Noble 3 IEM | Page 6 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

LikeABell · Apr 20, 2016 at 11:14 PM

defguy said:
just picked up the 3 universal today to replace a dead set of Dunu 2000,is there a trick to getting the tips on? I can get the reds and the foams on but the blue and double flange are putting up a fight

If you live in a sunny area, keep the tips under the sun for a few minutes. Soften's them up!
Also, you can try expanding the tip holder with a pencil.

MrNick · Apr 28, 2016 at 7:44 PM

Noble 3's are not for the bass-oriented folk. They are fun but not in the same sense as the ie80. Surely the detail, resolve, and overall refinement will smack down the ie80 any day but the bass will not live up to par. It is the difference between the dynamic and balanced armature drivers.

If you want the true upgrade from the ie80 (and huge upgrade from Noble 3u bass) go with the Forte. The Kicker is more of a side-grade from ie80.

N0BOX · May 8, 2016 at 8:08 AM

I know this thread got started over a year ago, but I wanted to thank you all for your opinions. I don't know how it happened, but I ran into the ONLY listing on eBay for a Noble 3U, and when I realized that I had heard the Noble name before somewhere (turns out it was in reference to the Kaiser 10U) I went looking for reviews. That eventually led me here, and it helped me pull the trigger on my first really good pair of IEMs.

I've struggled for ages trying to get in-ear headphones to work in my ears, and have gotten semi-close with my Bose SoundSport SIE2i's, but even they don't make for a perfect seal with my ears, so I only get about 50% or so of the bass response I do when pressing them in. Hopefully these will not only give me a good fit (or at least allow me the ability to find compatible tips that will fit well), but also bring me close to the joy I get from my Sennheiser HD650's.

When they get here I'll let you know what I think. Thanks!

P.s. - I think I got them for a pretty good price, and the seller included the Kaiser BTS, too. I'll be curious to see how its sound stacks up against my Sound Blaster E5, which also supports AptX, but backs the bluetooth/DAC up with a decent amp.

LikeaG6 · May 10, 2016 at 4:16 AM

Hi all newbie here this is my 1st reply on head-fi.
Firstly I'm impressed this post has been active for almost a year, wow. As I've been researching on the Noble 3u these days, this post finally got into my sight.
I have been using quite a few dynamic driver earphone like se215sp, im70 and fx850. This is my first time to switch to a BA driver. The reason's why is I'm feeling tired with the fatigue by the preexisting bass and it's unnatural. After I bought my gf the ath e40(yes that's also a ba driver) that was a wow, the clarity and the accurate bass impressed me and makes me want an upgrade from the current bks77i to a ba earphone.
So my question is, should I wait for the upcoming Noble Trident or buy the discounted N3? The aluminum housing seems great but not the price...

LikeABell · May 10, 2016 at 5:33 AM

It has been expressly mentioned that some changes are made to tweak the sound. I would wait to get some info about the tridents' sound before buying the existing model.

defguy · May 10, 2016 at 9:02 AM

likeag6 said:
Hi all newbie here this is my 1st reply on head-fi.
Firstly I'm impressed this post has been active for almost a year, wow. As I've been researching on the Noble 3u these days, this post finally got into my sight.
I have been using quite a few dynamic driver earphone like se215sp, im70 and fx850. This is my first time to switch to a BA driver. The reason's why is I'm feeling tired with the fatigue by the preexisting bass and it's unnatural. After I bought my gf the ath e40(yes that's also a ba driver) that was a wow, the clarity and the accurate bass impressed me and makes me want an upgrade from the current bks77i to a ba earphone.
So my question is, should I wait for the upcoming Noble Trident or buy the discounted N3? The aluminum housing seems great but not the price...

If you can get a good closeout deal on the N3, it would probably be worth the risk. I bought the 3N because
my Dunu 2k died and I'm very happy with them. I've compared them to a few significantly more expensive IEM's and still feel I made the right choice. My dealer said the Trident would be slightly different, but only slightly.

notfitforpublic · May 10, 2016 at 4:12 PM

was at the same impasse myself and was going to wait for the Tridents before making my choice. Then a local dealer had the N3u's a $100 off retail to celebrate the new line. Couldn't resist. For the price I paid I'm pretty happy and so far don't have any regrets buying the existing model.

Long story short, I agree. If you can find a good deal on the N3u's, I'd say do it. If not, maybe see what the Tridents sound like first.

N0BOX · May 11, 2016 at 4:02 AM

notfitforpublic said:
Long story short, I agree. If you can find a good deal on the N3u's, I'd say do it. If not, maybe see what the Tridents sound like first.

Yeah, that's why I'm sitting here waiting on a pair of N3u's to show up. Really, even if the Tridents were already out I would probably be looking at used 3s because it's going to be a while before any really significant sales/discounts happen and these would be outside of my reach. $250 with new tips and the Noble BTS included is a lot easier to justify than $400+.

LikeaG6 · May 12, 2016 at 9:51 AM

Could anyone comment on the sibilance sound of the n3u? Sometimes it can be serious with the Chinese songs, but rarely noticed with English songs.

MrNick · May 12, 2016 at 11:24 AM

likeag6 said:
Could anyone comment on the sibilance sound of the n3u? Sometimes it can be serious with the Chinese songs, but rarely noticed with English songs.

They could be sibilant for me but I noticed this majoratively with poor recordings. Not sure what you mean by delineating english from chinese recordings.

LikeABell · May 12, 2016 at 11:26 AM

likeag6 said:
Could anyone comment on the sibilance sound of the n3u? Sometimes it can be serious with the Chinese songs, but rarely noticed with English songs.

