NOTE: Remember I am not an audiophile and am new to this world, looking for mid-fi stuff.  I mostly listen to electronica and movies on my home system.  I am just a normal guy trying to find my sound!!!!
 
The Nova is by far the most balanced and wide soundstage of any IEM I have tried in the last two months (RHA T20, VModa ZN, Focal Sphere, Trinity Atlas, 1More Triple Driver, B&W C5 S2, Sony MDR-XB90EX, Sony XBAH1, and another I can't remember).  I have been on a mission to find a mid-fi set of headphones that are awesome.  I have bought and returned all of the above for a variety of reasons except what is listed below.  My go to right now is the Trinity Atlas, due to the V shaped sound and comfort.  So I am basically comparing my Nova's to all of these.
 
Current gear:

1. Sony MDR-XB90EX - For when I want bass, bass and more bass.  These can't be beat for that for $80
2. Trinity Atlas - My carry arounds.  Durability mixed with awesome sound! When I go out or am at a sports event, these are my go to!
3. VModa ZN - These are what I sleep with.  Yes I sleep with them in every single night listening to my Spundose, Hallucingen, or Psilogod!
4. Fiio X3ii - My go to Hi-res player
5. Fiio e12a - My go to amp'
6. Fiio A1 - What I use at night with my ZN to listen to plugged into my Fire Tablet
7. Vmoda Verza - Use as a DAC out of my computer to listen to Spotify and watch movies
8. Droid Tubro 2 - For Spotify and my Poweramp
9. Fire Table - for reading and sleep

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
The Good:

• Balanced sound.  Man when I am watching my movies these thing bring sound to life like I have never heard.  When I listen to non-electronica these things sound like I am in the concert.  I am able to use my EQ to find the sound that I like depending on what I am listening too.  They might be a bit too balanced for me as I prefer a V shaped sound for my music but I would rather have balanced (and change the EQ) then a V shaped that I am stuck with.  If I want some bass I use my Sony's.  If I want overall punch I use my Atlas'.  If I want the best sound quality I go to these. 
• Quality - The quality of this product is second to none.  They look good, the feel good, they are lighter then they look and I expect them to last a long time!  I could write a whole article about the quality of these things.  Every single person that I have shown them to was just blown away on the quality and the aesthetics.
• Source independent - No matter what I plug these into they sound pretty good.  Note, they do sound best coming from my Fiio setup but no complaints plugging them straight into my phone when I have too!  Now this is both a plus and a negative as they won't sound as good on a phone but to my ears they still sound good enough.
• Soundstage - I am just learning what this means but after getting these IEM's I think I finally figured it out.  The sheer amount of sound and different sounds that I hear with these earphones is just amazing to me.  I am hearing music in a different way! I have not heard or tried any real TOTL gear so I don't have a reference point and I may never because that stuff is just expensive!
• Isolation - Is decent.  The Comply tips helped but I can't get them to fit me comfortably.  
• Cable - Not too long and not to short!  Great cable with great sound.  I have seen a lot of back and forth here about the cable and I wouldn't change it for anything.
• Carrying case - This thing just rocks.  Hard case that looks nice that doesn't scrunch or compress the earphones!!! What more could I want.
• Initial Reveal - Man, getting the packing.  Seeing it for the first time.  Opening in and seeing the case, opening the case and seeing the unit.  My heart was going like it was Christmas time!
• Overall Feeling - I paid just under $400 for these off Massdrop.  Usually I have buyers remorse but for the most part I haven't.  I got frustrated with the fit until I found the right tips but overall these make me feel good and makea my music come alive.  That being said, I am not sure I would spend $500 for these.  I think this is the most important category because if I don't feel good or I have buyers remorse, then no matter how good they sound, I won't like them. Now to be fair, for now these are my end game IEM's so I really really wanted these to be my everything, they are like 90% there.  A little bit more bottom line and a little more comfortable and these would be 110% AWESOME.

 
The Bad:

• Overall fit -  It is hard to get these in my ears so that after an hour or so they aren't hurting.  I cannot use the foam or the Comply tips at all.  They push the unit out of my ear and make it rest on my ear in a way that it hurts.  It got so bad and I was so frustrated that I almost sold them as I was not 100% happy.  I kept trying to force the Comply's to work and they just didn't with these.  These aren't going to be for everyone.  Once I figured out that the medium rubber tips fit the best, this problem got a lot better.  Like others have said, you really have to JAM these in to get the best sound.  Honestly if these just had a little bit less sharp edges I wouldn't have a real complaint with them.
• The bass -  The bass, to my tastes, is just lacking.  I am pretty much an electronica guy, EDM, psytrance, dubstep, etc and these just didn't compare to my Atlas' or my Sony's.  As noted by other reviewers I have seen, it is there and a bit punchy but lacking in depth or detail. "Fast and lean" - Midgetguy describes it best to me once I read that!
• Isolation - Is decent.  The Comply tips helped but I can't get them to fit me comfortably.  
• Bad tracks or bad recording sound really bad.  This really brings out the bad in bad tracks.  I have been forced to find much better quality recordings of albums that I like because these are so good.  I guess this would be a both positive and negative.  Nit picking here.
• Chin strap thing - Doesn't grip tight enough for me.  Again nit-picking here.

 
Overall:
I bought them.  I was REALLY happy.  Then I was super disappointed.  Now I am content! I went as far as to start to sell them but decided to wait it out and give them a couple more chances.  I am glad I did.  While they aren't the most comfortable (Trinity Atlas are SUPER comfortable) the sound quality is something that I keep coming back to.  I wish I had enough funds to get the Andromeda, maybe someday.  I have toyed with the idea of trading these for something else of similar value, but after looking around and reading reviews, for this price range, I doubt I can do much better!  It will be interesting overtime if I reach for these or my Atlas' when I want my psytrance pumping?  Right now it is the Nova's because they are new and I want to see how they do, but who knows in future.
 
Half a star off for the fit and the fit only.  If they fixed this....man.....
 
Would I recommend these?  Hell yes.  Would I recommend them to a bass head like me?  Nopers!