Final Audio ZE8000 MK2 Bluetooth TWS IEMs – Definition of 8K Sound
Final Audio ZE8000 Mk2 is a $399 USD pair of IEMs or In-Ear Monitors with what is considered 8K Sound, strong battery life, and with a superb design. Today we will review the ZE8000 MK2 and compare them to other similarly priced Bluetooth IEMs that we recently reviewed, including Astell&Kern AK UW100MKII (299 USD), HIFIMAN Svanar Wireless (499 USD), and Grell TWS1 (199 USD).
Introduction
Final Audio is a company with a unique sound, so with each review I make about a Final Audio product, I discover a new tuning and a new signature. The idea of an 8K is new as well, and this is the first time I’ve heard of it, so let’s hear how this sounds like and whether ZE8000MK2 will become the earphones to quench your desire for music. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases, and using the purchase links in my reviews helps me maintain this website and Youtube Channel. Campfire has provided the sample for this review, in exchange for my honest opinion.
PROs – The build quality is superb, similar to a Nikon or Canon camera, the maximum volume is incredibly loud, very detailed and natural sound, superb comfort, they sit in my ears better than any TWS IEM I tested to date, despite their odd shape, microphone quality for taking calls is excellent, sound is spacious and wide, holographic and instrument separation is great, they can use very advanced EQ profile through the app, the company is still updating the firmware to offer bug fixes if anyone finds a bug,
Cons – LED Lights showing the battery level are orange at all times, even when fully charged, Volume step and ANC have a mild effect. The 8K Sound feature is comparable to a different digital filter, Battery Life Not The Longest.
Product Link
You can grab one here – https://amzn.to/3Vy3sFh
Build Quality/Aesthetics/Fit/Comfort
Final Audio ZE8000 MK2 is a more unique TWS IEM, as they come with a really complex tip, which offers a larger silicone pad behind the eartip, and also a wing to get the ZE8000MKii stuck in your ears. It works like a charm, and the IEMs offer likely the best comfort I’ve had with a TWS IEM to date, being lightweight, made of a light but high-quality plastic, and having an ergonomic shape. You can forget about the tall rectangular body of each IEM, as those do not matter much in actual usage, you will care the most about the eartips and the larger silicone pads in the back as those actually make contact with your ears.
To further ensure comfort, Final Audio includes 5 sizes of eartips for you, from Super Small, Small, Medium, Large and Large Large. There is a Volume Step Optimizer, which basically allows you to set a specific volume you always want to hear music at, but the effect is mild and it does not allow you to set it to a very high volume, so I would avoid using it entirely, as the IEMS have far more loudness potential than the Volume Step allows you to set them to.
We do have IPX4 Waterproofing, which should help if you want to take ZE8K to the gym and have a lighter or a heavier workout while wearing them. While I do not condone having a mobile app for each device, ZE8K works with a “final Connect” app which allows you to update the firmware, and set the noise canceling to none. For the Bluetooth protocol, we have apTx, aptX Adaptive, SBC and AAC, with the bluetooth connection being one of the most reliable out there, to the point where I never had a single signal dropout, as long as the phone was in the same room as the earphones (this is my standard test, I don’t expect Bluetooth signal to go through walls).
Speaking of Noise Canceling, ZE8000MK2 comes with multiple levels of ANC, as well as active listening to the environment. Those are basically, ANC Turned On or Off, which does not make a big difference to my ears, and I hear the background as well regardless of ANC. We also have ambient listening which basically combines music with the ambient noise. There is a Voice Through mode, which mutes the music and turns that ambient level really high. There is a Wind Cut mode which theoretically reduces wind noise, but in my experience the effect is fairly mild. I would recommend using the Noise Control to Off, for the best battery life, but having it in ANC or Active Noise Canceling mode does not seem to affect the sound in any way either, so it won’t hurt.
The controls are touch based, and are sluggish, a double tap has to be a slower double tap for it to be recorded well, or else it records as a single tap. This is relevant because double tap on right increases the volume and double tap on left decreases it. At default, the volume is really mild and makes the ZE8000 MK2 sound very limited, but they have the power and potential to go very loud, you just have to keep slowly double pressing on the right earbud to get there.
I have only one concern and complaint with ZE8000MK2, the LED lights for power are orange. I kept them charging for 2 days straight because I thought that all orange lights mean they are low on power, but that is the color, and for me it is counter intuitive to see orange lights on a fully charged device.
When it comes to the standard battery life with ZE8KMK2, it sounds low on paper, with 54mAh for the earphones, and 420 mAh for the case, but the battery can last up to 5 hours for the earbuds, which is around 3 and a half if you’re listening loud and have the 8K Sound engaged. The case has 3 extra charges. The charging time of the earbuds is one hour and a half, and the case takes 2 hours to charge from zero to hero. The reason the battery life is on the shorter side is that ZE8000 Mk2 uses a Class AB amplifier inside of each IEM, and this heavily increases both the cost and power consumption. Most TWS IEMs use a Class D AMP, and you can easily hear the difference, AB sounding far more natural and less digital, less constrained. Final Audio also implemented PML CAPs (Polymer Multilayer Capacitors) instead of the standard MLCC (Multilayer Ceramic Capacitor), to further enhance the sound of ZE8000 m2.
