Received the NS-U1 yesterday and already gives it a quick burn-in (~10 hours). So here are some pictures, basic measurement and early impression:
NS-U1 comes in a big plastic cylinder case with soft silicone inlay
Two pair of foam and three pair of silicone eartips.
Build quality on the cable is quite solid, though the 3.5mm plug is definitely on the long side.
4 pins cable. Take note on the nozzle, which is actually long. If you look at the two other pictures above, you can see it is almost sticking out of the eartips. Because of this, I have to change to a smaller eartips to get a deeper fit.This could be a potential problem for people with small ear canal.
Size comparison between the dual dynamics (from left): Audio Technica ATH-CKR10, NS-U1 and JVC HA-FXT208SE (a.k.a. FXT200's limited edition). As you can see, NS-U1 isn't exactly small.
Without engaging the NatroSound, the NS-U1 is basically a mild U-shaped sound. Now don't get confused by the blue FR curve that engaging the NatroSoudn will make it much more V-shaped sounding - I actually find it the opposite. NatroSound definitely warm and smooth everything out - however, because of the nature of the technology, which feeds one channel to the opposite channel, trying to measure it via standard one channel technique will yield an incorrect FR curve and that is the case here.
Impedance drops from 30ohm @ 1kHz to about half at 15ohm (as well as across the whole FR) when NatroSound is engaged, which is an good indication that both drivers (in the same ear piece) are wired in parallel.
First thing first - even without using the secondary NatroSound driver, I find the main dynamic driver in itself is very competent. I think it is arguable that a single driver version of NS-U1 would have worth the asking price of HK$1000, so NatroSound is kind of like the cherry on top. The main driver has a mild U-shaped sound, so it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I don't really find anything lacking otherwise. While vocal might not be the sweetest and most intimate ever, it is not lacking texture either. It is a bit further from the listener in the overall presentation, but also gives a good sense of space. Bass is more than adequate in quantity and good in overall quality for both depth and speed. Treble is also quite good - crisp, clear and full of micro-detail. It can however goes slightly bright if you pair it with a cold or analytical source. Slightly warmer source on the other hand is great with it. I listened to it mostly on FiiO X5II and find them go really well with each other.
With the NatroSound turns on, the NS-U1 somewhat transforms to a different sounding IEM. First of, the vocal gets lift closer to the listener and the overall image just feels much fuller - perhaps 'fuller' isn't quite the right word to use. It is like there is more depth and body filling up from the upper bass to the lower treble range (and of course the mid-range), where the lower end of the bass range and the upper range of the treble remains mostly untouched. I compared the NS effect to the electronic crossfeed on iFi micro iCAN and Meier Audio 3MOVE, and I can definitely tell the difference is rather significant. I tend not to be particularly sensitive to crossfeed, but NS on the other hand is quite noticeable. This is especially true if you use NS-U1 to watch movie - the more dynamic and dramatic the music sounds, the more obvious the depth and body NatroSound will add. It will 'warm' the sound up, so to speak.
So does NatroSound makes stereo music less fatigue and smoother overall? I will say 'yes'. So does NatroSound is a must have? Well, that really depends on whether that's what you are looking for. I'll however say that NS-U1 is in itself a solid buy just because of the performance of the main driver alone. If there is any concern about NS-U1, and as I have mentioned above, will be that it isn't a particularly small IEM and I wonder if fitting will be an issue for smaller ears or not. Otherwise, this will be fairly easy IEM to recommend.
A thanks to Lear for the sample.
NS-U1 comes in a big plastic cylinder case with soft silicone inlay
Two pair of foam and three pair of silicone eartips.
Build quality on the cable is quite solid, though the 3.5mm plug is definitely on the long side.
4 pins cable. Take note on the nozzle, which is actually long. If you look at the two other pictures above, you can see it is almost sticking out of the eartips. Because of this, I have to change to a smaller eartips to get a deeper fit.This could be a potential problem for people with small ear canal.
Size comparison between the dual dynamics (from left): Audio Technica ATH-CKR10, NS-U1 and JVC HA-FXT208SE (a.k.a. FXT200's limited edition). As you can see, NS-U1 isn't exactly small.
Without engaging the NatroSound, the NS-U1 is basically a mild U-shaped sound. Now don't get confused by the blue FR curve that engaging the NatroSoudn will make it much more V-shaped sounding - I actually find it the opposite. NatroSound definitely warm and smooth everything out - however, because of the nature of the technology, which feeds one channel to the opposite channel, trying to measure it via standard one channel technique will yield an incorrect FR curve and that is the case here.
Impedance drops from 30ohm @ 1kHz to about half at 15ohm (as well as across the whole FR) when NatroSound is engaged, which is an good indication that both drivers (in the same ear piece) are wired in parallel.
First thing first - even without using the secondary NatroSound driver, I find the main dynamic driver in itself is very competent. I think it is arguable that a single driver version of NS-U1 would have worth the asking price of HK$1000, so NatroSound is kind of like the cherry on top. The main driver has a mild U-shaped sound, so it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I don't really find anything lacking otherwise. While vocal might not be the sweetest and most intimate ever, it is not lacking texture either. It is a bit further from the listener in the overall presentation, but also gives a good sense of space. Bass is more than adequate in quantity and good in overall quality for both depth and speed. Treble is also quite good - crisp, clear and full of micro-detail. It can however goes slightly bright if you pair it with a cold or analytical source. Slightly warmer source on the other hand is great with it. I listened to it mostly on FiiO X5II and find them go really well with each other.
With the NatroSound turns on, the NS-U1 somewhat transforms to a different sounding IEM. First of, the vocal gets lift closer to the listener and the overall image just feels much fuller - perhaps 'fuller' isn't quite the right word to use. It is like there is more depth and body filling up from the upper bass to the lower treble range (and of course the mid-range), where the lower end of the bass range and the upper range of the treble remains mostly untouched. I compared the NS effect to the electronic crossfeed on iFi micro iCAN and Meier Audio 3MOVE, and I can definitely tell the difference is rather significant. I tend not to be particularly sensitive to crossfeed, but NS on the other hand is quite noticeable. This is especially true if you use NS-U1 to watch movie - the more dynamic and dramatic the music sounds, the more obvious the depth and body NatroSound will add. It will 'warm' the sound up, so to speak.
So does NatroSound makes stereo music less fatigue and smoother overall? I will say 'yes'. So does NatroSound is a must have? Well, that really depends on whether that's what you are looking for. I'll however say that NS-U1 is in itself a solid buy just because of the performance of the main driver alone. If there is any concern about NS-U1, and as I have mentioned above, will be that it isn't a particularly small IEM and I wonder if fitting will be an issue for smaller ears or not. Otherwise, this will be fairly easy IEM to recommend.
A thanks to Lear for the sample.
