[Cheradenine]

Thx for the advice. It is good to see contradict opinions on a product. I am not really digging for something negative about B3, but would like to know if it is overall better than e5k and worth spending twice as e5k to get the B3. Btw I also see the price of JVC FW1800 goes down to $220. Another formal B3 rival I guess.

A dual balanced armature IEM with a completely different tuning and physical design from the E5K, can really only be regarded as "overall better" if you much prefer how it sounds.

What do you mean by the JVC fw1800 being a "formal rival" to the B3? The JVC IEMs are all single DD IEMs and are bass cannons, I have the older fx1100, its a great IEM, lovely with a wide range of music and nothing at all like the B3.

 

[bryaudioreviews]

I was considering about M7 but now its over my budget. Hope I will get it some day.

I have never had any BA IEMs so I dont know the difference, but might not risk it like you said.

I chose e5k because first I liked this brand, liked how a8000/ze3000/B3/B1 sounds, from demo units and online trials. And it was the best of E line also within my budget. I'm not a fan of Chifi so passed all Chifi brands. Whats left was Final/JVC/Sennheiser. fd01/ie300/e5k. Audio technica e70 is sold out on where I can buy. Same thing with Sony, there aren't any 200-300 Sony IEMs in the UK market.

But yea I believe I like bright and detailed sound. I test IEM with different types of movies, symphonies and some vocals (pop/country mostly), and video games as well. Because for the same game, the difference between IEMs is much more noticeable. Sometimes I cant tell which IEM sound better on a certain song but the gunfire in games sound very different. Btw can I ask what do you test your IEMs with? Any songs recommendations?

if u like bright "V shaped" sound, you can consider Acoustune. Around $150usd u can get Acoustune RS One, a 1DD iem. I really like it. Sounds great and very easy to drive. Very good detail retrieval for the price with slightly hot treble.

Might be right up your alley.

 

[AnalogEuphoria]

Now moving on to the Final e5k. The best way to describe how it sounds is "euphoric". Absolutely fantastic bass, thick luscious mids, fantastic timbre, big soundstage that "wraps" around your head, smooth non-fatiguing treble, fantastic macrodynamics. Some say is the closest you can get to HD6X0 with tubes, but in the form of an IEM.

As a previous owner of the E5000 I wouldn't say that is entirely accurate, they are close when it comes to reproducing life like timbre but the E5000 treble is darker and the mids aren't as clear as 650. The bass is the biggest difference because there's too much sub bass on a lot of tracks with E5000, sometimes it can sound more balanced and punchy on certain recordings but most times its over done, personally id say its best suited to electronic and rap music.

E2000 is the closest to the HD650 but you don't get that beautiful timbre of the E5000.

 

[Hozay]

A dual balanced armature IEM with a completely different tuning and physical design from the E5K, can really only be regarded as "overall better" if you much prefer how it sounds.

What do you mean by the JVC fw1800 being a "formal rival" to the B3? The JVC IEMs are all single DD IEMs and are bass cannons, I have the older fx1100, its a great IEM, lovely with a wide range of music and nothing at all like the B3.

I see, maybe I will have to listen to it to decide.
By "rival" I was only referring to the price. They were selling at similar price. I did not know DD IEM dont compare to BA IEM on sound signatures.

 

[Hozay]

if u like bright "V shaped" sound, you can consider Acoustune. Around $150usd u can get Acoustune RS One, a 1DD iem. I really like it. Sounds great and very easy to drive. Very good detail retrieval for the price with slightly hot treble.

Might be right up your alley.

Thx for recommending! I saw good reviews about Acoustune and I liked their design.
But I did not find any authorized retailers in the UK. Their Japan website doesn't has a "find a store" button either.
There is only one store selling old models for £500+ (HS1670/1655). They are over my budget.
I checked their price on Japan website and 1300 series is within my budget but did not find anywhere to buy it.
I think RS series is also within my budget but Idk what are the differences between their monitor series and master series tho.
The more I dig into this IEM world the more I wanna go to Japan to listen to everything myself.....

 

[dakanao]

As a previous owner of the E5000 I wouldn't say that is entirely accurate, they are close when it comes to reproducing life like timbre but the E5000 treble is darker and the mids aren't as clear as 650. The bass is the biggest difference because there's too much sub bass on a lot of tracks with E5000, sometimes it can sound more balanced and punchy on certain recordings but most times its over done, personally id say its best suited to electronic and rap music.

E2000 is the closest to the HD650 but you don't get that beautiful timbre of the E5000.

E5000 is a lot more edgy in the upper-mids transients impact than the HD650, like clap sounds or synthetic snares. This is a common problem with any driver that is too closed off in the back.

Otherwise I agree with you, but the mid and upper bass is a lot stronger on the E5000 as well, but that doesn’t bother me unlike the edgy upper mid transients

 

[AnalogEuphoria]

E5000 is a lot more edgy in the upper-mids transients impact than the HD650, like clap sounds or synthetic snares. This is a common problem with any driver that is too closed off in the back.

