I can't say much for the way the Lotoo PAW 5000 arrived as they were sent my way by another reviewer and not the manufacturer or a third-party seller, but when I opened up the package I was greeted with a small box that immediately split into two when I took it out.

The top half contained a flat and well-constructed USB 3.0 cable, a neoprene armband and a plastic case which allows the PAW5k to be used with the armband. I didn't have use for any of the latter two as (for the armband and case) I'm a potato who doesn't exercise at all and (for the cable) because I transfer all my music using a MicroSD card.

The bottom half contained the warranty and quick-start guide and underneath those, the deceptively small player nestled in black velvet-covered foam. I have to say, this player is presented quite nicely and the packaging seems to be adequate without being excessive.

The Lotoo PAW 5000 is a small all-in-one Digital Audio Player (DAP) constructed of what seems to be two metal panels with a plastic middle separating the two. I'm really not worried about the player breaking anytime soon because of its solid construction. It fits really nicely in my hand because of its rounded corners and if anything feels a little heavier than expected.

The front consists of the screen, a navigation scroll wheel with a play/pause/ok button in the middle, fast forward and rewind buttons, a music menu button which also allows for Fn functionality with a long press, a back button which also gives access to the setup menu with a long press, a button which accesses the proprietary 'ATE' (Acoustic Timbre Embellisher) and a parametric EQ, and the power button.

Loading Music and Format Support

Loading music has never been easier for me; I did my typical firmware stability test and loaded my phone's 64GB Micro SD card directly into the DAP without formatting of any kind. Lo and behold, it worked without a hitch! Several other DAPs which I shall not name have hiccuped at this stage, being rather confused with the other files present on the card, but the Lotoo PAW 5000 prevails!

I don't personally own any DSD files or much of anything beyond 16/44.1 FLAC. Yes, I'm not a believer, I know. However, for the purposes of this review, I downloaded a few of my father's high-resolution and DSD music and loaded them into the PAW 5000. The DAP ate them without a hitch and gave me music just like with any old 16/44.1 file. The PAW 5000 works well with MP3 and WAV and also appears to accept APE, OGG, M4A, AAC, ALAC and CUE playlists.

Screen and UI

The screen isn't the biggest, but is more than adequate for a simple DAP. The Lotoo PAW 5000 comes with a rather exotic UI, but fortunately it was very easy to learn how to to use it. It has a rather retro styling which to me is very endearing and unlike anything else on the market and the limited space is managed rather well with all useful information being present on the screen.

The UI seems to be very responsive with no noticeable lag whenever I operate the DAP. Scanning the music into the database didn't take long at all either. There was no 5-minute-long wait for me this time like, again, some other DAPs have forced me to undergo. The scroll wheel is a huge asset with larger libraries like the one I have; zipping from A to Z has never been faster with any DAP I have used so far and is only limited by the speed at which you turn the wheel.

It's very easy to access whatever you want to on this device; everything can be done in just a few clicks. However, something that does annoy me is how you can't skip tracks unless you hit that awkwardly-placed power button to first activate the screen. Please do fix this as I'm a user that tends to skip around my music a lot and it took me a while to get used to how the PAW 5000 does things.

Another thing that may be an annoyance to some users is how the UI is a file-based one with no support for tags of any kind. I happen to already be a very organized file-based DAP user due to being exposed to the Shozy Alien and it's minimalist UI but people who are used to tag-based UIs will have to spend some time cleaning up their library before being able to use this DAP.

The headphone out is good enough for IEMs and efficient cans but chokes when feeding more inefficient full-sized cans such as the Sennheiser HD650. This is a DAP that is best paired with more portable audio equipment it seems. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though as it means that it won't hiss with the most sensitive of IEMs due to the lower power output.

I briefly tried to utilize the line-out of the PAW 5000 and fed the signal into both my Gilmore Lite and Project Ember. Unfortunately, it was beaten by the lowly UD110v2 DAC which has a much smaller price tag, so I have to say that the internal DAC is best paired with the internal amp.

