[dSmurf]

Hi!

I am just curious of Noble audio sage.
What tier are you going to put them?

I am coming from Oriveti New Primacy and would like to have a laid back iem with somehow forward mids.
What iem are you going to suggest with the price range of $600 to $1000 .

Kindly list them for me if you may from the said price above.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ahmad313]

@crinacle have you heard/auditioned any of oBravo products(iems) ,??

 

[crinacle]

Hi!

I am just curious of Noble audio sage.
What tier are you going to put them?

I am coming from Oriveti New Primacy and would like to have a laid back iem with somehow forward mids.
What iem are you going to suggest with the price range of $600 to $1000 .

Kindly list them for me if you may from the said price above.

Thanks in advance!

If they're anything like the predecessor Savant then I think they would be quite high on the list. Probably B-ish. I should ask for a demo.

Laid back with forward mids sounds like the Harmony 8.2. There seems to be a few second-hand units floating around these days.

@crinacle have you heard/auditioned any of oBravo products(iems) ,??

No, but I definitely want to. Trusted ears have told me that they sound awful which is interesting since a lot of people have hyped it up as the best IEMs ever made. I think I won't like it.

 

[Tommy C]

If they're anything like the predecessor Savant then I think they would be quite high on the list. Probably B-ish. I should ask for a demo.

Laid back with forward mids sounds like the Harmony 8.2. There seems to be a few second-hand units floating around these days.



No, but I definitely want to. Trusted ears have told me that they sound awful which is interesting since a lot of people have hyped it up as the best IEMs ever made. I think I won't like it.

The Sage have more mellow highs and more bass. The Savant sounded a bit harsh in the highs

 

[KazeNg]

In what way is the Andromeda superior to the 334? How do they compare directly? I'm thinking of getting the Andromeda but wondering if it's worth it since I already own the 334.

 

[4Fan]

In what way is the Andromeda superior to the 334? How do they compare directly? I'm thinking of getting the Andromeda but wondering if it's worth it since I already own the 334.

If you own the TG334 , you'll find the Andros to be very bright with lots of micro details

 

[cocolinho]

Got both. Loved both.both fantastic iems but different approach.
334 are warmer with thicker sound. More mellow romantic but never boring.
Andro are also musical but much in a analytical way. High are much more present (very good quality). Mids are less forwards bass are tighter

 

[dSmurf]

If they're anything like the predecessor Savant then I think they would be quite high on the list. Probably B-ish. I should ask for a demo.

Laid back with forward mids sounds like the Harmony 8.2. There seems to be a few second-hand units floating around these days.



No, but I definitely want to. Trusted ears have told me that they sound awful which is interesting since a lot of people have hyped it up as the best IEMs ever made. I think I won't like it.

Thanks for your quick reply and I really do hope you can also listen to QDC 4SS and 5SH.. thanks again! And many of us do thank you for creating this tedious list.. really appreciate it. 2 thumbs up!

 

[SilverEars]

I was so underwhelmed by Noble Encore. $1850, seriously?! If they put out that kind of performance for that pricing, how can I trust rest of the line to have decent value?

Also, JHA Layla II was a bad tune. I really don't expect good tuning from that company given they charge so much for such underwhelming tune. I guess the philosophy is, more driver = better? Does JH have anything novel to bring to the industry than keep adding more drivers? Perhaps learn to tune them? How can they be so badly tuned for such a ridiculous pricing?

Actually, Michelle at a more achievable pricing(at least compared to their TOTL prices) was pretty decent, better than expected, and the tune seemed more balanced than their 20+ drivers Frankensteins. Oh and the fit, just terrible!! But then again, he did design the fit of the TF10, and a design even with 3 drivers, the fit was terrible. Hope he figures out one day that ergonomics and fit are an important aspects of iems.

 

[Swiftfalcon]

I was so underwhelmed by Noble Encore. $1850, seriously?! If they put out that kind of performance for that pricing, how can I trust rest of the line to have decent value?

Also, JHA Layla II was a bad tune. I really don't expect good tuning from that company given they charge so much for such underwhelming tune. I guess the philosophy is, more driver = better? Does JH have anything novel to bring to the industry than keep adding more drivers? Perhaps learn to tune them? How can they be so badly tuned for such a ridiculous pricing?

Actually, Michelle at a more achievable pricing(at least compared to their TOTL prices) was pretty decent, better than expected, and the tune seemed more balanced than their 20+ drivers Frankensteins. Oh and the fit, just terrible!! But then again, he did design the fit of the TF10, and a design even with 3 drivers, the fit was terrible. Hope he figures out one day that ergonomics and fit are an important aspects of iems.

I was wondering about the JH Layla 2, where they would fit on this grading.

 

[crinacle]

In what way is the Andromeda superior to the 334? How do they compare directly? I'm thinking of getting the Andromeda but wondering if it's worth it since I already own the 334.

The MH334 is a very unique sound. It's meaty and thick yet energetic which does wonders for female vocals. Unfortunately that means it's also pretty coloured and as such is more a specialist. (I focus on fidelity so such signatures are docked points slightly for this; I can't account for everyone's tastes at the same time so this is the most compromising result.)

