FiiO Snowsky Oak Nano IEMs Review – Musical Notes In Each Fiber
FiiO Snowsky Oak Nano is a $449 USD pair of IEMs or in-ear monitors with a single dynamic driver at the core, pure titanium CNC-machined shell, a 13.8mm size for the driver and a W-Shaped diaphragm with an independent surround acoustic prism front chamber. Today we will review the SnowSky Oak Nano and also compare them with other IEMs from a similar price range including ThieAudio Hype4 MK2 (399 USD), Xenns Mangrid Tea Pro (449 USD) and Kiwi Ears Punch (449 USD).
Introduction
FiiO is quickly expanding their Snowsky sub-brand and the new Oak Nano is an interesting pair of IEMs, because there is also an Echo Nano, showing a very different naming scheme for new FiiO products. I like that the company is always improving their products and they are currently one of the biggest audiophile manufacturers, having a product perfect for everyone, regardless of their taste and audio leaning.
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Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/3QFM1mA
Aliexpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c4aQVHvZ
Build Quality – Design
FiiO Snowsky Oak Nano is the first from their Oak series, which is inspired by wristwatch aesthetics. The company is aiming to create luxury IEMs that feel like timeless pieces, which look as good as they sound. To achieve this, FiiO uses the base designed in the FiiO FD7, having a beryllium based diaphragm, but also a pure titanium shell. As I noted in other reviews, I have high respect for companies like FiiO that use titanium in their products as it is an expensive but exceptional material to make shells out of.
For the cable of the Snowsky Oak Nano, FiiO uses a 6N OCC pure monocrystalline copper cable, and to push the electrical limit of the cable, they treat each conductor cryogenically, at -192 C for more than 100 hours, releasing the internal stress inside the metal and optimising the microstructure.
Although Oak Nano is built on the legacy of FD7, it has a bigger driver at the core and with a 13.8mm external magnetic dynamic driver, Oak Nano has a 1.5T magnetic flux, and a THD as low as 0.1% at 114dB SPL levels, promising high volumes and low distortions at those volumes. On the side of the backplate you will find the airflow-controlled damping, which has a high-density mesh integrated in the rear chamber to regulate the airflow inside of the IEMs.
One of the tricks that you can use to fine tune Oak Nano is to replace the tuning nozzle, as it comes with two acoustic filters, one red and one black. Speaking of replaceable and modular, Oak Nano has a modular cable that you can replace as it is connected to the IEMS with a 0.78mm 2-Pin connector and also has 3 plugs, both with Single Ended and balanced jack connectors. To support the sound, FiiO includes 22 pairs of eartips, with 3 distinct styles. Those include FiiO HS20, FiiO HS18 and Spinfit CP360 eartips, all inside a premium transport case. Technically, Oak Nano has an impedance of 50 OHMs and a SPL of 112 dB/mW, with a cable length of 1.2 meters and around 8.9 grams weight for each IEM.
Subjective Usage
SnowSky Oak Nano is a comfortable pair of IEMS with metallic shells. They feel really nice inside of my ears, have a cooling effect which is really welcome now that it is summer, although I may have 2nd feelings when winter comes and metal in contact with my ears might feel a bit cold.
Passive noise isolation is very good, at around 25 dB of passive noise isolation, and the style of isolation makes them isolate more when the volume of music increases even slightly, which makes them great for medium and high volume listening. Oak Nano has a medium insertion depth, ergonomic shape that coils around my ears, and have a medium, towards slightly long bore length, which would allow them, to reach deeper inside of my ears if I wanted to, but overall they feel like they’ll be super fine for basically anyone using them.
Sound Quality
Pairings – For today’s review I have powered the Oak Nano from multiple sources including FiiO K17, Argon Audio SA-2 Amplifier Driven by FiiO Warmer R2R, Acer Nitro 18 AI Laptop (with 3.5mm adapters), iBasso Kunlun, FiiO Snowsky Echo DAP, Orchard Audio Valencia driven by Musician Pegasus III and Luxsin X9.
The driving power needed to put the punch into them is not that high, and they work really well with low power sources as well as portable DAC AMPs. You will have a wonderful experience if using FiiO’s latest entry-level DAC AMPs and DAPs like Snowsky Echo, Disc or a high-end DAP like M33. Oak nano does not scale a lot with the source, so you will achieve their max potential with ease using fairly modest sources.
Overall Signature – FiiO Snowsky Oak Nano sounds really crisp, detailed, with a deep, rather huge bass that gives it punch and kick, a fairly balanced midrange right after, even lower midrange being balanced and clean, a balanced upper midrange, and a bit of extra treble crispness and sharpness, creating a highly engaging and enjoyable sound with a powerful voicing. It is a bit intimate and gives female voices a special presence, although it tends to make male voices sound a bit distant. It has huge and I mean it, huge bass depth.
Bass – Speaking of that big low-end, the bass of Oak Nano starts at around 20 Hz, with an extreme amount of power and kick, depth and punch, around 15 dB of extra presence between 20 Hz and 80 Hz. This is an especially powerful sub-bass, and you notice the cutoff point as Oak Nano does not have an extreme amount of thickness and in fact, for most songs, unless the bass is intentional, you don’t hear this huge bump as Oak Nano will present just the bass and I mean sub-bass and a bit of mid bass with this extra presence and kick, limiting the bleed in the upper bass and midrange, and even slightly recessing the upper bass and lower midrange. Bass will be far more often present and even bombaclastic with EDM, and sometimes pop music and will often not be obvious at all with rock and metal as bass guitars usually do not produce bass in the subsonic range.
