Flare Audio is one of the rare British brands that are still making some high quality IEMs with proper R&D behind them. Mostly known for their hearing utility products, they specialize in hearing assisting and protection items like calmer and ear plugs. These products reduce external noise and control the intensity, offering better control over the ambient sounds. I have previously worked on their Jet 3. That was housing a single 10mm DD in a bullet type shell bur didn’t have removable cables. What I have here with me is their flagship IEM, Zero. This is priced at 429 GBP or around $585 and comes in only one color and has 3.5mm terminations only. It houses a single 10mm Beryllium coated driver and focuses on eliminating additional resonance and decay in music. Is it able to do that? If yes, is that a good or bad thing? Let’s find out.
I am comparing this unique looking IEM with Fiio Snowsky Oak Nano. Let’s see how this deals with the competition.
Get one from here:
https://www.flareaudio.com/products/flare-zero-iem
UNBOXING AND ACCESSORIES:
This is interesting for both good and bad. Stay with me. Flare Audio has paid a lot of attention to the packaging of this IEM. It’s their flagship after all. This definitely looks unique. It has triangular pattern foam padding in all the directions, giving it a unique look. Definitely unique. Open the box and we have the earpieces stuffed in a paper box. Under that are a full set of foam and rubber tips in S/M/L sizes. Under that are the cable and carry case and the cable is placed inside it. Interestingly this is a basic case and the cable is not modular, its a fixed 3.5mm jack at $585. That’s not unheard of though but one can expect more right? At least a 4.4mm version?
BUILD AND ERGONOMICS:
Zero has a unique design. Nothing like anything else. We get a straight barrel design with an open shell. It’s for diagonal slots on the sides while the metal back plate too has openings. I am not sure what the solution is if some dust gets in but this definitely looks interesting.
Build is something that can be confusing. This is a $583 IEM and it seems this outer shell is 3d printed with an inner aluminum frame supporting it, why not Aluminum all the way? the answer is, flare has struck a delicate balance of these two materials to cancel out each other’s resonance. One can see the textures and layers on the 3D printer shell though. I think they wanted a lightweight shell. It’s definitely light, no doubts about that. Nozzles are narrow and long, offering very good stability and fit inside the ears. It has the curves at the right place so one doesn’t need to worry about any discomfort.
In their words about the materials used:
“After years of testing materials, Flare Audio found that each one had its own resonant frequency. By combining the two materials, they cancel out each other’s resonant frequencies for a zero-resonant structure.”
CABLE:
Now now.. This is kind of odd. I can tell you that this is a Chi-fi cable which resembles to a cable from a brand that trips to win but kudos to Flare for not using a cheaper cable. This is a 16 core SPC cable with excellent behavior. It’s lightweight too. There are literally no issues with microphonics or memory. It’s Supple and not bouncy. Parts used are of decent quality, they feel slightly heavy because of the metal jackets but they don’t cause any issues. Cable guides offer nice stability and comfort. I don’t see any issues.
PAIRING WITH SOURCES:
Pairing this high quality single DD IEM is a walk in the park. It’s effortless with anything decent so.. Feel free to use whatever source you have. Using a better source definitely reflects on the IEMs imaging capabilities and resolution yet it doesn’t sound restricted with budget dongle DACs.
SOUND QUALITY:
If you look at the promotional material, you can already see that flare has tuned this IEM to reduce resonance, reverb and unwanted decay and that’s exactly what this IEM offers. I love it when a product does exactly what it is marketed to do. Flare is known for their fantastic lower end prowess but this time around it’s reasonably under control. Zero still offers a big punch, keep no doubts about that. We are getting a mildly W shaped signature with excellent vocal performance. I will go on to say that this is the cleanest sounding bassy single DD IEM available in this price range. It has a warmer overtone that keeps things comfortable even when it can get a bit aggressive under that. This is what we call clarity with tuning.
I am using stock ear tips, Fiio DM15 and Tanchjim Space Pro for this review.
BASS:
Known for their bass prowess, Flare has actually done an great job with the Zero. The first thing that catches the attention is the reduced decay in the background. I can understand why they are doing this (to keep things clean) but it doesn’t help if you are looking for the natural progression of a bass note. This pulls the attention towards the decay. It’s very fast in the last quarter but let’s the notes gain good amount of weight and body before that. It doesn’t have any problem with speed though. Zero can shed weight without any issues to keep things clean. In any case this definitely helps with better resolution and technical capabilities. I won’t use words like accurate and precision here because Zero is still a full, thumpy and meaty sounding IEM with good amount of vim and vigor behind the notes. It does offer excellent layered delivery in a wavy manner. Back and foreground separation are good too. Dynamics is decent too. Notes move in and expand peripherally with a centrally weighted punch. It doesn’t like to move the notes in X-axis much and if you like a bassy presentation, there is nothing to complain about. Let’s do the usual too.
