Disclaimer: B9Scrambler was kind enough to provide me with a handful of IEMS that I had not had a chance to audition yet. Amongst them was the Auglamour F200. Thanks to B9Scrambler for his generosity and if you haven’t visited the Contrationist’s blog yet, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Its a good read. I have used a couple other Auglamour products in times past so was interested to see where the F200 fit in comparison to the RX-1 and R8 I had previously tried.
Unboxing / Packaging:
I received the Clamshell case containing the F200 without its retail packaging so cannot comment.
Accessories:
Again, while I have seen the retail kit in advertisements and it looks quite good, I did not receive those accessories with my review sample so will not comment on those.
Build/Fit:
Part of Auglamour’s signature is battleship gray brushed zinc magnesium shells with art-deco like design. Even on the $20 F200, that is in evidence. The shells are an enclosed earbud design with the rear being a tri-lobed pattern with the Auglamour logo on it that blends into the stem. The metal stem juts down from the earpiece for a total of about 1cm before the cable exits making the F200 tip-down only. The housing itself is fairly small as it houses a 10mm driver while other earbud style models are using drivers as large as 16mm. This makes fit easy even for smaller ears. The inner surface has a single small port immediately behind the nozzle which exits the shell just forward of the center of the bud at approximately a 40° angle. The Nozzle itself is fairly shallow with a pronounced lip to hold tips and a pretty standard metal grate to prevent debris from entering the housing. Written along the outer edge of the inner shell is FEAT F200 and an L/R designation. (For the record, I haven’t figured out FEAT either). The cable has a tacky rubber coating with a single button remote on the right side. The splitter is rectangular black metal block with rounded edges as is the cover on the jack. No chin slider is provided. The Jack is the straight 3.5mm TRRS variety with good strain relief where the cable exits.
Internals:
- Driver: 10mm graphene dynamic
- Frequency Response: 10Hz – 25KHz
- Sensitivity: 110dB@1KHz
- Impedance: 15+/-1ohm
Tips:
I used the Auvio wide bore size large tips for all listening impressions.
Sound:
It should be noted that isolation is average at best due to the shallow fit of this style of shell. This can be improved with Comply style tips but comfort suffers to a degree as a result and alters the signature. The Auglamour house signature from the R8 is very much in use on the F200 although I think the detail was a bit better on the R8.
Bass:
The F200 is capable of reaching fairly low and sub-bass rolls off below 60hz which gives the sound a good thump. Unfortunately, the driver has some speed issues so it comes across as more of a thud than a thump at times as attack is not as quick as decay and as such it can sound a bit staccato at times. Mid bass stays in line with the sub-bass level so unlike a lot of earphones at this price point it does not come across as having a pronounced mid-bass and bass bleed is also kept to a very reasonable level as a result.
Mids:
The mid-bass transition to the lower mids is smooth and without a lot of bleed but just a little warmth. Lower mids are mildly recessed when compared to the bass but not so much as to create a V shape. At most this is a v. The bottom of the v is nearly dead center in the mids and the upper mids begin to climb back to a level very nearly the same as the bass. The boost in the upper mids give s vocals a nice presence and pushes them slightly forward.
Treble:
The rise that starts in the upper mids continues into the lower treble which helps with vocals as mentioned previously and gives the F200 a slightly bright signature without any hint of sibilance or harshness. Upper treble is decidedly rolled off and top end extension is average at best. The lack of upper treble keeps the F200 from feeling too bright and gives the sound an overall warm signature with just enough air not to feel crowded.
Soundstage / Imaging:
The F200’s soundstage is wider than it is deep with a good sense of height. The odd dimensionality means that no instrument feels very distant but some appear to come from above others at times which makes imaging a bit odd at times. Inst
rument separation is good but not great as expected for a model at this price point and the F200 can suffer a bit of congestion on busier tracks.
Thoughts / Conclusion:
The F200 is a very smooth sound with no harsh spikes or any particular frequency range too far ahead of anything else. To my ear the F200 is an almost neutral tuning with slightly recessed lower mids and slightly boosted lower treble. Extension is good but better on the low end than the top. This may seem like a criticism but for a $20 headphone the F200 is an easy recommendation for those that are a little treble shy and prefer a warmer sound. Well done Auglamour!