FINAL ZE8000 REVIEW

Costing £299, the FINAL ZE8000 IEMs are a Bluetooth IEM with a few innovative features. Janine Elliot gives them a whirl.

These are a very distinctive-looking IEM

Having followed the 8000 range of headphones and wired IEMs from Final I was excited to hear that the company has brought out a top-of-the-range TWS (True Wireless Stereo) Bluetooth earphone. Coming in at £299 this is more directed at the true audiophile than the keep-fit runner, not that they wouldn’t be delighted to use it. For me, lazily sat at home in my armchair with a cappuccino I was also delighted to try these out, not least because the ridiculous price of electricity and gas means I didn’t need to turn on my leccy guzzling Class AB valves to listen to excellent music. Following on from the ZE2000 and ZE3000 this is their first flagship Bluetooth IEM from this Japanese company (not to be confused with the electrostatic loudspeaker company from the Netherlands).

Final was established in 2007. It began as a subsidiary of Molex, the American connector company, and in 2014 it went independent. Final sells its own high-end audio earphones and headphones as well as conducting component technology development, product planning, design, manufacturing, and sales of other companies’ brands. Their products cover a wide price range, from excellent cheap units to the top-end 8000 series, which includes the planar magnetic flagship D8000 headphones with Air Film Damping System (AFDS) that I reviewed in 2022, and the Pure Beryllium diaphragm-driven flagship In-Ear wired Monitor, the A8000. The ZE8000 is the third in the series of Bluetooth IEMs and takes quality to a new level for the company. Indeed, it is labeled as “Remastering Your Music Listening Experience with 8K SOUND” suggesting the amount of musical detail and transparency is as detailed as the very best video quality, not that I listen in pixels. Final is certainly a prolific company with a wide range of products, each with its own distinctive looks, especially the IEMs such as the beautiful Lab and Piano Forte series.

BUILD, COMFORT, AND FEATURES OF FINAL ZE8000 IEMs

The ZE8000, like other products from the company, is also very distinctive in its appearance, and it is obvious that a lot of thought has gone into the design. Coming in white or black the electronics are kept in a long narrow 38mm rectangular bar in front of the unique earpieces containing the driver. The earpieces are “dual layered Type Q ear-tips”, designed in two parts; the smaller front part is pushed into your ear canal and held in place by the larger outer ring in your concha. Clever design, though it does take a bit of getting used to. Final even created an “ear fitting” division at the company to look into good IEM comfort. In the initial attempts at fitting the units in my ears, I inadvertently turned on and off the various noise canceling options on the ZE8000, as these are operated (as indeed are all functions) by pushing the rectangular bar. I quickly learned the best way to insert the units is by holding the top and bottom of the bar, though pushing hard into the ear was not quite so easy. After a few attempts, I quickly learned how to do it well, and once in your ear it is there to stay. The main feature of the Type Q double-tip design is to allow people with very small ears to wear the unit securely. It comes with 5 sizes of eartips (SS, S, M, L, LL). The smaller front ear-tip that fits into the canal has also been designed out of a softer rubber, meaning long listening sessions were possible without pain. Also of note is the fact that all the housing which touches your outer ear is made of soft silicone, so no hard plastic touches your ear resulting in discomfort.

All the electronics are in the bar structure

As mentioned above, the unit does offer ANC (automatic noise cancellation) and there are 4 modes operated by pressing the left IEM; Active Noise Cancelling Mode (to get rid of ambient noise), Ambient Sound Mode (to blend music and ambient sound, allowing users to be aware of their surroundings while listening to music), Voice Through Mode (so that ambient sound is prioritized over music, meaning you can still have clear conversations without turning off the music), and Wind-Cut Mode (intended to eliminate wind noise captured by the microphones when it’s windy!) Turning on an ANC can often degrade the music, and in the past I have switched these operations off, but the Final system was actually very good, and by offering four options – controlled from the earpiece or from the downloadable app – this was a good idea to meet different needs. Whilst Final engineers conducted numerous experiments with equipment and evaluations with actual humans using minute Knowles MEMS (Micro ElectroMechanical Systems) microphones, they produced reasonable algorithms that even I would be happy to use. Having said that, I must admit that on trying the ANC whilst listening to music, during which my television blasted out voice, music, and effects in the background, the unit was very effective in lower frequencies but it did leave a quiet tizz on spoken voice in the background. I guess if the serious audiophile is using the ZE8000 he/she would probably turn off the television beforehand!

