The Resin and the TD02 are certainly on the larger size (not quite as big as the B2 but nearly).
The Final E3000 belongs in your collection, friend.
Those are certainly not large IEMs 
Yes, both look like something that could fit my ears nicely.
These are almost ā¬80. Thatās almost 200% over budget.
I just found out the BLON BL-03 does not have the same shape as the BL-01. So maybe the BL-03 can go on the shortlist too. The BL-01 has a shape that most probably does not agree with the shape of my ears.
What IEMs have you found comfortable in the past?
Iāve not been in the hobby for long. So actually just the B2D. Iāve tried a few and never liked IEMs, until I tried the T2+ and found that the sound was actually much much better than what I had experienced before. But the comfort stayed a problem. (there were good days with the T2+ but most stayed problematic) This is not me, but the red part of the IEM pushes hard against the green area on my ear, in my case.
Then I jumped straight to the B2Ds and experienced not only great sound quality but equal comfort. 2 things I hadnāt experienced yet.
Now I know what went wrong all those times before I got the T2+: no seal, shrill sounding IEMs (even with a seal), discomfort/bad fit
So, now I know that I can get decent sound from cheap IEMs and when the shape is good for my ears they can be comfortable. I just need to find the ones that combine both.
Iām not expecting something that competes with the B2Ds. I just need an enjoyable tuning and a fit that donāt hurt my ears within the first hour Iām wearing them.
Well, if you try the Resin or the TD02 and they are comfortable, thereās a bunch of IEMs with the same shape.
Same goes for the DQ6 and pretty much any of the normal KZ shape (ZST X, ZSN range, ZS10 Pro, ZAX etc.).
Interesting, I found the T2+ to be one of the most comfortable IEMs for me.
You have it pointing up at a pretty steep angle. From my experience, typically the jack should protrude straight horizontally or slightly angled upwards, but certainly not as high as in your picture. That might help with the comfort as it would point the bottom part away from the green part of your ear.
To be honest, it sounds like because of that fit, you werenāt able to get a seal because the T2+ has a pretty substantial bass hump. Shrill isnāt something I would normally correlate it with.
All that said, you have the B2Ds now so congrats! Hope you continue to enjoy them.
Thinking about the KBEar KS1 or the KZ DQ6.
I read/hear about the Resin and TD02 that they just have too much bass.
Itās not the T2+ that is shrill. Itās everything I tried before the T2plus that sounded shrill to me.
Itās not me in that picture. I can get a good seal with the T2plus, if I try really hard. But the comfort I get with the B2D is never there when I use the T2plus.
any good foam or silicone tips to try with the kbear ks1 guys ?
I went for the KZ DQ6 ā¦and the BLon BL-03. 
KZ DQ6: most likely to fit my ears, never heard a 3 DD IEM ā makes it interesting, tuning could fit my tatse
Blon BL-03: save bet regarding frequency response, hopefully they fit my ears ā if not: donate to friend/family 
1 Like
In general I like INAIRS better than Comply tips.
2 Likes
Has the KBEAR Lark been discontinued? Seems like it dropped off Amazon
Thatās a pity.
On the other hand, Iām really looking forward to getting my KBear Neon.
As always, this review is also available in Spanish on my blog and on YouTube (links at the end of the review).
Final Audio E500
Introā¦
The Final Audio E500 are a budget set of IEMs that I believe were released some time last year, coming in at just over 20ā¬. The reason I opted to pick these up was that I have heard good things about the Final Audio tips and this set comes with a selection of them, including a set of IEMs for not much more than the price of buying just the tips.
While I am not someone who favours this style of small IEMs with fixed cables and that sit rather deep in the ear, I do use the Hifiman RE600s, which are a similar style, when I want to lay down and listen to music or watch a movie, due to their small size that allows me to lay on my side without discomfort.
On a recent business trip (finally we are back to travelling again!), I took the Final E500 instead of the RE600s to see how I got along with them for this same use case scenario. It is obviously not fair to compare these 20ā¬ IEMs with the Hifiman offering that is priced at 10 times that price (although you can find them on sale regularly for a very reduced price), and I do have other options of a similar style, but the RE600s are the ones that get most use in my case, so they do need to compete with them if they want to see any āear timeā.
Presentationā¦
The E500 arrive in packaging that couldnāt be simpler. It is a very small white cardboard box, without any images, and just the brand, model and a few technical specs shown on it.
Inside the box things donāt get much more complicated. We get the IEMs (with their fixed cable), a small warranty card and 5 sets of silicone tips.
Build and aestheticsā¦
The build and aesthetics are also very simple. Very small shells with a fixed wire is about all there is to say. The shells are actually around twice the length of the Hifiman offerings (both the RE600s and the RE400) which means that they are not as comfortable to use while laying on my side but they are not terrible. They just stick out a bit more whereas the RE600s disappear inside my ears.
The build quality is not bad, again nothing special but no noticeable issues such as faults or sharp edges. The cable is a simple cable, similar to those found on many budget headphones and IEMs (think Sony, Phillips, JVC etc.). It does present a little bit of microphonics when rubbing against a shirt, slightly more than the cloth cable found on the Hifimans, but is nothing terrible and is not really noticeable when music is playing.
The E500 are not going to win any prizes in the build and aesthetics category but they are adequate for their purpose.
