FatFreq Grand Maestro Impressions
FatFreq are a relatively new IEM manufacturer from Singapore that have garnered much hype in recent months. I personally became aware of the brand from reading impressions of last year's CanJam SoCal. Their IEM products are offered in four distinct categories:
- Musician = Designed for stage performers
- Reference = Designed for studio users
- Signature = Appears to be their higher end professional IEMs for both stage and studio, however FatFreq have not stated this explicitly afaik.
- Maestro = Designed for audiophiles.
As the name suggests, Grand Maestro is FatFreq’s latest product in the Maestro series, superseding Maestro SE as their flagship and most expensive IEM in the line-up coming in at SGD $3,599.
I purchased a Maestro SE (MSE) in January of this year, and I have to say, its tuning coupled with its solid technicalities and relatively low price (for TOTL IEM standards) has made it one of the best IEM purchases I have made since being in this portable audio hobby. As a lover of electronic music, MSE is the closest thing I’ve heard to a live concert/festival/rave presentation in an IEM. Its tuning is comprised of a gigantic sub bass elevation that gives bass notes the ability to be literally felt in my core, which in and of itself isn’t all that ground-breaking given how many bass boosted IEMs are in the market these days, however, what makes MSE special is how it manages to present this amount of sub bass while maintaining a fast and punchy mid bass response, clean mids free of bleed, and proper treble extension without sounding incoherent or overly unnatural (relatively speaking).
Given my extremely positive experience with MSE, it felt only natural to want to try their newest flagship offering and see if FatFreq can take my listening experience one step further.
Grand Maestro (I’ll refer to as GM from this point) has the exact same driver configuration as MSE. 1 DD for lows, 7 BA’s for mids, and 4 ESTs for treble. Outside of the fundamental tuning differences between MSE and GM which I’ll expand on later, GM offers two quality of life features over MSE; a tuning switch designed to enhance/reduce vocals, and a pressure relief module system FatFreq have named “NOAH” that’s similar to 64 audio’s APEX module system which can also be used to further tune the sound to your liking.
Unboxing, Accessories, Design and Build Quality
Normally I don’t care too much about unboxings, but I feel it necessary to mention it here because I believe this is probably the most controversial part of the GM experience and something FatFreq have the most room for improvement.
When I received my GM from
@MusicTeck (thanks again Andrew!) and opened the mailing box, I was surprised to simply find a leather case, a box of Azla Max tips, and literally zero packaging. I’m in two minds about how I feel about this. On the one hand, I think it’s great to not have to store yet another unnecessary packaging box and I can certainly see the benefit to this from a sustainability standpoint as well as being cheaper to ship when I do eventually sell these IEMs. But on the other hand, this is an expensive product, and it would’ve been nice to at least have some sort of packaging to open to make me feel like I’m getting my money’s worth, as well as somewhere to store the extra accessories instead of keeping them with the IEMs in the leather case.
The other glaring omission is the lack of any extra swappable tuning modules. I reached out to MusicTeck to confirm whether it was just a case of the modules being missed from my unit, but FatFreq confirmed that the additional modules have to be purchased separately for SGD $130 and do not come included in the box if you buy a unit from MusicTeck. To me this seems like a massive miss on FatFreq’s part, especially because they advertise GM as having 4 tuneable bass settings which is simply not true out of the box.
I’m unsure of the material specs and/or geometry of the included cable but it appears to be some sort of copper/silver hybrid in a 2-wire twisted braid. It feels comfortable and pliable, with minimal microphonics. I like the interchangeable 2.5mm/3.3mm/4.4mm jack and the hardware looks a lot nicer than the MSE upgrade cable.
The high quality Azla Max tips as well as the stock silicone tips are also a nice inclusion.
MSE is one of the larger universal IEM’s I’ve used, and GM follows in its footsteps, however, there appears to be some minor ergonomic differences which make a substantial improvement to comfort in real world use, at least for my ears.
The stock faceplate design is absolutely gorgeous IMHO. No complaints at all.
Sound Impressions – Tuning switch down
All impressions were with my Sony WM1ZM2 DAP, stock cable and SpinFit CP155 tips. I'll include some impressions of DAP, cable and tip rolling once I've done further testing.
I’d categorise this as a fairly strong U shape tuning with boosted sub bass and upper treble with a midrange that leans slightly towards the upper mids, giving vocals and instruments excellent clarity and resolution with a clean characteristic.
