NF Audio RA15's Review - Slowly gaining traction
General/Build/Packaging/Comfort
NF Audio is a brand that caters mostly to pro musicians in Mainland China as well as outside of China, they offer both stage use IEMs as well as IEMs for audiophiles, but the main focus is still on pro musicians based on the offerings. They are slowly venturing into the audiophile’s market, offering IEMs with tunings suitable to most audiophiles. I have the RA15 with me today, it is touted as a musical’s series from NF Audio. It is a single dynamic driver with full metal shell, and comes with an interchangeable nozzle which alters the sound signature based on the nozzle installed.
Packaging is very nice and the unboxing experience is very positive and premium looking in my opinion. It comes with the MS42 eartips from NF Audio, purely nitpicking, I do wish it has the option to go for 4.4 or 3.5mm termination.
In terms of build quality, it is very solid and the overall unit is not heavy nor protruding edges which might cause discomfort.
Gears used for this review
Aune S9C
Macbook Air M2 3.5 Out
NF Audio RA15 with stock cable and stock eartips (Gold Nozzle)
Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far
Sound Impression ( Gold Nozzle )
The RA15’s tuning is leaning towards V shaped and it has plenty of energy on the top end. Timbre sounds very natural to my ears and it has quite a good body to it overall with sufficient note weight to it. I have nothing against V shaped tuning, personally i think in order to enjoy music, there has to be some sort of colorization to it, but that is just me and my
opinion and i do not represent the majority of the audiophiles out there. Timbre sounds fairly natural to my ears
Bass
Bass on the RA15 is not lacking by all means, It is punchy has good quality bass with sufficient quantity, but certainly not a set where i would recommend to basshead
It has good textures and body to it, doesn’t sound loose and thin
Mid bass has good slam and punch to it, listening to Metallica’s Lux Aeterna is very pleasing as every hit on the drum be can felt
Sub bass rumble is there when the track calls for it, doesn’t really extend that deep, it is evident in Hans Zimmer’s Why So Serious, slightly lacking the rumble
The speed is also excellent on the RA15, handling complex tracks with ease without sounding muddy and bleeding into the mids
Mids
The midrange is good with sufficient note weight, not sounding too thin and vocal positioning is not too forward nor laid back
Female vocal has good energy to it and good texture
Male vocal that has low baritone voice such as Zhao Peng retains the warmth and texture to it, it doesn’t sound thin at all, very pleasant experience
The upper mids are not shouty at all and it does very well in terms of giving the female vocal a slight boost
Slightly recessed in the mids, but not really a deal breaker
Treble
Treble response on the RA15 is energetic but not harsh nor sibilant
On the stock silver nozzle, the treble can be too much to handle for those who are sensitive to treble
Good amount of air and presence and contributed to good sense of staging and imaging as well
Detail retrieval is good and i can hear the nuances distinctively without having to try hard, an example of such track is Faye Wang’s 旋木，the finger slides from the guitar can be heard easily
Soundstage/Imaging
Soundstage for RA15 is good for the price, having a good sense of width, depth, a little lacking in height but very good overall. It is quite spacious sounding, listening to orchestral or live tracks is very enjoyable on the RA15
Imaging is also a strong point for RA15 as well, instruments can be pinpointed easily even on complex tracks such as Slipknot’s People = Shit!, well layered and good separation
Driveability
RA15 is not hard to drive, give it something like Apple’s Dongle is actually sufficient to get good sound and listening volume out of it
It scale very well with source whereby not so much on the amplification
Sound Impression on Silver Nozzle
From the bass response to the mids, it is more or less similar sounding to my ears
Vocal positioning however is more forward compared to red ring nozzle
Female vocal is even more lively compared to red ring nozzle, this is due to an early rise on the upper mids, i find the female vocal to be very enjoyable on this nozzle, but i can’t say the same for those who are sensitive with the upper mids boost, do take into consideration that your experience might vary
Soundstage is slightly smaller on this nozzle, but imaging capability is excellent
The treble is also being boosted to give more resolution and better perceived detail retrieval capability
I would say this is a more of an analytical kind of tuning compared to the gold nozzle which is slightly tame on the top end with slightly thicker note weight
Comparison (Simgot EA500LM Gold Nozzle)
The tuning of Simgot’s EA500LM is more on the harmanish side, overall note weight i would say they are more or less quite similar
Soundstage is just slightly out of your head compared to RA15 which has a wider and bigger perception of stage, imaging is more or less similar
Mids are forward on the EA500LM and the upper mids might be perceived as slightly offensive for those who are sensitive in this region
Mid bass on the EA500LM is not as punchy, sub bass does have a slightly better extension compared to RA15
Treble is slightly smoother on the EA500LM
The EA500LM is easy to drive and scales with better source, similar to RA15, but doesn’t benefit much from amplification based on my listening impression
Final Thoughts
I have a very positive experience with the RA15 and I definitely look forward to trying out their upcoming products when I have the chance. RA15 is a solid product overall that offers versatility with the swappable nozzle, although this is nothing new in the industry, but it does offer the user to switch to different kinds of tuning whenever they feel like it. With all things considered, this is not to say that RA15 is perfect and without flaws, or perhaps i shouldn’t say flaws because i’d be instilling my own preferences instead of properly reviewing the IEM itself, i would say if the sub bass quantity is slightly boosted while retaining the same quality and control over it, it would make the overall listening experience more “musical”, also a slightly tame treble on both nozzle would make the overall note weight sound thicker. All in all, the RA15 is paving the path for NF Audio and personally I think they are on the right track. The RA15 gets a recommendation from me if you are not that sensitive to the treble region.
*RA15 is being sent over for the purpose of this review. I thank NF Audio for the opportunity. I am not influenced in any way to produce this review nor do I receive any monetary compensation.
Head over to the following link if you are interested in getting a pair!
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