Disclaimers & Caveats
I purchased the FAudio Dark Sky from Musicteck at a reduced price in exchange for my honest impressions following discussions with Andrew (owner of Musicteck, for those of you who may not know him!) on how it might compare to other single DDs - Andrew generously offered me the opportunity to find out for myself - all he asked in return is that I share my honest impressions by way of a review.
Also, it should go without saying but I will note none-the-less: this is indeed an incredibly subjective hobby and many of us hear things very differently in terms of what actually equates to listening pleasure. With that said, it should be reasonable to map out findings that provide context for others to take a position on whether the item under review might meet their preferences. My review won't be deeply technical, as I'm not deeply technical - I am however a technology nerd and music fanatic so will attempt to best convey my impressions in this review. Please feel free to ask questions in the comments and I will do my best to respond with a meaningful response! Alert:
YMMV (
your mileage may vary) - this is what I have heard with my music preferences relative to other IEMs in my collection.
To burn-in or not burn-in: a hot topic, pardon the pun but it does indeed divide. In my experience, brain or technology, I have perceived changes over time and ensure that I allow time to burn-in, while listening at various intervals. For Dark Sky, I allowed approximately 60 hours in the first week but after that, just clocked up listening hours - I estimate I’ve listened in total for about 100 hours.
FAudio Dark Sky is available from Musicteck at $1,150 MRSP -
LINK
Preamble
As previously noted, I am a self-proclaimed music and technology nerd. A large part of my career was in consumer electronics, starting from my teens in the mid-90’s while working in electrical retail, and up to more recent years working for well-known electronic brands and sourcing / distributing audio products around the globe. I don’t work in that industry anymore unfortunately (imagine, I was once paid to search for audio products!) but the passion lives on and what ultimately brought me to this hobby - combined with my life-long love for music, right from my youngest childhood memories, to a DJ in the 90’s and amassing a vast collection of CD’s and records for over 30 years.
Over the last year or so, I’ve landed on single dynamic drivers as my preferred transducers in IEMs - the coherency, natural timbre and overall engagement factor better suits my listening preferences and this has led to a quest to learn more about various implementations. The focus at the moment being the higher-end of the market but I fully intend to explore other segments - it is clear that products of a much lower price are incredibly capable, the oft-mentioned ‘diminishing returns’ can’t go ignored, my recent purchase of the infamous BLON-03 certainly supports this - not to mention what buds can do at a fraction of the price.
I had never heard of FAudio until brought Dark Sky was brought to my attention in September this year. I was immediately curious - a single DD sitting in a similar price category and launched in the same year as the formidable IE900 by Sennheiser, arguably one of the best single dynamic drivers launched in 2021 - and indeed a personal favourite, which reveals my bias.
FAudio - Dark Sky
Who are FAudio?
FAudio are a Hong Kong based IEM company, founded in 2014 by Fung Wong, ex Head Engineer at Miniwatt. I couldn’t find much information about the brand, it appears they are more known in Asia based on comments on social media. There are some other products featured on their website but oddly enough, Dark Sky isn’t.
Evaluation Setup: Sources, Tips, and Music...
My sources are the Sony NW-WM1A, Cayin N6ii-Ti, and the L&P W2 dongle.
I haven’t used the stock tips as I have my go-to tips for all IEMs. In this case, I’ve rotated AET07, Azla Standard, and Symbio F - all of which provide an excellent seal and great listening synergy. I like tip rolling, part of the IEM experience and always interesting to hear how they perform.
I will note specific tracks further on but for now, please be aware that I have a rather broad interest in various music genres, these include: ambient, modern classical, D&B, techno, trance, house, jazz, downtempo, IDM, hip hop, indie, some rock to name a few. For the purpose of this review, I chose a selection of go-to tracks that in my experience, test the sonic capabilities of an IEM and inform me as to their suitability for specific genres in my collection. I don’t believe in the existence of a single IEM that meets all of my music needs, this drives the hunt to explore many DDs with the objective to uncover their various ‘superpowers’.