Bass
Coming from MSE as my benchmark of what FatFreq are able to produce when it comes to bass, my expectations were high for GM, and I think it absolutely delivers. The sub bass isn’t as elevated as MSE’s, giving midbass a little more prominence, however it most certainly still leans towards sub bass overall. The mid bass, while slightly more elevated than MSE’s, is still remarkably fast, tight and punchy. Personally, I prefer GM’s bass tuning to MSE’s because to my ears it sounds more “complete” for lack of a better term. There were times when I listened to MSE and felt the sub bass is almost too much and lacking some control by not having enough mid bass to even it out. I don’t get that feeling at all with GM.
Mids
There’s no going around the fact that GM’s lower midrange is recessed in this tuning configuration. That’s not to say that the mid notes are overly thin or limp, however. Whilst they most certainly lean to the thinner side of the spectrum, the tonal balance between lower and upper mids is still there and I’m not left with a feeling of something missing, which is more than I can say about MSE’s midrange. That said, if you mostly listen to music that requires more body and thickness through the midrange then I’d probably suggest looking elsewhere.
Treble
This is where things diverge the most from MSE. GM’s treble has a noticeably higher level of emphasis from the mid and upper treble regions, making the whole presentation sound a lot more energetic and exciting. The quality of treble is nothing short of excellent, with immense clarity, air and sparkle that is smooth and fatigue free. If you’re familiar with Elysian Acoustic Labs IEMs like Annihilator or X, you’ll feel right at home with GM’s treble. Camelphat’s “Breathe (Dark Matter Edit)” is my usual upper treble test track and the sheer amount detail coming through GM on this track is simply incredible. GM will now sit on top or at least equal to the best of the best IEM’s I’ve heard for treble.
That said, I doubt this type of treble tuning would appeal to everyone, especially those that are sensitive to upper treble. The elevated treble combined with the recessed midrange could potentially sound unnaturally thin and lacking texture for listeners of more instrumental or vocal-centric music so as usual, ymmv here.
Technicalities
I’m not sure if it's simply a case of perception due to the large quantity of upper treble or some other tweak to the drivers but GM sounds a level above MSE when it comes to soundstage depth and height, as well as detail retrieval. GM has a large, open presentation that images very precisely across the stage with impressive macro-dynamic contrasting. There’s not really much else I can say about GM’s technical performance other than it is excellent and I can’t perceive any particular weaknesses that are worthy of note.
Sound impressions – tuning switch up
I’m going to be very brief here because I straight up do not like this tuning. The bass and treble are pulled right back and the mids are brought forward, but the midrange tonality doesn’t really change. To me this makes vocals sound shouty and exacerbates the colder tonality without sufficient bass to balance it out. I’m sure there are genres where this would work well, but for my library and preferences it’s way off the mark.
Comparisons
Grand Maestro vs Maestro SE
I’ve referenced MSE throughout this post so if you’re reading this, I hope you already have an idea of how they stack up. But to reiterate, MSE has a bigger sub bass elevation with a little less midbass. The mids are similarly voiced, both leaning towards the leaner side of the spectrum but not to the point of being completely thin. Where they differ is in the treble with MSE being more relaxed, compared to GM’s more energetic and exciting treble tuning. A result of that tuning is that GM sounds more open and expansive, with better stage depth and height and a better sense of detail retrieval.
Grand Maestro vs Fir Radon 6 (red atom module)
Quite different presentations between these two but they’re both versatile with their pressure relief systems. I listen to RN6 using the red Atom module which is the least isolating. RN6 is significantly fuller and warmer through the midrange with a heavier mid bass response. Treble has a bit less upper treble air. GM overall sounds leaner and more revealing. Staging is bigger on GM in all directions, sounding much more open and expansive. GM also sounds more detailed and resolving at the expense of some texture and body. Sub bass is more elevated and goes deeper on GM.
I’ll add some more comparisons to this post once I’ve tested it against other IEMs in due course.
Overall thoughts
As a big electronic music fan, Grand Maestro ticks all the boxes. Amazing bass, amazing treble, gobs of detail, strong dynamics, highly detailed and clean midrange, and a massive soundstage. All this comes at the sacrifice of some midrange warmth that some might find unnatural sounding. Also, the more treble sensitive ears (specifically upper treble) may find it a bit too airy. People hoping for a direct upgrade to MSE will probably need to temper their expectations because I don’t believe GM is that. Whilst it is indeed more technical, the tuning differences make them two very different sounding IEMs, and each have their own strengths. I’ve heard rumours that FatFreq are working on a module that will bring GM’s sound closer to MSE, which I hope is true so I can sell MSE and recoup some funds lol. The vocal switch is a cool feature but it's something I personally won’t use very much I don’t think.
