WARNING: VERY LONG POST
Firstly thank you
@Hawaiibadboy for this recc. Much love!
My 2 cents on the Fearless Audio S8 Freedom:
Please note that these are initial impressions that I have put in from 3 days of listening to them, so some things might be subject to change by the time the comprehensive review is out. However, these should be accurate for the most part as the only change I have seen so far is me and my brain adapting to this new signature and the acceptance rate has only grown over the days.
Skipping on build quality and accessories and the lot as my previous post shows them off in all glory which are truly beautiful to say the least.
Tips I am using : The stock tips that came with the BGVP DM6. Wide bore medium size as these go all the way down to the stem and leaves me with the nozzle right at the edge of the tips and this gives me the best results so far! (Pics attached on how they look)
Sound Impressions:
It’s interesting that Fearless Audio have gone the Harman Target Curve route with the S8F than your regular V, W, U or flat signature which makes it sound really unique (in a good way) on the whole!
Off the bat, these are an intense listen. Very intense and aggressive and not so polite atall. Pretty sure that sounds wrong in every sense of it, but that’s not the case happily! These aren’t the kind of earphones that’s going to color your music and make it smooth and ear pleasing one bit and neither is this the kind of listen which you can go to bed with for a soothing sweet dreams idea. On the contrary, it’s the kind which might wake you up from sleep (no pun intended).
When I say it’s an intense listen, the resolution of this set is so high, it just jumps out at you. Initially it was way more than atleast my brain could read and ears could handle….but am getting the hang of it now. These aren’t warm per say but have a very slight hint of warmness which by grace is the only thing that restrains it from sounding all dry and rough. To give you an idea….it’s way less warm than the BGVP DM6 and perhaps slightly less warm than the Andromeda too. Unlike the DM6 which is notorious for that mid bass bump, the S8F have removed that bloat on the mid bass and transferred most off it to the sub bass which is textured and taut to say the least. It is authoritative without being overpowering over anything in the mix. Bass is well textured and layered, with a quicker than average decay which I am quiet fond off now in all the new BA sets. It’s perhaps not as natural to the T as a DD in terms of bass naturalness and depth…..but its very close and nothing to complain off whatsoever. Listening to ‘Ocean’ by ‘Martin Garrix’……the bass lingering in the background is served with intent but in a textured layered manner and never breaks through into the mids. Perhaps the quick decay and super-fast transitions help here.
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Midrange:
Mids are not in a soup like that of the DM6 which is recessed and waiting to be revived with some magic. The mids are forward in a way that it’s not in your face like the Tin Audio T2 but is neither distant sounding either. Very unique placement of the mids on this set where it sounds very real and natural. The upper mids from around 4 to 4.5 kHz till around 6 kHz are accentuated by almost 2db to 3db above the general plane of the presentation and unlike having the kind of fatigue that’s caused with peaks on many BA sets, the accentuated nature of the upper mids presentation on the S8F is more of a plateau making it sound aggressive without being eerie and peaky or leading to sibilance of any sorts. People who think this might be a handful will be happy to know that you can PEQ them easily by -3db using something like UAPP on Android. Listening to the track ‘Youth’ by ‘Shawn Mendes’ on the S8F……I was actually surprised because his vocals actually have a slight coarseness and throatiness and full of texture which I heard for the very first time in a set. It generally is smoothed out / rounded off on most sets I have heard thus far.
Treble:
Treble is actually wow on the S8F. It’s not the airiest of the sets that I have heard till date but the tuning is absolutely brilliant. It portrays high hats with good energy and lends a very natural extension without ever getting into sibilance or splashiness of any sorts. Really good control and the tuning making it very vivid without any fatigue whatsoever. Listening to ‘Without Me’ by ‘Halsey’…….her high pitched passages easily pierces through most sets leading to sibilance or a weird ringing sensation whereas on the S8F its really natural and well controlled without sounding rolled off or subdued and still has the sharpness to make your hair really stand in a good way!
Imaging and Staging:
Imaging is really good and perceiving the location of instruments is rather pin-point. Soundstage is again very realistic but not the widest in business which I am not complaining off as I prefer a decently wide stage without it sounding artificially large or too claustrophobic. The S8F shows realism without exaggeration but it’s not as 3D and holographic as say something like the Andromeda. Even instrument separation on the whole is really nice with even the most complex sounding passages are easily decipherable and distinguished. The S8F has good width in its stage and rather exceptional height in terms of its scaling ability. Depth is what I would have wanted some more off…..but again….its nitpicking really. These do give you a feeling of not having 2 stems stuck into your ears, but an almost headphone like experience….and that’s saying something.
To Summarize:
These are for critical listening for the most part but has enough musicality put in the mix for it to never sound boring. The level of micro details and textures these bring with really well mastered tracks is bonkers. There will be a bunch of folks who are looking out fr something more polite and softer in the mids or something for casual listening and the S8F wont do them right in my opinion. Its a pretty simple principle that the S8F takes....its called GIGO or Garbage in Garbage out. Throw something low-fi in-terms of a badly mastered track or a poor quality lossy file at it and these will be one of the most unforgiving sets out there. HOWEVER, give the dog its bone and it will play ball with you everyday and make you feel special. The detailing and overall presentation does wow you over time and its hard going back to other sets in this price range or lower. Its pretty hard for me to go back to my DM6 because suddenly it feels like there is lack of micro detials that my ears have got used to playing with the S8F in 3 days time of acquiring them.
And talk value, these are definitely knocking on the doorsteps of TOTL land without really breaking the bank for around 500$.
And since this is all about the music.....
Ending this with one of the most well-presented songs I have heard on the S8F….’One’ by ‘Ed Sheeran’……the subtle ray of his breath at the start….. the micro details in the guitar picks.... the vocal textures….the stage and the atmosphere of the whole presentation is pure eargasm on the S8F!
