KATANA Listening Event @ Affordable Audio
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Jul 15, 2016 at 8:07 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 17

bangkokkid

Brannan "The Glove" Mason
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KATANA Listening Event @ Affordable Audio
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Come and hear Noble Audio's new KATANA exclusively at Affordable Audio in Playa del Rey!
Some sources will be on hand, all attendees are encouraged to bring their own gear and music.
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Saturday, July 23rd, from 12 to 4 pm
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Affordable Audio
6517 Vista Del Mar, Los Angeles, CA 90293
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Please RSVP if possible
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Jul 23, 2016 at 1:38 AM Post #4 of 17
Subbed :)
 
Jul 23, 2016 at 12:25 PM Post #5 of 17
Please note that the Katana listening event has been moved to Affordable Audio's new store (1 minute walk from original location).

318 Culver Blvd
Unit B
Playa Del Rey, CA 90293
 
Jul 23, 2016 at 9:25 PM Post #7 of 17
Thanks for a fun event!  I like the Katana, I think it'll be a solid product.
 
Impressions:  Balanced "reference" sound, wide soundstage with lots of detail (two things that are hard to do well in an IEM), a tad bright perhaps.  Compared to the K10, it's slightly less bassy (not bass light though), it's got more high end, more detail and more soundstage. 
 
I can see some people preferring the more "fun" sound of the K10 vs the more "reference" sound of the Katana.  I believe Branan called these "co-flagships", meant to appeal to different people and I'd agree with that assessment.  I'm hard pressed to pick between the two if I had to pick just one.  I think I'm leaning toward the Katana like 60/40.
 
Jul 23, 2016 at 11:18 PM Post #8 of 17
Thank to @bangkokkid and Gary at Affordable Audio for hosting the Katana event. I was glad I made the drive to hear the Katana's and the rest of the latest Noble Universals.
 
Here's a few photos: (Impressions to follow, but I agree with what @Stillhart posted above.)
 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
-Darin
 
Jul 24, 2016 at 8:15 AM Post #9 of 17
I got there after time, but Gary was kind enough to let me listen for a bit to the Katana and the K-10. Of course they both sounded wonderful coming straight out of the iPhone with Tidal, but I think I preferred the Katana for a bit more depth to the sound. I'm looking forward to getting more chances to listening to these great iem's.
 
Jul 25, 2016 at 6:02 PM Post #12 of 17
It's ashame Noble is not readily available to hear, I have no issue spending some money on things I can hear before buying. I own enough audio equipment to buy a home in most areas but I like to audition first.


Its not just Noble to blame my friend - brick and mortar head-fi shops are very rare (at least in the USA)
 
Jul 25, 2016 at 6:07 PM Post #13 of 17
Its not just Noble to blame my friend - brick and mortar head-fi shops are very rare (at least in the USA)

My home on the northshore of Boston there are 11 hifi shops within a half hour and my home in NYC there are many more with a half hour. So I think Noble just misses the east coast completely but European and Canadian audio companies take full advantage of it. My favorite shop has 9 listening rooms for home audio and two for headphones so no excuse in not having hifi shops.
 
Jul 25, 2016 at 6:14 PM Post #14 of 17
My home on the northshore of Boston there are 11 hifi shops within a half hour and my home in NYC there are many more with a half hour. So I think Noble just misses the east coast completely but Eurooean and Canadian audio companies take full advantage of it. My favorite shop has 9 listening rooms for home audio and two for headphones so no excuse in not having hifi shops.


I guess I wasn't including some of the worlds largest, diverse and most populated cities such as New York.
 
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