Otherwise I agree with you, but the mid and upper bass is a lot stronger on the E5000 as well, but that doesn’t bother me unlike the edgy upper mid transients

I didn’t find the transients to be too sharp just the bass that was the problem.

I’m still hoping for a new E series model that has a more balanced sound. The driver has proven to sound incredible it’s just that the tuning is off imo. E4000 is much better balanced but you dont get the timbre and realism of E5000 so blend of both would be awesome.

 

[dakanao]

I didn’t find the transients to be too sharp just the bass that was the problem.

I’m still hoping for a new E series model that has a more balanced sound. The driver has proven to sound incredible it’s just that the tuning is off imo. E4000 is much better balanced but you dont get the timbre and realism of E5000 so blend of both would be awesome.

To be honest, every IEM that I’ve tried out had this overly edgy quality on the upper mids transient impact, except for the Aurisonics Rockets and Monster Turbine Gold.

I’m pretty sure it’s because of this damping sticker at the back of the IEMs, restraining the driver, coupled with no soft damping anywhere else in the enclosure. I could take that sticker of the Sennheiser IE 500, put a little bit of open cell foam and polyfill in the enclosure, and the edginess immediatly settled down.

 

[Murat]

Has anyone heard Sennheiser IE400 pro? How does it fare against the E5000? Thanks in advance.

 

[dakanao]

To be honest, every IEM that I’ve tried out had this overly edgy quality on the upper mids transient impact, except for the Aurisonics Rockets and Monster Turbine Gold.

I’m pretty sure it’s because of this damping sticker at the back of the IEMs, restraining the driver, coupled with no soft damping anywhere else in the enclosure. I could take that sticker of the Sennheiser IE 500, put a little bit of open cell foam and polyfill in the enclosure, and the edginess immediatly settled down.

Btw, I’m not talking about quantity of upper mids or harsh texture, but specifically about the impact of clap-like sounds in the 1.5-3khz range, having too much edginess/overtones due to restrainment and resonance of the driver.

 

[kmmbd]

I took this photo of the Final E5000 right after purchasing it, way back in July 2018. It's been almost 5 years now, and they're running as strong as ever. Perennial favorite.

 

[Kiats]

Something distressing happened to me today. I had bought the replacement earpads for the Final Sonorous X. This was supplied by the authorised dealers of Final in Singapore.

The old ear pads were peeling off (or rather the leather/faux leather top layer). Today I sat down to replace them. I have done this before and most recently with the D8000 ear pads. There’s even a youtube video for it.

Imagine my horror to find that the top layer of the new leather ear pad started to disintegrate. And now looks worse than the old one I was looking to replace. In the photo below, the one in the background is the old one. And on the right, is the new earpad with the the tears. This is a nightmare! I’ve ended in a worse off position than with the old earpads.

My suspicion is that the ear pads from the AD have been kept for too long and have degraded in quality.

Just a warning to fellow Final owners.

 

[jwbrent]

Something distressing happened to me today. I had bought the replacement earpads for the Final Sonorous X. This was supplied by the authorised dealers of Final in Singapore.

The old ear pads were peeling off (or rather the leather/faux leather top layer). Today I sat down to replace them. I have done this before and most recently with the D8000 ear pads. There’s even a youtube video for it.

Imagine my horror to find that the top layer of the new leather ear pad started to disintegrate. And now looks worse than the old one I was looking to replace. In the first photo below, the one in the background is the old one. And on the right, is the new earpad with the the tears. This is a nightmare! I’ve ended in a worse off position than with the old earpads.

My suspicion is that the ear pads from the AD have been kept for too long and have degraded in quality.

Just a warning to fellow Final owners.

final needs to up its game on headphone ear pads. When I owned the D8000, I was disappointed with the flimsy build/nature of its ear pads. Even the D8000 Pro pads, which I got, were not up to snuff build wise for a $4K set.

 

[Kiats]

final needs to up its game on headphone ear pads. When I owned the D8000, I was disappointed with the flimsy build/nature of its ear pads. Even the D8000 Pro pads, which I got, were not up to snuff build wise for a $4K set.

Agree! I brought the new earpads for the D8000 and had changed it recently. Not easy when it seems to be an elastic cover over foam. But this case is also the stock from the AD must have already degraded. Likely kept too long. Just very cross! But I thought I should warn everyone about this possible issue: that even NIB stock that is kept too long by the AD obviously degrade as well…

 

[jwbrent]

Agree! I brought the new earpads for the D8000 and had changed it recently. Not easy when it seems to be an elastic cover over foam. But this case is also the stock from the AD must have already degraded. Likely kept too long. Just very cross! But I thought I should warn everyone about this possible issue: that even NIB stock that is kept too long by the AD obviously degrade as well…

Yes, plus when I replaced my pads with the Pro pads, I decided to take a look at the stock pads by taking off the nylon cover … not much to these for their $80/pr price.

Thanks, Kiats, for bringing this issue to the attention of the thread.