[notaris]

Review: Final ZE8000
In a class of its own


Introduction

Final is a well-known headphones and In-Ear Monitors (IEMs) manufacturer not because it is big, but because it has products of very high quality. Quality that extends from the way an IEM is made to the way it sounds. It is also a very unusual company, in the sense that it has $20.00-$30.00 models, with a performance that make you scratch your head on how they could be that good. On the other hand, Final also has a line of exquisite models, like the planar magnetic headphones D8000 or the flagship IEM A8000, that could take one to stellar levels of performance. If one would ask me what are the merits of a Final product, I would primarily mentioned two: The overall quality in the housing, the cable, even the eartips, for which Final is famous; and the sound that I could summarize in two words, “Final tonality”, which is truly unique and it is what makes Final headphones and IEMs to differentiate from similar products in the market.

Quite recently, Final entered the world of TWS (True Wireless Stereo) systems, with the ZE3000 model following the same Final philosophy: Sound comes always first. Although an old-fashioned guy and a fan of wired IEMs, I was quite impressed by ZE3000’s performance (see my review in https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/final-ze3000.25659/reviews#review-28980). Did I expect an upgrade of ZE3000, maybe even a flagship Final TWS model that belongs to the 8000 range? You bet I did, and Final did not belie me. The all new ZE8000 model is just out.

Now, it is well known that it is really difficult to make an audiophile TWS model; a company has to overcome a number of obstacles, and Final engineers were successful with ZE3000. However, no matter how good the latter is, creating a flagship model presents many more hardships. On the other hand, Final engineers are known for challenging the impossible! They did that before, and I must admit that they did it with ZE8000 more than ever. I shall only say here, and give you details in what follows, that ZE8000 represents a completely new way as to how one perceives music, and this is the reason behind Final’s claim that ZE8000’s performance is what one could call the “True Sound” of music.

Description

Let me start by saying that the biggest advantage of Bluetooth headphones and earphones, over the conventional wired headphones and IEMs, is that in the former has everything in one shell: The DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter), the amplifier system, the computing unit, the power source and the drivers, all are crafted into a single unit. This gives a big advantage in perfecting sound quality, from the sound source signal input all the way up to the sound wave output.

Unfortunately, in the past, Bluetooth audio technology has been bogged down from flourishing due to its bandwidth bottleneck, which limited the quantity and quality of the wireless transferred data and lead to poor sound reproduction.

However, the fast advancement of Bluetooth and data compression technology, during the past few years, changed things and data transmission is no longer the factor that limits the quality of sound reproduction; in fact, it is the relatively slow development of hardware and software design and the lack of customized system design for Bluetooth audio devices, such as headphones and IEMs, that has become the main bottleneck in Bluetooth audio.

As Final’s top priority has always been sound quality, the Company took of advantage of the latest Bluetooth technology. Final’s engineers customized the drivers and the earbuds’ internal structure and incorporated the latest manufacturing techniques. The result was the Company’s first TWS model, the ZE3000, which was soon followed by ZE2000 that adopted a different sound tuning. Both have been very successful and considered by many as the best-sounding true wireless earbuds nowadays.

Obviously, all the technological innovation used in ZE3000 was not enough for creating Final’s flagship TWS system, the ZE8000. The latter required to fully upgrade every aspect of ZE3000’s hardware, complemented by proprietary digital signal processing technology incorporated into the software. The result is a sound presentation and a timbre reproduction that is unreachable by any conventional IEM.

Before I go on, let me take a moment and explain what we call timbre. It is common for music lovers to evaluate headphones’ or earphones’ overall performance by things like the strength of bass, the clarity of sound, or the soundstage presentation. In fact, experienced listeners can many times judge all this by simply looking at the frequency response curve. However, timbre is something beyond all this and it has to do with the “quality” and “aesthetics” of sound. To give you an example, a violin can play the frequency range 200Hz - 3500Hz, however, not all violins play this range the exact same way, and some would produce a tone that is much more pleasing to the ears than others. The difference is due to each violin’s timbre reproduction, and this is what differentiates each violin from the the rest as to its quality and price.

Now, ZE8000 is engineered to reproduce every single note in a musical piece with the highest possible timbre quality. This is what stands behind ZE8000’s exquisite performance. I am going to discuss this performance in full details, but let me first tell you how this top timbre quality was obtained. Final had, once more, to overcome certain difficulties and devise completely new components, while designing ZE8000, most of which are new and exciting innovations:

• Proprietary DSP Algorithm and FIR Filter.
• New f-CORE for 8Κ SOUND driver.
• Synthesis Active Noise Canceling.
• Class AB Amplifier and Rubicon PML CAP capacitors.

