Introduction

Back before 2022, your only option for a budget neutral IEM would be the Final Audio E500. Nowadays a lot of IEMs on the budget price bracket are tuned similarly. Still, the moment these became available for pre-order in Indonesia, I bought them.

TL:DR

Pros

  • Dead neutral tuning, no bass, no treble. Not fatiguing at all, can be used for long listening sessions
  • Bullet style IEM, which is great for people not liking IEMs with earhooks
  • Small nozzle (~5mm), makes it an easy fit for people with small ear canals
  • Comes with 5 pairs of Final type E eartips (SS, S, M, L, LL). Buying these eartips separately would cost as much as the IEM itself

Cons

  • Plastic build
  • Cable is not detachable, and not braided (might be a dealbreaker for some)
  • Dead neutral tuning means no details on the bass or treble section
  • Hard to identify left from right (Usually the colored eartip is the right side, while the grey eartip is on the left side. However, this approach is flawed because you might put them on the wrong side)
  • Notorious for having QC issues related to channel imbalance (one side is louder than the other)

Isn’t Chu/Zero neutral?

I also own the Moondrop Chu and the Salnotes Zero. Both of them are neutral, but they still have detail on the top end. Some found this to be fatiguing though. graph As you can see on the graph, the E500 (green line) has less bass and WAY less treble. It is an overly safe tuning, which allows people to listen for longer periods.

Besides, I bought this for the eartips (the IEM costs Rp450.000, while 5 sets of Final type E eartips costs Rp375.000), and they really are comfy. Too bad I haven’t had time to try these tips on other IEMs.

I ended up daily driving these due to the comfort it provides, as well as the relaxing/boring tuning it has. Bullet style IEms are few and far in between. What comes to mind are the Moondrop Quarks DSP and the Etymotic series. There are actually a lot, but I just mentioned the ones that are famous.

Conclusion

I really ended up liking these a lot. Such a shame that the cable is not detachable. The only ones that are detachable from Final Audio are the E4000 and the E5000. Those are expensive, and more v-shaped than the E500.

Easily would recommend for the price and tuning.