Review : Fearless Audio S8F – Better… Again !

Bundle and Comfort

Inside the box

When I received the Fearless S8F, I was mildly disappointed.

Not because of the bundle, that would be unfair, but because I received them in a S10 Genie box. So yeah, I thought I’d be reviewing the 10 drivers, and even began to hyperventilate, checking what kind of sources would be adequate.

Alas, I should have checked the small stickers, at the bottom of the box. “S8F – 8 driver IEM”, that’s what was written as Fearless, I assume, packaged the S8F in the wrong box but found out at a later time.

Still, I think the package must be quite the same and unlike the S6 Rui, the S8F comes in a rather fancy box. Even though, the bundle remains pretty dire :

  • the Fearless Audio S8 Freedom
  • a blue box, made of pleather
  • 6 pairs of silicon spin fits
  • a 0.78mm 2-pin 8N OCC Silver Plated Cable
  • the aluminium warranty card

There were no memory foam tips, which is a shame as a vast majority of the listeners only use that type of tip. But, I assume that must be because the box was not the right one. Usually, I would have expected them to be inside the box, but that was not the case, even after tearing up the whole ordeal.

Last but not least, you also get a very clean metal card that displays all the information regarding warranty, contact and the name of the person who built your IEM.

Additional accessories

Like every custom manufacturer, Fearless audio gives you a large range of options to customize your S8F. From the colour of the shell, to the design of your face plate, there are a lot of options available.

The 2-Pin socket is a standard and you should not have any issue to change to aftermarket cables, if you want to. I stuck with the default one, because I like it, very much. Quick advice, check if your new cable fits the recessed socket, just to be sure.

Comfort

Once you’ve chosen the right tips, you can fit the Fearless S8F in your ear and find the obvious truth : they are damn comfy.

Semi-custom shape remains the best option up to this day, if you’re not confident enough to venture into the CIEM territory. It fills the whole ears so you get the perfect balance of comfort and isolation.

Good news, for a mere 60 bucks, you can get them as full custom In-Ear. I don’t think that’s mandatory but if you want to get to the upper level, that’s the way to go. And since all CIEM makers accept 3D-scans, it is even simpler than ever before.

The cable blocks the majority of microphonics, so even if you’re a bearded one, or like to wear big jackets, you should not be bothered. So yeah, all seems good so far.

Isolation

Perfect with the silicon tips, even better with memory foam such as Comply tips. Yet, I’ll stick with the silicon tips.

The article continues on Page Three, after the click here

4.8/5 - (169 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.

5 Comments

  • Reply August 8, 2019

    Justin

    Correction: Unless they changed spec recently, the S8 Pro also comes with 3 tubes. At least the one I had, did 😉

  • Reply August 11, 2019

    Filippo

    As an S8F owner i agree with your review….. I love my new babies so much that i’m losing hours of sleep ’cause i listen to music for hours on end. The only downside is that they are so much revealing that i’m starting to hear the limits of my LG V30 ( something that never happened to me with the Etymotic ER3XR )…. so here’s the 500$ question : better save for the Fiio M11 Pro ( or similar priced DAP) or bundle my LGV30 with the Chord Mojo??
    Thank you fellow Music Lovers

    • Reply August 19, 2019

      Janis

      Try the iBasso DC01 with your LG V30. It’s as cheap as an upgrade can be and beats the M11 in sound quality. I’m rocking a Oneplus One 5T, Fearless S8 Freedom, a balanced cable by Tripowin, I believe it’s the C8 and the ibasso DC01.

      Sounds terrific!

  • Reply August 20, 2019

    Mantas

    Fearless S8 Freedom or FIIO FH7? Help me to deside.
    I’m looking for warmer sound with deep authoritive sub base notes.

  • Reply August 21, 2019

    Dilip vishwanath

    Can you compare the s8f and the fh7, I’ll be upgrading from the beyerdynamic dx160ie

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