Final's latest DX over-ear headphones still aren't cheap but if you need detail and faithful neutrality, they're the ones

Date:
Sat, 03 Jan 2026 11:30:00 +0000

Description:
The first closed-back design in Final Audios DX range is also the most affordable but thats not the same as saying its in any way inexpensive

FULL STORY ======================================================================Final Audio DX3000CL: Two-minute review

The DX3000CL are, in the least pejorative way, a very Final Audio product. Theres nothing flashy about the way theyre designed, theres nothing
remarkable about the way theyre specified (although the provision for both balanced and unbalanced cable terminations is something some alternative brands might want to take notice of), and theres nothing unusual about the
way they look (apart from the fact theyre a little wider on the head than
most alternatives).

All of the effort thats gone into them seems to have been concentrated on the way they perform, and that can only be a good thing as a means to enter our best wired headphones guide .

The quality of build and finish is well up to standard, dont get me wrong,
and theyre as comfortable to wear as any price-comparable rival and quite a lot more comfortable than some. But its the 40mm free-edge dynamic driver,
and its paper/carbon composite diaphragm, thats the real star of the show here.

All the relevant numbers (frequency response, sensitivity, impedance) are
very promising but thats nothing when you consider the way the DX3000CL actually sound. At this money theyre up against some extremely credible competition the open-backed Sennheiser HD 660 S2 are an obvious alternative, and the planar magnetic FiiO FT5 are no slouches either, but the Final Audio have some very specific tricks up their sleeve.

Theyre not the most dynamic or engaging listen, its true but if you value insight, eloquence and a soundstage so large you feel you could walk around it, the DX3000CL will keep you listening for the foreseeable future. Yes, the case is huge (Image credit: Future) Final Audio DX3000CL review: Price & release date 13th November 2025 Priced $599 / 549 / AU$1099

As briefly mentioned above, at $599 / 549 / AU$1099, these Final cans are up against some serious competition I might mention the open-backed Sennheiser HD-660 S2 as a go-to alternative, or the planar magnetic FiiO FT5 , but
again, the Final Audio headphones do have some (very specific) aces up their sleeve. (Image credit: Future) Final Audio DX3000CL review: Specs

Type

Wired closed-back over-ear

Drivers

40mm paper/carbon composite

Weight

410g

Cable length

2m

Sensitivity

96dB/wm

Impedance

37

Termination

4.4mm (with 6.3mm adapter)

Housing: glass fibre-reinforced resin

Glass fibre-reinforced resin (Image credit: Future) Final Audio DX3000CL review: Features 40mm paper/carbon composite dynamic drivers 96dB/wm sensitivity / 37 impedance 3: 2m OFC cable with 4.4mm termination

To be honest, Im not quite sure how any pair of passive wired over-ear headphones could score less than 5 for features. After all, products like
this require very few features and if the necessary features are present and correct, then 5 is basically mandatory. And theres no denying the Final Audio DX3000CL have the necessary features.

The headphones are supplied with a two-metre length of relatively hefty oxygen-free copper cable in a nicely flexible polymer sheath. At one end it splits into two 3.5mm terminations, as each ear cup must be wired. At the other theres a 4.4mm balanced connection, and theres also a rather over-engineered 6.3mm adapter included too.

The cable supplies audio information to a pair of 40mm dynamic drivers.
Theyre a free-edge design, made from a paper-and-carbon composite theyre
good for a claimed frequency response of 10Hz - 40kHz, and are fully designed and assembled in-house by Final Audio in Japan.

Sensitivity of 96dB/wm and 37 impedance means the DX3000CL arent especially tricky to drive, and no reasonably powered headphone amplifier will have to break a sweat in order to get worthwhile volume out of them. Features score: 5/5 (Image credit: Future) Final Audio DX3000CL review: Sound quality Remarkable powers of insight and detail retrieval Big, organised and explicit soundstaging Could conceivably sound more engaged and engaging

If youre prepared to concede that you cant have everything, even from an expensive pair of headphones, then the Final Audio DX3000CL are in many ways
a deeply accomplished listen. As long as you dont want to be grabbed by the lapels, the sound they make has plenty to recommend it.

Where they score very heavily is in the level of insight they summon, their ability to retrieve, reveal and contextualise even the most minor, most fleeting, most transient details in a recording and give them precisely the right amount of weighting. If its there in a mix, no matter how far back or how far down, the Final Audio will seize on it and let you know all about it. And the fact that they can generate a large, spacious and carefully organised soundstage doesnt do any harm in this respect, either.

Do you remember when Scarlett Johansson collaborated with David Bowie on her album of Tom Waits cover versions? That was a weird old time, wasnt it? Their version of Falling Down can sound quite foggy and indistinct, but when the Final Audio get hold of it all is revealed. The recording is opened up, with every element individualised and distinct in its own little pocket of space but without sounding remote or dislocated. Theres still unity to the way the song is presented, but its a bit like the view from a freshly washed window everything comes more fully into focus. (Image credit: Future)

It doesnt do any harm that the tonality of the DX3000CL is so neutral and naturalistic, and the fact that the journey from the (deep and solid) low frequencies to the (crisply substantial) top end is so smooth and uneventful. Theyre deftly punchy without ever threatening to get out of hand, and the balance they strike in these respects is judicious in the extreme.

Where the Final Audio disappoint just a little centers around dynamics and overall engagement. Theres a suggestion of self-conscious good taste about
the way these headphones are voiced that means they dont always attack a recording with as much determination as might be appropriate, and theyre reluctant to properly let loose when the levels of intensity or simple volume in a recording begin to ramp up.

