Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
Guess what? I was wrong in both! Just a few months ago, Final presented A4000 and A3000, two lower, actually way too lower, value IEMs than A8000. While, on April 26, 2021, Final launched SHICHIKU.KANGEN, which is the next big thing after A8000. Typically, SHICHIKU.KANGEN belongs to the Collaboration series, because it was developed in collaboration with the DITA Audio company; in reality though, it is of the same breed as A8000, at least in regard to its construction, and it costs almost 50% more than the latter.
Although these are very light headphones, weighing just 20g, the construction is solid. There are no visible gaps, and they feel durable. Although there is no official IP rating for water or dust resistance, I would imagine these will withstand sweat or a medium rain shower with no risk of water ingress (though to limit liability I still advise you not to get them wet, as I accept no responsibility for any water damage). For the price of 70 euros, the VR3000s are quite a steal! If you're looking for a great pair of earphones for gaming, I would recommend these to anyone! Do A4000 and A3000 have weaknesses? Don’t we all have? One could criticize the housing, which is ABS resin, the cable that is 2-Pin OFC cable, and probably a couple of other things. However, you forget all of these as soon as you put A4000 or A3000 in your ears, and you realize that you have two all-rounders with class leading performance, with the noted differences between them, at a fraction of what they should cost. I bet that if you try them, you will thank me for it! For competitive shooters, obviously directional hearing (imaging) is a must-have and there is a lot of controversy over stage size when it comes to these kinds of shooters. VR3000 gaming earphones provide an immersive and open sound experience - ideal for exploring large open-world adventure games, and virtual reality environments with a concentrated sense of direction, perfect for wide open and engrossing gaming environments.
Conclusion
A far more suitable use, though, and the reason most people will be looking for in-ear headphones, is mobile gaming and VR. As the name suggests, the VR3000 are very well suited to VR gaming because of the excellent positional audio. They are lightweight and the 1.2m cable and the behind-the-ear wire positioning helps keep them neat, tidy and out of the way of your motion controllers. Soundstage - One word... BIG! The soundstage of these is ridiculously huge when you consider that they are in ears. Combining this with the top-notch imaging you can tell exactly where someone is in a competitive shooter or give you a realistic-sounding environment when using virtual reality. Comfort - These are fairly comfortable but I think being ruined by using mostly Sennheiser IEMs, nothing can beat the comfort of those and I believe that anyone who has tried them before will state the same.
Similarly to the Mojito, the Asgard OH5 is about putting all the frequency content it’s got right in front of your face. The amount of energy on display here is almost unmatched in its price range, providing you with a weighty bass and a full midrange response. Any game that features a ton of bombast will come out great here. Sounds like sitting in the sweet spot of a pair of small bookshelf monitors but no holographic sound or imaging like the a4000. final has a plethora of audio products for specific use cases as we found out when we reviewed the final E4000. Not only did I love those due to the dynamic driver setup and premium MMCX fittings, it’s where I realised that not every IEM is made equal. final just seem to do things differently. All the above made clear that Beryllium was not an option for the driver of A4000 and A3000. So, what was the solution? Final engineers had the idea to start from a humble and underestimated material, such as PET (Polyethylene terephthalate), which many manufacturers use, but in this case Final engineers tried to get the most out of it! How do you do that? By making changes to the voice coil, magnet and housing. The idea behind it is that if we want a driver to have a performance as close to perfect as possible, then all its parts must work as a single unit; if one (or more) of the driver parts has a flaw, then the driver ecosystem as a whole suffers. As I mentioned in the intro, the final A3000 are, identical in design to that of the final VR3000. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Their angular design is quirky and modern, whilst not affecting the functional aspects of the product.
Scores
The A3000 are even more lightweight but thankfully they stay clear of straying into “cheap feeling” territory. These feel even more comfortable in my ear over longer listening sessions. If the truth be known though, that could just be marginal variance as the differences between it and the vR3000 are minimal as previously mentioned. Adding the hooks to the A3000 made them more stable and actually helped with a little noise isolation too. I’d recommend giving the hooks a go immediately to either count them in or out for your use case. They are made for gaming, it’s even in the product name, so gives you some idea. But they perform very well for music too. Good bass levels, perhaps a slightly different soundstage compared to other earphones but overall excellent quality. With gaming they performed very well with an excellent sense of direction and 3D sound, especially in FPS titles and capturing the atmospheric world in the likes of Cyberpunk 2077.
Pet Habitats and Supplies, Apparel and Leashes, Training and Behavior Aids, Toys, Aquarium Supplies such as Pumps, Filters and Lights 15 Days Returnable The treble is clear but doesn’t add any significant flavor to the sound signature. Some high range content can sometimes present a thin image but doesn’t deter the response on a whole. Overall, there are some nice details, but not a focus on the VR3000. Cable - The cable feels light and fragile but is in fact decently sturdy, it does connect via a 2-pin connector to the IEM so there is hopefully the chance for swapping it out. I am a big fan of Final’s earbuds, having used a few pairs of their lower end models. I’ve always been impressed with build and sound quality, and definitely always found them a significant value prospect. This is the first pair that I have tried from their ‘gaming’ line, and I am equally impressed. So, if you want, like me, your IEMs to be unforgiving, then you will choose A4000, and in that sense you will find A3000 to be a step behind A4000. If, on the other hand, you admire Final’s E3000, for its articulate yet with a touch of warmth presentation, and you want something with the same sound signature but much more transparent and open, then A3000 is what you are looking for; you will immediately find that A3000 is at a completely different level than E3000, and this combination of warm, transparent and open sound is hard to beat.Final adds some special components to the VR3000’s interior design that enhance the earphones for the interactive experience. Gaming headphones have a lot going on in them besides their driver systems, so it’s interesting how Final approaches that when dealing with an earphone. The VR3000 features an “f-Core DU,” which is a 6mm dynamic driver unit that uses a brass housing, making it less affected by magnetic force. IT uses a voice coil with an ultra-fine CCAW and assembled with minimal adhesive, reducing the weight of the parts. In terms of performance, this system also aims to improve the time response of the diaphragm. Then of course there is the attached remote, which adds three control buttons and a microphone for voice chat. Simply put, the immersion when using the VR3000 is superb. They really put you in the middle of the action with pinpoint accuracy. Being mainly a BF V player, these really make you feel as if you are in the battlefield. With Planes flying overhead, bullets flying past you and even the ability to hear people sneak up behind you. Not only does this immersion give you a slight edge, it makes gaming all the more worthwhile. For an earphone, the VR3000 offer up an impressive gaming performance, no matter what game / genre you play. In terms of audio quality, there are no surprises here. This sounds, to me, almost identical to the VR3000, and with good reason. Whilst the sensitivity on the VR3000 is slightly higher, the impedance, cable and driver are identical on the A3000. The treble is Where this could be a bit better. Though the overall treble is ok and has enough details, in some cases the treble becomes a bit too loud.
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