[Edric Li]

The "final" review, pun intended: A definitive comparison between Final E3000, E4000 and E5000.

I've been wondering about their differences, and whether they are due to the earpieces or the cables. I could not find a definitive answer anywhere, so I took the issue upon my self.

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Audio source:
Hugo 2, fed by AK300 via optical.

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Foreword and my personal preference:
If you are reading this, you are probably aware how well the E series compare against higher priced earphones. I cannot stress this enough.
- In my opinion, very few TOTL IEMs are actually flawless, both in terms of tuning imaging/soudstaging. VE Erlkonig is one. I can't think of another one off the top.
- Lots of TOTL IEMs have too much of a character in their tuning. Lots of them are too bright (Campfire, FW10000, Dita, and maaany more), lots of them are too dark (JH audio, etc), lots of them are too warm (Empire ears, Beyer, etc), lots of them are too cold (too many of them, including Final's own TOTL).
- Some are close to neutral, but the frequency response is not smooth and I can hear it (KSE1500, A18t, etc). Some are neutral and smooth, but sound flat and boring (UE18, PP8, QDC)
- There is a recent trend to make TOTL IEMs that are neutral, flat and not boring, by having a dip in the upper-bass/lower-mids region (Sony Z1R, N5005), aka the harman target curve. I hated it. It's a gimmick to make IEM have impactful subbass while maintaining good transparency. The lack of warmth only sound good at first listen.
- I personally value a nice, smooth, neutral, warm tuning more than imaging/soundstaging. To me, if the tuning is not close to my preference, I won't be bothered to hear how good the imaging/soundstaging is.
- The Final E series falls into this rare category. So if your personal preference/tradeoff is similar to mine, the choice among E3000/4000/5000 is only a matter of sound, not price, because they don't just compare well against other $200-300 IEM. They are better than a lot of $1000-2000 IEM out there. Paying $50 for E3000, $150 for E4000 or $250 E5000, are all incredibly good deal.

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E3000/4000/5000 common attributes:
- Great ergonomics.
- Vented design to allow for more bass with the dynamic driver.

E3000:
- A nice, smooth, neutral, warm-ish tuning. Very hard to come by at any price point.
- E3000 is probably the most neutral, balanced of the three.
- E3000 is set back by its cable: the incredible balance is often times interrupted by treble glare. Common for IEM with a thin, low gauge cable.
- I hate treble glare.

E3000 vs E4000 (E4000 cable):
- With E4000 (E4000 cable), the treble glare is gone, thanks to the better cable. Treble quantity is also slightly less.
- E4000 (E4000 cable) has more subbass, thanks to the modified vent design. Think adding a subwoofer to bookshelf speakers. Music is now much more engaging and lively, with more depth to the sound. Remember I said E3000's warmth is almost already perfect? Yes, with E4000 (E4000 cable) we are close to the dangerous territory of "too warm."
- The imaging is slightly better thanks to the reduced treble sparkle.
- Everything else is the same.

E4000 (E4000 cable) vs E5000 (E4000 cable):
- E5000 (E4000 cable) has a tad more subbass. This is the only difference.
- My guess is that there is more dampening in E5000 for tuning purpose. I need to raise volume with the E5000 (E4000 cable) to match mid/treble quantity with E4000 (E4000 cable).
- To me, E5000 (E4000 cable) is one foot into the "too warm" category. I can totally understand if some one likes a bit more excitement in their music would go with E5000 (E4000 cable). For most of my music, E4000 (E4000 cable) have enough bass, some times more than enough.

E4000 (E4000 cable) vs E4000 (E5000 cable):
- E5000 cable pushes the mid range and treble backward. E4000 (E5000 cable) is much more bassy than E4000 (E4000 cable).
- I'm being nice to say that the E5000 cable pushes mid range and treble backward, as opposed to say that the E5000 cable veil the mid range and treble.
- Let's just say the E5000 cable is not an upgrade over the E4000 cable. I am not hearing a more refined imaging or a deeper soundstage with the E5000 cable. It takes away the air, takes away the vividness in the mid range, and adds boomy-ness.

E5000 (E5000 cable):
- The bassy E5000 body + the bassy (veiled) E5000 cable = so boomy, so little air. I can't breathe.
- E5000 (E5000 cable) is like a worse Xelento. Xelento has a lot of bass, too much for my taste, but at least the bass is clean. Xelento also got more treble to balance that out. E5000 (E5000 cable), not so much.
- Have you ever heard JH Roxanne with bass turned to 3 o'clock? This is close to that.