All in all, the takeaway is that ZE8000 MK2 is a comfortable IEM, with excellent ergonomics, a qualitative phone call and microphone, and great sound, with a mild ANC that would be best left off, to get the longest battery life. The silicone tips are the best in the market, they are just a bit stickier, but not too sticky, offering a perfect adherence to my ears without causing any discomfort. For the comfort and eartips alone, ZE8000 is fully worth the asking price.
Sound Quality
Overall Signature – Final Audio always comes up with new tunings and signatures, with ZE8000M2 being the latest addition to their collection, this time a bloomy, slightly dark and heavy sounding IEM with a full bass, clean and natural midrange, and with a smooth and relaxed treble. The 8K DSP processing is basically a digital filter, comparable to a FIR Filter, it seems to improve the resolution a bit without applying an EQ, but still offering an improvement sonically, creating better instrument separation, a more coherent and cohesive sound, and improved transient response. Digital Filtering of a good quality is important when dealing with digital audio, but activating the 8K Sound (which i think everyone will do and will keep turned on), will decrease the battery life of ZE8000 MK2 a bit. ZE8000 MK2 is one of the very few TWS Bluetooth IEMs which can be listened to at maximum volume with zero distortion, and this is a big highlight for it, they can be brought to 100% max from phone and their own internal volume and there will be absolutely no distortion.
Bass – At first, ZE8000 Mk2 does not come through as sounding heavy, but once you play some rap or Electronic music you will hear a deep, impactful bass, capable of vibrating your head and jaw and your eyes in their sockets if you’re at max volume. Rock and metal music has a neutral bass, so ZE8000 will produce the bass where it is present in wealthy amounts, showing rivers of it, shattering the earth around it with a thunderous impact, but when the music has no bass recorded, it won’t add it, so bands like Veil Of Maya sound rather neutral and clean. There is a tendency on the tuning to be dark, adding a bit of upper bass emphasis to all music, but it doesn’t veil the sound, just adds a bit of extra oomph and low-end resonance to most instruments, body and lushness.
Midrange – Despite the light tilt towards a bassier sound, ZE8000 Mk2 has the tendency to also paint voices naturally, it doesn’t reall change the pitch with either female or male voices. There is not a lot of information available on what the driver configuration is like inside of ZE8000 Mk2, but it seems to have a tendency to paint male voices heavier, darker and fuller, while female voices are sharper, brighter, more brilliant and cleaner. The driver does seem to be a single dynamic driver from the renders available on the Final Audio website. You can expect really sweet voicing for female voices, even for synthetic vocaloid voices. Electronic music takes advantage of an upper midrange emphasis, while guitars seem to be neutral and lean, not affected by the peak in the upper mids.
Dynamics / PRaT / Textures – ZE8000 Mk2 highlights well why you’d want Class AB instead of Class D, and the dynamics are improved greatly compared to confirmed Class D TWS IEMs, as well as textures which sound more natural, and which are not cut too early, as we can observe with many Class D alternatives, where ZE8000 Mk2 will sound much more natural, instruments have a natural grit to them, natural weight and natural textures, bearing actual weight to each micro detail, without cutting them too short, and without trying to simplify the dynamics. I think making a video about Dynamics, PRaT and Textures is way overdue as this is one chapter that gets quickly sacrificed in audio in the entry-level range typically.
Soundstage – ZE8000 conveys a wide and deep soundstage, with great instrument separation, clean definition for each instrument and exceptional separation. They don’t force the stage to be distant, so you can expect lead voices and lead instruments to be very much in-your-face, to be strong and pack a punch, but the background extends nicely behind, offering a complex multifaceted exposition of layers happening in the background to keep the music interesting and enjoyable.
Volume Control – ZE8000 Mk2 is one of the few TWS IEMs which has a good volume control, it will sound the same across all volumes, but also sound really nice at max volume, without losing any detail and resolution in the process. If there is any difference, the impact gets harder with higher volume.
Treble – The treble is smooth, relaxed and rolls off softly above 10 kHz, point up to which it creates the feeling of shimmer and air, but placed behind the midrange and the bass. This is not a strong rolloff effect, you can expect the treble to be 7-9 dB below the midrange, just enough to keep music interesting, but also relaxed and pleasing, not fatiguing. Resolution and detail is expressed fully, but the treble is not sharp nor metallic, rather relaxed and smooth in texture as well.
Comparisons
Final Audio ZE8000 MK2 vs HIFIMAN Svanar Wireless (399 USD vs 499 USD)
Build – Svanar Wireless has been my main Gym earphone for almost a year now, so it is interesting to explore that it is both heavier and less ergonomic than ZE8000 MK2, as Svanar wireless does fall out of my ears every once in a while, ZE8000 MK2 sitting more snuggly and offering a better fit with the silicone padding and full contact with my ears. Samsung S23 Ultra uses LDAC, which means I can theoretically get more data across with Svanar Wireless, but that doesn’t mean much for the final sound. The ANC of Svanar W is a bit better, it offers more passive noise isolation, but it affects the sound quite a lot, so I keep it turned off at all times. The battery life of Svanar Wireless is longer in theory, but I have never used any bluetooth earphones inside my ears for longer than two and a half hours, anything longer warranting a wired setup for me. With ANC turned off, Svanar Wireless isolates more from the outside noise, but with music playing, both will drown out the ambient noise well. The microphone quality is great on both.