Unboxing & Accessories
I mentioned in the preamble that I worked in consumer electronic for many years. As part of my role, I often had to evaluate product suitability for sale in various markets - this meant not only the need to determine the need/want in the market for the product offering, but also get a good sense of the brand ethos - do they make a product because they see a market gap, or is there evidence of pride and passion for what they do, a desire to actually ‘delight’ the customer - which in my experience, was typically evident not only in how I engaged with the brand but their packaging often screamed passion; the desire to anchor the customer with a fantastic unboxing experience, providing an instant appeal in first impressions before even opening the box. I was sent a lot of samples and spent many hours going through products, often met with cheap/tacky packaging and overall lack of creativity in their branding. While it’s not essential or indeed a prerequisite, I prefer a delightful unboxing experience - it should be memorable from the moment the box lands in your hands. When a new item arrives to my house now as part of this hobby, I make sure to pick a quiet room - ideally make a coffee (or beer, depending on time of day...) and enjoy the whole experience. But hey, I know that may not matter for all and often folks might be so excited they just rip the box open to get their shinny new toy in their hands (or ears) ASAP…
The good news is, FAudio absolutely deliver in this regard, offering an unboxing experience that one would expect at this price tag.
Dark Sky is presented in a compact rectangular box with minimal aesthetics - plain black finish with both the brand name, model and what I assume is the company motto or slogan. I love this minimal styling, it immediately ticks that premium box and starts to suggest FAudio fall into my preferred brand category, i.e. they care about the customer and have pride in what they do.
Upon opening the lid, you are presented with a card and a message from the Chief Sound Engineer (what an incredible job title!). I love this personal touch, again it demonstrates a connection to the customer and a passion for their creations.
We are then greeted with the main event, revealing a very nice presentation of the earphones in a familiar style layout, along with the various adapters, the circular carry-case, and a ‘service pack’ which includes a cleaning cloth, carry pouch, warranty card. There is a well-considered care instruction card with guidance on protecting your audio investment.
In addition, a cleaning tool is supplied, IEM protective cover and silicone covers for the shells themselves. Oh and of course a selection of tips: grey/black tips in small, medium, and large with a wide bore - white in the same size selection but this time a standard bore width. Interestingly, they only supply one set of foam tips which I suspect are small, they were certainly too small for my ears and measure noticeably smaller than my chosen foam tips, the Symbio F in Large.
There is also a beautiful and practical carry case included, one of the nicest I’ve experienced which is finished in a leather-like material with a soft interior - it works very well when you carefully wrap the cable around your fingers and position in the case, using the supplied leather strap to secure - I love the chrome finish to the button, it feels and looks expensive.
The cable is really beautiful and looks almost like you could pay the full cost of this entire package just for the cable if you slapped some well-known brand logo on it. It looks and feels wonderful with a matching deep blue finish - soft touch and little or no microphonics. The cable terminates with a 2.5mm connection but FAudio supply adapters for both 4.4mm and 3.5mm, all bases covered. Nitpick but I would prefer a modular system as per the excellent solution on offer from DUNU, it is a tidier finish from an appearance and ergonomics perspective.
The shells themselves are beautifully constructed and again present a premium level of workmanship. They are lightweight with a deep matt blue finish and sit incredibly comfortably in my ears (with the right tips - this can take a bit of work) - the combination of the excellent cable and lightweight ergonomic shells allow for long listening sessions without fatigue. The aforementioned silicone sleeves unfortunately made the shells uncomfortable and too big in my ears, a great idea though if they fit.
The supplied adapters for 4.4mm and 3.5mm are of excellent build quality and feel sturdy when affixed to the 2.5mm terminal and indeed upon connection to your source. Isolation isn’t fantastic, even using foam tips I can generally hear my surroundings quite well.
Specifications
What do they sound like?
The important bit I guess and one I must admit has caused me some challenge over the last few weeks, I’ll come back to that in a bit. What instantly jumped out at me when I first listened is the expansive soundstage - as wide as IE900 but taller, it actually reminded me of MEST MKII almost but with better coherency - or should I say, more to my taste. It’s quite amazing to think there is just a single dynamic driver delivering the goods - the technicalities are remarkable, highly resolving with not only a large/airy stage, but with to my ears, excellent imaging - I’m inclined to say they are very mildly U shaped as I hear emphasis down low and up high but the mids delivery is more or less level, just not quite as prominent - maybe a mild V shape is a better description - this is some of the challenge I previously referred to, I’ve wrestled over it in a few listening sessions. The timbre is the best I’ve heard when it comes to non-electronic instruments and vocals: bass, strings, percussion, and female vocals in particular are outstanding. Dark Sky performs well with any genre I’ve tested and I consider it a very capable all-rounder but leans spectacular for instrumental, jazz, and vocals - especially less complex music. I would say it has a slightly cool hue to its signature and this amplifies the strong technicalities.
