FAudio Spring

I'd never really taken much notice of Faudio. I'd certainly seen the Mezzo and had heard wonderful things about it but it didn't really connect that it was an Faudio set. I've also never been a great fan of single DD sets although I did enjoy the Oriolus Isabellae. I really just took a stab at this set as it's price is very reasonable and l'd read a few good things and obviously knew about Dark Sky's reputation. So I hit up Andrew at Musicteck and ordered one up! As always, a pleasure to deal with Andrew.



I received the Spring and was impressed with the package. Very nice presentation, two cleaning clothes, a nice bag of different tips, leather puck case, classy warranty card and an instruction booklet. It borrows a bit from the Sony Z1R style of box with a drawer you pull out from beneath the IEMS to get to the goodies.
Very well done. Especially at this price. The cable that comes with the Spring is quite lovely. It's 24 AWG OFC with French pure silver and a soft fiber jacket. Comes terminated at 4.4 thank goodness. I'm generally not in love with fiber jackets on cables but this one is extremely soft and amazingly flexible. It's as comfortable a cable as I've used. It's perhaps bringing me around to trying others in the future. It's also a gorgeous great that matches the shells of Spring beautifully.



The shells Are made of aluminum and the build quality is top notch. I do use the silicon covers for added seal and to avoid any possibly paint chipping. Great job here by Faudio.



On to the sound:

If a review could be as simple as “this iem makes the prettiest sounds” I’d do it. Overall I find it very balanced but not at all analytical or sterile. It reminds me of one of those masterful Xylophone players. The gymnastics from note to note can be hypnotic. It does everything well.

Treble: Is perfectly extended but not offensive and I’ve heard no sibilance at all. It’s a bright IEM but I almost don’t want to use that term. There is no excess of energy in the upper mids. Everything is smooth without being particularly warm or rounded. The detail level from this single DD is legitimately epic. Faudio has this dialed in so well that when I put in a hybrid or tribrid now it takes me a few days to get used to it again. And I’m always fighting the urge to pick Spring back up and just run off with her. They seem disorganized in comparison.

Mids are spot on. Not recessed or out front…just set exactly where they belong. Male vocals are stunningly accurate and realistic. Female vocals are soulful and intoxicating. Acoustic guitar plucks are eerily set in these amazing layers within the stage. You can feel them, as if Dave Matthews were sitting with you on the couch. Notes dance around daintily with acrobatic precision and feel surgical in their placement. Every single thing is placed perfectly.

The bass….hahah. You get the feeling that Spring is a bit short on low end punch? Nope! Sub bass it there and goes deep. Mid bass is punchy and extremely well textured. There is nothing about this set that is bass light…despite the rest of the range displaying pixie-like balancing acts and gymnastic artistry. It all works perfectly together as one grand and gorgeous sweet sound.
This little DD also loves power. It’s not difficult to drive but Spring will gladly take some serious juice and do wonders with it. I tested with the Dita Navigator and IDSD Signature Finale. It sounds wonderful on both but I definitely notice the increased grandness with the IFi amp.


In conclusion, I can’t really recommend this IEM any higher. At $638 it’s the steal of the year in my opinion. We all talk about sets that “punch above” their price but I truly believe Faudio could have picked their price with this one. I’ve been fortunate enough to own several wonderful IEMS in the last 6 months.

Spartacus
Bonneville
MESTmkiii
Camelot
Trio
Singularity
and I honestly think Spring is the one that has spoken to me and my preferences the most of any of them.


Bravo Faudio! Keep them coming!

Disclaimer: This is a demo unit from MusicTeck in return for my honest review.

Intro

FAudio is a Hong Kong company founded in 2014, they were known for build excellent dynamic driver IEMs. If you can recall the good old days, you will remember FAudio Major and Minor were quite a big hit in this hobby. I became a fan of them since then. Last year they released their 7th anniversary product-Mezzo LE which will be featured in this review. Although I wasn’t a big fan of Mezzo LE’s sound, I would still applaud its technical achievements. In this year, FAudio brought us their newest mid-tier release Spring.





Design and Fit

I am unsure about which “Spring” this IEM refers to, but from the design, I guess it is the season. The eye watering dark forest green is aesthetically attractive. The shape of Spring aligns with the previous releases—Major, Minor and Dark Sky. I have only good words about this design, it is unique, simple and extremely comfortable to wear. The aluminum shells are very light, you can barely feel anything in your ears and you can easily enjoy good music with them for hours and hours. It seems a very hard thing for the current IEMs manufacturers to make good sound in small shells, but again FAudio made it!


Sound

Since I received a demo set with no accessories and package, I will just jump directly to the sound section. I can also jump right to my conclusion: this is by far my biggest surprise of the year. It sounds so vivid and fun, the technical performance is illegal at this price. Maybe I was “persecuted” too much by this inflated IEMs market, I felt FAudio should charge a little more for this beautiful sound. I’d still love to pay somewhere around $1000 for them if they ask.


