NF Acous RA15 review
I am an audiophile from sunny South Africa. These In-ear monitors was sent to me by NF Acous formerly known as NF Audio in turn for my honest opinion. Having their ten-year anniversary this year Ningfan have gotten customer service, communication and shipping right down to the T. The company has one of the most kind and helpful sales reps I have ever dealt with, and it was a real pleasure arranging this review. If their service is this good, I gather their aftersales service will also be on par. The package took just under 21 days to reach me and that is very good knowing I am on the most southern country on the African continent.
Unboxing
These IEM sell for R1555-00 in my country or $89 in worldview. I feel for the price the packaging and accessories is on par with the price. The packaging differs from the normal Earphones I receive, and I applaud NF Acous for thinking outside the box and being different. The slide on cardboard cover is a bright orange and black with a picture of the RA15 on the front and back. When you slide the cover off you are greeted by the coolest design that houses the monitors. It is round and looks like a compact disc. Very creative thinking went into that. When you remove the compact disc looking part you get your carrying pouch and set of ear tips on a nice little cardboard. There is also a little bank bag with your extra set of tuning nozzles and the usual instruction manual. All and all this were a very pleasant unpacking experience.
Specs
Material- Plastic
NFC Technology- no
Sound Isolating- no
Impedance Range- up to 32 Ω
Resistance- 32Ω
Line Length- 1.2m
Sensitivity- 125dB
Plug Type- Line Type
Active Noise-Cancellation- No
Vocalism Principle- Dynamic
Connectivity
The RA15 is sold in a 3.5mm termination and you can connect it to the usual mp3 players, Daps, Phone, Dac/amp, dongles and laptops. I tested the RA15 with the Hidizs S8 Pro Robin and EPZ TP50 Dac/amps as well as the Hiby M300 and Astell & Kern Ak70 mkii. For mobile use I connected it to my Oppo A78+. I also used it on my Nokia tablet and Laptop.
Look & Build
I love the look and build of the monitor themselves as they are small in comparison to most standard IEM, but they are metal and heavy and that always equates to quality in my mind. They go really flush into your ears and I found them a real pleasure under my motorcycle helmet when I went riding. The driver is a 5U High Polymer Composite Diaphragm affair with dual rear cavities for better bass control. The provided silicone ear tips did not provide a good seal for me, and I battled to get a good fit and the problem is I have very big ears, so I always must use large tips on all my IEM. The cable was not to my liking as it is thin and light and flimsy, and I prefer a heavy and thicker cable. That is just my personal preference, and I am sure it won’t be a problem for others. The little tuning nozzles are little screw on metal parts and gives a premium feel when screwing or unscrewing them on the RA15.
Sound
The treble is the star here and Ningfan describes these as warm bright. If you are a treble lover, you will find immense pleasure in this set. I found the silver nozzle to be to bright and did most of my listening with the brass nozzle witch toned down the treble to a very pleasant and non-fatiguing level for me.
As I battled to get a good seal, I knew I could never evaluate the full potential of this RA15, so I grabbed some sticky ear tips that was sent to me by Azla and man a new world of possibilities opened. On Tin Pan Alley by Stevie Ray Vaughan, which is the roughest alley in town, but the music reproduction was everything but rough. Man, that treble hits you a certain way and when Stevie picks those high notes on the guitar you can only close your eyes and nod your head to the beat. Detail retrieval is very good on the RA15, and I could make out a soft drum roll in the back and the cymbals rounding off the drum part to perfection.
With the Azla Xelatec ii tips the sound signature became very neutral, and I found the sound to be perfect for monitoring as nothing was emphasized and bled into the other frequencies. The synergy with other brands is what makes this RA15 very versatile if modding ear tips and cables is your thing. I just had to upgrade the cable as I wanted to hear what it will sound like on a balanced 4.4mm termination. I got four Linum cables from Denmark for review recently and as Linum cables are made for musician’s on-stage monitors and NF Acous always working closely with bands, I thought let’s put the two together and see if I can better aesthetics at least. What a pleasant journey awaited me.
The Linum cable on the balanced port of the EPZ TP50 added just enough warmth to the sound, and I think it is because the extra power gave a little more control over the dynamic driver. With this Linum cable and the Azla tips I think this set is great for on stage monitoring or for monitoring your mixes. This is also very clean sounding and perfect for your audiophile music collection.
If you want to know a song that was made for this RA15 it is Fading Sun by Terje Isungset. There is a lot of bells, whistles and little details going on which the RA15 beautifully dissects and puts every sound in its own space. There is also some nice basslines and deep rumbling. I was amazed at the bass as I thought this set was neutral so we know now that the driver can produce the bass when asked of it. It also showed me that the Linum cable added a bit of warmth. The female vocals were up there with the best and it was so sparkly but just under fatigue territory.
I wanted to hear a bit of upbeat acoustic guitar, and I switched to How it Feels by Sophie Zelmani. I was overwhelmed by a thick and creamy bassline from the lower notes of the guitar and there is a shaker you can clearly make out to the left.
With the new revelations from the tips and cables I wanted to delve into two of my favorite genres Jazz and Classical. I chose Truth to Power by Black art jazz collective because I know that track has some good dynamic range with sudden surges of high trumpet notes. The trumpet sounded magnificently big, and it is as if this RA15 takes the main instrument and highlights it even more.
For some Classical vibes I obviously wanted to see how the RA15 would handle the piano and violin. Yo-Yo Ma provided just that with Piano Trio No. 7 and the bow skating on the violin snares like an Olympic ice-skater. There is one thing that this RA15 does very well and that is reproduce a piano like it is supposed to sound. The RA15 is perfect for Sunday evening classical listening sessions for a final relax before the week starts.
The sound for me is sophisticated enough to satisfy audiophiles in general and music lovers. I wanted to see if I can extract a little more bass out of these monitors, so I fitted the new sticky tips from EPZ, the m100. These tips bring the treble down a little bit just like the Azla tips but also elevates the bass a little, so I went to my electronic dance music collection and blasted some Bad Ninja with Are You Ready and suddenly, the RA15 shook of her classical appearances and became a lot more modern sounding with great controlled bass. I also realized that after two weeks of use the driver became a lot looser, so I know burn in is real for this monitor.
I wanted to push the boundaries a bit and see if I could ad the metal genre but the RA15 sounded a bit flat on Sepultura- Dead Embryonic Cells so I won’t recommend them for metal.
If we move a bit away from music, I found the RA15 to give me immense tingles on ASMR YouTube and TikTok videos. I also appreciated the vocals on TikTok videos as mostly the bass is very heavy with other monitors. Also listening to Podcasts really stood out.
The soundstage is very wide with the RA15 and there are some 8d music videos on TikTok that are made for headphones that really boggles your mind with these because they play with the direction of sound a lot.
Conclusion
I really think after getting side grade after side grade from companies, that NF Acous brought something different to the table and it really refreshing. Who should buy this? Well, everyone from audiophiles to musicians and music lovers. Also, if you are a tweaker these are for you as they respond really well to tip and cable rolling. The great tuning of this monitor can only be described to the many years’ experience that NF Acous has been in the field of in-ear monitors.
