Earfun Free Pro 2 - what to expect (Patreon)

Due to the announcement of the new Free Pro 2 there is lots of buzz going on right now in the comment section and in my messages. Therefore I wanted to give you my first thoughts on this model because I had the chance to play with it for some time now.

The new model has better build quality, the body is smaller with the outer part being out of aluminium, it feels definitely more premium now. Also the nozzle cover is a metal mesh now and not a sticker that can peel off after some time.

The battery box is still plastic but it’s even smaller and more rounded than the old one thus even better to be taken with you every time you leave the house. The battery box is still completely out of plastic though, it’s not bad but does not give such a premium feeling as the inears themselves.

ANC an transparency modes are both better than on the old model. Transparency mode is louder than before and ANC seems to be at a similar level as the Air Pro 2. Controls are still the same, just that instead of triple tapping on the left one you need to tap and keep press for longer to switch between normal, ANC and transparency mode.

There are good news and bad news. First the food news: it behaves exactly the same as the Free Pro, which means you can access the internal EQ with the app and the user setting remains saved and active after power down inline with the Air Pro 2 which saves the setting permanently but always switches back to the default EQ after power down. The bad news: the raw sound is really bad, the balance is completely off, unlike with the old Free Pro, where the overall sound followed a natural curve and just needed a bit of work to correct the balance by reducing the main 2 peaks at 3khz and 6khz and toning bass down to a normal level which left enough filters for all the small details etc which required the most work. With the Free Pro 2 it will take at least several filters to get the response curve to something usable. I am not sure I can manage something outstanding, I already gave it a first quick try and managed to make it sound at least usable, but it’s not a sound I would be proud of. The default tuning is OK-ish I would say, even better than the default tuning of the old model, but it’s still bassheavy and resonant in the upper mids, definitely not something I would like to listen to music.

Some quick measurements: my rough own target in grey (derived from my upcoming Free Pro 2 tuning), in green the raw tuning and in blue what I have achieved so far. Unfortunately I seem to have forgotten to measure the default tuning from Earfun and as soon as a user EQ is set, you won’t be able to access the original tuning anymore. My first result would appear quite nice already now at least from the graph, but it’s all in the small details that needs more attention and work:

As long as I am still fighting with the Free Pro right now I will pass on the Free Pro 2 and not recommend getting it for sound quality at this moment. I cannot promise it will ever sound as decent as I managed with the Free Pro, but I will try my best as soon as I finished optimising the sound for the Free Pro and getting closer and closer to the “natral target” that I will use as base for all my future IEM tuning. I sat until 4 o’clock in the morning yesterday to finalise the 6K tuning and I am convinced the overall balance of the Free Pro is much more natural than it ever was and hope I can apply my recent findings onto all other tunings.