Review : Fearless Audio Crystal Pearl – We are the crystal gems

Disclaimer : The Fearless Audio Crystal Pearl was sent to us free of charge in exchange for our honest opinion by Linsoul. Their retail price is 199€/$ and you can find them in the Linsoul store directly.

About Fearless Audio

Founded in 2012, Fearless audio produces IEMs and CIEMs for professional users. I didn’t know the brand prior to this review, but thanks to Linsoul, I’m widening my range of knowledge every month.

fearless logo

Even though they’ve been making IEMs for more than 7 years now, Fearless only began to experiment with 3D-printed model in 2016. If that sounds early to you, let’s recall how far this technology has come in just a few years. Today you, if you want, can choose custom-fit IEMs or universals, for just a fraction of what it cost a few years ago, and that’s, in my opinion, all thanks to brands like Fearless.

And this time, we have the cheapest option of the lot : the Fearless Audio Crystal Pearl. Fun fact : I may be the only one, but during the whole writing I had the generic of Steven universe ringing in my head. Constantly.

The SX Series

Unsurprisingly, Fearless offers a wide range of models to fit everybody’s tastes and budget.

Start

The Fearless Audio Start is the entry-level IEM from the brand. It doesn’t look much different from any modern UIEM as it offers a CIEM-like shape, to cover the whole ear. Once fitted in your ear, none can see if you’re wearing a custom or a standard IEM.

Inside, there is a 10mm dynamic driver with a Diamond Like Carbon diaphragm, something we’ve recently seen inside iBasso’s IT01S in-ears. There is an option to choose which color you want, and the cable can be swapped thanks to 2-pin socket.

Crystal Pearl

The Crystal Pearl is the latest IEM produced by Fearless Audio. They are supposed to sit just above the Start and they get two balanced drivers instead of a dynamic one.

crystal pearl

Design wise it looks very cool, but more on that later. For now, let’s keep looking at Fearless portfolio

S4

The S4 is a four balanced driver IEM with a 3-way crossover. It mixes a dual Bass Driver from Sonion with two Knowles driver for mid-frequencies and trebles, a fairly common architecture in this range.

The IEM comes with DDP Technology and can be customized, be it custom-fitted or universal. Price is still low for this type of in-ear, so I’m curious to see how that may sound.

S5H / S5T

The Fearless audio S5 comes in two editions. The S5H which is a five-drivers IEM “suitable for music production and stage production” whereas the S5T shows a “strong sense of low-frequency”. Basically, the S5T is a bass-boosted S5H with a prominent low end, to please the bass-lovers out there.

S6 RUI / Pro

We’ve already reviewed the Fearless S6 Rui, a 6 driver IEM with impressive performance and punchy bass. You can read our review here, but in the meantime, here is a snippet :

“The S6 Rui are well-built, comfortable and can even be picked as custom in-ear. Honestly, if you’re a bit curious or are keen to widen your horizon, listen to them. “

S8 Pro / S8 Freedom

The S8 is an eight balanced driver IEM in a 4-way crossover configuration. It’s like the S4 but the brand doubles-down on every driver : 2x ultra-low, 2x medium-low, 2x medium-high and 2x ultra-high.

There is also a different tuning, labeled as S8 Pro and S8 Freedom. The first one is tuned to fit performers and music producers whereas the second one is supposed to suit music listeners and audiophiles. Also, the impedance for the Pro version is 10 ohms lower, at 15 ohms instead of 25 ohms, so it should be easier to drive.

S10 Genie

The Fearless Audio S10 Genie is a ten balanced driver IEM with a 4-Way Crossover. It’s not anything special now as you can see more and more IEMs in the two-digits area, what’s surprising here is the low asking price.

There is not much information regarding the Fearless audio S10, but the architecture is described on the website : 2x dual ultra-low, 1x dual Low-mid and 2x dual Mid-high. Impedance is low at 13 ohms and sensitivity reaches 115dB/mW, so this should be easy to drive.

Spoiler alert : I received them and review is incoming.

ACME

With only 8 drivers, the Acme is announced as Fearless Audio’s flagship, over the S10 Genie. It’s not very different from the S8 Pro and S8 Freedom if you only look at the specs, but that is only half of the truth.

Y2K

The Fearless Audio Y2K is a very special case. First, it costs a whopping 4,399$. Second, it’s not just a 10 Balanced driver in-ear, it comes with its own amplifier. A very special amplifier.Basically, the Y2K is a tuning system that allows you to sets your IEM as close of what perfection should be for each listener.

It’s the same kind of material you use to parameter your CIEM/IEM before launch, and I find it pretty cool to get a chance to own this kind of setup. Just writing it, I want to get/buy one !

Now let’s take a look at the Fearless Audio Crystal Pearl.

The review continues on Page Two, after the click HERE or by using the jump below.

4.1/5 - (15 votes)
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A nerdy guy with a passion for audio and gadgets, he likes to combine his DAC and his swiss knife. Even after more than 10 years of experience, Nanotechnos still collects all gear he gets, even his first MPMAN MP3 player. He likes spreadsheets, technical specs and all this amazing(ly boring) numbers. But most of all, he loves music: electro, classical, dubstep, Debussy : the daily playlist.

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