Sub-bass extension is fantastic, it has very good amount of rumbles and the definition is good too. Mid bass has more energy with bigger area impact, giving the body to this lower end. Upper bass notes are tight and clean without much softness.
MID RANGE:
Zero has a W shaped signature and this kind of tuning is perfect for a single DD IEM. The good thing is it doesn’t drown the lower mids. We get very good energy and resolution since there are no crossovers to worry about. The vocals really shine though. Both male and female vocals are fantastic when it comes to timber. They sound organic, have realistic textures and tone. Male vocals have right amount of throat emphasis and air behind the notes while female vocals are a bit taller with slightly more energy. Instruments around the vocals are slightly less forward but they still maintain high quality resolution and transparency. No issues with finishing energy, it’s nicely controlled and is neither blunt not aggressive. Macro dynamics are very good and same is true for micro details too. Yes, Zero doesn’t have a lot of micro details but doesn’t sound like it’s lacking anything for most of us. It offer very good air and the stacking of instruments in Z-axis is very good. The floor is clean and clear too. Notes have right amount of accurate body and very good texture. There is no issues with upper mids either. Yes, it’s a bit on the agile side but barely had any issues with sharpness. Overall tonality and timbre are neutralish with a hint of warmth.
HIGHS:
Highs of the Zero are a big win in my eyes. Most of the time, highs are either overly spicy or a bit too dull but Zero balances things meticulously. It offers good sparkle and agility with an aptly lively presentation. This treble range is fantastically balanced and offers as much energy as the vocals. Zero has very good resolution and definition. We have very good clarity with micro details but they aren’t very bity. No issues with transparency as Zero can maintain good energy even with the upper treble too. It has very good amount of clean air between instruments and the placement accuracy is very good too. Zero can nicely layer instruments in both X and Z axis while the separation is class leading too. Now.. Unlike the bass, we are getting good decay to treble instruments, offering very good, natural timbre to both wind and percussion instruments.
STAGE AND IMAGING:
Staging capabilities of this IEM is on par with the Chi-fi competitors. It easily matches the overall expansions of the Oak Nano and 64audio Aspire 3. We get very good Z-axis depth, fantastic width and nice height. Yes, the height could have been taller to make it more rounded but it’s already big so nothing to complaint here. It offers very good out of the head presence, especially with treble and some of the mid range instruments are places out of the head. Most of the bass and some of the vocal notes are placed inside the head but some do make it out of the head. The good thing is, most of the vocal notes aren’t at the center of the head, giving it a cleaner presentation. We get fantastic imaging capabilities too. It’s aptly clean and offers class leading cue placements accuracy. Sonics are class leading with the right amount of energy with background instruments, giving them the subtly, creating a beautiful contrast. Transient effects of instruments in too are clean and clear, offering very good contrast.
COMPARISONS:
Fiio is a monster when it comes to the scale but Flare is the more sorted IEM maker. Fiio Oak Nano is the successor of the FD7 while Zero comes with a clean slate. Both have totally different kind of build and set of accessories. Oak Nano has a more premium modular cable and metal shell and is more than $130 cheaper too.
I have to tie the lows as the Zero has fantastic control and body while Fiio has the dynamics and technical capabilities going for it. Yes the Oak Nano is slightly less precise because of the slower decay but that decay in the background is more natural.
Vocals are where the Zero has the edge. It’s got the better balance of clarity, weight, body, tonality and height. It sounds more even and vivid while Oak Nano is more textured and a bit warmer. Instruments on the Oak Nano are a bit more dynamic and slightly more transparent with micro details but Zero sounds cleaner. Highs are a bit uneven with the Oak Nano but have taller notes but it’s the Zero which has better air and accurate tonality. Oak Nano has the edge with a slightly bigger stage but believe me when I say this, put the Zero though a good balanced cable and it can easily match $800 IEMs when it comes to imaging capabilities.
CONCLUSION:
I don’t know.. What to make of this. This is a mighty impressive IEM. It has a warmer presentation with a big stage to go with its clean presentation. It’s true to their claims too. There is little to no resonance or decay to the music. It’s tuned to deliver the sound of a well treated, nicely dampened room. Its imaging capabilities are fantastic but don’t have any extra background decay, keeping things as clean as possible. But when I look at the other things, I gets kind of confusing. Why use a cable like this? Why no modular plug system (maybe Flare is not targeting the hardcore audiophile community)? Why we aren’t getting a better carry case? With a price tag of more than $550, it needs a better carrying solution too, they can get rid of that flashy box though it looks unique, it doesn’t add anything when it comes to sound quality.
In any case, this is an excellent IEM to consider at around $600. And is perfect if you aren’t a demanding audiophile, want a high quality IEM for mixing and studio use but if you are a power user, if you have high quality dongles and audio sources lying around, get a good $50-60 4.4mm cable to get the best out of this IEM.
I any case, this is it and enjoy!!
