Closer Examination

The FatFreq Scarlet Mini ships with the brand's usual stock IEM cable which sells for $45 by itself. That cable is a 4-strand silver-plated copper cable in black and feels like a decent enough cable, although I do not have any experience with it. There is an optional upgrade cable for the Scarlet Mini at an increased cost of $200 SGD (~$160 USD) you can choose at the time of purchase. This cable was provided with this review sample and has been included for free for pre-orders of the Scarlet Mini in addition to many other orders since launch as an apology for the delay in shipment of the IEMs. As such, it is a fair assumption that most owners of the Scarlet Mini, as of the date of this review, will end up with the upgrade cable for no additional cost. This is a good thing because I really don't believe the upgrade cable is worth the added cost, considering FATFreq decided to stop this free upgrade. The photos on the website made it seem to be more red and thus matching the Scarlet Mini better. In practice, this is more pinkish and that's even before we get to the other issues. The cable conductor is also made of silver-plated copper, albeit "custom-made," in four strands to where it's hard to say what exactly the difference is between this and the stock cable. The cable is also stiffer than I'd like and resistant to re-shaping, albeit thankfully non-microphonic once you have started using it. Then there's the part where the cable cinch/chin slider doesn't stay in place at all, so those wanting to use it to keep the cable in place on the front of back of your head will not be happy. On the plus side, this is a modular cable unlike the stock offering, and you get a choice of 2.5/4.4 mm TRRS balanced connectors or a 3.5 mm TRS single-ended connector which are all held in place firmly. On the IEM side we have pre-formed ear hooks leading to 0.78 mm 2-pin connectors on black housings which have L/R markings to help identify the left and right channels, respectively. These connectors have a clear plastic extension meant to be used with recessed connector spacings in the IEMs themselves and the metal plugs on either end are gold-plated for oxidation resistance.


The upgrade cable may not have been the most impressive, but I have to save FATFreq has a winning formula for its shells on the "mini" IEMs it makes. Photos don't do it justice but the Scarlet Mini is among the smallest and best fitting IEMs I have ever tried. There are also some clever implementations to the resin shell which improve the end user's quality of life. For example, there is a deliberate flat surface on the bottom facing the outside which makes for a great location for you to hold on to the shells and install/remove them extremely easily. The shells are made of opaque black resin and polished extremely well to where it's obvious this is the effort of a talented team. There is no place where I could tell the faceplate is glued in place, even when inspected under the macro lens. The shells also have a slightly bulbous but highly ergonomic shape to them, adding further to the comfort factor in use.


Here's a closer look at the faceplates in action, where we see the scarlet red shown off via a patterned design reminding me of stacked feathers. One side has the FATFreq logo in gold and the other has the brand name applied. On the top is a vent used for the dynamic driver inside, and it's hard to say whether there is any mesh underneath. The 2-pin connectors are placed into an extension of the shell on the side and recessed into it to better fit the cable connectors while adding some added protection to the connection. The shells have no indent on the inner side so this will no doubt please many who have had issues fitting indented IEM shells. I'd also say these shells are about average in thickness, but the smaller size makes it such that the nozzle is a substantial part of the shell. It is 5.85 mm in diameter at the very end and has a retaining lip which helps keep the ear tips in place once installed. The nozzle insertion angle is fairly tame, although it is longer than average to where you may want to get a good, deep fit with the Scarlet Mini to make the most of it. The serial number is seen on the inner side, and we also see a metal filter on the end of the nozzle to prevent contaminants from entering the acoustic chamber, this would have been accounted for when tuning the set too.