Below I am presenting each one of them, and all are in a harmonious symphony in order to end up with ZE8000.

Proprietary DSP Algorithm and FIR Filter

There are several things that differentiate ZE8000 from ZE3000/ZE2000, but if we wanted to single one out, then this would be Final's proprietary Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology.

In wired headphones and IEMs, engineers try to optimize sound performance by changing the headphones’s or the IEM’s physical properties (hardware), such as changing the shape and volume of the housing, controlling the rate of air pressure, implementing materials with different sonic characteristics, etc. However, once one of these properties is slightly changed, all the factors involved in the optimization process are influenced, too, with some becoming betterand others becoming worse. Therefore, it is almost impossible to achieve a completely perfect system with trying tooptimize all of these factors at the same time. This limitation is even more critical in a TWS system, where a micro-level change is rather significant.

Now, in ZE8000 all the optimization process towards perfecting the sound reproduction quality is done through DSP, and this is where all the computational power of ZE8000 is directed to. Obviously, having the optimization process being implemented through software is very different from what is conventionally done in headphones or IEMs, and DSP opens up enormous possibilities for engineers in order to achieve an ideal sound quality. For example, among other things, DSP undertakes the job of a DAC in a wired IEM.

Furthermore, as the linear phase is essential in rectifying both the frequency and time response, Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filters are used in collaboration with DSP to reproduce the highest possible timbre quality, which is the hard core of ZE8000’s performance.

Final has not given more details on DSP, as there is a patent pending. However, one thing is certain: All DSP’s computational power aims towards (only) one purpose, sound reproduction quality.

New f-CORE for 8Κ SOUND driver

As ZE8000 was designed having in mind to reproduce timbre with the highest possible quality, it needed to have minimal phasing issue. Therefore, instead of adopting a multi-driver structure, which is commonly used in IEMs to cover the full frequency spectrum, ZE8000 is equipped by a single, new generation, ultra-low distortion dynamic driver, “f-Core for 8K SOUND”, which is superb in reproducing the full audio spectrum effortlessly with the lowest possible distortion ever (the 8K SOUND came from 8K UHD (Ultra-High Definition) In visual technology).

The design of the f-Core for 8K SOUND had also to take into account the basic requirements necessary for implementing DSP. It is well-known that one of the biggest challenges in creating a driver is the manufacturing consistency between driver units. Generally, slight disparity during production, known as “production variance”, is unavoidable, and therefore it is a common practice between manufacturers to accept a certain range of production tolerance. Now, for drivers intended to work in collaboration with DSP, it is critical that these manufacturing tolerances to be as low as possible. For example, if the adjustments made through the FIR filter are smaller than the production tolerance, then these adjustments would be ineffective, and the output would not be as expected or could even be worse than that, causing a negative impact on sound quality.

Therefore, it is absolutely crucial to design a driver which not only has ultra-low distortion, but it is also easy to be manufactured with extremely high consistency. For this to be achieved, Final decided to upgrade the very successful “f-Core for Wireless”, which has been specifically designed for ZE3000 and ZE2000. By adopting the Adhesive-less Injection Molded Diaphragm fabricating method and other innovative engineering techniques, this driver has gained unmatchable advantages compared to similar drivers in the market:

• The diaphragm has an even weight distribution across it, due to the removal of adhesive application that was originally needed for attaching the diaphragm’s dome (center) to the surround (edge).

• Tangential corrugations have been removed for preventing rotational movement during pistonic motion. Also, the area of surround has been reduced, resulting in 100% increment of the effective area of the dome. The new generation f-CORE for 8K SOUND is having its size increased from the former φ6.0mm to φ10mm. Due to its special design, which reduces the area of surround and that way results in 100% increment of the area of the dome compared to conventional drivers, the size of the dome is equivalent to a φ13mm conventional driver dome. This is a big improvement, as the dome size of a dynamic driver is considered the main factor forreducing distortion, not to mention that a bigger dome could push more air for transmitting sound.

