Fearless Roland Review

Fit

I’ve mentioned the compact structure of the Roland above and this is key for its overall fit experience. Indeed the IEM fits really good, with a low profile design for a Tri-Hybrid driver IEM. The nozzles are deep enough to achieve a flush fit with good isolation. You can also adjust the position of the supplied tips for a deeper insertion.

Isolation is one of the best I’ve experienced among universal monitors with foam tips, which you can’t find in the package. Fearless only provides silicone tips with several sizes instead. The tips have very good quality and they stick to the nozzle tightly. I really liked these tips but it would’ve been nice to have some foams as well. But there’s no problem regarding the fit of the Roland, as it almost feels like a custom monitor.

Package Content

The IEM arrives in a big black box with a very impressive, slick looking packaging design. However it is somewhat confusing in my opinion. The picture on the outer area reflects a Custom IEM. In fact, there’s a text on the front side that says “the saga of custom-made earphones”. There’s nothing on the box that indicates this is the Fearless Roland. I heard some news about Fearless Audio changing the package design, so I’m not sure if this is the finalized box.

Fearless Roland

When you open up the package you’re welcomed with a very influential sight that oozes quality. There’s an envelope that contains some user instructions and warranty information. On the other side you see a very large cleaning cloth with the Fearless logo. Once you take that one out, you’re welcomed by the earphones and the carrying case.

Under the large foam that stores the IEMs and the carrying case, there are 6 pairs of silicone ear-tips. Strangely, you can’t take the plastic part out which stores the ear-tips themselves. It is literally glued to the box. So this is somewhat odd, but maybe it’s good for keeping the package content intact.

The carrying case has a gray color with a nice smooth surface in a round shape. It feels quite soft and elegant in the hand, and there’s just enough room to fit your Roland inside. I really liked this carrying case, more so than the S12’s, which actually is bigger than this one. The case is simply elegant and genuine.

Tip-wise this is not the richest content. There aren’t any foam tips supplied, and you have 6 pairs of silicone tips. The tips have really good quality but I would’ve liked to have more pairs in this case.

Sound

The Fearless Roland sounds warm, natural, very organic and cohesive at the same time, emphasizing timbre of the instruments in its presentation. The main thing with the Roland to me is its good tonality, natural body and mid-range quality, which are all achieved at a high level. Overall it’s easily an IEM that leans more to the dark and warm side, creating a romantic sound with good technical skills.

Bass

Bass is definitive, tight and well textured in the Roland, which is especially apparent in the mid-bass section, providing a nice warmth and base for the whole sound. There’s plenty of bass actually but it’s not big, and it’s not like bloated or uncontrolled. It has authority and slam when needed, but it’s definitely not a bass-head IEM.

Fearless Roland

The lows have good decay but the sub-bass section is not very apparent so you should be aware of that if you’re into EDM music. Other than that, the Roland is a very good all-rounder with its bass, giving both quantity and quality together. I think the amount of bass is enough with many genres, but if you listen to the types that require a huge kick and rumble, the Roland doesn’t give that.

The good thing is that, despite the plentyness of mid-bass, Roland separates it from the mids nicely, so the mid section is very clean. Overall bass control and the texture are really good with the Roland and I liked its body and balance. The negative thing here is the quickness though. I heard faster bass with different monitors but Roland is not one of them. It is not bad at all, and it actually wouldn’t be a problem – depending on your favorite music – but I wanted to point that weakness out.

Mids

The Roland creates a very natural mid reproduction with good resolution and transparency. The mids have good detail, good tonality and dynamics as well. You can hear every little detail with the instruments and vocals. So the Roland doesn’t suffer from anything in the resolution & transparency part, apart from being slightly behind of the TOTL range.

Things are especially great when it comes to tonality. Unlike the S12, the note size is really good, and the timbre is spot on. Furthermore, as I’ve remarked, the IEM has great body in the mid-bass section. As a result, the notes easily have that necessary foundation to sound lively and organic.

Fearless Roland

The mid section is also very smooth and non-fatiguing. In the overall presentation I can also say that the mids are slightly elevated when compared to bass and treble. Clarity-wise things are OK but not the best around, and there’s a lack of air in the mid area that can result with a little bit congested sound sometimes.

So overall this is not the best IEM for you if you like Etymotic IEMs for example, or something like Noble Khan. It’s not that clean sounding. It instead sounds like the old Kaiser 10 in this area with good body and thickness with nice tonality, but not with the best separation and space. I found the overall resolution to be very good though

The review continues on PAGE 3 by clicking here using the page numbers below

3.3/5 - (193 votes)
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A keen audiophile and hobby photographer, Berkhan is after absolute perfection. Whether it is a full-frame camera or a custom in-ear, his standpoint persists. He tries to keep his photography enthusiasm at the same level as audio. Sometimes photography wins, sometimes his love for music takes over and he puts that camera aside. Simplistic expressions of sound in his reviews are the way to go for him. He enjoys a fine single malt along with his favourite Jazz recordings.

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