[zilkhaw]

yeah, E5000 have very good soundstage but the KP have even more size, KP is very wide and deep, i was very surprised after i started listening to them
KP have more upper treble, that is probably one of the reasons, they have more air

Interesting. I do not own an E5000 but I have just tried it a few days ago and I already feel that the treble is good enough. Btw, I have never heard of Moondrop before and I just checked online and could not find their website. Do you know where does this company come from? From the photo you have posted on your review page, it seems like China, Taiwan or Japan. Recently there are so many high CP ratio IEMs comes out from China.

 

[FastAndClean]

Interesting. I do not own an E5000 but I have just tried it a few days ago and I already feel that the treble is good enough. Btw, I have never heard of Moondrop before and I just checked online and could not find their website. Do you know where does this company come from? From the photo you have posted on your review page, it seems like China, Taiwan or Japan. Recently there are so many high CP ratio IEMs comes out from China.

Moondrop are from China, they are unique because they have target response that are folowing with every model with small difference for people with different taste, so all of their earphones are tuned to that target, they all have high rating online, not a single bad sounding model, every model is highly regarded in their price range

 

[zilkhaw]

Hey guys, I am a foreigner working in Japan and I am a Final fan. I love their products but it seems to be very unfamous out of Japan which makes me a sad boy. I just created a poll in this forum and if you do not mind, please share your opinion here! Thank you!

 

[zilkhaw]

So today I had a chance to try out Piano Forte VIII. At first, I feel that the sound balance is one word, piece of JUNK.

Then I was told that it was not designed to be capable to play any music. It is a pair of luxury earphones. It is just like you get a luxury car for a specific purpose, you don't drive it to buy grocery. Err.. Maybe some people do? /Shrug

So.. okay. I tried to find some piano and guitar song on Youtube and I played this a video with this title 1 Hour Relaxing Lullabies Lullaby - Beautiful Sleep Music
Once I click the play button, the melody that flew into my ears was totally in a different level that I have never heard before.

The string vibration from the guitar was so detailed and powerful, the soundstage was incredible.
I closed my eyes and focus on the music, it is so beautiful, and it is only a Youtube 192kbps quality.
This piece of JUNK that I have assumed moment ago had totally transcended into a piece of jewelry that delivers music into your soul.

Yes, now I admit, this is really beautifully crafted, physically and musically. But eventually, I have to return it.
Will I buy it? That is a good question. I would if I have the money to spare for collection since this is not a piece of art that can be used as a normal portable earphone.
One needs a real peaceful mind to actually enjoy it I guess.

So, not for now, maybe in the future or higher tier in that series.

p/s: If you have any chance to test this line of product, even though the shape is weird, try it with some pure instrument music, you will be amazed!!

 

[Wyville]

So today I had a chance to try out Piano Forte VIII. At first, I feel that the sound balance is one word, piece of JUNK.

Then I was told that it was not designed to be capable to play any music. It is a pair of luxury earphones. It is just like you get a luxury car for a specific purpose, you don't drive it to buy grocery. Err.. Maybe some people do? /Shrug

So.. okay. I tried to find some piano and guitar song on Youtube and I played this a video with this title 1 Hour Relaxing Lullabies Lullaby - Beautiful Sleep Music
Once I click the play button, the melody that flew into my ears was totally in a different level that I have never heard before.

The string vibration from the guitar was so detailed and powerful, the soundstage was incredible.
I closed my eyes and focus on the music, it is so beautiful, and it is only a Youtube 192kbps quality.
This piece of JUNK that I have assumed moment ago had totally transcended into a piece of jewelry that delivers music into your soul.

Yes, now I admit, this is really beautifully crafted, physically and musically. But eventually, I have to return it.
Will I buy it? That is a good question. I would if I have the money to spare for collection since this is not a piece of art that can be used as a normal portable earphone.
One needs a real peaceful mind to actually enjoy it I guess.

So, not for now, maybe in the future or higher tier in that series.

p/s: If you have any chance to test this line of product, even though the shape is weird, try it with some pure instrument music, you will be amazed!!

I am a great lover of classical music and the Piano Forte series has been near the top of my reviewing wish list for ages. Tried contacting Final UK here on Head-fi, but never got a response. Still hope to be able to get my hands on them at some point.

 

[metabaron]

Is the E3000 as hard to drive as the rest of the series?

 

[zilkhaw]

Is the E3000 as hard to drive as the rest of the series?

I don't think so. E1000, E2000 and E3000 are quite easy to be driven. They are designed for smartphone or non-high end devices.

 

[kkl10]

any DAP under $200 USD you guys could recommend that can Fully Power the E5000 Balance?

The Hifiman Supermini is supposed to be quite powerful, but it's getting difficult to find at $200. Pure dap with single and balanced outputs. Don't know the output impedance.

 

[kkl10]

Hi all, I just bought the E5000 as I don't want to bring my Westone UMPro50 v2 on my daily commute. Anyway, has everyone tried removing the white filter in front of their E5000? The filter itself is a bit thick and compared to other earwax filters from some of my dynamic driver IEMs this one has much smaller and finer holes which cuts out a lot of treble. I removed mine and the treble is now very clear. Bass is now balanced and still goes very deep specially in the sub bass region. It almost sounds like my Westone UMPro50 v2 but more coherent but still lacks that top end clarity. I might need to find a similar sized metal grill to prevent earwax from entering the dynamic driver, or eartips with wax guard. Anyway, very happy with my modded E5000 sound.