Bass

The bass from Spring leans toward the tight and controlled side. If you get tired of the boomy bass sound trend that is currently flowing in the market, Spring could be one of the fresh breezes that caress your face. The bass is not shy by any means, it hits hard and has solid rumbles when the music calls for. There is a noticeable sub-bass boost, but the decay and resonance are so well controlled. The bass sounds very accurate and articulate.

The bass from Spring is a perfect example of Quality over Quantity. It provides you with a solid bass line with enough attacks and rumbles, but it never bleeds over the threshold and always stays neutral. From sub-bass to mid-bass, Spring offers a very linear and natural transition. The sub-bass is deep with a lot of natural decay to remind you this is an authentic dynamic driver. The mid-bass is a bit tuned down to provide the audience with a neutral timbre. The sub-bass and mid-bass together made a very articulate imaging with fast attacks and tactile response. It is the type of bass I personally prefer over the boomy bass, especially in the mid-bass under 250hz.


Mids

The mid-range maintains the clean and controlled tuning from bass. This mid-range of Spring is extremely clean and very detailed. It is very easy to get tons of details from the mid-range, especially the upper-mid. The details at upper-mid are up-front and clearly pronounced. At the lower-mid Spring offers a neutral and slightly lean presentation. These two frequencies combined give spring a neutral, forward, clear, and highly resolving mid-range. I found it is great for acoustic music and female vocals. For male vocal it is tip depending and source depending. With fuller sound, organic daps like, AK SE300 Cayin N30LE and LP P6Pro the male vocal is very enjoyable as well. If you happened to have a reference tuning DAP like some of the Lotoo offerings, pair a Eletech Baroque or Symbio W clear can make it sounds fuller.


Treble

The treble of Spring is the unique part of this IEMs. It has brightness and engaging factors, but the timbre is kept in a soft texture. It is very well extended but still laidback. You got a lot of upper-mid/ lower-treble sparkles combined with a very airy super-high frequency to avoid the metallic tones. The cymbal from Spring is one of the best I have ever heard. It sounds realistic and engaging. The incredible amount of air is just like the cherry on the top.

The potential downside of this airy treble tuning is that it may lose some physicality when playing violins and other string instruments. It also doesn’t the attacks when the guitar distortion is needed in rock or metal tracks.

Soundstage

Spring focuses more on the soundstage width than depth. It offers a more expansive/blossom shape soundstage rather than a spherical soundstage. The separation is definitely above the average for IEMs below $1000. As a matter of fact, the separation of Spring is comparable to a lot of more expensive competitors. For orchestras, Spring can handle complex music effortlessly. Spring gives a horizontally wide imaging, and each section of the instrument’s groups are separated accurately.

Comparison

Spring VS Mezzo LE



This is a very interesting in-house comparison. Mezzo LE as the limited flagship model is configured with 2 BA and 1DD and 1 double-layout piezoelectric driver, versus one single dynamic driver in the Spring. Both IEMs share a similar tuning signature. Both Mezzo LE and Spring are tuned to be neutral with a lot of details. The major differences are Mezzo LE offers more body throughout the spectrum. It is more noticeable when you turn all three switches up (rock/metal/EDM tuning). The sub-bass has similar quantity between Spring and Mezzo LE, but Mezzo LE hits slightly harder in the mid-bass and has better bass texture and physicality. In the mid-range, Spring and Mezzo sound really close, despite the Mezzo LE using 2 BA drivers for this particular range, Spring is still that same dynamic driver. The Mezzo LE has a good amount of details in the mid-range, especially in the upper-mid, but Spring doesn’t fall short at all in terms of the detail retrieval. I was surprised considering there is a more than $1000 difference in prices. In treble, Spring is airier than Mezzo LE, Mezzo LE offers better texture and more layers.

Overall, Mezzo LE sounds more organic and thicker than Spring. But the technical performance of these two are very close, much closer than the prices suggested.

Spring VS TS-316



Spring and TS-316 are more relevant competitors. At the $500-700 price range, both of them hold extraordinary value. In terms of comfort and weight, Spring takes a clear lead. It is lighter and the stock cable is softer with better ergonomic. TS-316 is not much heavier than Spring, but the stock cable is noticeably thicker and stiffer than Spring’s stock cable. In terms of sound signature, Spring is neutral with slight treble boost, TS-316 is Harmen with a slight bass boost. The biggest advantage of Spring is the airy treble and extremely wide soundstage. TS-316 on the other hand, has a very natural and impactful sub-bass, the soundstage is a lot deeper than Spring, making it overall more versatile. The resolution and details between these two are very close, TS-316 has clearer and stronger bass details, Spring offers more sparkles and treble details.

Conclusion

Spring is a very unique offering. At the sub $1000 price bracket, there are plenty of IEMs that are tuned neutral but too safe without any signature’s standout. Spring has a very balanced and neutral tuning, and on top of it, it offers a unique and airy treble. The treble alone is good enough to let these beautiful IEMs stand out from its competitors. For a lot of audiophiles “treble heavy” might be a banned word in their preference, because oftentimes “treble heavy” is associated with “overly bright” or “fatiguing”. Spring is one of the few IEMs that pays great attention to the details in treble. It is never too bright and almost laidback. It really brings out a relaxed, airy and inoffensive treble that can rarely be found at this price.