NICEHCK F1 PRO: Musicality As It Desires

NICEHCK is an audio company that specialises on upgraded cables and other audio accessories, and then they try to venture out on earbuds and IEMs. NICEHCK products are also known for its build quality and craftsmanship at reasonable price.

This is actually my second product review of their new IEM line-up model and what I've got here is their latest entry-level planar IEM, The NICEHCK F1 PRO. The F1 PRO has a 14.2mm planar magnetic driver with ultra thin diaphragm with high-grade neodymium magnets and co-axial magnetic design. With this configuration, it will produce a consistent performance and greatly reduce distortion. And as we all know that planar magnetics are known to have fast, precise and very responsive performance that gives them more leverage in terms of technical performance.

The drivers are encased in a light yet solid aluminium alloy shell chassis which have a compact teardrop design. The shell chassis was produced via CNC-milling process  and it was sand-blasted to give that appealing look that exudes premium and finesse. NICEHCK employs a 2-pin connector on this one as it is the most stable and easier to detach in case of cable swapping.

As for fitting and comfort, with its compact  form factor, this set will give a good seal and passive noise isolation as it rests well into our lugholes that are able to block some external noises from the outside surroundings.

Regarding its stock cable, Since this is a NICEHCK product, we expect a nice quality cable from this one and they deliver it. The stock cable has a 2-core high purity OCC and silver-plated copper that were braided tightly. The earhook receptacle shield, chin slider and plug shield are made of metal alloy, and on its termination plug, you can choose either a standard 3.5mm single ended or a 4.4mm balanced that are gold-plated for better conductivity ans resistant to corrosion.

On how its presents its overall product packaging, NICEHCK did a good job on how they packed the contents of F1 PRO to its packaging box. The placements of content inside of its bulky, rectangular box are well-organised.

Here are the following contents inside of NICEHCK F1 PRO packaging box:

• Pair of NICEHCK F1 PRO IEM transducers.
• Stock cable
• PU leather case
• Three (3) pairs of balanced bore grey-coloured silicone ear tips in different standard sizes.
• Three (3) pairs of balanced bore opaque white ear tips in different standard sizes.
• Four (4) pairs of “EP-EX11” ear tips in different standard sizes.
• Pair of white-coloured, wide bore ear tips.
• Paperwork like user's manual and warranty card.

Like a typical planar set, F1 PRO needs more power output just to drive it properly as planar magnetic structure itself is design to take more current than voltage output that makes it less power efficient compared to other drivers like dynamic driver and balanced armature driver. A dedicated DAP with medium and high gain mode, DAC/Amp dongle or desktop headphone amplifier are better pairing for this set.

As for tonality, NICEHCK F1 PRO has a U/V-shaped sound signature that makes it sound more coloured sounding. It has more accentuated bass and treble response and a notched midrange presentation.

LOWS/BASS:

For a magnetic planar set, the bass response of this one is quite fast, punchy and rumbly. It seems that it is more focused on sub-bass than the mid-bass but the latter has enough texture for bass-centric instruments not to sound too lean.

On the sub-bass, there's a perceivable reverberation coming from low tone bass guitars, synthesisers and drum machines. As I mentioned about the note weight texture on its mid-bass, the bass guitars have resonant yet a bit hollowed sound while bass kick drums have that thudding and gloomy sound, and then on bass-baritone vocals, they sounds a bit light and less deeper that affects the vocal texture but it has some resonance presence on their voices.

MIDRANGE:

On how this set was tuned, the midrange presentation is quite recessed and a tad hollowed sounding particularly on some vocals and instruments. But somehow, it sounds clean, detailed and energetic that will be more beneficial on most female vocals and instruments like strings and woodwinds.

