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SUR s808 - A Review​

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Hello Head-fiers!
 
B9Scrambler is back with another review of iems that are absent on anyone's radar! Check it: the SUR s808. Please keep in mind that this review is composed of opinions and the impressions belonging to me. This product was not gifted or loaned to me by SUR, and I am in no way affiliated with them.
 
I figured I might as well start this one off by telling you a little bit about me. You may remember my brief stint working with Subaru as the B9Scrambler hybrid roadster concept car? No? Not surprised. Since that fell through, I had to pick up another hobby. What better place to start than with headphones? They're mobile, cars are mobile, so it's really the next logical step for a stand up guy like me. Given my reasonably new-found affinity for iems, I've been building up a solid collection of budget-fi ones over the last few years. Some of my favorites are the KZ Micro Ring, JVC HA-FX3X, NarMoo W1M, and the titanic Dunu Titan 1. Admittedly, describing how a headphone sounds is not my strongest suit. And my sources (Nexus S and Plantronics Rig usb amp) are a bit lacking, but despite this I will do my best to give you an idea of what to expect from the SUR s808 if you ever happen to pick them up.
 
While perusing AliExpress for my next budget purchase, I came across the SUR s530. They looked a little odd with the detachable cables sticking awkwardly out from the housing, but for some reason peaked my interest. Plus, they are SUR's current "flagship" so I bought them. When they arrived I realized they were pretty decent sounding bass monsters, but nothing special. Bass-heavy with average everything else. Not necessarily worth any hype, but a decent pick for a budget basshead who wants removable cables. I sold them. Since I liked their overall sound signature, even if I wasn't completely sold on the entire package, I figured I would try another offering from SUR. Maybe they had something special hidden away in their line up?
 
 
I decided to hop on their website (sur-rock.com) and saw that SUR was JBM's higher end brand. The s808 is one of SUR's entry level products. I liked the simple design, and the fact that the inline mic had a volume slider meant I was sold. Now I know most people hate analogue volume sliders, but given most digital volume controls rarely work as intended with my gear, this was a godsend. I'm fully expecting the slider to cause channel imbalances down the road, but for 12 bucks it's worth the risk.
 
When the s808 arrived, they came in similar packaging to the s530 with nearly identical accessories; four sets of cheap ear tips (s/mx2/l), an instruction booklet mixed with, uh, translated English and Mandarin, a shirt clip, and a good carrying case. No spare cable though since the s808 have fixed cables. The box itself was of good quality, and the design clean. Nothing special or high end feeling, but not exactly low-end either (cough *blister package* cough).
 
The s808 are a bit of a mixed bag with the build. It's not bad, just a little sloppy. The housing is composed of four individual aluminum segments pieced together somewhat haphazardly. From a distance they look nice, but up close you can see that they are definitely a budget set. Luckily they feel quite solid although I wouldn't want to sit or step on them, just in case. Due to their small size, light weight, and ergonomic shape, they are extremely comfortable and can easily be worn cable-down or over ear. Cable noise regardless of how they are worn is very minimal.
 
Speaking of the cable, it's quite nice. They took the Piston 2.0/Titan 1 route. The upper section really reminds me of the Titan 1, in that is uses a thin but firm rubber cable that is very tangle resistant. The cloth coated lower half of the cable does have a tendency to kink, but any kinks are easily worked out. As an additional plus this cable has little to no memory. It is definitely one of my favorite cables so far.
 
 
Strain reliefs are bit of a mixed bag as well. The jack is a nice 90 degree piece, however the relief is solid plastic and doesn't bend at all. Kinda useless. The reliefs on the housing are another animal all together. They are barely attached, swiveling and sliding about like an Elvis pelvis on St. Patrick's Day; very flexible, almost too flexible. On the plus side, they've held up fine to everyday abuse over the last month and a bit, so only time will tell if/when they will fail.
 
*Cautionary Warning: Stop reading now should you feel iems that require EQing are a waste of time. I suppose I could have added this at the beginning, but where is the fun in that?*
 
Enough of the boring stuff. Let us get down to the nitty gritty shall we?
"How do they sound?" my colleague, a twin turbo 1984 Toyota Supra, inquires.
"Well my straight-six friend, they sound good. Better than SUR's flagship phone in fact." I reply.
 
Out of the box I was underwhelmed. They sounded okay, but not spectacular. There were a couple aspects I was quite fond of immediately though; a lush upper-mid range that spectacularly captures female vocals; a sexy weightiness to the sound that gives pianos and guitars a very natural and powerful sound; and that sub-BASS! I've got a couple solid bass-head-type earphones to compare to, like the Sony XB50, JVC FX lineup, and Fidue a31s, but these easily best them all in their ability to dive deep, kick like that Beckham gentleman, rumble like a boss, and still deliver distortion free sound.
 
Unfortunately, with all this juicy sub-bass goodness comes some unfortunate mid-bass blah. The s808 in unEQ'd form had some seriously boosted mid-bass that must have a cut an artery, as the bleed was intrusive. I was going to write them off as a failed purchase and use them only for phone calls, but (insert sarcasm tone) given my affinity for EQing I decided to analyze what was wrong and remove it from the equation. Luckily, the s808 are very receptive to EQing, and with some minor tweaks I was able to "fix" them.
 
Now admittedly, my EQ is limited to the five bands found in the default player on my old and trusty Nexus S. Here is what I found worked worked best in taming the beast;
 
60 Hz (-2 dB)
230 Hz (-3 dB)
910 Hz (+/- 0 dB)
4 kHz (+1 dB)
4 kHz (+2 dB)
 
With these settings in place, it was possible to see that these are a very capable product. With attention removed from the bass and shifted to other aspects of the sound spectrum, I found they had a nice soundstage; wide, but lacking a bit in depth. Treble has decent sparkle to it, even if it seems to trail off a little early. Vocals are a touch recessed, but are not overwhelmed nor overshadowed by anything else. Kick drums have punch, bass guitars sound smooth, and pianos....oh my gawd do pianos ever sound good. Listening to my favorite Supertramp song, Rudy, was an absolute joy. In fact the entire Crime of the Century album was awesome to sit through. For my two favorite genres, classic rock and drum and bass, the s808 are a rock sold pick.
 
I've purchased up a lot of great budget iems over the years, like the Monoprice 9927, KZ EDse and ED9, Panasonic RP-HJE120, VSonic VSD3, JVC HA-FXT90, etc. With a bit of TLC and time with the EQ, the s808 can easily stand toe to toe with the low-budget "big boys". They're supremely comfortable, have a wonderful cable, are easy to drive, and EQ into a great sounding earphone. Best of all, they are without a doubt worth the cost of entry for someone that wants something a little different. In the end would I recommend the s808? Yes, but with a touch of hesitation due to above-mentioned EQ related quirks.