The Frontier Series is a hybrid series of in-ear monitors from FiR Audio out of my home state of Washington. The series comprises of multi-BA and a 10mm dynamic driver configurations, with the flagship model of this series adding an electostatic tweeter.
The series includes:
- Neon NE4 : 3 BA + 1 DD ($2299)
- Krypton KR5 : 4BA + 1DD ($2899)
- Radon RN6 : 4BA + 1 DD + 1 EST ($3299) * Limited Edition Set *
- Xenon XE6: 4BA + 1 DD + 1 EST ($3899)
This series was sent on loan to me as part of the Head-Fi Watercoolers Tour group, and was provided by FiR Audio. The limited loan was only for a week, so my time with these is quite limited, and so take these as initial impressions only - especially since there were 4 units in this series.
None of the original accessories or boxes were included with this tour, so I won't comment too much on it. The cables that came with it were the standard FiR Audio cable and an upgraded premium cable for the XE6 flagship model.
General Impressions
Neon NE4
The Neon 4 has a very interesting sound signature. It has a generally dark sound, with a warm bass range, and dipped and recessed mids, including the upper-midrange, and relatively dark treble range. The overall IEM comes across as: dark and warm.
I found it to be very undesirable for my listening tastes with vocal rock music. For example, in Of Monsters and Men's "Wild Roses", Nanna's voice sounds like its hidden behind a very thick duvet and sounds like its suffocating in the veil. With this specific rock album, I felt like I was listening to an old radio station and not hi-res FLAC files.
When I changed the music to jazz, it was a much more welcome change. While I don't know if I'd prefer this over my other personal sets, I found that it was more engaging and generally enjoyable.
What I didn't like in general were a bunch of things however. Soundstage was small. Dynamics were lacking. Depth/Layering felt non-existent, and resolution was not the best. Clarity isn't what this IEM is going for.
Krypton KR5
The KR5 also had a little bit better impact on drum hits, giving a bit more slam and punch, although I found this IEM to sound pretty much like the NE4 at a general high level, including the same issues I found with it for my personal tastes and listening library.
Radon RN6
The down-sloping bass gives a lot of meat to bass guitars and male vocals, and the upper-mids are tuned just how I like it to make general vocals and string instruments shine. There's a good balance between the entire frequency range that makes the Radon a nice listening set for a lot of music.
The price tag does seem a tad high when compared to others in the same price class, such as the Elysian Annihilator or the Empire Ears Odin, which are two of my favorite overall IEMs and priced similarly. I would prefer the dynamics and treble of the Annihilator, and the resolution and smoothness of the Odin over the RN6. It doesn't necessarily have a trade that is outstanding, but it's also not lacking anything either.
Xenon XE6
The Xenon 6, or XE6, is a bass monster. In fact, it's one of those bloated basshead IEMs, I tend to dislike, as mentioned in my recent Symphonium Titan or FatFreq series reviews. The XE6 goes for it all, with a ton of bass centered around the mid-bass range (upper-bass and lower-mids) without additional sub-bass, which makes it sound a bit muddy and overstated in a lot of tracks.
Surprisingly, though, the treble is fine. It's fairly smooth and doesn't have sibilance and there's decently good treble extension that gives the IEM an airy soundstage and tries to balance the response as best it can.
But again, I did not find the mid-range to be within my standard preferences. Vocals, like on the NE4 and KR5, sound a bit veiled and grainy, and just lack the clarity I prefer. Dynamics seem above average, but I would have expected a little better here, given the price-tag.
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