Final Audio has a reputation for high-end headphones designs that think outside the box. Whether it’s the driver engineering or visual design, Final has always found a way to stand out. Their latest closed-back headphones, DX3000 CL and DX4000 CL demonstrate this, with both their build and the paper-carbon composite driver diaphragm. Old school sound engineers will tell you that nothing sounds as natural as paper cones, but paper cones have technical limitations. Can DX3000 CL ($599.99) and DX4000 CL ($999.99) deliver a combination of musicality and performance that stands out in the current headphone landscape?
Build and Design
Final has a clear design language for their Japanese-made high-end headphones, with a complex, sort of futuristic layered design to the earcups and headband, and DX3000 CL and DX4000 CL fit into Final’s typical patterns, sharing most their visual design with each other. The earpad and headband design, with leather-wrapped foam makes for both a strong visual cue and a comfortable fit. The only visual difference between the two headphones is the metal portion of the headband, which is silver for the DX3000 and black for the DX4000. The headband adjustment is simple and accommodating, and the overall feel is soft and light on your head.
For the package, both headphones come with a basic case and a 4.4mm terminated cable along with a 4.4mm to 6.3mm adapter. The DX3000 cable is a simpler black rubber wrapped copper cable, while the DX4000 comes with a silver plated copper cable with a transparent wrapping. The case is also slightly upgraded for the DX4000 The cable connection is a standard 3.5mm, which will work with any number of aftermarket cables.
Sound
In my past experience with Final headphones, Final has always favored a natural sound and musicality while blending it with detail and technical performance. DX3000 CL and DX4000 CL span the range of Final’s sound, with DX3000 delivering a warm tuning with stronger bass and impact, while DX4000 bends more towards a neutral sound, without fully losing the warmth and engagement factor of DX3000.
You can hear the difference in bass and mids in a track like “Borderline” by Tame Impala, where DX3000 extends deeper give a greater sense of fullness and depth to the bass and a stronger impact. DX4000 maintains a tighter punch but without the full depth that DX3000 provides. This also impacts the midrange delivery particularly in the vocals. While both offer natural timbre that leans slightly warm, with DX3000, the mids can become overshadowed, and in this case, the vocals are set further back and lose some detail. DX4000 upgrades the vocal presence and detail.
The treble performance is similar between the two, with both providing strong fundamentals but a more relaxed overall presentation. The stronger bass in DX3000 can add a slight sense of veil at the top, but that’s more due to the balance shift caused by the increased quantity of bass. Both have a good sense of definition in the sound, and some amount of air, but DX4000 offers clearer separation and a greater sense of upper-end lift – again, thanks to the shift in balance caused by the difference in bass levels.
In terms of imaging and soundstage, both offer impressively wide stages for closed-back headphones, but DX4000’s imaging feels stronger and better defined than DX3000. DX3000 chooses macrodynamics here over microdynamics and imaging clarity, while DX4000 offers more refined imaging detail and a more holographic presentation. Both impress here, with a stage that sounds much more open than you would expect.
While DX3000 and DX4000 might be a little bulky to be portable, they both deliver strong isolation, and can be driven well with most portable audiophile devices. I ran both off everything from basic dongle DACs to $5000 headphone stacks, and found that they both performed very well from the most basic of gear, and scaled up to deliver top tier performance with more powerful and technically stronger options.
Comparison: Meze Strada($799), Dan Clark Audio Noire X ($1099)
A few years ago, there really weren’t a lot of great closed back options in the $1000 range and under, and the Dan Clark Audio Aeon Closed series ruled the roost, but now, between Final’s new options and the recently released Meze Strada, the reigning champ, Noire X, has a bit of competition. Can Final offer a potential new closed-back champion?
In terms of the physical characteristics, Noire X probably has the best combination of visual design, build, comfort, and portability of the four options. The Final headphones are a bit bulkier and lack an option to fold up, and even the Strada can be stored a little more portably. The comfort might be hit or miss, but we really have a wealth of excellent options here. All four can be worn for long periods of time with good stability and low physical fatigue.
In terms of sound, each headphone has some unique characteristics, and some ways which you might say makes it “the best” at one particularly thing. Noire X is the best for speed and technical capabilities, with the crispness that comes from a well-designed planar setup. DX4000 CL has the strongest natural balance to my ears, with great timbre and a tuning that skews to the warm side of neutral. Strada is a close second in the timbre and balance, offering a bass boost without the potential for bloat and overshadowing of DX3000 CL. And DX3000 CL offers the biggest deepest, roundest bass, and the most fun experience in this group. While, if I had to chose a single winner, it would probably be the DX4000 CL, there are a number of reasons that any of these four headphones could be the best pick for you.
The Bottom Line
Looking specifically at Final’s offerings, overall, DX3000 CL was my pick for genres like rock, EDM, hip hop, and metal, while DX4000 CL was better for folk, jazz, classical, and more vocal driven pop. It really comes down to whether you want harder hitting dynamics and bigger bass, or a little more refinement and detail. Both offer a strong balance of musicality and detail with excellent closed-back performance, and Final has delivered two potential hits here, combining top class build and comfort with excellent sound, giving you closed-back greatness for whatever tuning you prefer.
