Astell&Kern NOVUS IEM collab with Empire Ears

[Morimoriya 62]

Hello friends
I had a question. I ordered Raven a few days ago from https://shop.musicteck, then they emailed that it will be available in 4 weeks, I wanted to ask how many days did you receive the Novus? I live in Dubai.

 

[visi77]

Hello friends
I had a question. I ordered Raven a few days ago from https://shop.musicteck, then they emailed that it will be available in 4 weeks, I wanted to ask how many days did you receive the Novus? I live in Dubai.

Next Novus shipment will be with Musicteck at the end of this month

 

[UTVOL06]

Hello friends
I had a question. I ordered Raven a few days ago from https://shop.musicteck, then they emailed that it will be available in 4 weeks, I wanted to ask how many days did you receive the Novus?

Maybe check the Raven thread. MusicTeck is a great online dealer with top notch customer service. Ive bought Three IEMs from them. I'm guessing the Raven might be out of stock? Which version did you pick, because I know when I was buying from them a couple weeks ago only the "Launch Edition" was available instock. So if any version is out of stock you will have to wait for Empire Ears to send out a new shipment to MusicTeck.

When it.comes to the best online IEM dealers the best two I have experience with are MusicTeck and Bloomaudio. Sometimes the two different dealers will carry different brands or models than the other. However, MusicTeck will have the largest selection of premium high end IEMs. I have no experience with either company with over the ear headphones, but knowing how good both of their customer services are you can't go wrong with either.

The Empire Ears Raven(Final Version) are amazing sounding IEMs if you like good bass. The Fir Audio Xenon6 has a little stronger bass from what others have said, but it lacks the separation, detail, and holographic soundstage that the Raven has.

I just received the new Astell&Kern x Empire Ears Novus IEMs this past Saturday. They are basically a more refined Raven with tighter more controlled bass, better clarity, bigger soundstage, and stronger more impactful Bone Conduction Drivers compared to the Raven. It's kind of as if you bumped the Raven up one more IEM sound tier level of the top IEMs thus far. It's not a detail beast like the Noble Viking Ragnar or the Oriolus trailli, but it's one of the very best IEMs with strong bass, but still keeps plenty of vocal (mids) support, separation, and detail support for bass heavy IEMs. It's also the best Bone Conduction experience I've had thus far. I have also heard that the UM Multiverse Mentor IEMs have a great implementation of the BCD.

Now, having said all that, the Raven still provides a good BCD experience as long as you get the right eartips and sizing for your ear canal. I've had a more improved BCD effect using the SednaEarfit Crystal Standard eartips. You can get them on Amazon in a 3-size pack, like SM, M, ML. They also have slightly better detail retrieval since the medical grade silicone is a little stiffer and a little more reflective than the stock Final E eartips. The stock Final E eartips tend to be slightly more sound absorbing and are less rigid, which can make it easier to fall out of your ear. I found that the Crystal Standard eartips made it much easier to get a good seal on the ear canal and also retaining the IEMs in your ear and less likely to fallout or pull out if you bump the audio cable.

I apologize for going off on a long tangent. I hope that helps a little.

Thanks

Edit: spelling and sentence phrasing corrections.

Next Novus shipment will be with Musicteck at the end of this month

I guess the way the Novus is being made is that Empire Ears in Atlanta, GA are doing all the internal drivers and exterior shell/end cap assembly and then are sent to Astell&Kern in South Korea for all of the packaging of the IEMs. Then all the Novus orders will ship out directly from Astell&Kern to anywhere in the world. I imagine the South Korean and Japanese IEMs customer bases will do a lot better than in the US market? I believe maybe it was Leonardo at MusicTeck that told me that in parts of Asia, like South Korea/Japan, audio connoisseurs prefer IEMs somewhere between an 8 to 1 or 10 to 1 ratio over over the ear headphones. I'm not sure if I got that right or not? Maybe someone in the know will correct me. I'm also curious how much larger or more active the Asian consumer and audio enthusiast base is at the CanJam shows over there compared to somewhere like London, UK or somewhere in the US?

Thanks!

 

[UTVOL06]

I need to remove this post, but don't know how to delete it. Could someone tell me how to do so?

 

[Morimoriya 62]

Maybe check the Raven thread. MusicTeck is a great online dealer with top notch customer service. Ive bought Three IEMs from them. I'm guessing the Raven might be out of stock? Which version did you pick, because I know when I was buying from them a couple weeks ago only the "Launch Edition" was available instock. So if any version is out of stock you will have to wait for Empire Ears to send out a new shipment to MusicTeck.