E5000 (E4000 cable) vs E4000 (E5000 cable):
- This sounds like a tough choice with the way it is going, but no, E5000 (E4000 cable) is better hands down.
- E4000 (E5000 cable) has more bass, mid bass in particular, than E5000 (E4000 cable), and a lot less air and a lot less vividness.

E4000 (E5000 cable) vs E5000 (E5000 cable):
- In my book E4000 (E5000 cable) is already quite boomy; E5000 (E5000 cable) is just unbearable.
- (Bass_E5000body - Bass_E4000body) < (Bass_E5000cable - Bass_E4000cable), if math helps.

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My personal preference:
1. E4000 (E4000 cable) >
2. E5000 (E4000 cable) >
3. E3000 >>>
4. E4000 (E5000 cable) >
5. E5000 (E5000 cable)

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My advice:
- If you like bass more than I do (which, trust me, is very unlikely), get the E5000 and stay away from its cable. You can get the E4000 cable for its nice ergonomics, but something nicer could probably improve other aspects of the sound.
- If your taste is similar to mine (neutral-warmish), get the E4000. You could swap in some cable that improves imaging and soundstage, but at the cost of (most probably) worse ergonomics.
- If you prefer a more neutral tuning, get the E4000 and start cable swapping. Getting a tad more treble or a tad less bass out of E4000 should not be a hard job.
- If you prefer a more neutral tuning and can bear occasional treble sparkle, get the E3000.
- If you don't like warmth in your music, or if you are a fan of the harman curve, don't get E3000/4000/5000.
- The E5000 cable perhaps is not as bad as I make it sounds like. For some IEM that needs more low frequency, it can help. But if that is your purpose, there are better options out there (with worse ergonomics) that does the job without taking away the air and vividness in the music.
- The E eartip is one of the most sub-bass-preserving eartip on the market. I like how it feels, so I didn't bother changing the sound from that direction. Just be aware that there are other eartip out there with less bass.

 

[Edric Li]

Between the E3000 and E4000, which one would be smoother/less fatiguing in the upper-mids and lower treble area?

E3000. It's very smooth and soothing in those areas without sacrificing much details.

Not trying to be rude but in my humble opinion (above), E3000 has more treble quantity. Could be unit variance. Upper-mid quantity is about the same, but E4000 has a noticeably more refined imaging and better stage depth, likely due to the better cable.

If by detail you mean splashy percussion, then yeah E3000 is more "detailed." But then E3000 is warm to begin with, so occasional splashy-ness is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Audio Fun]

The new A series IEMs will be release to the international market around December, can not wait for try it out.
Final audio A series web page: https://snext-final.com/products/aseries/

 

[KnightCaeli]

The new A series IEMs will be release to the international market around December, can not wait for try it out.
Final audio A series web page: https://snext-final.com/products/aseries/

I'm probably going to get the A4000 as the sound description seems interesting. Waiting for it to drop on Amazon Japan or other webstores where I don't have to use a proxy, although I am tempted to pick one up from e-earphone so I don't have to wait. I'm also deciding on picking up other Japanese IEMs from Artio, or the Tago Studio T3-02 to compare with the Final as they are all single dynamics.

 

[Audio Fun]

I'm probably going to get the A4000 as the sound description seems interesting. Waiting for it to drop on Amazon Japan or other webstores where I don't have to use a proxy, although I am tempted to pick one up from e-earphone so I don't have to wait. I'm also deciding on picking up other Japanese IEMs from Artio, or the Tago Studio T3-02 to compare with the Final as they are all single dynamics.

The A4000 is on my buying list as well.
Is it is good idea for pick it up on e-earphone, but is better to wait for your local distributor, so it can include the warranty.
The Japanese brands always tuned very good IEMs, especially for the vocal presentation.

 

[kmmbd]

Not trying to be rude but in my humble opinion (above), E3000 has more treble quantity. Could be unit variance. Upper-mid quantity is about the same, but E4000 has a noticeably more refined imaging and better stage depth, likely due to the better cable.

If by detail you mean splashy percussion, then yeah E3000 is more "detailed." But then E3000 is warm to begin with, so occasional splashy-ness is not necessarily a bad thing.

