[Hanesu]

I actually ordered a custom version of the NC5 V2 and am very exited about it.
It seems it will be send out tomorrow .
I will post my impressions here after receiving it...

 

[superuser1]

I actually ordered a custom version of the NC5 V2 and am very exited about it.
It seems it will be send out tomorrow .
I will post my impressions here after receiving it...

You should be excited. I have a universal as a loaner and this thing has soul that sparkles. That phrase captures it IMO.
You are going to have a lot of fun with your music.

 

[Hanesu]

You should be excited. I have a universal as a loaner and this thing has soul that sparkles. That phrase captures it IMO.
You are going to have a lot of fun with your music.

Thanks, sounds great and makes me even more excited ! This is actually my first blind purchase in this price class.
But from everything I read i am quite confident this is going to fit to my preferences. Also, I think in this crazy world where people call a 2000$ earphones „a steal“ it seems to offer a more realistic, if not truly great price performance ratio!
As many people have noticed before, Thomas is great to work with, so patient!

 

[srosenberg]

I'm fortunate to be living in Vietnam for the time being and so have had the opportunity to visit the NCM shop a few times. Thomas made me a pair of custom Bellas, and they are absolutely incredible with a Sony WM1A - the combination just amazes me at every listen.

@Hanesu - sorry, i can not compare them directly to the NC5-V2 on my current source. when i listened to both the 5 and the Bella, i was using an iphone as a source, and there wasn't a lot between them. the Bellas on the WM1A are MILES better, and since i've not had the chance to hear the NC5-V2 on this DAP, too, it's impossible for me to make any meaningful comparisons. Sorry. Give Thomas a call or shoot him an email - he's one of the good guys and will absolutely not try to sell you something simply because it's more expensive. He's honest about his stuff and wants his clients to enjoy his product. I can't say enough good things about dealing with him.

 

[Hanesu]

I'm fortunate to be living in Vietnam for the time being and so have had the opportunity to visit the NCM shop a few times. Thomas made me a pair of custom Bellas, and they are absolutely incredible with a Sony WM1A - the combination just amazes me at every listen.

@Hanesu - sorry, i can not compare them directly to the NC5-V2 on my current source. when i listened to both the 5 and the Bella, i was using an iphone as a source, and there wasn't a lot between them. the Bellas on the WM1A are MILES better, and since i've not had the chance to hear the NC5-V2 on this DAP, too, it's impossible for me to make any meaningful comparisons. Sorry. Give Thomas a call or shoot him an email - he's one of the good guys and will absolutely not try to sell you something simply because it's more expensive. He's honest about his stuff and wants his clients to enjoy his product. I can't say enough good things about dealing with him.

Hi srosenberg!

Thanks a lot for your reply! Actually I already wrote Thomas and "dealed" with him, too! I agree, he seems to be a really nice guy!
I made my decision in favour for the NC5-V2 and am now eagerly waiting for it!
Actually they had been sent out today and Thomas already sent me some pictures!

 

[superuser1]

Hi srosenberg!

Thanks a lot for your reply! Actually I already wrote Thomas and "dealed" with him, too! I agree, he seems to be a really nice guy!
I made my decision in favour for the NC5-V2 and am now eagerly waiting for it!
Actually they had been sent out today and Thomas already sent me some pictures!

They look absolutely awesome!!

 

[Hanesu]

They look absolutely awesome!!

Thomas did a great job to fulfil my wishes
Anybody recognizes the symbols?

 

[krayziehustler]

Which one would be the best for first time CIEM and hiphop/jazz/soft rock? I would be using my Ear Studio Bluetooth adapter and Sony nw-a55 as the source. Thanks

 

[CAPTAINIVAN]

Which one would be the best for first time CIEM and hiphop/jazz/soft rock? I would be using my Ear Studio Blueto oth adapter and Sony nw-a55 as the source. Thanks

I Use my custom NCM5 on the Ear Studio, I bought a 2.5mm balanced cable for them and they sound really really good. Im not expert audiphile i have never had another set of high end headphones,my expertise is in car audiobut i am very pleased with the sound, The bass os phenomenal and they are suuuper loud, they can hqndle it too. My downsise is I dont have high quality music i ise spotify. But in the rare instancea someone makes a great recordng they are incredible! Bass is awesome and treble super precise. Youll find the music/ sourve l give out before the headphones do . To top it all off his customer service is the best. Thomas is incredible. Hope this helps.

 

[superuser1]

For anyone having the universal NC5v2 which spinfit is the correct size? CP145 or CP155

 

[thomaskr]

CP155

think they would probably be using the 155 since it has a larger bore

 

[Hanesu]

After having the NC5 V2 for about a week now, it`s maybe time to write down some first thoughts....

Custom IEM:
First of all, I must say that this is my first CIEM and unfortunately I seem to belong to the few that have fit problems.
It seems that my right and left ear are pretty different, and the first two or three days I had serious problems to get the right phone into my ear (it hurt quite a bit). It took me a while to figure out that the reason is/was, that the part of my right ear which lies right over the "Concha" (not sure how it`s called) seems a lot less stretchable than on the left side, so the earphone just could not slip under it, like it was supposed to do.
Thomas sent me somehelpful mails with illustrated techniques to pull certain parts of the ear to get a proper fit - and it somehow worked! Quite complicated at the beginning but my ear slowly adjusts to it and it`s getting a bit easier day by day. Stil after one week it`s not as comfortable as I thought CIEMs are and I need to wait for maybe another week (and also talk to the audiologist where I took the impressions) to see whether it`s really just a question of getting used to it or I might need a refit. I hope not the latter, because I really enjoy the sound of these (more below) and don`t feel like letting them go again for some weeks...
In any way, again, Thomas was very helpful with replying to mails quickly and offering help where he could.

