Final UX3000 Review – Mainstream Against The Stream

The Final UX3000 is an articulate sounding and well resolving headphone with a very agreeable tuning that also features an effective Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). The headphone also works wired without being switched on. ANC works independently with and without Bluetooth or wired use.

Introduction

Final are a premium headphone/earphone manufacturer out of Japan that focus on technical progress mainly for their domestic market. Their distinction from most of their competitors is that their products have shelf lives of several years. The company prefers substance over style – it does not subscribe to sensationalist marketing – and therefore hands out samples sparsely, and to credible sources only.

At least three of us are Final fanboys in that we have purchased many of their products, which includes painful ordering from Japan through shipping agencies. Alberto has reviewed the Sonorous II & III headphones and Kazi has lined up the Final E-series…and more.

Specifications Final UX3000

The Final UX3000 plays with Bluetooth and wired (without power), and the ANC works completely independently of the audio functionality. This means, the headphone can be used for suppressing ambient noise (“your neighbour’s leaf blower”) without listening to music. Or one can listen to music without noise cancelling.

What the Final UX3000 does specifically you find in the user manual and on the product page.

Physical Things and Usability

In the box are:

The headphone’s frame is made out of hard, rigid polycarbonate coated with Final’s own soft-textured SHIBO シボ finish that gives the surface a speckled look. シボ is an old Japanese word for wrinkled paper! The coating gives it the optical appearance of ruggedness.

The headband is steplessly adjustable according to head size. Its top is mantled by soft pleather…and the earcups, which go around the ears, feature pads made of the same material.

On the back of each earpiece are the operational panels. The right one features a small, subtle LED indicator and three buttons (on/of/pause, volume up/down) and a 3.5 mm socket for the headphone cable (“wired use”).

The panel on the back of the left earcup features a single button (ANC on/off) and a USB-C charging port. Operation is straight forward. As said, both panels operate independently of each other.

Comfort is good for, but may vary individually. I have a large head with large ears and get a snug fit with good seal. Clamp pressure is relatively big for me. I have used the Final UX3000 for hours several times. It may ge a bit sweaty around the ears in a hot climate, though.

Active Noise Cancellation

I tested the ANC listening to a Mozart violin sonata while vacuuming with a noisy older Dyson ball vacuum – a talk radio at normal room volume was running in the background. No issues. The Dyson was still audible but did not interfere much with the music – and, even when the Dyson was off, the radio was effectively shut out.

Another representative test came when comparing the ANCs of the UX3000 and my old Bose QC15. The class-leading Boses did a marginally better job on the Dyson’s noise (without being perfect), but they were twice the price even in 2010. And they run wired only. The UX3000’s noise cancellation does no miracles but is solid and fully sufficient. I look forward to taking it with me on my next intercontinental flight.

A real test was me cutting down trees with a noisy jigsaw while listening to the orchestral music of John Ireland. It worked just fine.

Then winter came and crazy neighbours cleared snow with noisy motorized leaf blowers. Again, the Final UX3000 performed well – even without music.

Tonality and Technicalities

The Final UX3000 features a gentle V-shape mainstream tuning, on the neutral-warm side, but its technicalities make it stick out nevertheless, particularly the good accentuation/articulation and imaging, layering, and separation.

I have listened to Sennheiser and AKG Bluetooth Bluetooth headphones in the past, and both had a completely overcooked bass: overwhelmingly strong and not very controlled. The Final UX3000 are nothing like that. They feature a composed, well-dosed low end that digs deep and provides some rumble. Kick is plenty and surprisingly firm, the dosage is just right for my gusto. There is a mild mid bass boom in some music, but nothing to worry about.

As you’d expect, the vocals are slightly recessed but very nicely sculptured and of decent richness. Also typical for Final’s tuning is the lack of shoutineess which contributes to a other natural music reproduction. Treble, as typical for Bluetooth headphones, is slightly rolled off but nevertheless of good definition. So far fairly standard.

Technically, the Final UX3000 offer great articulation across the frequency spectrum, notes are generally well defined, attack and decay are within normal margins. Headroom is big although stage is only of average width and depth but good spatial cues. Resolution is ok with a bit of stage crowding in busy tracks. Layering, separation, and spatial cues are very good.

What makes it interesting for me to use the Final UX3000 over longer periods is its articulation. It is tight without being sharp/strident. If my old Sennheisers are the equivalent of a soft truck suspension, the Final UX300 is a sporty BMW.

Concluding Remarks

The UX3000 may be Final’s first wireless headphone, but it is a mature and complete product. Not one of sorts “a good first effort, can’t await the pro version”. It sounds great, handles great and has great operational specs (codecs, battery life, charge times). There is not much more I can say other than that I enjoy it – and that I use it (despite all my choices including the Sonorous III).

Until next time…keep on listening!

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Disclaimer

I received the Final UX3000 from the manufacturer upon request. And I thank them for that. You find the product page here.

Our generic standard disclaimer.

About my measurements.