• Besides that, the dome material is upgraded from hard resin to a thin aluminum-magnesium alloy, which is harder and lighter, and thus stronger against deformation from resonance frequencies. These upgrades not only greatly reduced distortion at lower frequencies, but also improved significantly the definition and quality of the bass.
• Furthermore, f-CORE for 8K SOUND has an all new internal mechanism for the voice coil. Generally, the electric signal is fed into the voice coil through a lead wire and after reacting with the magnetic field of the neodymium magnet, it generates kinetic force to move the diaphragm. Normally, the lead wire is extremely thin, and therefore prone to break due to the driver’s vibrations. To prevent this, the wire is glued to the diaphragm. This not only increases the overall weight of the diaphragm, having a negative effect on high frequencies, but also causes uneven weight distribution in the diaphragm, making it to move in a non-pistonic motion and thus resulting in higher distortion. By utilizing the latest technology, the ZE8000’s lead wire, instead of being glued into the diaphragm, runs freely under the diaphragm’s edge. This not only enhances the structural design, by maintaining the wire’s durability, but also improves distortion.
  

These improvements have successfully minimized THD+N* to an unmatchable low (almost zero) level and reduced the production variance compared to similar drivers in the market, so once again Final engineers exceeded the existing limits.

* THD+N is a standard measurement of the total harmonic distortion and noise present in a signal. Higher THD+N means higher distortion and noise, which results in degrading audio quality.

It is worthwhile to look at a comparison of the main characteristics between a conventional dynamic driver, the f-Core for Wireless driver, used in ZE3000 and ZE2000, and the newly developed f-CORE for 8K SOUND driver, to be used in ZE8000 that is given below.

​

	Conventional Dynamic Driver	f-Core for Wireless (ZE3000)	f-CORE for 8K SOUND (ZE8000)
Driver Size		6mm	10mm
Dome Material		Resin	Aluminum-Magnesium
Dome Area	21%	42%	42%
Lead Wire Structure	Attached to diaphragm	Attached to diaphragm	Floating
Diaphragm Forming	Monolithic Injection Molding	Adhesive-less Injection Molding	Adhesive-less Injection Molding
Surround Structure	Corrugated	Smooth	Smooth
Surround Material	PET	Special Silicone	Special Silicone

Synthesis Noise Canceling

Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) has almost become a standard feature in nowadays TWS systems. However, it is not always trouble free, and it often happens that the sound quality is degrading when the ANC feature is on, with the degradation been even more pronounced when ANC is boosted. The reason behind this is how ANC works.

Most ANC systems used in TWS systems is what we call Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling systems, which work as following: There is (are) microphone(s) placed in the external part of the product for picking up and feeding the ambient noise to the analyzer, which subsequently creates an anti-noise (opposite waveform) for the driver unit. The anti-noise is reproduced during playback for canceling out the ambient noise that has penetrated the ear canal.

Although such a system is quite effective, it is not without drawbacks. The biggest one is that the noise level entering the ear canal is always lower than the actual ambient noise picked up by the external microphone(s), so the analyzer is having difficulty in making a precise adjustment to the anti-noise signal amplitude without having the correct information. To overcome this problem, there is a second internal microphone, whose job is to pick up the actual noise level inside the ear canal and send it to the analyzer in order to process the data and adjust the anti-noise signal amplitude.

Even though the involved calculations are to be performed by a microprocessor chip extremely fast, a certain time delay is unavoidable. Due to this delay, the produced anti-noise is never real-time accurate, especially at higher frequencies, resulting in an unnatural music feeling, sound quality degradation and discomfort.

In order to overcome the traditional ANC drawbacks, Final engineers came up with a new solution, called “Synthesis Noise Canceling”, which combines both enhanced passive noise canceling and customized active noise canceling. They developed specialized and unique artificial ears, equipped with an advanced measuring system, and performed uncountable trial and error laboratory experiments and actual human evaluations.

Final is known for making one of the best silicone eartips in the world. The TYPE E silicone eartips have become the favorite of many IEM users and it has been selected as the default eartips by many high-end IEM audio brands. For the passive noise canceling of ZE8000, Final engineers have exclusively designed a new TYPE Q Duplex silicone eartips, which offer improved (passive) noise canceling, by having an initial layer of sealing at the ear concha area and a subsequent layer of sealing in the ear canal. This new double-layered design notably reduces the quantity of noise penetrating the ear canal.

The degradation of sound quality and discomfort that occurs in a Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling system is caused mainly by the feedback analyzing system due to its time delay. Alternatively, rather than employing this feedback system, Final engineers, for the active noise canceling of ZE8000, have decided to upgrade the external microphone to a high-quality Knowles MEMS microphone in order to pick up ambient noise signals most accurately and improve the quality of anti-noise with Final’s proprietary ANC filter through the DSP approach.