Male vocals are noticeable a tad leaner on texture particularly on baritones as it sounds a bit inadequate of plushiness and richness that I prefer. Tenors' vocals have those spiciness and tinny characteristics on their voices while countertenors sound tender with an added brim on their vocals. On female vocals, contraltos sounds less rich and less smoky that it doesn't have that depth for those low chesty vocal register. Mezzo-sopranos have these fiery and coppery sounds on their vocal characteristics and sopranos have a gleaming and metallic sound that lyric and coloratura-type will have those energetic and expansive sounding.

On instruments, brasses like trumpets, trombones and horns, they have these metallic, penetrating and clear sounds respectively. Woodwinds such as concert flutes, piccolos, clarinets and saxophones, the sounds of the flutes are somehow clear and shrill, piccolos sound penetrating with brilliance on them, clarinets have incisive and reedy that even saxophones share similar characteristics with them. As for string instruments, violins have metallic and bright sound while guitars either acoustic or electric ones, have crisp and lingering sound on them. On percussion instruments, snare and tom-toms have this resonant, dry and cracking sound on them, field drums have this sharp and menacing sound and kettledrums have a dry and deep sound on it. And then, it appears that pianos have bright and lively sound on every stroke of its keys.

HIGHS/TREBLE:

The treble response of this set is definitely on the brighter side of tuning as the emphasis on the upper-mids up to the brilliance part is quite noticeable. With its elevated upper-mids and presence part of the treble region gives a more sharper attack, definition and clarity on instruments and female vocals but at the expense of occasional slight sibilance especially in sibilant-laden tracks (try Seventh Son Of The Seventh Son by Iron Maiden if ever).

There's a good amount of sparkle and excellent treble air extension on how it affects some instruments like cymbals, hi-hats, glockenspiels and celestas. Cymbals have these sizzling, metallic and dry sounds while hi-hats have these buzzing sounds albeit it's a bit exaggerated in terms of decay as they are known to have a sudden shortened sound. Glockenspiels have a glistening and a tad piercing sound while celestas have a glistening and sweet sound.

SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING AND OTHER TECHNICALITIES:

On how I perceived the size of its general sound/speaker stage, it has an above-average to wide lateral span on both ends, good height reach and depth for a planar set. The overall dimension of its sound field gives me that moderately spacious head room within my aural sphere.

Its stereo imaging gives me a concave-like presentation where I was able to locate some placement of instruments and vocals in a soundscape. While it has a good separation, I noticed that its layering present appears to be in two-layer rather than the standard  four layers that I usually experience on most planar sets that I've tested. But at least it doesn't sound congested and disorganised on playing some complex multi-instrumental tracks.

Like all planar sets, the F1 PRO is no different in terms of coherency of its driver performance as it has a very fast and responsive transient speed without any distortion on its sound quality.

On resolution capabilities, F1 PRO is quite very resolving on both macro-dynamics and micro-detail retrieval as it has a sufficient note texture with sharp definition on extracting any sonic nuances and detail like vocal ends, reverberations and notation attacks of instruments.

PEER COMPARISONS:

KEFINE KLANAR

• Like the F1 PRO, it also has a metal-alloy shell chassis and similar-sized magnetic planar albeit it has some added composite material that makes it even more responsive and power efficient. The KLANAR is quite easy to drive even for a magnetic planar set.
• As for tonality, KLANAR has a V-shaped sound profile as it has more emphasis on bass and treble region which share a similar sound signature with the F1 PRO but on the treble, KLANAR is quite smooth and well-balanced response that sibilance and harshness are subdued and well-controlled.
• On technical performance, it is also similar in terms of sound/speaker staging, stereo imaging and coherency, but the KLANAR is quite better in terms of layering but less sharper of micro-detail definition.

KIWI EARS MELODY

• KIWI EARS’ first magnetic planar IEM for the entry-level audio market. It has a smaller size planar magnetic driver that was encased in a medium-sized composite shell chassis. Like all KIWI EARS products, the MELODY has a meagre amount of inclusions.
• MELODY has uncommon tuning for a planar set as while it has a v-shaped signature, it is quite warm sounding for a magnetic planar. It has more mid-bass texture that it might sound a bit too boomy, a warm and rich midrange presentation and smooth yet less airy treble response.
• As for technical capabilities, like the F1 PRO, the MELODY has similar sound/speaker stage dimensions, imaging, separation and coherency. But the MELODY has a better layering presentation but again less resolving particularly on micro-dynamics that F1 PRO has more sharper definition.

