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Egads, back in 2009, had I been in competition with today's headfiers, TouchMyApps would have sunk. One such awesome reviewer is thatonenoob, host of Poor Man Reviews of various headphones and related equipment.
His reviews are easy to follow and to the point. His photography is above average. Well done.
Be sure to check out his Final Audio Heaven VII, VIII, and Lab 1 shootout and tell me what you think.
Headfonics's review of the Final Audio Heaven VIII, about which I left a Brazilian strip of commentary, is a pretty good read, with which I mostly agree. That is, apart from the following:
“The treble of the Heaven VIII renders very well and typically has the great levels of extension and detail a balanced-armature driver provides. In drum and bass tracks, high hats decay fast and efficiently without being laidback in nature. In this sense, there is no spatial disconnect from the upper mids to the lower trebles which both share a sense of brightness in character. The sparkly clear highs make for an engaging presentation and truly satisfy those seeking extended highs without the compromise of rolled-off frequencies.”
Heaven VIII lacks the upper mid heat that has made a number of hi-end Final Audio earphones hard to listen to for long periods of time. VIII is smoother, and comparison to hitherto news-making balanced armature earphones from Final Audio, rolled off. It's got none of the dirty decay that accented some of the other mid-top end earphones. For that, I'm glad.
The Headfonics review is a good, pithy review of a good, pithy earphone.
Disclaimer: Heaven VIII came through my studio for a few days thanks to a Headphone Book shoot.
Or, Lady Gaga's Final Heartbeats, whichever is easier to say, is Final's newest high-tier universal BAM! It sounds good. Very good. Strong, but linear bass, very slightly muted highs, and a detailed, but lush midrange. It is, in my opinion, their best-sounding balanced armature earphone.
Unfortunately, it looks the way it does: like a smaller Beats by Dre Lady Gaga Heartbeats. The good news is that it is cool, heavy, and luxurious whereas the Beats isn't. Even Heaven VIII's flat cable is supple, soft, and resilient against microphonic noise. And I've never liked flat cables.
This is a nice earphone.
But the packaging: fake snake skin on the outside, fake beaver on the inside, is hideous. We Canadians love our beaver, but where there's muff, it's got to be real. Not that killing things in order to make an earphone is something I condone. I do not. But putting so much effort into faux materials, especially it at this price is, well... a little bit too Japanese for me. And, the fur shed all over my pine wood flooring. I'm still picking it out of the cracks.
Heaven VIII goes for just north of 70.000¥, and despite its horrible packaging, it is an earphone that weighs heavy on my mind.
NOTE: click images below to advance to the next frame.
Tsukuba, Japan