The Flare Audio R2Pro came in a very small box with a square-shaped footprint in a foam cutout with three pairs of Comply foams and a small carrying case. Honestly, this isn't all that much especially for the price but I suppose it works. However, with every time I was unimpressed by the packaging, I was impressed by the sound, so we'll have to see! At least they came with adequate protection which stopped them from being damaged at all in transit.

The Final Audio Design Heaven VI came to me second-hand so I can't judge it all that much but its carrying case is simply stunning, if seemingly rather easy to scratch and damage. The seller also supplied with a small baggie of original eartips which is nice to see as I suppose that FAD deigned to offer that amount of choice for us consumers.

The Flare Audio R2Pro is made of titanium and is absolutely tiny. This means that they're harder to insert properly but once there they isolate nearly everything. I really like how solid they feel despite how small they are and it never feels like the housings themselves
need to be babied.

I prefer them with an over-ear fit as I find that helps lessen microphonics and make them easier to fit properly. I think the cable, however, is absolutely atrocious and belongs on a $50 pair of earbuds and certainly not a $400 MSRP pair of earbuds. I'd really love it if Flare Audio provided a stronger and higher-quality cable or at least one that doesn't seem that it'll break as soon as it is pulled once. There is a block of aluminium serving as the Y-split which I think actually helps with the over-ear fit as it weighs them down and helps them stay there without falling off, but I know some people who complain about how it's too big. I also hate how the Left/Right markings are on the Y-split instead of the IEMs themselves which forced me to use a bit of tape to mark which one is the right side.

The Final Audio Design Heaven VI is made of Chromed Copper and has an absolutely beautiful finish which unfortunately makes me scared stiff of scratching it lest it ruin the finish. They're also larger than the R2Pro and requires a shallower fit to get the sound right but don't isolate as well and to me aren't quite as comfortable to wear.

They have a...let's just say weirdly coloured...flat cable that at least seems to be somewhat durable and not likely to break with real strain reliefs!  attaching them to the IEM housings. The cable, unfortunately, is as microphonic as the one on the R2Pro, but there's a chin slider which helps things somewhat but isn't as flashy as the R2Pro y-split.

I find both IEMs to be really comfortable to wear, but the Flare Audio R2Pro edges out the Final Audio Design Heaven VI  due to its smaller housing size and over-ear fit. This means that the R2Pro are also better at isolating outside noise than the Heaven VI and this also allows the R2Pro an advantage when wearing them underneath a helmet or on the side in a bed.

The equipment I used was: Windows laptop (running Foobar 2000) > Cozoy Aegis > IEMs and the LG G4 > USB Audio Player Pro > Cozoy Aegis > IEMs. The Flare Audio R2Pro was used out of the box with no burn-in and I'm not sure how long the Final Audio Design Heaven VI has been burnt in as they were bought used.

We're starting with a solo piano piece which I've known and loved for a while. The reason I'm starting with this is because headphones in general have a lot of trouble reproducing the exact finesse, timbre and vibrations of the piano and making it sound exactly like a piano. A perfect challenge to start testing these two competitors with.

This is because the more euphoric presentation of the Heaven VI helps make the piano sounds just a little bit more lively and forward compared to the darker presentation of the R2Pro which doesn't work quite as well for piano pieces.

This is a toss-up between whether you prefer a brighter, more forward sound signature or a darker, more weighted sound signature. I know many people will prefer something more forward and in-your-face but personally at this point the R2Pro is the winner to me. This is because I much prefer its darker and bassier sound signature which works for more genres of music that I listen to verses the more specialized and polarizing Final Audio Design Heaven VI which only works for certain genres of music.

Neither of them are IEMs that you'll buy if you want value for money. There is the R2A which offers most of the bang for the buck of the R2Pro if you want to go that route and Final Audio Design isn't really known for their bang for the buck and by contrast are known for their unique statement products. However, I think that in this case, the R2Pro edges out the Heaven VI as I just prefer its sound signature which just clicks for me. That's not to say that the Heaven VI is bad, but it will be better used in someone else's collection and so it will unfortunately be leaving my collection in the foreseeable future.