Sound – Sonically Svanar Wireless is more V-Shaped, with more bass, more oomph and impact, while ZE8000 Mk2 sounds more natural in the midrange, brighter and more neutral, Svanar Wireless extrudes textures and details more, showing and revealing more of what is in my music, while ZE8000 Mk2 shows how well instruments blend together, creates a wider soundstage and a more spacious presentation. ZE8000 Mk2 is more of a HIFI / enjoyable / listening IEM, while Svanar Wireless is more of a Gym, punchy, dynamic and engaging IEM which will create that live and pumped up experience you get in a live listening setting.
Final Audio ZE8000 MK2 vs Grell TWS1 (399 USD vs 199 USD)
Build – Grell TWS1 is larger and heavier than ZE8000 Mk2, which makes the Final Audio IEM feel really light and comfy in comparison, especially when Grell TWS1 has a tendency to weigh down in my ears. Grell used a lot of metal in the build of the case and the IEMs, but the plastic used by Final Audio is of an excellent quality, and you don’t really have to care much about it anyways, as you the parts having contact with your ears will always be made of silicone. Grell TWS1 has a much stronger effect for ANC as well as ambient passthrough, and it does not affect music, but even with them I personally don’t rely much on ANC, so both IEMs have been used as default for me. Both have no driver flex and are comfortable, Grell TWS 1 has a slightly longer battery life, but I never had the chance to fully deplete the earphones from either set.
Sound – TWS 1 from Grell sounds really natural, with a punchy bass, clean and detailed midrange, and a bright, brilliant treble. It is quite ideal for most music lovers, it is ideal in the gym, and offers a good bang for the buck, while ZE8000 Mk2 comes with a more natural midrange, a wider and more holographic soundstage, and especially with that 8K Engine turned on, ZE8000 seems to have more detail and resolution, to save more data from the song that is being played and to have less dynamic range and less information in general cut out by the bluetooth compression algorithm.
Final Audio ZE8000 MK2 vs Astell&Kern AK UW100MKII (399 USD vs 299 USD)
Build – Both ZE8000 and UW100 are light, made mostly of plastic, and both offer great ergonomics, although the eartips of ZE8000 hold them better in my ears while jogging, running, and just generally offering a tighter, more secure fit. The battery life is comparable, and UW100 is lighter, but generally speaking both are comparable in terms of comfort. Both can go really loud, with UW100 being able to go a bit louder, but losing control at absolutely the max loudness, compared to ZE8000 MK2 which has full and precise control up to the maximum possible volume. ANC is only present on ZE8000, but it is mild in quantity, so both have been used with passive noise isolation only, and both do a great job, offering between 20 and 25 dB of passive noise isolation.
Sound – The tuning is actually comparable, as both IEMs go for a natural, clean and detailed sound, a wide and holographic soundstage, and both offer exceptional detail, but ZE8000 can reveal more information in music, they get wider and more holographic in the soundstage, have more impact, and a brighter, more brilliant treble, and less dynamic compression too. UW100 sounds more relaxed and leaner, with less textures and a less technical edge, but a more pleasing tuning, especially if you’re easily fatigued by a more revealing sound.
Value and Conclusion
At first, before I was able to set the volume right on ZE8000 MK2, I thought that the value was not great, but once you manage to get the hang of them, they have exceptional sonics, to the point where it is easy to say they are fully worth the asking price. If for me, as a reviewer, most products don’t have much of a learning curve, ZE8K is the first IEM I felt the need to learn more about, and to get the manual to fully get the hang of, but it is all worth the effort, for a natural, pleasing and open sound, all unbound by the aptX connection they are using.
At the end of the day, if you need a pair of TWS or True Wireless IEMs Earphones, Final Audio ZE8000 MKII is simply outstanding, they come with excellent sonics, one of the best comfort levels I’ve seen, being both lightweight and offering a professional EQ in their app, outstanding maximum volume and just a great overall package for the price, being a fully recommended Bluetooth Earphone.
Product Link
You can grab one here – https://amzn.to/3Vy3sFh
Technical Specifications
Special Features – 8K SOUND Technology, Enhanced Noise Cancellation, Convenient Usage Modes, Improved Ear tips, User-Friendly Design, Noise Suppressing System with AB Class Amplifier & PML CAP, IPX4 Water Proof, aptX Adaptive™ & Snapdragon Sound™ Compatible
Product code – ZE8000 MK2
Communication Format – Bluetooth 5.2
Codecs Supported – SBC, Qualcomm aptX, aptX Adaptive
Continuous Music Playback – Maximum of 5 hours for earphones (Maximum of 15 hours including case)
Charging Time – 1.5 hours for earphones / 2 hours for case
Battery Capacity – 54 mAh for single side earphone / 420 mAh for case
Water Resistant – IPX4
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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