These are also available in black

The ZE8000 app includes the Volume Step Optimizer which allows you to increase or decrease volume in smaller decibel steps than is usually set on your smartphone’s volume control. However, most of my reviewing was done using an Astell and Kern SE180/SEM1/SEM4 DAP which works much smaller than 1dB steps. However, using this app on my Sony Xperia phone was a godsend.

The core of any IEM is the driver – or set of drivers. I have heard a few IEMs with 8 or more Knowles drivers that really lack bass and even clarity, so was happy to be presented here with a single 13mm ultra-low distortion driver. That is massive, especially for a Bluetooth unit. Consequently, bass was brilliant and tops were equally good. A lightweight aluminum-magnesium dome in the centre is injection molded onto a flexible special silicone surround, and a floating mechanism is used for the CCAW (copper-clad aluminium wire) voice coil.  This makes it very lightweight. This also means very low total harmonic distortion. Indeed, Final claims the dynamic driver has the “lowest THD+N (Total Harmonic Distortion Plus Noise) in wireless earphones and IEMs”.

Another important feature is that the amplification system onboard is Class-AB, which is known for its excellent balance between sound quality and power efficiency, rather than the more usual Class-D amplification. In testing, the audio sounded controlled and musical. The decoupling capacitors for digital signal processing are high-performance, low-distortion Polymer multilayer capacitors designed by the renowned Japanese manufacturer Rubycon. This achieves significantly lower distortion than a typical multilayer ceramic capacitor.

These noise-cancelling headphones eschew the multi-driver model and have one large unit

The unit has two microphones – one at the top and one at the bottom – that not only pick up the owner’s voice but also any background noise so that it can be extracted from the overall sound.

The ZE8000 supports SBC and AAC codecs, plus high-quality Qualcomm® aptX™ and aptX™ Adaptive codecs for wireless transmission up to 24bit/96Hz. The unit can also be used for gamers using Snapdragon Sound™ enabled devices. The unit is also Siri/Google Assistant friendly and obviously can receive phone calls. To complete the package the box comes with a charging case, ear tips (5 sizes), USB Type-C charging cable, plus an acoustic tool and dust filters to keep it clean and operating at its best.  The IEM lasts for 5 hours between charges and, combined with the charging case, totals 15 hours. Charging times are 1.5 and 2 hours respectively. 15 hours total is nothing to write home about, as a cheap Cambridge audio Melomania 1 lasts for a total of 45 hours, but, in terms of sound satisfaction, it is well worth the extra charges and is still an average time. Worth noting, a 5 minute charging time will give 45 minutes of play, in case you want a quick listen to an album. The unit is also water-resistant to IPX4. Instructions are fairly good for such as small product, though details of charging time and technical specification etc was missing.

The EZ8000 IEMs come with their own charging case and a 5 minute charge will give you 45 minutes of listening

SOUND QUALITY OF FINAL EZ8000 IEMS

For the review I tried three sources to ascertain the sound quality and ease of setting up/using. My Sony Xperia phone worked really well, especially with the downloaded app, but most of my review was either with a Fiio DAP and for the main part the excellent Astell and Kern SE180 DAP. Bluetooth connection was easy, particularly with the SE180.

The reference to 8k music was something that stuck in my mind consistently during the review period. Music was just so clear and fast, with bass extended and accurate, that I could sense it was the equivalent difference between 1080p and 8K, if you really wanted to compare it with your TV. Listening to Karl Jenkins ‘The Armed Man: A Mass’ was so much more detailed and clearer than I have heard before on Bluetooth IEMs. A highly ambient album with an excellent range of dynamics, the IEM was very much in control of the proceedings. The music of Karl Jenkins is easily recognized, and his works are often repeated in various forms in different albums, a bit like the music of The Enid. Listening to both these artists through the ZE8000 I was highly engrossed and even able to pick up things I hadn’t noticed before. Sometimes the extraction of detail took away a bit of the musicality, though it was still very good.