It is certainly present but not in every song. Like you said, it can be perfect in some songs and sibilant in others.
When I first received it, I found it very sibilant, it has largely settled down now (or I have got used to it).

Try rolling tips and generally listen to high quality tracks. Some EQíng might help too.

LikeaG6 · May 12, 2016 at 1:04 PM

mrnick said:
They could be sibilant for me but I noticed this majoratively with poor recordings. Not sure what you mean by delineating english from chinese recordings.

Coz you know how different the way they sing and pronounce, there are more ssss sound in chinese songs. And I found that quite annoying, while the hiss sounds are more recessive in english songs.

likeabell said:
It is certainly present but not in every song. Like you said, it can be perfect in some songs and sibilant in others.
When I first received it, I found it very sibilant, it has largely settled down now (or I have got used to it).

Try rolling tips and generally listen to high quality tracks. Some EQíng might help too.

Yeah, I usually use comply foams when the high frequency is too bright for some earphones, like previously my fx850. And it can tune out more bass too, with the expense of clarity.
The tracks are mostly 24 bit flac...perhaps it's inevitable?
I only play music with my htc m8 or laptop (perhaps with usb dac), so not sure the n3u can perform good.

N0BOX · May 16, 2016 at 7:10 AM

likeag6 said:
Coz you know how different the way they sing and pronounce, there are more ssss sound in chinese songs. And I found that quite annoying, while the hiss sounds are more recessive in english songs.

Yeah, I usually use comply foams when the high frequency is too bright for some earphones, like previously my fx850. And it can tune out more bass too, with the expense of clarity.
The tracks are mostly 24 bit flac...perhaps it's inevitable?
I only play music with my htc m8 or laptop (perhaps with usb dac), so not sure the n3u can perform good.

I just got my N3Us a couple of days ago, and to me it seems like anything can drive them, but you really want a good DAC to keep from marring your music. I have noticed a lot of strange noise that I never knew existed from my current lineup of audio equipment (so far just my LG V10 and a cheap Sound Blaster Omni 5.1 USB DAC that it supposed to be able to handle up to 600 ohms of impedence. I can hear a sort of mix between static and a hum that changes depending on how I'm interacting with my phone's touchscreen. The Sound Blaster just has a more noticeable noise floor with the N3Us vs my Sennheiser GAME ONE gaming headset.

As for sibilance, I'm not sure that it is as big an issue as some might make it out to be. If you like to boost the low end of the audio spectrum and tend to either only lightly boost the highs or leave the highs untouched, you might not like these IEMs. That said, I have historically only just barely tweaked highes above flat with consumer headphones, and while the pronounced highs generated by the N3Us were slightly uncomfortable at first, they have grown on me in the past day or so. I'm not really sure if what I had first experienced was sibilance or if it was just that my ears have never been exposed to the kind of clarity these IEMs can generate at the top end of the spectrum before. Now I'm not at all uncomfortable while listening to these IEMs for a couple of hours at a time (I don't generally have time to listen for longer than that, but I can't imagine that I would have any problem listening for longer).

The only thing I can really say is "bad" about them is that some songs really benefit from the physical feeling of air hitting the side of your head, and no IEM can do that for you. So, I won't be selling my Sennheiser HD 650 any time soon, but it is definitely not gonna spend as much time on my head as it has up to this point.

LikeaG6 · May 19, 2016 at 9:48 PM

n0box said:
I just got my N3Us a couple of days ago, and to me it seems like anything can drive them, but you really want a good DAC to keep from marring your music. I have noticed a lot of strange noise that I never knew existed from my current lineup of audio equipment (so far just my LG V10 and a cheap Sound Blaster Omni 5.1 USB DAC that it supposed to be able to handle up to 600 ohms of impedence. I can hear a sort of mix between static and a hum that changes depending on how I'm interacting with my phone's touchscreen. The Sound Blaster just has a more noticeable noise floor with the N3Us vs my Sennheiser GAME ONE gaming headset.

As for sibilance, I'm not sure that it is as big an issue as some might make it out to be. If you like to boost the low end of the audio spectrum and tend to either only lightly boost the highs or leave the highs untouched, you might not like these IEMs. That said, I have historically only just barely tweaked highes above flat with consumer headphones, and while the pronounced highs generated by the N3Us were slightly uncomfortable at first, they have grown on me in the past day or so. I'm not really sure if what I had first experienced was sibilance or if it was just that my ears have never been exposed to the kind of clarity these IEMs can generate at the top end of the spectrum before. Now I'm not at all uncomfortable while listening to these IEMs for a couple of hours at a time (I don't generally have time to listen for longer than that, but I can't imagine that I would have any problem listening for longer).

The only thing I can really say is "bad" about them is that some songs really benefit from the physical feeling of air hitting the side of your head, and no IEM can do that for you. So, I won't be selling my Sennheiser HD 650 any time soon, but it is definitely not gonna spend as much time on my head as it has up to this point.

Yeah thank you for your detailed feedback.
I feel the same that my vmoda xs is irreplaceable no matter how brilliant my iem is. Since I have sold my dap just get more convenient when im on the street, I only drive my iem(bks77 and fx850) with my htc m8. Yeah lacking the dac with in I still feel comfortable, but not sure if it could give the clarity on n3u.

Bennet P · Jul 9, 2016 at 11:35 PM

Has anyone removed the "memory" portion of the cable on the stock cable? I was thinking of doing it with a razor blade since I run the cable behind my glasses and I'm wondering if it is a horrible idea

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