NF Acous NM20's Review - A refreshing take
General/Build/Packaging/Comfort
NF Acous, formerly known as 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. The RA15 which I had reviewed previously shows that NF Acous is diversifying their target audience to the audiophile market as well. The NM20 that I have with me today is touted as a professional series from the brand. It is a single dynamic driver with a frosted surface as well as a mixture of aluminium for the shell. The size is rather small and it is very lightweight and comfortable to wear for a long period of time. The only gripe that i have with it is the earhook which is slightly stiff for me and causes me to lose seal, the workaround is to just remould the earhook with some heat or to use a different eartip(Spinfit W1). Worth mentioning is the patented Clutter Trap tech, snippet from the product page “ Reduce the reflected sound, making the sound purer by 5 air pressure controlling damping nets and 2 tuning sponges. Adjust the air pressure balance between the front and rear, providing a better reference class sound”
Packaging is very nice and the unboxing experience is very positive and premium looking in my opinion. It comes with the MS42 eartips from the brand, the case is also a brand new design according to the rep. Purely nitpicking, I do wish it has the option to go for 4.4 or 3.5mm termination.
Gears used for this review
Aune S9C
Macbook Air M2 3.5 Out
NM20 with stock cable and eartips
iBasso DX180, Sony ZX300
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
The NM20’s tuning is leaning towards a slight V shape and it has quite a bit of energy on the top end which I personally think is a house sound/signature of NF Acous. Timbre sounds very natural to my ears and it has quite a good body to it overall with sufficient note weight to it.
Bass
Bass on the NM20 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 is slightly more prominent compared to mid bass and rumbles when the track calls for it, the transition to mid bass is also fairly smooth
The speed is also excellent on the NM20, 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 borderline shouty depending on tracks, but i am not that sensitive to it so overall it is very pleasant for me, 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 NM20 is energetic but not harsh nor sibilant
Good amount of air and presence and contributed to good sense of staging and imaging as well, resolution is very good for the asking price
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 NM20 is good for the price, 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
Imaging is also a strong point for NM20 as well, instruments can be pinpointed easily even on complex tracks such as Slipknot’s People = Shit!, well layered and good separation, i even play games with it, enemies sneaking up on you can be heard quite clearly
Driveability
The NM20 is not hard to drive, any mid range dongle will do just fine
It scales quite well with source whereby not so much on the amplification
Pairing it with Sony’s ZX300 tilts the overall spectrum to the slightly warmer side with a thicker note weight, whereas on the DX180, it is not as warm but quite dynamic overall
Comparison (Simgot Supermix 4)
The tuning of Simgot’s Supermix 4 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 NM20 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 Supermix 4 is punchy and more focussed on mid bass rather than sub bass, extension is not as good as NM20
Treble is slightly smoother on Supermix 4
Supermix 4 is easy to drive and scales with better source, similar to NM20, but doesn’t benefit much from amplification based on my listening impression
Final Thoughts
I have a very positive experience with the NM20 and I definitely look forward to trying out their upcoming products from NF Acous when I have the chance. NM20 is a solid product overall that offers good sonic performance, at the same time, showcasing the direction that NF Acous is heading after the rebranding, exciting times ahead i would say.
With all things considered, this is not to say that NM20 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 treble can be slightly smoother while retaining the extension,it would make the overall listening experience more “musical”. All in all, the NM20 is definitely worth recommending if you are looking for something different in this current industry.
*NM20 is being sent over for the purpose of this review. I thank NF Acous 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!
*The website also received a total overhaul with a very refreshing look, head to the link below to check it out!
NF Acous NM20 - Non affiliated link
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