Audiophiles are often born from a love of music. But there’s so much more to it than that. Audio quality affects our experience nearly constantly. The movies we watch, the games we play, they all have an auditory experience that can be done right. Unfortunately it’s often done wrong. But we can right these wrongs. Final Audio’s VR3000 is an attempt to rectify an oft neglected part of our audio experience, gaming audio. In particular, virtual reality gaming audio, a fairly new frontier. The core technology of this frontier is Binaural Recording, an increasingly popular recording technique that mimics the way humans actually hear. It produces astonishingly lifelike recordings and Final Audio intends to provide you the best tool with which to experience these recordings.
What You Get
Final Audio provides you a concise but comprehensive package to better your audio world. In the box comes the VR3000 earphones, five modular ear tips, a carrying pouch, and a warranty card. A set of ear hooks are the most interesting included accessory. They are strange soft plastic devices that are meant to prevent cable contact with your body and other surfaces. Though somewhat annoying to implement they really show Final Audio’s dedication to providing the listener with the seamless and uninterrupted listening environment that is necessary for VR Audio. They certainly do as the claim and reduce cable noise, allowing for a much more immersive experience.
Look and Feel
The VR3000 has a sleek, geometric chassis devoid of logos in a glossy black finish. It features modular eartips that allow you to find the perfect fit for your ear. According to Final Audio’s marketing material, the geometric shape is a conscious choice opposed to the more common organic shapes one will find in the world of earphones. They claim it will reduce long term ear fatigue caused by wearing earphones. While I felt they were slightly uncomfortable going in I have to admit that my ears felt great after multiple long sessions on the VR3000.Â
Technical Details
The VR3000 has a 6mm brass dynamic driver. Its output impedance of 18 ohms means that any device on this planet will drive them just fine.
Sound Quality
Normally this is where I start talking about how these earphones sound pumping music into my ears. But with the VR3000 this would be inappropriate. They are not meant for music. Music sounds alright through them. At times the low end can get nasally and the soundstage can seem too wide (as hard as that is to believe with a pair of earbuds) but I did not mind listening to music on these.Â
On the other ear, they absolutely shine in their intended role. Most of my testing for the VR3000 revolved around watching video game streams, film, and samples of binaural recordings. The huge soundstage provides an immersive experience. Meanwhile the balanced audio response tailored to gaming audio ensures that everything I heard was crisp and detailed. I spent a decent chunk of time with gameplay from Overwatch and it was an absolute treat to hear gunfire and explosions sound distinctly from every direction. Overwatch’s sensory experience is at times crowded but at least the audio seemed neatly organized enough for my overwhelmed brain to track.Â
Finally, binaural recordings were a special treat. I’m a big fan of the technique and I always get a huge kick from listening to random, mundane, activities captured with a binaural rig. After my experience on the VR3000, I have no doubt the it was designed with binaural in mind. As a result, every recording I listened to sounded at their best. I’d love to try these out with a VR unit, such as the oculus, but sadly I haven’t been able to justify the expense to our accountants.Â
Summary
The Final Audio VR3000 is a really cool and unique pair of earphones that fill an important niche. While there are a lot of over ear headphones meant for gaming, there are not a lot of earbuds meant to do the same. Whether you’re a VR maniac or just playing games on your phone to pass the time, these are a fine choice that will greatly improve the quality of your experience. Final Audio has met their mark here with flying colors.Â
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