Combining both the enhanced noise canceling and proprietary ANC filter, Synthesis Noise Canceling offers a quiet music listening experience and stress-free comfort.

Class AB Amplifier and Rubicon PML CAP capacitors

One of the most important parts of a TWS system is the amplifier module, which amplifies the sound signal, so that the latter becomes strong enough to move the driver diaphragm and create a sufficient sound pressure level.

However, like every other ZE8000 component, the amplifier module should have the lowest possible distortion, thus complementing the f-CORE for 8K SOUND driver and DSP technology and achieving the timbre ZE8000 was designed to have.

Final engineers had to choose between:

• The typical Class D amplifier, used by most of the TWS systems in the market, due to its excellent power efficiency in extending the playback time per battery charge.
• The Class AB amplifier, known for its great balance between sound quality and power efficiency. Compared to the Class D amplifier, the output signal distortion of the Class AB amplifier is significantly lower, especially at the higher frequencies range (see the graphs below), which contributes to improved sound quality.

They chose the latter, which is quite unusual for a TWS system.

However, the choice of the amplifier module was not the only upgrade in the components used in ZE8000. A second one had to do with the decoupling capacitor of the digital signal processing microchip. When this microchip is operating for the DSP algorithm to implement, every single second, millions of transistors are being turned ON and OFF, and therefore the power drawn by the microchip to feed these transistors is always fluctuating at a very high speed. This fluctuating power destabilizes the power supply (battery), causes serious impact and generates unwanted electronic noises onto the output signal of the microchip.

To overcome this problem, decoupling capacitors are normally added to the power supply input of the microchip. With a capacitor’s natural capability to charge and discharge, based on the input voltage, the coupling capacitors could significantly reduce the fluctuation and stabilize the power supply, which also minimize the noise occurring at the microchip output.

It is therefore paramount to choose a decoupling capacitor of the highest quality, as this contributes substantially to the overall sound performance of a TWS system. ZE8000 is using a high-performance and low-distortion PML CAP (Polymer Multi-Layer Capacitor) from the renowned Japanese manufacturer Rubycon. Due to its well-thought design and employment of the latest manufacturing technology, the PML CAP is having a significantly lower distortion compared to a commonly used MLCC (Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitor), as one can see from the graph below. This upgrade ensures a cleaner and more accurate DSP-processed signal output from the microchip.

All the above show that “sophisticated design” is not enough in order to describe the meticulous effort that Final devoted in designing ZE8000. The obvious question is, was all this effort translated to a sound that is equally sophisticated? Let’s find out!

The sound

I should start by saying that being an older person I grew up with wired IEMs, so, initially, I was skeptical, to say the least, about TWS systems. This was particularly enhanced by the fact that the first earbuds in the market were, primarily, aiming to convenience rather than sound quality. I have to admit though that this has changed when I first tried the Final ZE3000, as before long I realized that the latter was better than my beloved, and one of my reference IEMs, Final A4000. Habit is strong in all of us, but on the other hand we have to be fair!

Having said the above, one would easily understand that I waited eagerly the arrival of the flagship ZE8000. Before I go on, I will cut it short and say that ZE8000’s performance is nothing that I have heard before, by either an IEM or a TWS system. What make me say that? The fact that the sound is:

• Balanced, but in an unusual sense. The bass, mids and tremble are all in, almost, equal quantities; to say in more technical terms, ZE8000 sounds like having and it actually has a frequency response curve that is almost flat (see below). All IEMs, TWSs and headphones manufacturers use as a basis a Harman type of curve, which is far from being flat, and they make their tuning based on that. It is the first time that I listened to something that is, almost, flat. And guess what: It is unique and marvelous!
  

• Absolutely natural. Many times, with exquisite IEMs or headphones, we are used to say that we close our eyes and feel that we listened to the orchestra playing in front of us; and I am sure that these IEMs or headphones are so good that this is our feeling. Now, can you imagine female or male vocals so intimate that without closing your eyes you feel that the artist performs for you? Or a guitar, saxophone or kick drums playing in the same room?
• Absolutely clean. Even the quietest IEMs or headphones have some bottom noise. The feeling with ZE8000 is that the bottom noise is zero; it is hard to believe it, but this is one’s impression.

I think the above three is what makes Final saying that ZE8000’s performance is the “True Sound” of music. It is hard for me to describe how “true” is a sound coming out of an IEM, headphone or TWS system, as true is only what is played by the orchestra or found in the nature; however, for the first time I thought that maybe what we call “true” is as close to the actual true as possible.