As I conclude this product assessment, NICEHCK F1 PRO makes a statement that a set with planar magnetic driver could have a musical tonality to have a fun and engaging sound while maintaining a good technical performance. For sure that energetic and tizzy sheen timbre that planar magnetic driver aren't for everyone's preference as it  doesn't that natural tone and dynamics that most dynamic driver sets could deliver but what makes this set truly as compelling one was its pricing, the quality of its overall construction and a fun factor of its coloured sound that makes it more enjoyable and even more engaging to listen upon.

NICEHCK F1 PRO is now available on NICEHCK OFFICIAL STORE on ALIEXPRESS. Check out the unaffiliated link below.

★★NICEHCK OFFICIAL STORE - ALIEXPRESS★★

For more review on a NICEHCK product, I provided a link down.

● NICEHCK DB2

SPECIFICATION:

MODEL: NICEHCK F1 PRO

IMPEDANCE: 16Ω

SENSITIVITY: 104dB

FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz – 28KHz

CABLE LENGTH: 1.2M

PIN TYPE: 0.78mm 2-PIN CONNECTOR

PLUG TYPE: 3.5mm, 4.4mm

DRIVER UNIT(S): (1) PLANAR MAGNETIC DRIVER

PROS:

● Durable yet lightweight metal alloy shell chassis

● Its ergonomically designed contours give one of the best fitting in most lugholes’ sizes.

● Inclusion of high quality cable.

● Many choices of ear tips to choose from.

● Fun musical and engaging sound for audio enthusiasts who love a coloured tuning.

● Punchy and reverberating bass response

● Energetic and gleaming midrange, suitable to some female vocals and instruments like strings and woodwinds.

● Bright and sparkling treble response.

● Quite decent technical capabilities.

CONS:

● Recessed midrange presentation.

● A tad lean sounding male vocals.

● Occasional sibilance.

● Well, planar magnetic. You need an appropriate source to drive this one.

TRACKS TESTED: ( * = 16-bit FLAC, ** = 24-bit FLAC, *'* = MQA, '*' = DSD, *'= .WAV)

Alison Krauss -When You Say Nothing At All *

Jade Wiedlin - Blue Kiss**

Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks **

Mountain - Mississippi Queen *

Queen - Killer Queen **

Guns N' Roses - Patience *'*

Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven '*'

Sergio Mendes- Never Gonna Let You Go '*'

Pearl Jam - Daughter **

Roselia - Hidamari Rhodonite *

Assassin - Fight (To Stop The Tyranny)*

Celtic Frost- Visual Aggression *

New Order - Blue Monday *

The Corrs- What Can I do (unplugged version) *

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child *

The Madness- Buggy Trousers *

Metallica - Motorbreath **

Mariah Carey- Always Be My Baby *

Destiny's Child - Say My Name *

Malice Mizer- Au Revoir *

Mozart - Lacrimosa *

New York Philharmonic Orchestra - Dvorak- Symphony 9 " From the New World." *

Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold (Sting cover)*

Michael Jackson - Give In To Me *

Exciter - Violence and Force *

Diana Krall - Stop This World **

Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat *'*

The Sisters of Mercy – Lucretia My Reflection**

Suzanne Vega – Luka **

Lauren Christy – Steep *

Ottoman Mehter - Hucum Marsi *

Diana Damrau - Mozart: Die Zauberflöte*

P.S.

I am not affiliated to NICEHCK nor receive monetary incentives and financial gains as they provide me a review unit for an exchange of factual and sincere feedback from yours truly.

Once again, I would like to send my gratitude to Ms. VIVIAN for providing this review unit. I truly appreciate her generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.