In the case of the Scarlett Johansson tune its not that much of an issue, but when you switch to something like Fanfare for the Warriors by The Art
Ensemble of Chicago it becomes all too apparent that the DX3000CL are capable of being altogether too polite. Wild abandon isnt the be-all and end-all when it comes to reproducing music, of course, but a pair of headphones needs to
be able to cut loose every now and then Sound quality score: 4/5 (Image credit: Future) Final Audio DX3000CL review: Design Glass fibre-reinforced resin housing Screws and O rings allow for easy servicing 410g (without
cable)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, but for my money theres an elegant simplicity about the design of the DX3000CL that isnt always easy to come by. Final Audio has resisted the temptation to try to fancify these headphones, and the result is a clean and understated look.

This relative sophistication is thanks, in large part, to judicious choice of and use of materials. The single slender length of steel that adjusts the position of the headband relative to the ear cups looks and feels good and unusually, it allows the ear cups to move in order to achieve adjustment rather than the other way around. The ear cups themselves are made of resin reinforced with glass fibre, and the hint of capillary waves in the housing constitutes perhaps the only design flourish here.

The ear pads and the headband feature memory foam covered with synthetic leather. Theres plenty of it for the ear pads, too, which makes the DX3000CL rather wider than most of their nominal rivals youll have to be OK with looking a bit like a Cyberman when wearing these headphones. Theyre comfortable, though, and are not as keen to retain and return your body heat than some alternatives I could mention. 410g is a fairly considerable weight, especially when you consider thats without the cable being attached but the clamping force and the hanger arrangement are both so carefully judged that the Final Audio dont feel in any way burdensome, even if youve been wearing them for hours.

The fact the cable clicks into the front of the lower portion of each ear cup is slightly disconcerting (although it makes no practical difference). Im so used to wired headphones connecting at the very bottom, or at the rear of the lower portion of the ear cup, I find myself checking that I havent got the headphones on backwards. That might just be me, though

Final Audio is very keen on the fact that its entirely avoided the use of adhesives in the construction of the DX3000CSL. The use of precision screws and O-rings to ensure everything fits together nicely means the headphones
can quite easily be dismantled, serviced and put back together again and no adhesives also means greater sustainability and reduced use of chemicals too, of course. Design score: 5/5 (Image credit: Future) Final Audio DX3000CL review: Value Good standard of construction and finish Quite extensive specification Some sonic blind spots

Big, well-made and great-sounding headphones that use premium materials and stay comfortable for hours at a time seldom come cheap and in all of these respects the Final Audio are right on the money.

If they could muster a little more sonic vigour in those instances when its essential their case would be watertight Value score: 4/5 (Image credit: Future) Should I buy theFinal Audio DX3000CL?

Section

Notes

Score

Features

All necessary features present and correct and painstaking trouble has been taken over them too

5/5

Sound quality

Fantastic insight, detail and organisation, but could sound a touch more dynamically engaged and engaging

4/5

Design

Elegant, simplistic, clean and understated

5/5

Value

Excellent in most aspects, just a shade off the best-in-class for sonic
vigour

4/5 Buy them if...

You value sonic insight
There isnt a detail in a recording, no matter how tiny, that seems capable of eluding the DX3000CL

You like mildly unusual things
For all that its a fully credible brand, it seems that Final Audio is not all that many peoples default choice

You have some premium source equipment
The appearance of a 4.4mm balanced cable termination lets you know these headphones were designed to work with your more upmarket sources of music Don't buy them if...

Your head is on the wide side
The last thing you need is for your head to seem wider still, but the
DX3000CL are among the widest designs around


You particularly value dynamism and drive
The Final Audio do lots of things very well indeed, but they are neither the most dynamic nor the most attack headphones you can buy

Youre a frequency flyer
These headphones dont come supplied with a case or even a bag - which is a
bit of an oversight to be honest Final Audio DX3000CL review: Also consider

Final DX3000CL

FiiO FT5

Sennheiser HD-660 S2

Price

$599 / 549 / AU$1099

$449 / 429 / AU$799

$599 / 499 / AU$949

Drivers

40mm paper/carbon composite dynamic

90mm planar magnetic (open-back)

38mm (open-back)

Weight

410g

456g

260g

Cable length

2m

1.5m

1.8m

Impedance

37

36 nominal

300

Sensitivity

96dB/wm

96dB/mW @1kHz

104dB

Sennheiser HD-660 S2
Want something super-light on your head? These open-backed Sennheisers might be just the ticket. They're a little older, having been unveiled in March 2023, but in the realms of wired audio and your mixing suite that's hardly an issue
Read our full Sennheiser HD-660S2 review

FiiO FT5
The cable's a half meter shorter than the Final, at 1.5m rather than 2m, but the 90mm planar magnetic drivers are the star of the show and do note the
this is also an open-backed option. If you want faithful neutrality, do go
for the Final, but if you want a bit more excitement and oomph, give these an immediate spot on your shortlist.
See our FiiO FT5 review for more How I tested the Final Audio DX3000CL Connected to a number of sources using both terminations With many different music storage formats With many different genres and styles of music

I connect the Final Audio DX3000CL to my iFi iDSD Diablo 2 headphone amp/DAC using the 4.4mm input the iFi is connected to an Apple MacBook Pro and to an iPhone 14 Pro. I also connect them to a FiiO M15S digital audio player using the machines 4.4mm socket.

To listen to vinyl I connect the headphones to a Naim Uniti Star connected to a Technics SL-1300G but it only has a 3.5mm headphone socket, so an ugly combination of the 4.4mm jack fitted with its 6.3mm adapter, in turn fitted
to a 6.3mm-to-3.5mm adapter, is required. First reviewed: January 2026 Read more about how we test



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