Final has announced new wireless in-ear headphones called the Tonalite. The new Tonalite aims to differentiate itself from its competitors by taking audio personalization to the next level, combining a complete three-dimensional scan of both the listener’s head and ears with detailed acoustic measurement of ear canal response.
Final Tonalite
Japanese headphone manufacturer Final has a somewhat puristic and unconventional approach to sound design, and this is reflected in the new wireless in-ear Tonalite, its latest flagship model. With the Tonalite, Final aims to combine its high-fidelity tuning qualities with personalized acoustics, utilizing precise 3D scanning and in-ear acoustic analysis to deliver what the company calls a truly customized listening experience.
While many premium TWS earphones now offer hearing tests or ear scans for tuning, Focal’s proprietary DTAS (Digital Twin Audio Simulation) engine claims to more comprehensively model how sound travels around the head and into the ears, to mimic a live listening experience. Competing models like the AirPods Pro (3rd generation), Sony’s WF-1000XM5, and the OnePlus Buds 4 use similar techniques, primarily for 3D spatial audio and typically ask the listener to take a photo of their ear or take a hearing test using an app. The result can be an improvement through personalization of the sound, but these techniques still rely on approximate ear geometries or general hearing data.
Final’s dual-scan approach starts with a smartphone used to scan your head and ears from different angles. It even comes with a headband with stickers that help the algorithm determine your head shape and precise ear positions. The earbuds then use built-in microphones to monitor how your ear canal picks up specific frequencies. The result is a so-called digital twin profile that, according to the designers, is tailored to the wearer’s unique anatomy and hearing, correcting for minuscule spectral imbalances that vary from person to person.
Final Tonalite: The Science Behind the Sound
Each person’s anatomy affects how sound reaches the ear. Subtle differences in ear shape, head size, and the structure of the ear canals can significantly affect frequency perception. While traditional earplugs offer a one-size-fits-all sound, Tonalite earplugs take the approach that no two listeners hear sound in the same way.
When the listener plays music through the Tonalite earbuds, the sound is processed to tailor the playback to the personal data model. This corrects color shifts, balances the frequency response, and restores the natural tone that would otherwise be lost with conventional earbuds.
Final Tonalite: What is timbre and why is it important?
Timbre, or tone color, allows us to distinguish between different instruments or voices, even when they play the same note. It is the tonal character that gives a violin its warmth, a cymbal its brilliance, or a voice its emotion. Without accurate tone color, music can lose much of its authenticity.
Through its 3D scanning process, Tonalite defines the acoustic influence of the listener’s head shape and applies it to each instrument, voice, and tone to make it sound like the real thing. For the first time, says Final, the music feels organic.
“Timbre gives sound its unique character, the color and texture that bring music to life,” says Final. “Using advanced 3D head and ear scanning, Tonalite generates a personalized timbre profile using a precise mathematical model, calculated on our cloud server. This way, it delivers music uniquely tailored to you.”
Final Tonalite: Bluetooth codecs, ANC, and battery capacity
The Tonalite features hybrid ANC and ambient modes, as well as support for Bluetooth 6 and the LDAC codec for hi-res streaming, along with support for SBC and AAC. A full battery is estimated to last up to eight hours, with the charging case extending this to approximately 24 hours.
Deliveries are expected to begin sometime in December.
