Rolling Force Frontier Review: Venturing to the Next Chapter
If you ask me what cable brand is the fastest-rising brand throughout the portable audio communities, many would pick Rolling Force to be the one. Rooted in Hong Kong, Rolling Force (RF for short) made quite the impression with their limited-edition flagship Cosmos and budget-friendly Choco cable, including other premium and budget cable products. Following up on that, Rolling Force has now introduced their second cable into the lineup, the Violet.
Celebrating the 5th brand anniversary, Rolling Force unveiled and announced their limited edition, summit-fi cable – the Frontier. Priced at $2,780, Frontier is available in extremely limited quantities, with only 68 sets available worldwide. Let’s see what Frontier has to offer, how it sounds, and how it pairs with various TOTL IEMs and cables.
Packaging / Accessories
Rolling Force maintains consistency in presentation across its upper lineup, though the packaging also gained some special treatment as a limited-edition product. Frontier comes with a large leather packaging box. Upon lifting the lid, you’re greeted with a good-sized RF leather carrying case that is roomy enough to house larger earpieces. Other than the carrying case, the included accessories are a pair of mesh bags, a leather cable tie, and a metal membership card. The plug termination is fixed as 2pin and 4.4mm balanced (unless custom-ordered).
Cable Geometry / Features
Rolling Force’s premium line-up has been leaning into cosmic themes, and Fontier continues that direction. Cosmos used a deep-blue-galaxy aesthetic, and Frontier features a similar yet deeper navy-blue color. Frontier’s wire conductors are comprised of two delicate, rare-metal alloys: Gold-Silver-Platinum Alloy (Ag-Au-Pt) and Gold-Silver-Platinum-Palladium OCC Alloy (Ag-Au-Pt-Pd). Quadbrid alloy cables are one of the rarest conductors made in audio products due to the complexity of production and tuning. Previously reviewed, Nostalgia Audio Guinevere is the world’s first quad-alloy cable to feature Ag-Au-Pt-Pd alloy wires, and Rolling Force Frontier went a step forward by combining this quad alloy with an Ag-Au-Pt alloy. The wires are then shielded with SPC OCC wires, which are then lastly finished with SoftFlex PVC Jacket.
The Internals of the Frontier
RF states the cable’s wires are made with an “S-Z Multi Structure” Litz design and a Type 2 Coaxial design with spiral shielding to maximize the cable’s flexibility and pliability. The Frontier has a lower-profile aesthetic than the RF Cosmos or Violet, yet the deeper blue tone and subtle glittery finish give a lush look across various IEMs. In terms of usage, Violet is a very soft cable and is easy to handle. Flagship wires tend to be either stiff or heavy, or even both, though neither is the case for Frontier. The wires are light and soft, like an average 4-braid cable, making it easy to use and handle without causing microphonics or getting springy.
Overall Sound Characteristics of RF Frontier
Frontier is a very well-balanced, all-rounder cable that gives a general boost to the earphones. The bass gains noticeable tonal depth and clarity. The sub-bass retains its original quantity yet is more tightly controlled with transience, creating cleaner separation between lows and mids. Mids gain significant depth, density, and weight, allowing the vocals to achieve a thoroughly grand, mature nuance. Vocals get slightly warmer yet without degrading the timbre or clarity – in fact, Frontier pours in plenty of amount of richness and resolution, making the IEMs sound more comfortable yet packed with more micro details. A similar effect takes place for the highs also – Frontier alters the trebles to tone down the shoutiness adequately, yet deepens the tone with a cleaner, silkier texture.
Frontier creates an exceptionally holographic stage that not only expands the headroom spherically but also adds weight and low-end extension to the sound, making it feel more firmly and deeply rooted. The IEM pairing works well with multi-driver IEMs with dynamically-tuned IEMs – with strong woofers or super-tweeters, as Frontier tones them down to a more comfortable, musical manner while retaining, if not boosting, the micro details. The overall timbre becomes more organic and balanced, with an abundance of premium and lush timbre and depth being added to the atmosphere.
Next Page: Sound Pairing with TOTL IEMs (Nostalgia Audio Pendragon / FatFreq GMA / Starry Audio Bolide)