Final Audio UX2000 Bluetooth ANC Headphones – Entry-Level Japanese Audiophile Sound
Final Audio UX2000 is a $99 USD pair of over-the-ear Bluetooth headphones with a beautiful design, great ergonomics, and today we will review them, exploring how they sound like, and if they will be great for someone just starting investing more in a proper audiophile setup, but who wants to keep it light and on-the-go.
Introduction
Final Audio is best known for their flagship products, high-end flagship over-the-ear headphones as well as IEMs, so seeing a super affordable entry-level product from them is a bit surprising, but will make the review interesting nonetheless. Usually, Final Audio products are available through standard HIFI purchase channels and they offer the warranty, and usually Final Audio products are also available to be purchased from Amazon as well. 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. I thank Jackrabbit and Final Audio for providing the sample for this review, in exchange for my honest opinion.
PROs – Strong Price / Performance ratio, exceptional design, strong fitting, with a medium-strong clamping force, good ANC integration that only slightly changes the sound, strong performance when using the 3.5mm line input, detailed sound, strong bass, Low Distortion.
Cons – The Headphones always start with ANC turned on and at the same volume, sound is better from the 3.5mm line input, cuppy and boomy sound with most music.
Product Link
You can grab one here – https://amzn.to/3xNLaH1
Build Quality/Aesthetics/Fit/Comfort
Final Audio UX2000 is he latest pair of high quality Bluetooth headphones with ANC, and they come with a few select features, one of which is the super low pricing Final Audio placed on this model, as they are generally known to dabble in the high-end sector more. UX2000 starts stealthy, with a design that is not one bit conspicuous and they look sleek, and would fit well in any desktop environment, including for an office worker, or an undercover metalhead who doesn’t want to share what he likes with those around him.
The fitting of the UX2000 is good, they have a medium pressure, secure fit, and the earpads have enough space for my ears, although they are at the limit for me, any smaller and my ears wouldn’t have enough space inside. Although the construction is lightweight, UX2000 does not disappear from my head, as the earcups clamp my head quite a bit. On the other hand, this also means I can run and jog while wearing them without fear of the headphones falling off.
The ANC function works fairly well, once you put on the headphones, you notice a deafening silence, and it is one of the better ANC integrations. Using ANC will affect the sound slightly, making it more cuppy and more boomy, but by a rather small margin. The Type-C Input is just for charging and my PC and other sources do not detect UX2000 as a USB DAC hence they cannot stream data to the headphones. UX2000 always starts at the same medium volume, and you always have to increase it to the desired point. They also always start with ANC turned on, and if you don’t want to use it, you have to turn it off every time you start them. The passive noise isolation is already strong, around 20 dB, so adding any extra is not really needed with music playing, although for long plane flights, using ANC with no music playing seems to be popular these days.
The sound is better when using the 3.5mm line input, as it is less processed and it feels like it is feeding the headphones directly. You cannot use ANC or turn on the headphones if using the 3.5mm line input. But they work without battery too, as the sound is not doubly amplified with this usage. We only have SBC and AAC codecs, which limits the overall maximum clarity and resolution UX2000 can have over the Bluetooth input.
Battery life is very long, with up to 60 hours of continuous playback if you disable ANC and leave them at a medium volume, and 45 hours of advertised battery life if using the ANC. I was able to measure around 50 hours with medium volumes and no ANC, and around 30 hours with ANC turned on. Battery capacity is 700mAh, and it takes 2 hours to fully charge the UX2000. Bluetooth Protocol and Format is BT 5.3. There is a gaming mode which supposedly lowers latency, it should bring it down to 2-3 frames of delay, or around ~100ms, which is visible with very fast content but not very noticeable in my tests. This gaming mode seems to slightly lower sound quality. The wired input sounds most well defined and has no delay, being most adequate for gaming.
Sound Quality
Overall Signature – The Bluetooth signature is a bit boomy, a bit cuppy, but detailed and dynamic, punchy and has good resolution. The tuning is L-Shaped, with a strong bass, weaker midrange and a treble that is similar in energy and presence to the midrange. The Wired input has a different sound, more neutral, far more detailed, cleaner with a lower THD, and less boominess, and a harder, more defined bass. While both inputs are about equal in overall resolution, you can get an increase in enjoyment if using a good dongle DAC/AMP, DAP, source, and the 3.5mm line input.
Bass – Bass is always plentiful, a bit cuppy and a bit boomy when using the Bluetooth input, and more balanced, faster and harder hitting when using the 3.5mm line input. The sound is generally strong in the lows, to the point where UX2000 vibrates on my head and ears, and the bass reaches around 35 Hz with both BT and wired inputs. The bass has most of the energy around 65Hz – 75Hz, and it rolls off gently below and above this point in the low-end. There’s a bit of warmth, coloration and thickening of the midrange too, as the bass bleeds slightly in the midrange, but enough to give textures and instruments a thicker presentation, not enough to veil the sound.
Midrange – Final Audio UX2000 has a mostly natural sounding midrange, with better resolution, better detail and clarity over the wired input, as the Bluetooth input suffers from the usual Bluetooth compression which makes most music sound smoother, less textured and less detailed. Voices sound a bit on the boomy and cuppy side with most music, especially baritone male voices, while most soprano female voices sound natural and well defined, and the same can be said about bass male voices.
Treble – If you like the treble not be present and clean, you will enjoy the UX2000, they don’t roll off the treble entirely, and this is where they score a big win compared to most 100 USD Headphones, which tend to roll off the treble entirely and miss on the detail and extension that can be found there. Final Audio UX2000 has treble extension up to about 14 kHz, after which it rolls off. This leaves plenty of space for energy and air, especially with rock, metal and EDM music.
Dynamics / PRaT / Textures – Textures are generally slow and thick, with a tendency of UX 2000 to give music more impact and low-end rumble than neutral. In the treble, textures get faster, which creates a bit of detail, clarity and crispness, but also gives a bit of metallic grain to cymbal crashes in the high-end.
Volume Control – Final Audio generally has strong volume control with their products, and UX2000 is no exception, there is no loss in sonic quality at high volumes, UX2000 stays crisp, clean and well-defined even close to or at maximum volume, and it has excellent resolution, but the tuning gets more neutral, cleaner and more detailed with higher volumes, which makes you pump the volume close to max all the time, if you’re not a fan of the bloomier warmer sound they have at low volumes.
Soundstage – while the soundstage stays within natural boundaries, it is well defined, and instrument separation is good, as UX2000 can separate between guitars, voices and special effects rather well. Voices are generally brought forward, guitars also presenters in the foreground, while most special effects, drums, synths and other instruments in the background. The soundstage is shallow in depth, but wide.
Value and Conclusion
While I was not quite as enthusiastic about the overall performance of UX2000 as I was when I reviewed Final Audio A8000, the value of UX2000 is strong, it is a good headphone, with a good ANC performance, and it sounds much better than what you’d expect at 99 USD, the current street pricing for them. It is easy to overlook their value if you focus on raw performance, but for someone who has this budget, it is a headphone that has strong battery life, a medium-strong clamping force and which will be there for you when traveling or working out.
At the end of the day, if you’re looking for a pair of Bluetooth headphones with ANC, strong bass, excellent resolution and clarity for the price, and strong performance in general, Final Audio UX2000 has you covered, offering everything you may require to have a lot of fun, especially if you can use them wired, situation in which they have an even cleaner, more detailed and more accurate sound.
Product Link
You can grab one here – https://amzn.to/3xNLaH1
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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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