Let’s try a few songs - I've linked to them on Bandcamp where possible
In the song ‘Body’ by Julia Jacklin, her voice sits dead centre and slightly forward - instruments surround her voice and seem to sit exactly on stage where I expect them. Delivery is expansive but still intimate - I can hear a cohesive whole but still zoom in on specifics if I choose to, like holding an item in front of your eyes, and shifting focus from the item to the wider surroundings and back again. Every instrument sounds accurate to my ears. Julia’s voice so perfectly rendered, reminds me of hearing her play in Dublin back in the days of gigs pre-COVID (sigh!) - not a hint of sibilance and that wonderful sense of like she’s singing in the room beside me. The slow percussion rolls along in support, stretching out from the middle in both directions, occasional cymbal strikes come and go with yet again, stunning realism.
Staying with Julia Jacklin but moving to a more energetic song ‘Pressure to Party’, I’m greeted with the same vocal treatment and as the track is significantly busier with the addition of electric guitars and more upbeat percussion, Dark Sky put more to the challenge of handling competing frequencies in the mid to high frequencies in particular. I feel at times that it might tip towards harsh but never actually goes completely over the edge, but that close proximity must be noted.
This has become a huge favourite to put IEMs to the test: ‘Harmony with Nature’ by Matthew Halsall (spiritual jazz). There is beautiful build of atmospheric melodic sounds before the upright bass enters - Dark Sky grabs hold and positions right in the middle, respectful to the sax which joins at about the same time - the bass digs deep, sounding uncannily natural, the strings vibrating as they pluck with wonderful realism. I hear a striking balance across low, mid and high - again, an emphasis on a natural delivery but instruments are allowed to take centre stage as appropriate. I’m increasingly drawn to jazz with Dark Sky, a genre I don’t listen to enough.
On to some hip hop - Dr Dre. ‘The Day the Niggaz took Over’. This is again a go-to track for me to test new toys. I love the wide range of instruments and vocals ranges from the various rappers. The soundstage, layering, and imaging is yet again, stunning - the zoom in/zoom out sensation again apparent, allowing a focus on the individual parts or the cohesive whole. I sense a slightly thinner tone to Dr Dre’s voice, but marginal.
Next up is some classical and while a genre I don’t listen to that often, I’m keen to hear how a single DD manages the complexity of passages, ‘Summer 1’ from the Vivaldi Recomposed by Max Richter always a top choice. Dark Sky as one might expect by now, presents yet again its large stage. Instruments sit centre and support out wide, all perfectly clear and with beautiful timbre. I again feel a struggle between focusing versus musical, the strong technicalities play a bit of a tug of war with the engagement factor and I’m still not sure which wins. Some might prefer a straight-up emotive factor, others specifically analytical but this is rather interesting how it seems to sit in the middle. I will note, I am enjoying this album immensely while listening for this review and actually finding it hard to press ‘stop’ as a I move to another song.
Ok, time for some dub techno in the shape of the classic ‘Phylyps Trak’ by Basic Channel. This is all about pounding bass and accompanying dark synths. Kick drum thumps with deep club-like authority, providing a guiding line for the synths and cool but melodic atmosphere that surrounds. Percussion treble hits around 2 minutes in and the track develops to more complexity, Dark Sky has no problem coping with the peaks of potentially conflicting energy. Strangely, when I first listened to Dark Sky, I didn’t think they would perform quite as well with electronic music but time has proven otherwise - incredibly capable in some cases and dub techno indeed sounds fantastic.
Now some more electronic but more mid-focused and uplifting - the relatively recent but 90’s rooted ‘Glue’ by Bicep. There is an uncanny amount of airiness but still, this amazing sense of cohesion - captivating and detailed. Melodic synths float over the breakbeat percussion, bass flows beautifully and the sampled voices arrive and take position without interruption.
Next up is ‘Big Question Small Head’ by Tipper. A fantastic artist to test sonic capabilities and his recordings are always of the highest quality. Detail retrieval is stunning, beautiful clarity and pinpoint accuracy of every component in the track.
