[Qwervy]

So while removing the nozzle filter on my E500 to insert some extra foam in the tube, the head of the pin I used to remove the nozzle filter with, got stuck on the driver due to the magnetic attraction.

I inhaled on the nozzle to make sure to get the dent out of the diapghram, if it had any. I did hear a slight pop after doing that, confirming the diapghram is back to normal.

Is there a possibility I got more distorted highs because of doing this? I tested it out with a bass test and the bass sounded fine, no rattle.

But I’m not sure on the highs. To me it sounds like it got slightly harsher, but it could well be placebo.

Is there a way to test this out properly? Your help would be really appreciated.

If you play some white noise through them or a song with centered highs and then swap the earbuds in your ears (Right side to left side and left to right and then back) and the sound stays centered and sounds equal then I'd say you're fine

 

[weissglut]

It's so frustrating that it's nearly impossible to find the clear E-Type tips in stock here in the EU. They would suit my taste in music a bit more but alas.

Any alternatives, that are available in Europe? Maybe Spinfit CP100?

 

[dakanao]

Guys, so I noticed something odd about the sound of the E5000. I don’t know if it’s the transient response being fast so it reveals it more, or that it’s a resonance, but for example on this song (click the link below and click on first Tech N9ne - Lacrimosa file that’s 4:18 minutes long, and skip to 00:45 to hear it) the claps that are there, are not rounded.

It’s a rather harsh impact, instead of it being smooth like the rest of the sound. My Aurisonics Rockets and Sennheiser HD650, present those claps very smoothly and on the same level as the other sounds.

Does anyone know if this is just part of the fast transient response, or is it a resonance?

https://ru-music.com/search/Tech N9NE lacrimosa/

 

[Edric Li]

Guys, so I noticed something odd about the sound of the E5000. I don’t know if it’s the transient response being fast so it reveals it more, or that it’s a resonance, but for example on this song (click the link below and click on first Tech N9ne - Lacrimosa file that’s 4:18 minutes long, and skip to 00:45 to hear it) the claps that are there, are not rounded.

It’s a rather harsh impact, instead of it being smooth like the rest of the sound. My Aurisonics Rockets and Sennheiser HD650, present those claps very smoothly and on the same level as the other sounds.

Does anyone know if this is just part of the fast transient response, or is it a resonance?

https://ru-music.com/search/Tech N9NE lacrimosa/

Are you referring to the snare drum? No, I don't heard it being unnaturally louder than the rest of the mix on my E4000 and, based on my memory, snare drum should be even quieter on E5000. The snare drum in this mix is objectively not very loud either. Hmm that's weird.

Here's a song with a very loud and bright snare drum FYI:

 

[dakanao]

Are you referring to the snare drum? No, I don't heard it being unnaturally louder than the rest of the mix on my E4000 and, based on my memory, snare drum should be even quieter on E5000. The snare drum in this mix is objectively not very loud either. Hmm that's weird.

Here's a song with a very loud and bright snare drum FYI:

I’m gonna try it out on my Chord Mojo. Maybe it’s my iPads headphone out that’s causing that harsh snare drum impact at 00:45.

 

[pholcus1975]

After 3 days of listening, I can say I am more than happy with a4000's. The clarity and soundstage are impressive, and that bass, so fast and lean , is addictive .

 

[dakanao]

I’m gonna try it out on my Chord Mojo. Maybe it’s my iPads headphone out that’s causing that harsh snare drum impact at 00:45.

It’s slightly lessened with the Mojo, but still there. Could it be the steel enclosure causing that particular resonance? Or is the inside not made of steel?

 

[hanf]

After 3 days of listening, I can say I am more than happy with a4000's. The clarity and soundstage are impressive, and that bass, so fast and lean , is addictive .

Do you find it sibilant or harsh, especially with s pronunciation?

 

[pholcus1975]

They don't sound sibilant on s or harsh at all, to me. There's mild sibilance on treble-rich records, for example Five Man London Jam by Tesla.
For example I got kz Ba10, but I finally returned them because too harsh and grainy on highs, even if after burn-in highs got tamed a little.
Surely A4000 are spicy on highs, but it gives a sense of clarity and airness.

 

[Qwervy]

It’s slightly lessened with the Mojo, but still there. Could it be the steel enclosure causing that particular resonance? Or is the inside not made of steel?

The E5k has a very fast driver with good micro-details. I think that it's the transient response rather than any resonance. The slightly boosted high-mids would be emphasizing that as well. Another thing to note with production is that to make percussion sound more punchy, distortion is added to the sound and the micro-detail retrieval of the E5k driver is probably replaying the distortion in a clearer way that makes the sound sound more like resonance than just initial attack harshness.

 

[dakanao]

The E5k has a very fast driver with good micro-details. I think that it's the transient response rather than any resonance. The slightly boosted high-mids would be emphasizing that as well. Another thing to note with production is that to make percussion sound more punchy, distortion is added to the sound and the micro-detail retrieval of the E5k driver is probably replaying the distortion in a clearer way that makes the sound sound more like resonance than just initial attack harshness.

Thank you for the explanation. Is the HD650 known to have a softened transient response? Because with the HD650, that snare drum hits at the same level as the rest of the sounds.

Same with my previous Aurisonics Rockets IEMs. Though I sold the Rockets, because the bass didn’t satisfy my taste.

