Pros
Treble lover’s paradise
Perfect for monitoring on stage and in studio
For discerning audiophiles
Great built quality and fit
Excels with natural instruments like strings
Reveals bad recordings
Cons
No 4.4mm termination option
NF Acous Review
I am an audiophile from sunny South Africa doing reviews to further awareness for the wonderful hobby of portable audio in my country. I hope that by my reviews more young people can get involved and enjoy the wonder of these little sound making marvels. The NF Acous NM20 was sent to me for my honest observation and I will aim to give my opinion and how I perceive these in-ear monitors. The package took 21 days to arrive from China and dealing with the company representative just like before is just such a pleasurable experience. NF Acous has celebrated their company’s ten-year anniversary this year and they were formerly known as NF Audio. This NM20 is an upgrade of the old NM2 and with the birth of a new name this company also gave birth to an IEM that I think will stand the test of time contrary to the normal hype trains that die out in 3 months.
Unboxing
These NM20 sell for R2185-00 in my country and roughly As with the RA15 which I also reviewed; packaging is one of the strong points of NF Acous. Once again you are greeted by very sturdy and well thought out packaging design. The packing has a blue and black theme and the cardboard cover covering the black cube which houses the product features a picture of the earphones on the front and back. The black cube is cleverly thought out to open up like a book and I think it is a different approach and I really appreciate the originality. I think the packaging designer has an eye for smaller details just like me because there is even a little pin attached to the instruction booklet so that you can lift it out easily. They did not jus chuck the booklet inside there. I praised the packaging of the RA15 and I have to do the same with the NM20.
The sponge/cardboard housing the earphones once again reminds me of a compact disc and I love that idea. You get two different colors silicon ear tips. White and black. I did most of my listening with the white ones as for me they just suited the overall look better. There is also a 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapter as these is also geared to audio engineers. You do not find that anymore with all new modern earphones and I think it is a nice gesture.
The case really impressed me the most as this looks really sturdy and it’s made from some canvas material. I see it is a new trend now and companies are moving away from the synthetic leather designs we have had now for so long. This case looks so sturdy that I do not believe carrying it as muso to your next gig or on a daily commute and any activity away from your home will damage this. The bright little red label you can hook a key ring to is a nice touch and breaks the black a little.
Specs
NF ACOUS MCL2-100P Double cavity dynamic driver unit.
High-strength transparent polycarbonate and CNC-carved anodized aluminum parts.
optimized cavity and casing mechanical structure.
Patented technology: Clutter Trap
Stage monitoring sound tuning.
Impedance: 32Ω.
Frequency response range: 9Hz-40kHz.
Sensitivity: 108dB/mW.
Distortion: <1%.
Universal 0.78mm 2-pin connectors.
High-quality 5N silver-coated OFC cable.
Connectivity
The marvel of today’s technology is that with a smartphone, Dac/amp and these NM20 in-ears, you can have audiophile sound at minimum expense. If you however own any of the LG v-series phone like I do with the V20, V30 and V40 like I do, you don’t even need a Dac/amp. The NM20 comes only in a 3.5mm termination and this is the only nitpick I have with it. I would have liked a balanced 4.4mm would have been a nice option as many audiophiles like myself prefer it. There is also a 6.3mm adapter to connect the NM20 to more desktop-based headphone amplifiers and audio interfaces. For this review I connected the NM20 to my pc via M-Audio audio interface, Laptop via Hidizs S8 Pro Robin, Astell & Kern and Hiby M300 dap with EPZ TP50 Dac/amp connected on Hiby. I also connected it barebones without any Dac/amps to my OPPO A78+ Phone and LG V40.
Look & Build
When you take the shells out of the packaging you immediately notice how light they are. Do not mistake this lightness for cheapness. They are very well built and because they can be used for on stage monitoring the logical thing is for them to be as light, durable and unobtrusive as possible. The shells are made from plastic and have a little silver border that seems to be made from metal but I can’t say for sure. It gives the shell a well-rounded look almost like a frame does to a piece of art. The sample I got is in blue and even though I am not a big fan of the color blue it is just my personal preference. There are also other colors available. The fit for me was excellent and I got a good seal right from the very first insert.
The cable is 1.3m long and if you have an audio interface on your desktop and you want to monitor your mixes you will appreciate the extra 10cm. Especially if your interface or headphone amp is a bit further away from your seating area. I have experienced this many times while evaluating in-ear monitors on my pc. The ear hooks you can bend to your liking and I really love the way they hook behind the ears. Where I hated the cable on the RA15, I love this cable. It is also very light and thin but not in a flimsy way and once again I think because the NM20 can be used on stage as well by musicians and for them the weight of a heavy cable while you playing an instrument dangling along would not be a positive. I also saw this with the cables I got in for by Linum as they are also designed for musicians and sound engineers and are also very thin. Also, studio gear takes a lot more punishment than home gear so I would think the whole design idea concept was light but durable. There is also a nice chin slider on the cable and the 3.5mm termination is made from metal and feels really good when you plug and unplug.