To test ambient, I’m listening to ‘The Shape of Modern Tragedy’ by Still Harbours. This track features on the fantastic album ‘Armature’, released in 2020. Technically, it sounds excellent - a wide soundscape of atmospheric ambient music. I must note, I don’t get as much musical engagement as I do say with Isa or ZEN PRO - the slightly cooler tuning doesn’t lend as well to the emotive connection I often seek with ambient music, typically to relax and unwind, not to delve deep in the detail. That said, it can be deemed another route to explore with ambient music - and it's not devoid of emotion by any means.
Comparisons
Sennheiser IE900 ($1,299)
The pristine, pinpoint tuning of IE900 is to my ears without competition in single DDs I’ve heard - it is the SACD (Super Audio CD) of IEMs - a clear, fast, digital-sounding tuning that has an immediate grip on whatever you throw at it. They share similar levels of bass but IE900 is faster with a better control of more complex passages, especially those in electronic music sub-genres such as breakbeat, techno or D&B - IE900 is the one to beat here and I suspect it will be a while before we see a contender to this throne, Sennheiser have achieved a remarkable feat in their implementation of bass. Dark Sky triggers higher levels of upper mids/lower treble where IE900 spikes in the higher registers of treble: to my ears, this means IE900 has better control when it comes to the upper limits of treble energy, crisp and succinct high hats that hit quickly and pull back just as fast, especially in energetic electronic music (techno, house, EDM, trance etc.) - Dark Sky on the other hand, drives more energy into snare rims for example, leaning more towards a slightly better representation of non-electronic instruments that are less about precision and more about authenticity. They are both spectacular single dynamic drivers and absolutely complementary to one another, offering a different take on a music collection - IE900 more pristine/precise tuning with a CD-like rendering, with Dark Sky pointing in a more organic, maybe vinyl-like take on things. Something in common I would say is they are both rather energetic IEMs, more fun than intimate and while I have that ‘tug of war’ with Dark Sky in terms of analytical versus musical, I lean more musical with IE900.
Oriolus Isabellae ($599)
Isa is the gentle giant, or maybe sleeping giant - offering incredible value for the price point. Polite, relaxed tuning that to my ears, zooms in on ambient, vocals, acoustic and generally more subdued genres. My go-to when I just want to relax and not spend time trying to focus on the delivery, simply sit back and enjoy. Isa does a better job of ambient music in particular - there is a unique charm, allure and intimacy about the tuning that lends itself very well to this genre, allowing me to appreciate the music and not think about or get distracted by detail. When switching from Dark Sky to Isa, there is a dramatic drop in stage size and overall ‘wow’ factor. Bass falls off a cliff, mids step forward and treble leans more toward higher frequencies, but never harsh.
DUNU ZEN PRO ($899)
I participated in a recent tour of the DUNU ZEN PRO. This was open to existing owners of the original ZEN, the remit being to compare the new and improved PRO - small refinements that significantly enhanced the overall tuning. ZEN PRO stands out as the most balanced of this selection - performing very well with every genre but again, not with the same level of finesse that Dark Sky manages in areas of speciality such as jazz and others that have a clear focus on excellent timbre rendition of instruments and vocals. The stage is smaller, more like IE900 I would say in terms of width but doesn’t reach the same heights as Dark Sky. Bass doesn’t dig as deep but honestly, once my ears have tuned back to ZEN PRO, I don’t feel at a loss. Likewise there is more upper-end energy available from Dark Sky, a somewhat cooler hue in comparison which is what I believe injects more analytical capability - ZEN PRO has more foward mids also, adding enhanced emotion to the mix. ZEN PRO can comfortably allow micro focus as well as a cohesiveness of engagement but I feel leans more to the latter, I’m less inclined to focus on specific elements, but have the option to if I choose.
Conclusion
I have enjoyed my time getting to know Dark Sky over the last few weeks. They have challenged my existing understanding of the capabilities a single dynamic driver can deliver, and led me to listen to a lot of music that previously had less focus. I didn't expect an IEM to shift my music direction on a new path, but Dark Sky has certainly paved the way to more jazz, female vocals, and instrumental music - mostly of the more relaxed varities where to my ears, Dark Sky shines bright. The fact that I listen to a wide variety of genres has very much driven this quest to explore IEMs and I am clear where Dark Sky now sits in my collection, delighted it has broadened my listening horizons. Overall, I feel Dark Sky is an incredible performing dynamic driver that clearly a lot of passion has gone into its development.