Soundā¦
I am going to apologize in advance for this sound review as I havenāt spent as much time with music as I usually do. I have spent time listening to music with them but I have mainly used them for movie watching or late night listening when in bed, so I really wasnāt dissecting the music and picking things apart. I have just spent a couple of hours with my test tracks comparing these to the RE600s but, again, this is not really a fair comparison (as far as pricing) and is not as much detailed listening as I would usually do. Then again, straight off the bat, I will say that I wouldnāt choose these for detailed listening anyway.
In the subbass department, these do roll off and are not going to be a good choice for those deep bass range lovers out there. There is enough sub bass presence and extension to be able to appreciate tracks like āWay Down Deepā by Jennifer Warnes or even some electronic options such as āSun Is Shiningā but there they are certainly not a skull rumbling option. I will say that they do have plenty more in this area than the RE600s. The sub bass is not that great though, it is not terrible but it does come across as not being very clean and defined, making everything in these lower ranges sound a little smoothed over.
Moving into the general bass regions, it just sort of continues the story found in the subbass. The bass is not overly boosted, although there is enough to give the whole IEM a warmish (darkish?) sound signature, something that will also continue to be present throughout the higher ranges. Again, the bass is present enough but it is lacking detail and speed for it to be considered good, at least in my opinion. For movie watching, I found the bass to be sufficiently balanced for it to not overpower vocals and midrange when explosions and other low frequency things happen, but not something I would choose to enjoy the details in music. The RE600s are much clearer and better defined, something I prefer much more than the overly smoothed bass response of the E500.
Moving into the lower mids, the bass just continues its slow descent and presents that warm signature that I just mentioned. There is no real transition from the bass to the mids, it is more of an extension of that overly smoothed non defined sound that is found in the lower regions. There is also no real dip, or at least not a pronounced one, meaning that the whole sound just seems to extend from the bass all the way through the mids. Vocals are not terrible but they just donāt have the clarity that I would like to find in these ranges. Listening to āHallelujahā by the Pentatonix, the separation between voices is not the best and although they can be enjoyable as a background listening experience, I would find myself reaching for EQ to try and find some clarity and separation between the lower vocals and higher voices.
One of the main factors that causes this sensation is that there is no real rise in the higher mids or even in the treble. Where we would usually find a boost in response somewhere around the 3kHz mark, the E500 doesnāt really have this boost, at least not to the usual extent. Even at the point where they are most boosted, around 7kHz, it still really doesnāt climb to a presence that is any higher than the lower mids and higher bass. All of this adds more to the warm/dark signature and leaves me looking for clarity.
I am finding it difficult to explain how these IEMs sound to me as they are not terrible, the vocals are smooth and have a nice texture to them, they just seem to be too smooth to be considered good, again, in my opinion of course.
I will say that they do avoid sibilance, in fact, they reduce sibilance and make tracks that are usually uncomfortable quite listenable. The problem is that this reduction of sibilance is also at the cost of a lack of air and openness in the high end.
As far as the width of the soundstage, they are not bad, not high above average for IEMs but not bad all the same. The placement of images to the left and right is also not terrible, the problem is that there is no real separation of images and layers, meaning that things sort of blend together in the space and are not easily located amongst other instruments/sounds in the same area.
As I have mentioned already, speed and detail are not a strong point of these IEMs. They donāt fall apart with busy tracks but they donāt ever seem to be clear and detailed either. There is certainly a huge step in this regard between the E500 and the RE600s or even the RE400.
As I mentioned before, my main use for these has been to watch movies or listen to music while laid in bed at night. I always like to have something of this shape with me when travelling because they are a great option when crashing at night in the hotel. The sound presentation of the E500 works fine for me personally when watching movies but I must say that I am not someone who is very specific about my audio when watching movies, as long as I can hear and understand what is going on, it is sufficient for me and I think that is how I would describe the sound of the E500 for movies, sufficient.
Conclusionā¦
This review might be unfair because I havenāt done my usual routine of using them for a full week of listening and then a day of specific detailed listening. It is also not fair that I should compare them to the RE600s as these IEMs are not in the same price bracket (or league in my opinion).
On the trip I just got back from, the IEMs I took were the Moondrop Aria and the Final E500. I did use the E500 exclusively for movies and other video content and I didnāt hate them, I just didnāt love them either. They certainly didnāt become my choice for music when I wasnāt lying down, the Aria are leagues ahead there. As are the RE600s. In fact, I havenāt used the RE400 for quite some time now but from memory, they match my preferences much more.
The E500 is also not as comfortable as the Hifiman options. The fit is similar but as the REās are a lot shorter, they are much more comfortable when lying on my side.
I think that my general opinion of the E500 is that I donāt hate them but I will not find myself reaching for them over other alternatives that I already have.
9 Likes
I just absolutely love mine. All three of my Finals, actually. Their warm sound signature just really appeals to me, far more than the bright, v-shaped signatures of ChiFi with similar prices.
Fore example:
E500 > VK4 or EDX
E3000 = T2 but > ZAX
E5000 > Oxygen or Form 1.4
2 Likes
This is the first Final Audio IEM I have tried so I canāt comment on the others. As I tried to explain, I donāt dislike the E500, it just isnāt something that clicks with me.
If I spent some time with EQ, I would probably like it more but my use case for them doesnāt really include a means of EQing.
1 Like