An interesting question is, how Final succeeded in making ZE8000 to be balanced, natural and clean in a way not found before? The answer to this is that ZE8000 is engineered to reproduce every single note in a musical piece with the highest possible timbre quality. And of course the next question that naturally comes to mind is, what is the single critical factor that allowed ZE8000 to have this unique timbre reproduction? There is no doubt that the first step towards this was the design of the new f-CORE for 8Κ SOUND driver, the use of a class AB Amplifier and Rubicon PML CAP capacitors and, most of all, the Proprietary DSP Algorithm and FIR Filter, which makes all the computational work. However, I believe that the single critical factor for the unique timbre reproduction is that all these components were designed to live in the same eco-system, and this make them to collaborate as close to perfect as possible.

Needless to say that ZE8000 has the unique Final tonality that makes any musical piece to sound so relaxed to the point that even if you are not in the best mood, you sit back and enjoy the music.

I find no point to start talking about the bass, the mids and the tremble of ZE8000, as the feeling one gets is that this TWS system has an almost flat frequency response curve (which is actually true) and, what is the most important, this sounds terrific. During the past couple of months, I spent hundreds of hours listening to ZE8000, and I couldn’t find a flaw. The bass has an amazing control, with just the right amount of sub- and mid-bass; the mids are so intimate that it really gets to you; and the tremble is extremely detailed, but never harsh or sibilant.

Having a sound that is balanced, natural and clean, ZE8000 has maximum transparency that reminded me of Final’s flagship A8000, but in a different way, due to ZE8000’s flat curve. It is a unique feeling that I never encountered before with any other IEM or headphone.

The soundstage extends to all possible dimensions and the positioning of voices and various organs is almost perfect. The image is holographic and really fills the space, while the separation is excellent.

Some people might find that the volume is a bit low. It actually isn’t, as the user’s ears have to be protected by setting the max volume level to adapt to the CE volume level specification.

As I mentioned, I spent hundreds of hours listening to various genres of music through ZE8000 either from my iMac or my iPhone. Listen for example to the classical “The Look of Love” by Diana Krall, from the album with the same name, Verve; not only it was the best performance for a long time, particularly among IEMs or earbuds up to $300.00. Diana Krall’s vocals was extremely clear, intimate and blended perfectly with the music. When I reviewed ZE3000, I was impressed by its performance of the song “Over my Head” by Asaf Avidan, from the album Gold Shadow, Telmavar Records. This short song has some of the most difficult vocals, which primarily has to do with Asaf Avidan’s tone of voice, but also with the way he performs this particular song. Up to this day, all IEMs that I used to were more or less shouty, and ZE3000 was the first that had a relaxed performance. ZE8000 added more details and most of all an even more natural presentation. On the classical song “The Road to Hell” by Chris Rea, from the album The Best, Jazzee Blue / Navybeck Ltd, the great dynamics of this powerful song were performed by ZE8000 in an exquisite way. The beautiful song “The Beginning” by Hiromi (Uehara) sounds through ZE8000 even more melodius from what it actually is. While “Fanfare for the Volunteer” by Mark O’Connor, from the album with the same name, Sony Classical, is a beautiful Orchestral piece composed by O’Connor, and played by him on the violin and London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Steven Mercurio. It is a very demanding piece with many high and low passages, which is very common in Orchestral music, and once again ZE8000 managed to deliver it in a masterful way. So, on top of everything else, ZE8000 is a wonderful all-rounder.

I should also point out that I could not detect any difference in ZE8000’s performance from either my iMac or my iPhone, probably because DSP does the same great job in either source, which was a very pleasant surprise.

In addition to SBC and AAC codecs, ZE8000 supports the uninterrupted, high-quality Qualcomm® aptX™ and aptX™ Adaptive codecs for wireless transmission up to 24bit/96Hz, while it is compatible with Snapdragon Sound™.

Am I going to stop using wired IEMs? Hell no! I am an old fashioned person, and “you cannot really teach an old dog new tricks”, so surely I will keep using my beloved Final E2000 and A4000 (until maybe replaced by the new model A5000, the review of which is upcoming); it is hard for me to believe that wired IEMs will ever disappear. However, I will say this: I already started using ZE8000 quite a bit, and, honestly, if I was a young guy and I had to choose between a good wired IEM and ZE8000, I would not think a second time about the latter. I think that this clears the subject.

Accessories and fit

The exterior box of ZE8000 is nicely minimal and inside it the user will find:

• The main units.
• The charging case.