When it.comes to the best online IEM dealers the best two I have experience with are MusicTeck and Bloomaudio. Sometimes the two different dealers will carry different brands or models than the other. However, MusicTeck will have the largest selection of premium high end IEMs. I have no experience with either company with over the ear headphones, but knowing how good both of their customer services are you can't go wrong with either.

The Empire Ears Raven(Final Version) are amazing sounding IEMs if you like good bass. The Fir Audio Xenon6 has a little stronger bass from what others have said, but it lacks the separation, detail, and holographic soundstage that the Raven has.

I just received the new Astell&Kern x Empire Ears Novus IEMs this past Saturday. They are basically a more refined Raven with tighter more controlled bass, better clarity, bigger soundstage, and stronger more impactful Bone Conduction Drivers compared to the Raven. It's kind of as if you bumped the Raven up one more IEM sound tier level of the top IEMs thus far. It's not a detail beast like the Noble Viking Ragnar or the Oriolus trailli, but it's one of the very best IEMs with strong bass, but still keeps plenty of vocal (mids) support, separation, and detail support for bass heavy IEMs. It's also the best Bone Conduction experience I've had thus far. I have also heard that the UM Multiverse Mentor IEMs have a great implementation of the BCD.

Now, having said all that, the Raven still provides a good BCD experience as long as you get the right eartips and sizing for your ear canal. I've had a more improved BCD effect using the SednaEarfit Crystal Standard eartips. You can get them on Amazon in a 3-size pack, like SM, M, ML. They also have slightly better detail retrieval since the medical grade silicone is a little stiffer and a little more reflective than the stock Final E eartips. The stock Final E eartips tend to be slightly more sound absorbing and are less rigid, which can make it easier to fall out of your ear. I found that the Crystal Standard eartips made it much easier to get a good seal on the ear canal and also retaining the IEMs in your ear and less likely to fallout or pull out if you bump the audio cable.

I apologize for going off on a long tangent. I hope that helps a little.

Thanks

Edit: spelling and sentence phrasing corrections.


I guess the way the Novus is being made is that Empire Ears in Atlanta, GA are doing all the internal drivers and exterior shell/end cap assembly and then are sent to Astell&Kern in South Korea for all of the packaging of the IEMs. Then all the Novus orders will ship out directly from Astell&Kern to anywhere in the world. I imagine the South Korean and Japanese IEMs customer bases will do a lot better than in the US market? I believe maybe it was Leonardo at MusicTeck that told me that in parts of Asia, like South Korea/Japan, audio connoisseurs prefer IEMs somewhere between an 8 to 1 or 10 to 1 ratio over over the ear headphones. I'm not sure if I got that right or not? Maybe someone in the know will correct me. I'm also curious how much larger or more active the Asian consumer and audio enthusiast base is at the CanJam shows over there compared to somewhere like London, UK or somewhere in the US?

Thanks!

I ordered the standard model, they are definitely great, when I ordered the Raven, the Novus was a few days away from being released, that's why I ordered it, now that it takes 4 weeks for the Raven to ship, I think the Novus is the more logical purchase.

 

[UTVOL06]

I ordered the standard model, they are definitely great, when I ordered the Raven, the Novus was a few days away from being released, that's why I ordered it, now that it takes 4 weeks for the Raven to ship, I think the Novus is the more logical purchase.

If you have the extra money and can only pick one pair of excellent IEMs, then I would get the Astell&Kern Novus 100% over the Raven. Still love my Raven though! You could also see if you could just switch your standard style order to the "Launch Edition" Raven. Like I said though, if you have the funds to spare on a pair of IEMs then I would definitely get the Novus.

Edit: wanted to ask what will your DAC/player be? The DAP that has the "Novus EQ" preset and was tuned with, is the Astell&Kern Ultima SP3000T DAP. The Novus sound tuning was done on the SP3000T. The "Novus EQ" equalizer preset is the way Astell&Kern audio engineers believe is the best equalizer setting for achieving the very best sound from the Novus and was how Astell&Kern wanted the Novus to sound like. That's what they say anyway. I have listened to with and without EQ on mu SP3000T and the no EQ setting pushes the Novus drivers harder, but isn't the best sound you can get with the Novus. I have flip flopped back and forth between Novus EQ an no EQ and I finally decided that the Novus EQ sounds better. It provides an even harder hitting bass, cleaner sound profile with no distortions, and an even larger holographic soundstage. The EQ preset also brings the amount of voltage being supplied to the Novus to a healthier zone from what little I understand about the built-in "VU" meter. Lastly, the best sound setting overall for the Amp is the Hybrid(level 3) setting with High current selected below. This makes use of the Raytheon Tube amp, but combines it with the Digital only mode. The Tube brings about a larger soundstage than digital mode and more of an analog musicality to the music. Hybrid combines the best of both worlds where it still offers plenty of detail retrieval, but enlarges the soundstage with a little extra warmness/analog sound.

