[armstrj2]

Eh...

 

[Deezel177]

Where have I seen this idea before...?

Now, hold your horses. I'm 99% sure Noble Audio were the first to come up with that design - or apply them to IEMs, at least - back in 2015.

I actually know the guy who Noble originated this design for. He's a part of the Singapore audiophile circle, and he's one of my closes friends there. Since then, I've seen UM, Naga Audio, SoftEars, Elysian, Jomo, etc. use the design as well. But, again, none of them have customs that I'd personally pay for out-of-pocket right now. There's this thing called life that I need to attend to as well.

 

[armstrj2]

Now, hold your horses. I'm 99% sure Noble Audio were the first to come up with that design - or apply them to IEMs, at least - back in 2015.



I actually know the guy who Noble originated this design for. He's a part of the Singapore audiophile circle, and he's one of my closes friends there. Since then, I've seen UM, Naga Audio, SoftEars, Elysian, Jomo, etc. use the design as well. But, again, none of them have customs that I'd personally pay for out-of-pocket right now. There's this thing called life that I need to attend to as well.

I heard somewhere that gold flakes make IEMs sound better (may or may not be true)

 

[ForceMajeure]

Now, hold your horses. I'm 99% sure Noble Audio were the first to come up with that design - or apply them to IEMs, at least - back in 2015.



I actually know the guy who Noble originated this design for. He's a part of the Singapore audiophile circle, and he's one of my closes friends there. Since then, I've seen UM, Naga Audio, SoftEars, Elysian, Jomo, etc. use the design as well. But, again, none of them have customs that I'd personally pay for out-of-pocket right now. There's this thing called life that I need to attend to as well.

I was just about to post that
Indeed they pioneered the use of those shredded cf plates with flakes and even without any flakes

Here is another beauty from late 2014 or early 2015
Carved out of a solid block

 

[stacey]

For IEMs I think JH Audio and Noble have the best designs and craftsmanship. JH Audio has some really amazing designs on their IG page.

 

[blotmouse]

I heard somewhere that gold flakes make IEMs sound better (may or may not be true)

It makes food taste better, that's for sure.

 

[SeeSax]

Hey did someone mention Noble designs? I’m gonna have to spam this thread now too with my new toy…





And I can report that the sound matches

-Collin-

 

[metaljem77]

Hey did someone mention Noble designs? I’m gonna have to spam this thread now too with my new toy…





And I can report that the sound matches

-Collin-

Wow, aethestically, this one is right up my alley. Please share your impressions! Thanks

 

[toaster]

Knife pic is sick.

Nice pickup, C!

 

[tawmizzzz]

Hey did someone mention Noble designs? I’m gonna have to spam this thread now too with my new toy…





And I can report that the sound matches

-Collin-

. Share the pink bowling ball one too!

 

[SeeSax]

. Share the pink bowling ball one too!

Don’t have to ask me twice!

 

[gLer]

'Good stuff, man! I don't know why they don't offer those forged-carbon-and-gold-flake faceplates for their customs, though. It's one of my favourite faceplate designs ever, and they only seem to be offered by brands whose customs I have zero interest in.


After a year-and-a-half of being stuck here in Jakarta, this is the only Jewel I'm pining for right now:
(For context, this is the Jewel emporium @ Changi Airport, Singapore.)

I love Changi! Spent many a long, wonderful stopover there when I was living in Sydney. Ironically I wasn't even remotely into audio in those days.

Very nice. Deserves consideration just for how beautiful it is.

I probably won't be popular for saying this but I honestly think the CIEM looks better. Even the matte black shell only without embellishments. And those Noble designs are on a different playing field altogether.

Uh oh...another lawsuit coming?

Haha, you beat me to it!

 

[Deezel177]

I was just about to post that
Indeed they pioneered the use of those shredded cf plates with flakes and even without any flakes

Here is another beauty from late 2014 or early 2015
Carved out of a solid block

I was mulling over a custom K10 for weeks just for that design back in the day. I ended up going for the Lime Ears Aether, and most of you know what happened next.