• 5 sizes SS / S / M / L / LL of the Final newly designed TYPE Q Duplex eartips.

• A USB Type-C charging cable.
• An acoustic tool and dust filters.
• A User’s Manual and a “Read before using this product” booklet.

As already mentioned, the TYPE Q Duplex eartips were specifically designed for ZE8000. They are dual-layered, and ZE8000 stays fit into the concha by mainly utilizing the interlocking mechanism contributed by the round-shaped division and the ear concha. The part that lies inside the ear canal has been designed to be softer, providing a comfortable fitting with a soft touch. Additionally, different from most typical TWS systems, where the hard surface of the housing is directly in contact with the ears, the TYPE Q eartips offer a soft silicone contact surface for supreme comfort.

Special features

In ZE8000, the user can choose among four different modes for convenience of use via either touch control or mobile apps. Three of these modes are related to ambient noise and one to wind noise.

Active Noise Canceling Mode	Eliminates ambient noise and allows the user to concentrate onto the music.
Ambient Sound Mode	Seamlessly blends music and ambient sound, allowing users to be aware of their surroundings while listening to music.
Voice Through Mode	Ambient sound is prioritized over music, allowing for clear conversations without removing the earphones from the ears.
Wind-Cut Mode	Significantly eliminates wind noise captured by the microphones when there is a lot of ambient air movement.

Furthermore, the ambient sound is very natural and delivers the surround sound to the user.

Also, very clear are phone calls by means of Final's proprietary beamforming algorithm and two high-performance microphones placed at the top and bottom of ZE8000. During a phone call, the two microphones simultaneously capture the user's voice and ambient sound and their signals are instantaneously calculated by the beamforming algorithm. That way only the user's voice is extracted for a clear call.

There is a dedicated mobile application “final CONNECT” on devices paired with ZE8000, which give access to the following functions.

• Switch between 4 modes: Active Noise Canceling, Ambient Sound, Voice Through and Wind-Cut.
• A PRO Equalizer allows users to make adjustments onto sound presentation in the most effective way, without causing degradation of sound quality.
• Setting up the Volume Step Optimizer to upgrade the smartphone's volume control, allowing for finer volume adjustment near the preferred volume with greater precision.
• Switching the voice guidance language (Japanese/English).
• Activating 8K SOUND+ for even higher sound quality than the 8K SOUND.

New functions are scheduled to be added through firmware updates.


In conclusion

ZE8000 is unique. It is flat balanced and superbly natural and clean. It has the beautiful Final tonality, with very well-controlled bass, intimate vocals and detailed but never harsh tremble. Its presentation is characterized by maximum transparency, extended soundstage, holographic image and excellent separation.

For $349.00, based on its unique sound experience, its advanced technicalities and the many conveniences that come with it, ZE8000 is a bargain. If I wanted to buy a TWS system, I wouldn’t omit to try it out, and anyone who does would most likely be amazed. It is that good.

Most highly recommended.


Specifications

ZE8000 (BLACK/WHITE)
Communication Format: Bluetooth 5.2
Supported Codecs: SBC, AAC, Qualcomm® aptX™, aptX™ Adaptive
Continuous Music Playback: Maximum 5 hours for earbuds / Maximum 15 hours including case
Charging Time: 1.5 hours for earbud / 2 hours for case
: (Fast charging for earbud: 5 minutes for up to 45 minutes of music playback)
Battery Capacity: 54 mAh for ingle side earbud / 420 mAh for case
Water Resistant: IPX4
Price: $349.00

https://snext-final.com

Reviewer’s note: The reviewer is grateful to Kyo of Final Inc. for sending him a sample of ZE8000.

 

[Halimj7]

Great review. I hear a lot of reviewers say the ZE8000 is warm. Would you agree and what headphone does the ZE8000 sound most like?

 

[ALRAINBOW]

I have a pair playing now. they are ok so far but the placing into my ears is really annoying
The Manual needs pics to show proper orientation both start and finish.
these will take a while to settle in my ears and allow my brain to process the information.

 

[cleg]

My video about ZE8000

 

[ALRAINBOW]

Very good honest video. I’m not a bass head but they lacked enough low end to effect timbre to my ears. but well made product

 

[notaris]

Hello,

No, I do not find ZE8000 warm at all; instead, I find them very well balanced, without any enhancement in any part of the audio spectrum (lows-mids-highs).

One has to try a bit, like with all earphones, for fitting them into his ears, but with ZE8000 it is not really difficult.