Sound
I want to start this sound impression by stating that the NM20 proves that you do not have to fit an array of drivers in an earphone to get great audiophile sound. These sound like the Sennheiser house sound without the veil if I can be so bold. This is so refreshing to put the NM20 and you realize after the very first notes that this is a well-tuned earphone. This happened to me when I unboxed and plugged the NM20 into my Astell & Kern and listening to Lights of Barcelona by Marc Valee Trio. Within a few seconds I smiled and just new this is a sound way above the price range that gives a soundstage that is not just wide and deep but also, I heard music from the top and it made me look up a couple of times to see if it is my roof creaking that is interfering with the sound until I realized it was part of the recording. I have to admit that the soundstage does not sit in the middle of your ears but extents way beyond your head.
I also have to mention that these little monitors are very revealing. So, if you have a bad recording do not blame it on these little guys. This is why I think they are great for monitoring. Feed them with some decently recorded music and they will reciprocate with a sound that most audiophiles would find hard to fault.
I had a feeling these will be good with the Metal genre as I saw a Facebook post where one of my reviewer friends posted a photo of him listening to some Iron Maiden so I took a chance and put on some Rammstein on my laptop via Tidal High-res and it was a train wreck. I could not understand it so I tried another Metallica- Black album and these NM20’s shined. The V-tuning worked and especially the bass on Enter the Sandman is something I always listen out for when evaluating earphones. On Slayer- Seasons in the Abyss these NM20 Stepped up their game and I almost started headbanging. This weird observation brought me to the conclusion that as soon as you add electronic instruments and have them feature prominently as the electronic keyboard in Rammstein things go downhill. Iron Maiden- Fear of the Dark and Disturbed- Down with the Sickness sounded phenomenal and proves my point.
Someone with a lot of experience in live music and desktop monitoring tuned this earphone as I found that this earphone was made for live music. I stared with Nirvana- Unplugged in New York and I listened to the whole album. It took me back to my teen years listening to Kurt Cobain and being angry at the world. There is a very organic sound to instruments that I can pick especially if there are classical instruments involved. On Metallica S&M the classical instruments came through so nicely from the sides and behind James Hedgefield thanks to the big soundstage. These NM20 Pics up little details so nicely and you can hear exactly when the sound board engineer pushes one instrument’s volume up or down. The whole experience is as if you are there in the audience.
When I listen for bass, I normally put on some cello music as it is always a good indicator of bass response for me. On Adam Esra- Can’t stop running those low notes were produced beautifully and not bleeding into anything. I heard distortion on EDM and that is not the fault of the earphone but the way new electronic music is recorded. Fort Minor- Remember the Name was a disaster and I heard distortion. Then I just switched to some DJ- Omiki which I know records is songs in good quality and I was right. No problem there and the NM20 kept up with all demands from the drumline. Make sure you feed these little monitors good recordings and they will reward you.
I can’t say anything about the sub-bass because there is none. This not a deal breaker for me but some bass lovers might not like this. I can’t fault the NM20 for my personal preferences. I evaluate an earphone on its design principles and for what it was designed this earphone shines.
Treble is the real star here and it is bright but not in a banshee screeching kind off hurt your ears and is fatiguing way. The treble shines with realism and sparkle and because the earphone is revealing every little treble detail is picked up which is normally made thicker or drowned out by bass dominated earphones. The lower treble ranges have beautiful presence and the realism of the instruments and voices in this range is a major plus point. Acapella male voices in the higher male voice spectrum range really sounded so smooth and organic.
The holographic imagining is a cut way above the price as I explained earlier about me keep looking up at the roof as that is where the sound is coming from. You can pick out each band member and instrument with ease in 3d space. I have to go a step further and state that this is among the best imaging I have heard so far.
Listening for atmosphere it is very song dependent but you can immediately paint a picture in your mind when music starts playing and that tells me that the NM20 is very good at recreating the original recording in your mind
The mids is a bit recessed in true V-shape way but that did not bother me at all as midrange is a very subjective subject. But then there is a conflict in my statement because I have not heard a V-shape with still this much control over the Mids. This an earphone of contradictions and surprises believe me.
The words “audiophile” and “transparency” goes hand in hand and this for me truly is a very transparent earphone and I am sure if any recording engineer had these on and listened to his/her song they would agree it is as they intended the song to sound like. The easiest way to listen for transparency is to put a on song which you know really well and know how every instrument should sound like on it. I did it with Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin as I have heard that song a million times and I can report that this is exactly how this song should sound like. From the voice to the instruments nothing was out of place.
The resolution on the NM20 is so good and you can here every little nuance that is especially present in jazz music. Jazz aficionados this set is for you.
In conclusion regarding the sound, I want to say that NM20 preformed some magic with a single DD that I did not think was possible anymore. I can highly recommend this set for anyone who looks for recording quality in music.
Conclusion
Who should buy this? The answer is musicians, sound engineers, home audio enthusiasts and audiophiles. Basically, anyone who looks for good recording quality in all their music. I feel that for the price you are getting an earphone that can hold its own against many more expensive earphones. Will I still be using these after the review? Absolutely these are going into my daily driver storage case.
