Obviously, the Primo 8 appears to be ‘dressed for success,’
but how does it actually sound in practice? The answer, in a nutshell, is that
it sounds pretty darned great – sometimes breathtakingly so – as I will explain
in this review.
To my ears, the Primo 8s offer three defining sonic
characteristics: neutral tonal balance, focus, and coherency. As I submit these
descriptors for your consideration, there is one additional point I need to
emphasise. The performance of the Primo 8 is so compelling that these earphones
not only fare well in comparison with other universal-fit models, but also
invite comparisons with expensive full-size headphones and even high-end
loudspeakers. In other words, the Primo 8 in many respects transcends the
perceived limits of its own product category, meaning this is no ordinary
earphone.
NuForce Primo 8
unbox
When I say that the Primo 8 offers neutral tonal balance, I
mean that it offers smooth, evenly balanced frequency response with excellent
extension at both the high and lowfrequency extremes of the audio spectrum.
This is, first and foremost, an accurate transducer whose primary emphasis is
on showing you exactly how your favourite recordings actually sound with as few
colourations as possible. Just bear in mind that the Primo 8s will not replace
sonic qualities that recording engineers have left out, nor will they
compensate for sonic excesses in which the mixing/mastering engineers might
have indulged.
With this design, what you hear is what you get. At same
time, let’s acknowledge that tonal neutrality is one of those qualities we
card-carrying audiophiles are supposed to crave, but that some listeners
actually do not much appreciate in practice (“Would you like some tasteful
euphonic colourations to go with those earphones, sir?”). For this reason, some
earphone makers give their products touches of bass lift and/or small dabs of
treble roll-off – voicing modifications implemented in the name of making the
sound more ‘pleasant’ or ‘accessible’. If you favour (or require) these sorts
of gentle, deliberate colourations, then the Primo 8 might not be for you.
NuForce Primo 8
jack
I suspect listeners accustomed to earphones that incorporate
artificial bass enrichment or trimmed-back highs might not initially know what
to make of the Primo 8’s unexaggerated and neutral-sounding bass, or of its
revealing, wide-bandwidth highs. Realistically, both of these characteristics
mean that the Primo 8s can at times expose the flaws in mediocre – and
especially imbalanced-sounding – recordings for what they are. However, once
you listen carefully and with discernment to these NuForce earphones, you will
soon discover they are capable of terrific bass power and extension and also of
reproducing the natural warmth and full-bodied tonal colours so characteristic
of live music. The trick, though, is that the Primo 8s deliver these favourable
sonic qualities only when they are actually present in the music being played.
Personally, I found the Primo 8’s tonal neutrality to be its
own reward, so that the more I listened through the earphones the better I
liked them. For those drawn to musical transducers that are as honest as the
day is long, the Primo 8s would make a fine choice.
The Primo 8s
deliver these favourable sonic qualities only when they are actually present in
the music being played
Next, let’s consider Primo 8’s uncanny and impressive
quality of focus, which in my book is a highly desirable thing. As we listen to
various audio products most of us unconsciously file away our memories of the
sounds we have heard in a sort of good-better-best rank order file. I can’t
speak for you, but in my experience today’s better high-end universal fit
earphones are very good in terms of focus, but top-tier full-size headphones
are, as a general rule, better still. The Primo 8, however, proves a dramatic
exception to this rule in that its powers of resolution and focus quite
seriously invite comparisons to extremely expensive headphones carrying steep,
four-figure price tags.
What exactly do I mean by the term ‘focus’? I would define
it as a component’s ability to reproduce even the subtlest and most nuanced of
low-level musical details in a convincing way, so that sonic images – much like
high quality photographic images – suddenly snap into place, becoming sharp and
clear. More so than any other universalfit earphones I have heard to date, the
Primo 8s exhibit this quality of focus in spades.