 

[EMEM2049]

So, I have received my Final B1s and have been using them for the past few days, here's my initial impressions:

Firstly, the looks. Packaging is simplistic yet stylish and I am delighted that ear hooks are included. I was slightly disappointed to find no foam ear-tips however, and even though the carry case is decent, I actually prefer the case that arrived with my Final F7200s. They are very similar but not quite the same and I find the B1s case has slightly less functionality. Personally, I would have loved Final's steel carry case to be included, considering the €685/£599 price here in Ireland. They look beautiful as well, though I do have a complaint. I actually prefer the look and style of the Final B3s over the B1s. Gold is a little too "bling" for me and to be quite frank, the B1 is a fingerprint magnet. They look incredible until you touch them, then they look slightly tacky when they're covered in fingerprints. I wish the cable and chassis had a frosted/brushed metal style, more similar to the B3s chassis or the Final Piano Forte VIII.

Secondly, the build quality. It is simply impeccable. The B1s scream fantastic build quality and make IEMs such as the Fender FXA7 feel like they came out of a Christmas cracker. The cable is beautiful and feels strong and sturdy, and the B1s themselves have this incredible feeling of strength and build quality while being extremely light for the materials used. They don't feel much heavier than the FXA7 or the F7200, at least I could not tell a difference when in my ear. Only the Grado GR10e feel lighter.

Compared to the F7200s, the B1s have less bass due to the fact you simply cannot insert the earbud as far into the canal of the ear. Even with the largest tips, the fit is not perfect for me, so I may have to experiment with differing sizes and different tips (which in a way is a shame because I really love Final's type E silicone tips). Thus I have ordered the Comply Foam Isolation 500 and Comfort 500 tips, just to see if they suit the B1s better than Final's silicone. My right ear usually has more issues than my left ear in terms of fit and the B1s fared no different. The largest tips are perfect for my left ear but do not properly seal my right ear, though this not Final's fault, it is simply that I have a different shaped right ear canal, so for me, I found using the largest tip for the right and second largest for the left gave the perfect balance but unfortunately not the perfect fit. The bass however, does feel richer and darker than the F7200s with more depth to it, there's just less of it. Once they burn in or get the fit correctly, this may change however, I personally really enjoyed the bass right out of the box.

The mids is where the B1 shines and quite frankly, obliterate the Gr10e, F7200 and FXA7. Soundscape is wider and more expansive than any of the aforementioned. There is more clarity, more depth and what feels like more accuracy and precision both spatially and in tone. It's hard to describe but the B1s feel almost effortless. Instruments come in and don't feel over pronounced, yet pack a lovely punch and feel very crisp. It just oozes class.

The highs are a slightly different story. They sounded as good as the mids up until the peak where I found it sounded slightly sharp and tinny, more so than my F7200s which really surprised me. The clarity, crispness, sound-stage and depth was still there but at the limit, they did tend to feel a bit screechy, particularly with high pitched voices. I listen to a lot of Electric Youth and Empire of the Sun and everything sounded simply sublime until they started hitting the extremely high notes. The great news is, this has become less and less of an issue the more I've used the IEMs. I think the burn-in period is really helping in this regard by smoothening out the peaky highs into a more natural sounding and feeling experience. Either that or my ears have simply adapted to the sound, perhaps a bit of both. Ultimately, after a few days of listening, the highs are almost as good as the mids, not quite there yet, but considering Final recommend 200 hours of "aging" process, I have a long way to go before I can ultimately give my verdict.

Comfort is very good once the IEMs are in place but because I couldn't get a perfect fit, I found myself constantly adjusting them which is something you do not want to do. This caused a bit of discomfort, mainly due to the fact the B1s are metal and sharper edged than the FXA7s, however, overall I did find them more comfortable and a better fit than the FXA7s and I haven't tried foam tips or differing tips yet, so there's still potential for improvement.

As for driving these B1s, I found them more powerful than the aforementioned IEMs.I could really push the Acoustic Research AR-M2 way higher before I could hear any distortion in the bass or highs, which resulted in more volume output than the other IEMs. On an Astell&Kern SP1000M, I can push all the way up to volumes of a maximum of 135 out of 150 before distortion really kicks in, which is impressive. You can really power these things to very loud volumes, so loud that I was surprised when I took them out of my ear at how loud they were. They can be tough to drive on phones or laptops but I think that's relatively expected.

Once they have burned in further and I have tested them with foam tips and sorted some teething issues with my funkily shaped ears, I'll report back, but so far, as a complete package (looks, build quality, materials, bass, mids, highs, soundtrack, etc, etc), these are simply sublime. I was also extremely fortunate to pick up these earphones at around €505 including delivery, open-box, from the USA, around €200 off MSRP when you factor in delivery here in Ireland. Needless to say, for the price I paid, I am blown away, but at €685 (before delivery), I would have still been simply astounded by what's on offer here.

Take care all,

Evan

 

[dakanao]

Even though the E5000 is tuned with a smooth fr response, they’re very revealing of artifacts, distortion and compression in recordings... Anyone else found the same?

 

[davidcotton]

Any alternatives, that are available in Europe? Maybe Spinfit CP100?

Hifi headphones used to have stock of clear. Don’t know if they still ship to run or though.

 

[mochill]

Even though the E5000 is tuned with a smooth fr response, they’re very revealing of artifacts, distortion and compression in recordings... Anyone else found the same?

Same conclusion