For IEMs I think JH Audio and Noble have the best designs and craftsmanship. JH Audio has some really amazing designs on their IG page.

For sure. They have an edge in experience, and they also have the massive advantage of owning in-house CNC machines. The possibilities are endless once you have them. I think where Noble's kinda sold themselves short is their pricing. Back in the day, Noble had a monopoly in CNC-crafted CIEMs, and they charged up to $1000 per pair as a result, which I personally think is understandable given the cost of a CNC machine. JH charged the same amount for their carbon fibre shells then as well. But, the difference is, as time went on, JH slashed their prices. I think their CNC designs are down to $350 per pair now, while Noble's are still way up there. I think that's part of the reason why a huge majority of their recent Prestige units are UIEMs; much easier to move. I'd personally like to see them be more competitive with their Prestige CIEMs, if only to see more of those gems in the wild.

 

[aaf evo]

Oh look what showed up!



Unfortunately I have to send these back to MusicTeck tomorrow as I believe the demo waiting list is quite extensive, so I won't get to dig too deep into these but I trust my ears and what I am hearing enough to share my own thoughts on them.

Straight to the point, I think these are very very good. I can see exactly why they're being compared to the Traillii as this is the closest thing I have heard to the "Traillii with DD bass" sound out there, but they're different enough to where there will be fans of one or the other, probably not too dissimilar to how some people prefer the Erlkonig over the Phonix and vice versa.

All impressions based off fully stock configuration with the iBasso DX240, I found the M9 to be too warm for the Jewel and the synergy was off to me.

I was going into this with quite low expectations on the bass after reading some impressions. Personally, the bass to me has been quite impressive. I don't hear an emphasis on either mid or sub bass but rather a balanced representation of both, the bass has the body to give the lows some meat and it has the sub bass rumble and depth to bring that satisfying vibration and airy lower end.

The midrange on this IEM is nothing short of exceptional to me. Quite neutral in the lower and mid areas with a generous but steady rise into the upper mid range. If you found the Traillii mid range to be too laid back then I really feel this addresses that. Relative to the Traillii I find it to be a little more forward in its presentation and has a bit more emphasis in the upper mid range. It is very resolving and spacious, with an organic and natural tonality.

So the treble here is here I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. Seeing 6 EST drivers I honestly had no clue what to expect. I often associate EST drivers with a more ethereal and weightless type of treble presentation. The treble here has a very natural tonality and has as similar lower treble recession like the Traillii, I'd argue it's more emphasized here though because the upper mid range seems a bit more elevated compared to the Traillii. I also feel there's a little less sparkle than the Traillii, but there's more upper treble in the Jewel without even coming close into the ethereal territory.

As far as staging/imaging goes, I'd say this is more "holographic" than the Traillii because it does a better job at putting sounds on all 3 axis whereas I feel Traillii only really excels at width. For me Jewel wins here as the sound is more immersive and therefore more engaging to me.

These are also softer in their presentation, not much slam or punch going on which seems to be a characteristic of these more natural tonality and timbre type IEMs.

Some non-sound related stuff... the cable is offensive. But there's no winning here. You charge a crazy price for an IEM like Traillii and then people blame the cost of the cable for it being so high, you charge the price of this and include this garbage cable and people will say it should come with a something more premium. But for $5100, this is a joke, its comfortable and light but its very microphonic and pretty much needs to be replaced just because of that alone.

The build of the shell is fine, that is entirely my own opinion though and I like comfort more than a weighted shell to satisfy a premium. The shell is definitely bigger than the Traillii but its going for more of a deeper insertion than the shallow insertion of Traillii. So you can still get a great deep seal and most of the shell should sit outside of your ears, not noticing any discomfort but I don't think I'll be able to demo these long enough to really find out.

