring to most tracks. Individual separation is also excellent – it’s a well-worn cliché, but they will bring out details in tracks your other audio gear hasn’t, so it does feel like you are rediscovering old favourites. The clarity of the sound helps massively here too, picking up micro-detailing like the strumming of a guitar string and layering it right at the back of your mind so it adds to the music, rather than distracts from it. Hands down the most enjoyable IEM I have spent any time with yet.
Amping
As a newbie, I don’t have access to many amping solutions (yet!) but this IEM is pretty easy to drive, so I didn’t notice any major benefit to cranking up the power. My Sony A15 (much maligned of it’s anaemic output power) can happily drive these beauties louder than I want them to go, with bags of detail and dynamism to spare. Ditto for my LG phone – I’m sure some of the Chord Hugo or Mojo owners out there are probably chuckling at the thought of that or saying a prayer for my poor malnourished eardrums, but for day to day use, these are perfect with our without amping.
Comparisons
Trinity Audio Atlas – another tuneable filter IEM. These are another great set of buds, with a dual hybrid setup giving good bass and smooth buttery mids. The sound quality is similar to the Finders, but for my money, the Finders just edge it in terms of the mids (slightly more forward and smooth) and have a slightly less etched treble to my ears. The bass quantity is similar, with the Atlas winning out if you need a bass cannon in your ears due to the more “soupy” sound of the bassiest filter. Comfort is pretty much on par for both, with the Atlas being slightly better for gym wear due to the over the ear design and removable/Bluetooth cabling.
Flare Audio R2A – my previous daily driver, and an outright brilliant IEM for my personal tastes. The Finder wins on treble (being slightly more detailed than the smooth roll off sound of the Flares) and gives an overall sense of detail that the Flare just misses (probably due to the boosted treble in the Finder – the mind is a funny thing). In terms of comfort, the Flares just pinch it due to their tiny size. The only area that they win comfortably on is soundstage – the Flares are acknowledged as having a ludicrously large soundstage for an in-ear , so not really a fair contest there. That all being said, they are now being replaced by the Finders as my daily driver, so chalk another one up to the Echobox team.
Brainwavz S1 – no contest – now on eBay for sale!
Overall conclusion
To paraphrase someone else on here, at the price I paid for these on IDGG, it feels like I robbed the shop. Outstanding detailing, a beautiful and durable set of buds, top notch cabling and a memorable and overall enjoyable sound. I’m a backer on their DAP as well and if that turns out to be ½ as good as these pieces of kit, we are all in for a treat. Buy this IEM – these guys deserve to be rich!