It's also nice to have the option to switch to Tube only mode on certain music tracks that might be overly detailed or a little harsh overly enhanced trebble. It seems to sound really good with classical string instrument focused music too.

 

[Morimoriya 62]

Maybe check the Raven thread. MusicTeck is a great online dealer with top notch customer service. Ive bought Three IEMs from them. I'm guessing the Raven might be out of stock? Which version did you pick, because I know when I was buying from them a couple weeks ago only the "Launch Edition" was available instock. So if any version is out of stock you will have to wait for Empire Ears to send out a new shipment to MusicTeck.

When it.comes to the best online IEM dealers the best two I have experience with are MusicTeck and Bloomaudio. Sometimes the two different dealers will carry different brands or models than the other. However, MusicTeck will have the largest selection of premium high end IEMs. I have no experience with either company with over the ear headphones, but knowing how good both of their customer services are you can't go wrong with either.

The Empire Ears Raven(Final Version) are amazing sounding IEMs if you like good bass. The Fir Audio Xenon6 has a little stronger bass from what others have said, but it lacks the separation, detail, and holographic soundstage that the Raven has.

I just received the new Astell&Kern x Empire Ears Novus IEMs this past Saturday. They are basically a more refined Raven with tighter more controlled bass, better clarity, bigger soundstage, and stronger more impactful Bone Conduction Drivers compared to the Raven. It's kind of as if you bumped the Raven up one more IEM sound tier level of the top IEMs thus far. It's not a detail beast like the Noble Viking Ragnar or the Oriolus trailli, but it's one of the very best IEMs with strong bass, but still keeps plenty of vocal (mids) support, separation, and detail support for bass heavy IEMs. It's also the best Bone Conduction experience I've had thus far. I have also heard that the UM Multiverse Mentor IEMs have a great implementation of the BCD.

Now, having said all that, the Raven still provides a good BCD experience as long as you get the right eartips and sizing for your ear canal. I've had a more improved BCD effect using the SednaEarfit Crystal Standard eartips. You can get them on Amazon in a 3-size pack, like SM, M, ML. They also have slightly better detail retrieval since the medical grade silicone is a little stiffer and a little more reflective than the stock Final E eartips. The stock Final E eartips tend to be slightly more sound absorbing and are less rigid, which can make it easier to fall out of your ear. I found that the Crystal Standard eartips made it much easier to get a good seal on the ear canal and also retaining the IEMs in your ear and less likely to fallout or pull out if you bump the audio cable.

I apologize for going off on a long tangent. I hope that helps a little.

Thanks

Edit: spelling and sentence phrasing corrections.


I guess the way the Novus is being made is that Empire Ears in Atlanta, GA are doing all the internal drivers and exterior shell/end cap assembly and then are sent to Astell&Kern in South Korea for all of the packaging of the IEMs. Then all the Novus orders will ship out directly from Astell&Kern to anywhere in the world. I imagine the South Korean and Japanese IEMs customer bases will do a lot better than in the US market? I believe maybe it was Leonardo at MusicTeck that told me that in parts of Asia, like South Korea/Japan, audio connoisseurs prefer IEMs somewhere between an 8 to 1 or 10 to 1 ratio over over the ear headphones. I'm not sure if I got that right or not? Maybe someone in the know will correct me. I'm also curious how much larger or more active the Asian consumer and audio enthusiast base is at the CanJam shows over there compared to somewhere like London, UK or somewhere in the US?

Thanks!

Thank you very much for the explanation of the channel and application, because we saw a few people who had Raven said that it would be an upgraded version of Novus, I was a little tempted to buy it. I am currently using Odin and I like the sound of it very much. I think I will buy Novus. It would be a little more reasonable, of course, I don't know how different they are and the price difference is worth it

 

[UTVOL06]

Thank you very much for the explanation of the channel and application, because we saw a few people who had Raven said that it would be an upgraded version of Novus, I was a little tempted to buy it. I am currently using Odin and I like the sound of it very much. I think I will buy Novus. It would be a little more reasonable, of course, I don't know how different they are and the price difference is worth it

I also think the Novus is a little more balanced than the Raven when it comes to it's sound profile, which makes it more useful for more music genres than the Raven. The Novus definitely has more in common with the Odin than the Raven does with Odin. Like I said if you can afford it I would definitely get the Astell&Kern x Empire Ears NOVUS . I absolutely love mine. I was listening to it on the way into work this morning here Georgia, US where I live. I've never been so in-love with a set of IEMs before.

Try to do your best to ignore forum users that might be trolling or bashing your choice of the Novus. Please don't take this as me bragging or anything or thinking I'm better than anyone else, but there will always be people who are jealous of others in life and they will often try to make you feel like you made a poor choice or "so and so IEMs are much better." Some just go out of their way to hurt other people's feelings or financial choices. I've had a user acuse me of being a rich audio simpleton that will always buy the latest and greatest set of IEMs when they come out just for a dopamine kick/high. No one can know your financial situation or how much money you do or don't have. It's just someone being insecure and jealous of your ability to purchase something more expensive than what they might be able to get on their own.

I am definitely not rich and would consider myself somewhere in the middle class. I just happen to have expensive tastes when it comes to audio gear, IEMs, Computer hardware, and building custom water cooling systems for overclocking and gaming. Once you listen to a superior set of headphones or IEMs, it is very hard to go back to something cheaper and be content. I'm just one of those people that will find anyway possible to save up enough money for my expensive Audio and Computer gaming hobbies.

I apologize if I come across as arrogant or judgemental. That is the exact opposite of what I wanted to achieve. Thank you

 

[Morimoriya 62]

I really appreciate your kind demeanor and comprehensive explanations. I felt very good from your advice. I will try my best to get the Novus because several others said the same. For a while, I went to headphones and then speakers, and then returned to IEM

I also think the Novus is a little more balanced than the Raven when it comes to it's sound profile, which makes it more useful for more music genres than the Raven. The Novus definitely has more in common with the Odin than the Raven does with Odin. Like I said if you can afford it I would definitely get the Astell&Kern x Empire Ears NOVUS . I absolutely love mine. I was listening to it on the way into work this morning here Georgia, US where I live. I've never been so in-love with a set of IEMs before.

Try to do your best to ignore forum users that might be trolling or bashing your choice of the Novus. Please don't take this as me bragging or anything or thinking I'm better than anyone else, but there will always be people who are jealous of others in life and they will often try to make you feel like you made a poor choice or so and so IEMs are much better. Some just go out of their way to hurt other people's feelings or financial choices. I've had a user acuse me of being a rich audio simpleton that will always buy the latest and greatest set of IEMs when they come out just for a dopamine kick/high. No one can know your financial situation or how much money you do or don't have. It's just someone being insecure and jealous of your ability to purchase something more expensive than what they might be able to get on their own.

I am definitely not rich and would consider myself somewhere in the middle class. I just happen to have expensive tastes when it comes to audio gear, IEMs, Computer hardware, and building custom water cooling systems for overclocking and gaming. Once you listen to a superior set of headphones or IEMs, it is very hard to go back to something cheaper and be content. I'm just one of those people that will find anyway possible to save up enough money for my expensive Audio and Computer gaming hobbies.

I apologize if I come across as arrogant or judgemental. That is the exact opposite of what I wanted to achieve. Thank you

 

[UTVOL06]

I just wanted to mention that it appears MusicTeck may have the Novus instock right now. I would call to be sure though if someone is ready to buy one or looking to get one ASAP.

 

[UTVOL06]

I really appreciate your kind demeanor and comprehensive explanations. I felt very good from your advice. I will try my best to get the Novus because several others said the same. For a while, I went to headphones and then speakers, and then returned to IEM

Call the MusicTeck customer support phoneline listed at the bottom of the website to check if the Novus is indeed instock. It says it is.

 

[KeinHartz]

I'm currently using Raven. How different is it from Raven?

 

[Morimoriya 62]

Call the MusicTeck customer support phoneline listed at the bottom of the website to check if the Novus is indeed instock. It says it is.

 

[Morimoriya 62]

I need to call from another country if you don't mind please check I want it

 

[Echo42987]

I'm currently using Raven. How different is it from Raven?

There are a couple posts on that already, just scroll back a couple pages.