The Andromeda on the other hand is a lot more neutral in tonality and therefore more "natural" sounding for listening in general. Its bass is thick like the 334 (on low OI) but the thickness does not extend to the midrange like it does. There's also the upper treble spike which makes the Andromeda sound brighter and less "congested" in a way. The 334 can be a lot more intimate and syrup-y for some. (For that reason, I recommend the Andromeda a lot more than the 334 unless I know the requester's preferences meshes well with the 334's signature.)

I was so underwhelmed by Noble Encore. $1850, seriously?! If they put out that kind of performance for that pricing, how can I trust rest of the line to have decent value?

Also, JHA Layla II was a bad tune. I really don't expect good tuning from that company given they charge so much for such underwhelming tune. I guess the philosophy is, more driver = better? Does JH have anything novel to bring to the industry than keep adding more drivers? Perhaps learn to tune them? How can they be so badly tuned for such a ridiculous pricing?

Actually, Michelle at a more achievable pricing(at least compared to their TOTL prices) was pretty decent, better than expected, and the tune seemed more balanced than their 20+ drivers Frankensteins. Oh and the fit, just terrible!! But then again, he did design the fit of the TF10, and a design even with 3 drivers, the fit was terrible. Hope he figures out one day that ergonomics and fit are an important aspects of iems.

Man Noble's a touchy subject. I really didn't like the K10/Katana since they were essentially tonally dead (which makes for easy and hard-to-hate listening but at the same time lacks proper dynamics) but the Encore was a good improvement over the two.

I'm still a fair person; I may have somewhat of a hate-boner for Noble for numerous reasons but I won't grade something lower that what I pseudo-objectively think is worth their performance. That said, for the prestige and pricing, the K10 Encore should absolutely be expected to perform at S-tier level, so I think A+ is quite a huge blow already. To push my point home, I think the Andromeda outperforms the Encore for what is slightly more than half the price.

 

[crinacle]

As I've said in the first post: expect changes. Here's the first, to be recorded in the first post for transparency.

Feels like the highest S-tier has been getting too crowded; I intended it to be a rather "exclusive" club in which only the best of the best of the best (repeat ad infinitum) will be showcased. So, here's a little trimming.

AAW W900 (S to S-):. While essentially the top-dog in bass and soundstage, it's still relatively off-timbre. Only detectable when in comparison with the rest of S-tier, not so much with anything lower.

InEar Prophile (S to S-): While its biggest strength lies in its neutrality, it falls short in staging and slightly lean timbre. Bonus points for technical ability but not as much as the Jomo Samba (for example) which has the same weakness in tonality.

Advanced Evo X (C+ to C): C+ seems a little too high. It's good but not quite there.

Periodic Mg (C to C+): Comparing the Mg with the F9, sounds to me like the Mg has the better timbre and bass layering capability.

FitEar F/A111 (A- to B+): Probably too coloured (read: "unnatural") to be playing with the likes of the ER4XR.

UERR (A- to A): I might've been too harsh on the UERR given my love for the UERM. A very capable warm signature just missing that last octave of air.

Hifiman RE2000 (B+ to B): Meh.

VSonic GR07X (B+ to B): The GR09 does sound to be slightly better, but I don't think the GR09 is exactly A- material. So down goes the 07X.

iBasso IT03 (B- to C+): Just remembered the wonky midrange. Docked points for tonal issues.

Rhapsodio Clipper (C- to D): Probably missed this out. Its only strength lies in its massive bass, but average-meh everything else.

 

[buonassi]

Makes me want to go to the stores and audition a lot. Lol.

IEM "stores" where you can "audition" them. Is this a foreign concept to anyone else that follows this thread? Here in the MW USA we have BestBuy and that's about it. Closest I can come to auditioning items is at a head-fi meet or live-sound workshop where companies like 64audio may be. Any other ideas on how I can hear more IEMs in Central Illinois?

 

[SilverEars]

I've auditioned the profile-8, it's not better than Andromeda. Andromeda to my ears preforms better. The treble sounds peakier, and toward more analytical side than the Andro. Andro sounds more balanced to my ears, and the profile 8 sounds a bit treble lifted. I also thought that Andro had better detail retrieval as well. It sounded a bit thin, lacking weight to the sound to be consider beyond neutral to be considered analytical(but not the good accurate kind).

This was based on an audition, and it takes a bit more time to get a definitive comparison.

In regards to tones, warmth provides tonal depth. Just because something is warm doesn't mean it doesn't sound proper.

 

[Bina]

IEM "stores" where you can "audition" them. Is this a foreign concept to anyone else that follows this thread? Here in the MW USA we have BestBuy and that's about it. Closest I can come to auditioning items is at a head-fi meet or live-sound workshop where companies like 64audio may be. Any other ideas on how I can hear more IEMs in Central Illinois?

Best(and maybe only way) is to go on short trip to Tokyo, SIngapore or Hong Kong.