It might be unit variance (which can be the case on my end as well) or, more likely: a source/pairing matter. I see that you've used Hugo 2 for the comparisons and from my brief listening sessions with the Hugo 2, it is a very revealing/analytical source and may push the treble to be a bit hotter on the E3000. I've run mine mostly from the Questyle QP1R and the slight warmth it adds plays extremely well with the E3000. E4000 has a bit more lower treble and upper-midrange presence (thus the more forward vocals vs slightly recessed/laid back vocals of the E3000) which can also be seen on the graph.

That being said, E4000 has slightly more refined treble with better articulation (and E5000 has the best treble quality in the entire lineup IMO). For the price though E3000 is a far better bang-for-buck and can match its more expensive siblings on many fronts.

 

[Edric Li]

E4000 has a bit more lower treble and upper-midrange presence (thus the more forward vocals vs slightly recessed/laid back vocals of the E3000) which can also be seen on the graph.

I do hear a slightly more forward upper-mid, but my explanation is that more treble on the E3000 -> lower volume on the E3000 -> slightly recessed midrange. I don't think the tuning of the midrange was differentiated by design between the two unit.

IMO, with stock cable, E4000/3000 are the best in the line up and only are a matter of preference.

That being said, E4000 has slightly more refined treble with better articulation (and E5000 has the best treble quality in the entire lineup IMO). For the price though E3000 is a far better bang-for-buck and can match its more expensive siblings on many fronts.

I don't hear said treble quality in E5000. The cable veil and push back the treble, not making it more refined. With the E4000 cable, I hear no difference between the treble of E4000 and E5000.

btw Hugo 2 is not brighter than QP1R. QP1R is actually on the brighter side among TOTL DAPs by today's standard. Could be that you were listening to Hugo 2 with the USB input, but still that's not brighter than QP1R. That's for another thread I guess.

 

[zenki]

December

 

[dakanao]

I do hear a slightly more forward upper-mid, but my explanation is that more treble on the E3000 -> lower volume on the E3000 -> slightly recessed midrange. I don't think the tuning of the midrange was differentiated by design between the two unit.

IMO, with stock cable, E4000/3000 are the best in the line up and only are a matter of preference.

I don't hear said treble quality in E5000. The cable veil and push back the treble, not making it more refined. With the E4000 cable, I hear no difference between the treble of E4000 and E5000.

btw Hugo 2 is not brighter than QP1R. QP1R is actually on the brighter side among TOTL DAPs by today's standard. Could be that you were listening to Hugo 2 with the USB input, but still that's not brighter than QP1R. That's for another thread I guess.

Have you also heard the Final E500?

 

[Edric Li]

Have you also heard the Final E500?

Yes. To me everything below E2000 have too little bass to be musically entertaining, so I did not include them in my comparison. IMO if you like to have that little bass, there are better options than the lower range of the E series.

 

[dakanao]

Yes. To me everything below E2000 have too little bass to be musically entertaining, so I did not include them in my comparison. IMO if you like to have that little bass, there are better options than the lower range of the E series.

How does the E500 compare to the E3000 in terms of treble glare; is it noticably worse?

 

[jibberish]

I'm kind of embarrassed to realize that I've been using tips that don't fit quite right on my E5000 all along. I typically use large eartips on every IEM I own, and use the largest Final E tips on some of my other sets, so I've been using those on the E5000 as well. I just switched to a smaller size tip and now have the shells inserted deeper into my ears and it's a huge improvement for vocals and treble.

 

[zenki]

Not to worry. Been tip rolling kb1 and found out that the sedna light is kinda small & doesn't seal properly.
Tried nuarl tips and that does make lotsa differences except that when I tried to pull it out, it get stuck inside.

 

[F700]

I'm kind of embarrassed to realize that I've been using tips that don't fit quite right on my E5000 all along. I typically use large eartips on every IEM I own, and use the largest Final E tips on some of my other sets, so I've been using those on the E5000 as well. I just switched to a smaller size tip and now have the shells inserted deeper into my ears and it's a huge improvement for vocals and treble.

Better late than never great that you can enjoy the E5000! I recently moved from E-tips size S to Azla Sedna Xelastec MS. Perfect seal and comfort + best sound I think I can get (for my tastes) out of the E5000.

 

[F700]

I'm probably going to get the A4000 as the sound description seems interesting. Waiting for it to drop on Amazon Japan or other webstores where I don't have to use a proxy, although I am tempted to pick one up from e-earphone so I don't have to wait. I'm also deciding on picking up other Japanese IEMs from Artio, or the Tago Studio T3-02 to compare with the Final as they are all single dynamics.

I did not manage to find an explanation about sound signature differences between A3K and A4K. Can someone enlighten me?