To me this is more of a side-grade to the Traillii and just another option rather than an ugprade. If I were to choose between both in this current moment I would personally go for the Jewel due to the DD lows, slightly more emphasized upper mid range, and the more in head/spherical imaging relative to the Traillii.

For my first Aroma IEM experience I’d say these lived up to the hype around them, not sure I will demo the Ace as I think the sound signature isn’t for me based off what I have seen and heard about them.

I kept it quite generic but if there are any specific questions let me know and I will do my best to answer.

 

[armstrj2]

Oh look what showed up!



Unfortunately I have to send these back to MusicTeck tomorrow as I believe the demo waiting list is quite extensive, so I won't get to dig too deep into these but I trust my ears and what I am hearing enough to share my own thoughts on them.

Straight to the point, I think these are very very good. I can see exactly why they're being compared to the Traillii as this is the closest thing I have heard to the "Traillii with DD bass" sound out there, but they're different enough to where there will be fans of one or the other, probably not too dissimilar to how some people prefer the Erlkonig over the Phonix and vice versa.

All impressions based off fully stock configuration with the iBasso DX240, I found the M9 to be too warm for the Jewel and the synergy was off to me.

I was going into this with quite low expectations on the bass after reading some impressions. Personally, the bass to me has been quite impressive. I don't hear an emphasis on either mid or sub bass but rather a balanced representation of both, the bass has the body to give the lows some meat and it has the sub bass rumble and depth to bring that satisfying vibration and airy lower end.

The midrange on this IEM is nothing short of exceptional to me. Quite neutral in the lower and mid areas with a generous but steady rise into the upper mid range. If you found the Traillii mid range to be too laid back then I really feel this addresses that. Relative to the Traillii I find it to be a little more forward in its presentation and has a bit more emphasis in the upper mid range. It is very resolving and spacious, with an organic and natural tonality.

So the treble here is here I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. Seeing 6 EST drivers I honestly had no clue what to expect. I often associate EST drivers with a more ethereal and weightless type of treble presentation. The treble here has a very natural tonality and has as similar lower treble recession like the Traillii, I'd argue it's more emphasized here though because the upper mid range seems a bit more elevated compared to the Traillii. I also feel there's a little less sparkle than the Traillii, but there's more upper treble in the Jewel without even coming close into the ethereal territory.

As far as staging/imaging goes, I'd say this is more "holographic" than the Traillii because it does a better job at putting sounds on all 3 axis whereas I feel Traillii only really excels at width. For me Jewel wins here as the sound is more immersive and therefore more engaging to me.

These are also softer in their presentation, not much slam or punch going on which seems to be a characteristic of these more natural tonality and timbre type IEMs.

Some non-sound related stuff... the cable is offensive. But there's no winning here. You charge a crazy price for an IEM like Traillii and then people blame the cost of the cable for it being so high, you charge the price of this and include this garbage cable and people will say it should come with a something more premium. But for $5100, this is a joke, its comfortable and light but its very microphonic and pretty much needs to be replaced just because of that alone.

The build of the shell is fine, that is entirely my own opinion though and I like comfort more than a weighted shell to satisfy a premium. The shell is definitely bigger than the Traillii but its going for more of a deeper insertion than the shallow insertion of Traillii. So you can still get a great deep seal and most of the shell should sit outside of your ears, not noticing any discomfort but I don't think I'll be able to demo these long enough to really find out.

To me this is more of a side-grade to the Traillii and just another option rather than an ugprade. If I were to choose between both in this current moment I would personally go for the Jewel due to the DD lows, slightly more emphasized upper mid range, and the more in head/spherical imaging relative to the Traillii.

For my first Aroma IEM experience I’d say these lived up to the hype around them, not sure I will demo the Ace as I think the sound signature isn’t for me based off what I have seen and heard about them.

I kept it quite generic but if there are any specific questions let me know and I will do my best to answer.

Thanks for that @aaf evo

As I haven't heard Traillii, your thoughts on Jewel vs Elysian X?