Voicing And Midrange – Vocal range is crisp, personal and especially female voices are sweet, rich and deep with an excellent emotion and engaging tone to them. The difference in presence between male and female voices is noticeable, even higher pitched male voices and tenor sounds more present, more intimate while bass vocals sound distant and have less power. Resolution is crisp, sharp, with a high level of textures. Sonically, Oak Nano almost sounds like ribbon speakers, has a highly revealing sound but it is personal and precise.
Treble – Top End extends to about 20 kHz, but most presence and excitement is between 9 kHz and 16 kHz, with a good extension still audible even higher than 16 kHz. Cymbal crashes have a very unique sound to them, rich, almost like each time the cymbal has the structure of a mushroom top, there’s so much richness, similar to what I always hear from ribbon drivers in speakers, and that acoustic prism is really doing something. I like how it works for EDM and POP, rock and metal, as it increases resolution and richness in those styles.
Dynamics And Textures – Texture levels are high all across the board, from the sub bass and bass being very textured, midrange being slightly smoother, and only in the lower midrnage, then upper midrange and treble being extremely textured. Dynamic range is high, and Oak Nano sounds engaging, but this changes with the music style, as it is far more engaging and contrasty with EDM and Pop music, electronic and new music. With older music, the dynamic range feels natural towards slightly compressy, owed to the less contrast and less sub bass being audible, and just the entire sound somehow being optimised to squeeze as most dynamic range and vividness from newer music and ironically, makes dynamically compressed music sound more engaging contrasty and dynamic while music with less compression actually sounds flatter.
Loudness Saturation Gradient – Saturation gradient is unique, I have not really heard it before as Oak Nano makes music sound a bit better louder, but it has a certain sweet spot between 100 and 110 dB where it sounds best, and although distortion does not increase at higher volumes, it just somehow is most enjoyable at those levels. At lower levels, the sub-bass overtakes the midrange and can be too much, while at higher levels they can become a bit shouty.
Soundstage – Staging is done in a more intimate way, all instruments are close to you, and although Oak Nao does not feel narrow, it does not feel very wide either, it is a personal, intimate listening experience and although it can extended, it usually brings everything in your face, sounding more forward and personal.
Comparisons
FiiO Snowsky Oak Nano vs Kiwi Ears Punch (449 USD vs 449 USD) – Kiwi Ears Punch sounds much more complete in the bass, has more mid bass and upper bass, so their bass reaches you with rock, metal and all styles, while Oak Nano has mostly sub-bass and very little mid bass or upper bass or lower midrange. This being said, Oak nano has a higher resolution, more textures and the whole sound is more revealing, painting a more compelling and engaging, more vivid image for most music. Soundstage is wider on the Punch, and more intimate, more personal for Oak Nano. Comfort is comparable and so is the passive noise isolation, both need about the same power, so only the sound is the relevant comparison point.
FiiO Snowsky Oak Nano vs ThieAudio Hype4MK2 (449 USD vs 399 USD) – Hype4 MK2 sounds more complete also, has a fuller bass, more mid bass, upper bass and lower midrange, with a bit less contrast, but a more balanced tuning. It sounds wider and more holographic, which makes music more standard, while Oak nano is more extreme, more U-Shaped, has much more sub-bass, recessed lower midrange, and it sounds more colored, but more fun and more engaging also. Comfort is comparable and so is the overall passive noise isolation and power needed to drive them, but Hype4 mk2 is made with a different material that makes them a bit lighter and more biocompatible.
FiiO Snowsky Oak Nano vs Xenns Mangird Tea Pro (449 USD vs 449 USD) – Tea Pro is very different sonically from Oak Nano, it is much more balanced, more mid forward, has more male vocal presence, less female vocal focus and feels more balanced. Both deliver a vivid and engaging image, both are great for rock and metal, EDM and Pop, and even new music, but Oak nano is more exciting, has more textures, less lower midrange texture, but more treble texture while Tea Pro is a more standard listening experience. Comfort is similar and so is power needed and passive noise isolation between them.
Value – Conclusion
FiiO Snowsky Oak nano is a very interesting pair of IEMS and value is kept high by many factors including how easy they are to drive, how detailed they sound, what a rich package they come with, how they are super comfortable and how they compete well with the current market.
I feel like FiiO wanted to experiment a bit with the Oak nano, and they achieved something really interesting. Oak Nano embodies the intensity and resolution, texture of ribbon speakers, but with the raw impact of a club, inside a pair of portable earphones, with a strong passive isolation and good comfort, and a tank level of build quality, so if those sound like things you would like to have in your listening experience, I fully recommend the Snowsky Oak Nano as they are a rather unusual, unique and fun pair of earphones that will surely make music vivid and engaging.
PROs
- High resolution and a rich sound with lots of texture
- Extremely deep and plentiful bass in the sub-lows
- V-shaped overall tuning that is engaging and crisp with new music
- Comfortable with a medium insertion depth
- Great eartips included in the package with no need of aftermarket ones
- Easy to drive and achieves max performance easily
- High value for the price
- Super package
- Great overall deal and a good purchase
- Intimate, personal and forward soundstage
Cons
- Sonic signature is unique and that super bass is only really audible with music that has a lot of it like new EDM
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/3QFM1mA
Aliexpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c4aQVHvZ
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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