Similarly, turning to another composer whose works are equally recognizable, John Barry, I found myself surprised at the speed and transparency of the music. For a Bluetooth player, I was highly enamored with the detail and speed of the music. His music for the 007 films was so epic and the Final gave a very musical performance here, even for long listening sessions. That Class AB amplifier is no doubt coming to the fore here.

The design of these IEMs make them suitable fro smaller ears too.

The opening to Pink Floyd’s “Shine on you Crazy Diamond” has a beautiful synth melody and plenty of atmosphere and effects and the ZE8000 opened up the different sources succinctly whilst still providing an excellent orchestration of the music. The ZE8000 is very quiet in operation, so quiet sections were not spoiled by any background noise. The very deep bass entry at 4’26” just added great power and authority to the music,  and was extremely well controlled, thanks to the large 13mm driver. At the other end, the cymbals similarly offered great precision.

Turning to ‘Jazz’ from Queen and “Don’t Stop me Now”, there was no stopping me from listening to this IEM; I just didn’t want to take them off my ears. With excellent piano and top frequencies, everything was tight and transparent, though the distortion in the recording itself in places was noticeable. Instruments were perfectly placed in the soundstage. This was even more noticeable in the Binaural albums from Chasing the Dragon. Turning to ‘Come Fly With Me’ (STS), not only was the piano and top frequencies equally clear but the mid-band was excellent, too. ‘The War of the Worlds’ with Richard Burton speaking and Justin Hayward singing similarly showed that mid-band speech and vocals earned the title of “8000”. Finally, Josh Groban’s ‘Closer’ got me closer to the music than my stock wired IEM, convincing me that Bluetooth IEMs can be as good as wired. “All’ Improvviso Amore” suddenly explodes with the orchestral entry before a relaxed vocal and guitar tune takes over. Wow, this 24bit/96kHz album filled my ears with an amazing burst of precision and musicality.

CONCLUSION

I didn’t expect a Bluetooth IEM could sound better than my more expensive wired IEM, but I was proven to be wrong. This is a spectacular product that is not only excellent at all frequencies and all types of music but offers a highly transparent and fast performance. Once you get used to the unusual looks and fitting, this will reward your music collection with long listening sessions.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality:

Excellent design, build, and fit

Sound Quality:

An exciting and transparent performance, highly musical due to the Class AB amplification

Value For Money:

£299 gets you a lot of music per pound.

We Loved:

Transparency

Speed of performance

Bass extension

Excellent soundstage

Lowest distortion

We Didn’t Love So Much:

Some might find the fit takes a bit of practice, but it’s well worth it!

Elevator Pitch Review: If you think that Bluetooth IEMs aren’t as good as wired, then you need to listen to these. The ZE8000 is the top-of-the-range wireless IEM from Final that comes in at just a pound less than £300. With clever design and a Class AB amplification I was so highly engrossed in music over the time I had them, that I didn’t really wanted to give them back…

Price: £299

Janine Elliot

FINAL ZE8000 SPECIFICATIONS

f-Core for 8K SOUND driver

Class AB amplifier and Rubicon PML CAP capacitors

Synthesis Active Noise Cancelling with 4 modes

Comes in choice of Black or White

Supporting Codecs: SBS, AAC, Qualcomm® aptX™ and aptX™ Adaptive

Continuous Muisc Playback: Max 5 hours for earbuds/ 15 hours incl. case.

Fast Charging: 5 minutes for up to 45 minutes of music

Battery Capacity: 54 mAh for each earbud/ 420mAh for case

Water Resistant: IPX4

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

Comes complete with charging case, USB type C cable, Acoustic tool and dust filters, manual.