Are you still happy with this mod or have you noticed that it does weird things to the sound? Resonances, dirtier or uneven treble, less creamy midrange, overall sound less smooth? Does it detract from the original character to a significant extent? Does this affect the overall volume of these IEMs?

 

[zilkhaw]

Are you still happy with this mod or have you noticed that it does weird things to the sound? Resonances, dirtier or uneven treble, less creamy midrange, overall sound less smooth? Does it detract from the original character to a significant extent? Does this affect the overall volume of these IEMs?

Actually, the filter is used for tuning. In MAKE series, 10 types of this filters range from 1-10 comes with the earphones. Changing the filters change the density of high and low. If you feel that E5000 is not high enough for you, you can remove it and you will find out that highs and clarity will have significant improvement. But if after removing it, you feel that it somehow become too high, you can add a lesser density filter.

However, I am not sure if it is easy for people outside of Japan to get the filters.
http://final-audio-design-directshop.com/fs/final/MAKE_TUNING-PARTS/FI-MTFA

By the way, after removing the filters, dirt might go into the earphones and cleaning them might be tough I guess? Since you definitely do not want to have some tiny dirt go in and vibrate crazily when music is playing.

 

[kkl10]

Good info, thanks. Too bad these filters are not included with the E series... nothing a diy solution won't fix, though. I'll have the opportunity to give them a listen soon.

 

[zilkhaw]

Good info, thanks. Too bad these filters are not included with the E series... nothing a diy solution won't fix, though. I'll have the opportunity to give them a listen soon.

Oh, because MAKE series is a kit, so it comes with filters for the user to tune them to their favorite sound and that is why I stay with MAKE2 now. But E series are not actually for that purpose

 

[soundbear]

Hi! Haven't been back to the forums for years but have been reading this thread for years!! I have the Heaven V and love it, but can't find a comparison between the Heaven V and the E5000. Apparently it has a detachable cord?? How does the SQ compare? Can someone please comment or send me a link of comparison?? Thanks so much

 

[kevinscottcaja]

Are you still happy with this mod or have you noticed that it does weird things to the sound? Resonances, dirtier or uneven treble, less creamy midrange, overall sound less smooth? Does it detract from the original character to a significant extent? Does this affect the overall volume of these IEMs?

I end up returning the filter. After burn in, the treble became prominent and piercing, so I returned the filter back and loved the sound signature of if having the filter. I have two FAD E5000 anyway. I use the 2nd one I bought.

 

[exsomnis]

The path I took to get my E5000 two weeks ago was via a chance audition of the E3000 in e.earphones Shibuya. It was one of my last days in Tokyo and I was desperate to bring home some sort of souvenir for myself, having previously visited the larger, more extensive e.earphones store in Akibahara. My ears feasted on many TOTL IEMs there but none of them quite convinced me into making the jump.

I didn't realise the selection would be so limited in Shibuya and the more expensive IEMs were behind locked glass, so I was stuck with auditioning mid tier IEMs in the $300 range. The best of which was a pair of JH Audio / Astell & Kern Billie Jean, which I promptly bought. But I thought to myself, I'm in Japan I so I should get something Japanese. Did a quick demo with the E4000, labelled as their no.1 seller, loved it - it was out of stock at that store and bought an E3000 anyway because cheap and there was no chance of re-visiting Akiba.

It was only till I returned home and was browsing Final related info that I found out about the E5000 and its gushing reviews - in particular the one on headphonelist by pinkypowers. My prior impression of Final Audio was that the reviews were mixed. On the other hand, given how the sound signature of the E3000 was my kind of jam yet understandably lacking in refinement, I gave in to impulse and ordered the E5000s.

I was not disappointed by the initial demo but there was a little bit of darkness. I then gave it 50 hours of burn-in with the low impedance output on my Cayin iHA-6, streaming hifi Tidal and settled into a serious listen. It was a revelation. Balanced, natural, coherent, an ease of presentation, instruments hanging in the air in and around my head, no excesses anywhere and actual sub-bass. I realise that these IEMs are the most akin to TOTL headphones that I've heard in their instrument/vocal presentation and sense of space. The ones I like, that is - and I'm firmly in the Audeze LCD camp, where treble does not pierce your eardrums with tiny little forks and things sound real as opposed to artificial.

The reason, it seems to me, is due to the single driver - a rather excellent one in the E5000, one in headphones. I've been listening to multi-driver IEMs for a few years now and the benefit is that the load is spread across them, with drivers handling a specific part of the frequency thus making them more efficient and in ideal designs producing higher fidelity and clarity than single drivers. The problem is that multiple drivers require crossover circuitry and crossovers are not only a product of science but also design. When and where one driver ends and another driver begins in the sound spectrum can easily become a whim of the designer, prone to many different interpretations - thus producing an array of different styles deviating from balanced, natural and organic, into artificial and contrived. Like over-processed photos, pretty but so fake.

This had never really dawned on me until I heard the E5000. And despite the superior detail retrieval and many styles of more expensive universals out there, these are the IEMs that I love. Until I come across the next pair of IEMs that keeps the sound signature and increases the clarity and resolution, that is. (BTW, let me know if you've found one...)