krumplib430
100+ Head-Fier
As I have became quite a big fanboy of the E3000 in the last couple of months, here are my impressions comparing with other IEMs in my collection (from favorite to least favorite order). Please note these are only my impressions with my set of ears, and can be very different for other folks
E3000: Superior staging, imaging. Good separation. Perfect tuning, perfect amount of bass, mids and treble. Pretty good attack and clarity. Can be used with any type of music. The biggest advantage is the superior natural / lifelike timbre. It can sound so realistic from M11 Pro that is "unreal" (a bit less realistic from my other sources but still superior to other iems)... Certain instruments are coming from above my head which makes them even more realistic. The most emotion inducing IEMs I have ever heard.
IER-M9: bit more detail pickup in the treble. Very good imaging and staging, but stage is smaller than 3000. Not as natural/realistic sounding as E3000. The most precise IEM I ever heard. BA bass is very good, pretty close to a DD bass. My second favorite after the 3000.
E4000: A bit bigger stage than 3000 but quite a bit darker. More bass and rolled off treble. Vocals come closer to you while other instruments can sound far away from you.
XBA-Z5: Very V-shaped, bass is very good, treble is a bit more artificial than M9. Not as precise as M9.
E5000: Huge stage, but even darker than 4000. Treble rolled off even more, I missing some treble details in certain songs which I can hear with other gear. Very good for movie watching and with peaky treble electronic music, for other genres - not so much.
XBA-A3: A crappier version of Z5. Not as precise as Z5, but strangely the perceived stage is bigger than Z5.
B3: A bit too treble centric. It needs bass boost for my ears, otherwise I will miss some important bass information from music which is equally important in my opinion. Can sound a bit congested sometimes, not a huge stage, not the best imaging capabilities, but I like these with certain live / acoustic recordings and for these genres sounds awesome. They sounds super lively and intense for these genres. My least favorite Final unfortunately, but still love them though.
Fiio FH7: Very good technicalities, but sounds too thin also the treble is too much for me even with bass filter and bass tips. Very fatiguing for me. Can only listen to them 10 minutes max.
Blon-03: I'm not sure why people rave about these. The tonality is good, but it has uncontrolled boomy / boxy bass, muddy, not really clean treble. Staging is above average. The 3000 -which is in similar price range - murders it in every possible way.
XBA-N3: Good tonality but it is very "in your head" feeling compared to my other IEMs which has decent stage and separation. Also not the best detail pickup. Superior Bass though.
Tin-T3: these IEMs are super bad in my opinion worst buy of my life. Sounds super unnatural and off, I can't even describe how bad they are...
What I have learnt from this hobby: money won't buy you better sound. The E3000 is one of the cheapest and hands down the best IEM I ever heard, even comparing to big dogs like M9.
All in all, I don't really understand why certain chi-fi IEMs are hyped to death (looking at you BLON), while I can barely see any mainstream reviewers even mentioning the E3000... Maybe the E3000 is tuned only for my ears
If final will ever produce an upgraded E3000 with more sturdy / better / replacable cable, that would be an instant buy for me.
I'm a bit worried that Final will push only B and A lines which are mostly mids/treble detail centric Hope they won't forget about the bass which is equally important in music and necessary to give you emotions.
E3000: Superior staging, imaging. Good separation. Perfect tuning, perfect amount of bass, mids and treble. Pretty good attack and clarity. Can be used with any type of music. The biggest advantage is the superior natural / lifelike timbre. It can sound so realistic from M11 Pro that is "unreal" (a bit less realistic from my other sources but still superior to other iems)... Certain instruments are coming from above my head which makes them even more realistic. The most emotion inducing IEMs I have ever heard.
IER-M9: bit more detail pickup in the treble. Very good imaging and staging, but stage is smaller than 3000. Not as natural/realistic sounding as E3000. The most precise IEM I ever heard. BA bass is very good, pretty close to a DD bass. My second favorite after the 3000.
E4000: A bit bigger stage than 3000 but quite a bit darker. More bass and rolled off treble. Vocals come closer to you while other instruments can sound far away from you.
XBA-Z5: Very V-shaped, bass is very good, treble is a bit more artificial than M9. Not as precise as M9.
E5000: Huge stage, but even darker than 4000. Treble rolled off even more, I missing some treble details in certain songs which I can hear with other gear. Very good for movie watching and with peaky treble electronic music, for other genres - not so much.
XBA-A3: A crappier version of Z5. Not as precise as Z5, but strangely the perceived stage is bigger than Z5.
B3: A bit too treble centric. It needs bass boost for my ears, otherwise I will miss some important bass information from music which is equally important in my opinion. Can sound a bit congested sometimes, not a huge stage, not the best imaging capabilities, but I like these with certain live / acoustic recordings and for these genres sounds awesome. They sounds super lively and intense for these genres. My least favorite Final unfortunately, but still love them though.
Fiio FH7: Very good technicalities, but sounds too thin also the treble is too much for me even with bass filter and bass tips. Very fatiguing for me. Can only listen to them 10 minutes max.
Blon-03: I'm not sure why people rave about these. The tonality is good, but it has uncontrolled boomy / boxy bass, muddy, not really clean treble. Staging is above average. The 3000 -which is in similar price range - murders it in every possible way.
XBA-N3: Good tonality but it is very "in your head" feeling compared to my other IEMs which has decent stage and separation. Also not the best detail pickup. Superior Bass though.
Tin-T3: these IEMs are super bad in my opinion worst buy of my life. Sounds super unnatural and off, I can't even describe how bad they are...
What I have learnt from this hobby: money won't buy you better sound. The E3000 is one of the cheapest and hands down the best IEM I ever heard, even comparing to big dogs like M9.
All in all, I don't really understand why certain chi-fi IEMs are hyped to death (looking at you BLON), while I can barely see any mainstream reviewers even mentioning the E3000... Maybe the E3000 is tuned only for my ears
If final will ever produce an upgraded E3000 with more sturdy / better / replacable cable, that would be an instant buy for me.
I'm a bit worried that Final will push only B and A lines which are mostly mids/treble detail centric Hope they won't forget about the bass which is equally important in music and necessary to give you emotions.
Last edited: