thank you so much for providing your input. I really enjoyed both your Raven and Novus reviews. I ended up buying both. How do you think the Novus ranks amongst other top tier IEMs? I understand there are detail oriented neutral type IEMs, but those just don't sound as good to me for enjoying music. I know the guy at moon audio said he would rank the Novus in his top 5 IEMs of all time, but OfCourse he wasn't able to analyze the sound characteristics like you can.
Astell&Kern NOVUS IEM collab with Empire Ears
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could anyone compare the following track with Raven vs Novus?
Ali Farahani- Younan
Ali Farahani- Younan
Just wanted to say that the Novus has completely ruined me. They sound a step above the Raven and going back to the Raven after listening to the Novus for a while makes my Raven sound a little inferior. Don't get me wrong the Raven still sounds good, but it can't compete with Novus' sound quality and larger more holographic soundstage.
Edit: one other thing that I noticed this morning was that I felt like the Raven's end point where the sound comes put appears to be larger in diameter than the Novus, because the exact same SednaEarfit Crystal Standard eartips in medium do not fit will in my left ear on the Raven. On the Novus the same medium eartips fit perfectly. I'll have to either do a MSmall size on both sides or just my left size where my ear canal feels a little smaller. I have actually had the complete opposite of what people.expected with the Novus' fit in the ear vs the Raven. To me the Novus fits even better.
Edit: one other thing that I noticed this morning was that I felt like the Raven's end point where the sound comes put appears to be larger in diameter than the Novus, because the exact same SednaEarfit Crystal Standard eartips in medium do not fit will in my left ear on the Raven. On the Novus the same medium eartips fit perfectly. I'll have to either do a MSmall size on both sides or just my left size where my ear canal feels a little smaller. I have actually had the complete opposite of what people.expected with the Novus' fit in the ear vs the Raven. To me the Novus fits even better.
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phiemon
Headphoneus Supremus
If both IEMs are different - and they obviously are, as other reviews also say - I would be cautious about drawing such conclusions from my own experience.
Give your brain time to get used to the sound, especially if you do an a/b.
Also, I'm not a fan of absolutism: ‘better’ is always a relative concept - relative to source, tips, library, mood, fit, work, sleep, listening focus, attitudes, expectations, preferences etc. There are definitely sound aspects that make Raven ‘better’ or make it 'comparatively better’. For example, it has already been mentioned that Novus has more clarity, can be more energetic and is said to have less sub-bass. As I personally prefer the musical, flowing and smoother sound, I would favour Raven as main iem based on these impressions.
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No, it's not even close to my ears between the two. The Novus is just in another league compared to the Raven. From the larger soundstage, tighter harder hitting bass, harder hitting BCDs that are more dynamic, more holographic soundstage than the Raven, better separation, and better sounding treble.
The Astell&Kern SP3000T really brings out the full potential of the Raven and Novus. On top of all the sound quality improvements, the build quality is much better and is more akin to Astell&Kern's premium tier DAPs build quality. I have sat and listed to the Novus for several hours almost every day since last weekend and have compared to back to back with my Raven. I'm going to keep my Raven, but I'm going to look for another set of IEMs that is on a similar sound quality level, but a different sound signature that would compliment the Novus rather than compete with it. I've been looking at IEMs like the UM Multiverse Mentor and the Noble Viking Ragnar IEMs. I know the Mentor is supposed to be amazing. I'm not sure if it's more Mid/vocals focused or what. I know the Ragnar has top notch detail retrieval, Separation, soundstage, and excellent treble.
P.S. I still think you would prefer the Novus if you got to listen to it on the Astell&Kern SP3000T DAP in Hybrid mode and high current. It adds musicality and smoothness, but still keeps enough detail retrieval. It's a 50/50 combination of the OP digital mode and the Tube mode. The Novus EQ preset brings out the full potential of the Novus compared to no EQ. I also like a lot of musicality and it's not very close between the two IEMs to which has better sound quality. The bass sounds more concentrated and impactful and the BCDs hit a lot harder and are more consistent than the single BCD on the Raven. Look, I wish the Novus wasn't that much better because it's making me feel like my Raven sounds inferior now. The Novus is still a bass heavy tuned IEM and if you.look at the EQ chart that was posted the Novus has identical looking subbass, but stronger mid bass.
Thanks
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phiemon
Headphoneus Supremus
Please pardon my scepticism, but I have read such words so, so often and in the end I was disappointed. I also think that your DAP doesn't utilise the full potential of either Raven or Novus. It has too weak an AMP section, even weaker than the SP3000. I say all this from my own experience. In addition, other reviewers have expressed different opinions, which reinforces my suspicions.
However, you may be right. But I'll remain sceptical until I've heard it for myself.
Enjoy!
Really too weak for a 2 Ohms impedance sensitive IEMs?? Without any EQ used the voltage supplied to the IEMs reaches max potential but stays below the red line on the built in VUmeter. How would you know how strong or weak the SP3000T's Amp is? These DAPs are perfect for IEMs. For over ear headphones I have the Chord Hugo 2 for mobile use and the Chord Mscaler+Chord Hugo tt2 DAC/HP Amp for home use. Those are too strong for the Raven and Novus. You can easily get static and pops. Not sure why you think you need more juice than what these top two Astell&Kern DAPs provide for low impeadance IEMs? Makes no sense at all.
Also, be skeptical all you want or whatever your negative demeanor seems to be. Insecurity, jealousy, trolling someone's purchasing choice? If you don't want to believe someone's comments on their IEMs you can obviously go out and listen to one for yourself. Sound quality can be highly subjective. What one person prefers the other may not. You can't say someone is wrong though when it's a personal experience comparing two IEMs that they own.
I'll say it again: after testing the Novus and Raven back to back on the exact same DAP(SP3000T) with the exact same modes, I have found the Astell&Kern x Empire Ears Novus to superior in sound quality to the Raven. It is on another level above the Raven in every regard I’ve come across from multiple sound quality aspects to build quality. The Astell&Kern SP3000T DAP has more than enough Amp juice to power these 2 Ohm IEMs to their full potential. Even if they weren't powered well enough to reach their full potential. They both used the same DAP with the same settings so they both are on the same playing field as one another. If the Raven sounds notably inferior to the Novus with the exact same impedance on the same device and settings the Raven isn't going to suddenly get good enough to overcome it's inferior sound quality metrics. You could say the same about the Novus. If we gave the Novus more power it would also sound better. The Novus is just technically better at reproducing the music. It also has great musicality and is devoid of any sterility.
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raydenray
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Is there a way to get the SP3000T EQ to the SP3000?
The latest firmware update for the SP3000 should include the NOVUS EQ preset. At the very least, our SP3000 in the office has it, along with the Odyssey and AURA EQ presets.
I wanted to know the exact same thing, but apparently the only way is to somehow "copy" the Novus EQ preset settings and duplicate then on a custom EQ profile. However, I am not sure how this is even possible since you can't even take a look at the EQ settings. Maybe it's Astell&Kern's sound engineers' secret sauce formula that they won't openly share.
Wait what? How do you have the presets already on the SP3000? Did you get an early firmware update? If the SP3000 is indeed getting the Novus EQ presets I will 100% purchase an SP3000. I just really like the idea of a large holographic soundstage, digital details, and a black background that lacks any hiss. My SP3000T has some minimal hiss, but it's not too troubling. I'd rather no have it at all though.
Can you please confirm being able to get the Novus EQ preset on the SP3000? I know originally the Novus' tuning was designed with the SP3000T DAP. The Novus EQ was made by the Astell&Kern sound engineers to bring out what they thought was the best of the sound quality in the Novus.
Sorry, I just meant if you could confirm your SP3000 has the Novus EQ preset and not just the others like the Odyssey.
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raydenray
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Holy crap I'm getting the SP3000 then.Omg I do have the Novus EQ
Well that's good to know!
Yes, I forgot it was added to the latest update. @UTVOL06 I actually just posted this in the SP3000 thread where you asked.
Thank you very much!
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