Built:
My final design choice - solid black with two simple Massive Attack Logos - was kind of a process, but I am very happy with the result. Actually I wanted to go with a clear shell design first, but I am glad I did not - because the phone now looks really minimalistic and noble at the same time, like a set of black Onyxes... The red print is not as bright as I thought (which is a little bit of a pity...not sure what the reason is), but Thomas helped by adding a yellow line to make it more visible.
Material is thick and solid, everything is well polished. I love the fact that you can choose MMCX connectors (quite rare in the world of customs?) and they seem well implemented. If you have a close look, you realise a lot of love for details: For example, how the vent is done, the wooden splitter for the cable or the nice leather clip it comes with. Even the case with its engravement and integrated zipper bag is a lot nicer than it looked from the pictures. For sure with NCM you get the feeling of a truly handbuilt and personalized product - and that is really nice!

Sound (see my signature for other phones I am currently using):
There are a few people who already wrote about NC5 V2 and I must say it roughly sounds like i expected it to sound from the descriptions. "Roughly" because I expected it to be a w-shaped signature, but I expected even more elevated bass and treble (maybe because everybody wrote so much about "sparkle"). But actually the NC5 V2 has a wonderful balance between bass, mids and treble. What I mean is, elements are pronounced, but it`s done in a way they kind of harmonise eachother. I`d say the NC5 sounds a little less bright and less detailed than the Andromeda (still far away from dark though), but it has more attack to the mid and bass tones. The bass is still far away from something like the Atlas. It sounds very deep and punchy, though, with surprisingly quick decay (quicker than my Fidue Sirius)- so on the very clean side. Certainly with its dynamic driver it can move more air than the Andromeda.
Compared with my Fidue Sirius the mids are even more present. Voices sound so natural and full to me, my IE800 sounds recessed and thin in direct comparison.
The NC5 V2 clearly is on a high level with its tuning. Now I would love even more to also listen to the „Bellas“, NCMs flagship! To hear with my own ears whether the tuning of these two really is so close...

Well, this are just some first impressions, but I`d describe the NC5 V2 as a "ying and yang phone" in a good way. Not only because of very well balanced bass, mids and treble but also because imo it offers a way, way better price performance ratio than all of these recent 2000 dollar phones. I am very happy with my purchase and hope the fit problems can be solved soon!

 

[superuser1]

After having the NC5 V2 for about a week now, it`s maybe time to write down some first thoughts....

Custom IEM:
First of all, I must say that this is my first CIEM and unfortunately I seem to belong to the few that have fit problems.
It seems that my right and left ear are pretty different, and the first two or three days I had serious problems to get the right phone into my ear (it hurt quite a bit). It took me a while to figure out that the reason is/was, that the part of my right ear which lies right over the "Concha" (not sure how it`s called) seems a lot less stretchable than on the left side, so the earphone just could not slip under it, like it was supposed to do.
Thomas sent me some really helpful mails with illustrated techniques to pull certain parts of the ear to get a proper fit - and somehow it worked! Quite complicated at the beginning but my ear slowly adjusts to it and it`s getting easier day by day. Stil after one week it`s not as comfortable as I thought CIEMs are and I need to wait for maybe another week (and also talk to the audiologist where I took the impressions) to see whether it`s really just a question of getting used to it or I might need a refit. I hope not the latter, because I really enjoy the sound of these (more below) and don`t feel like letting them go again for some weeks...
In any way, again, Thomas was very helpful with replying to mails quickly and offering help where he could.

Built:
My final design choice - solid black with two simple Massive Attack Logos - was kind of a process, but I am very happy with the result. Once more Thomas gave great support! The red print, for example, is not as bright as I thought, but he helped by adding a yellow line to make it more visible.
Actually I wanted to go with a clear shell design first, but I am glad I did not - because the phone now looks really minimalistic and noble at the same time, like a set of black Onyxes...
Material is thick and solid, everything is well polished. I love the fact that you can choose MMCX connectors (quite rare in the world of customs?) and they seem well implemented. If you have a close look, you realise a lot of love for details, for example how the vent is done, the wooden splitter for the cable or the nice leather clip it comes with. Even the case with its engravement and integrated zipper bag is a lot nicer than it looked from the pictures. For sure with NCM you get the feeling of a truly handbuilt and personalized product - and that is really nice!

Sound (see my signature for other phones I am currently using):
There are a few people who already wrote about NC5 V2 and I must say it roughly sounds like i expected it to sound from the descriptions. "Roughly" because I expected it to be a w-shaped signature, but I expected even more elevated bass and treble (maybe because everybody wrote so much about "sparkle"). But actually the NC5 V2 has a wonderful balance between bass, mids and treble. What I mean is, elements are pronounced, but it`s done in a way they kind of harmonise eachother. I`d say the NC5 sounds a little less bright and slightly less detailed than the Andromeda (still far away from dark though), but it has more attack to the mid and bass tones. The bass is still far away from something like the Atlas. It sounds very deep and punchy, though, with surprisingly quick decay (quicker than my Fidue Sirius)- so on the very clean side. Certainly with its dynamic driver it can move more air than the Andromeda.
Compared with my Fidue Sirius the mids are even more present. Voices sound so natural and full to me, my IE800 sounds recessed and thin in direct comparison.
The NC5 V2 clearly is on a very high level with its tuning. Now I would love even more to also listen to the „Bellas“, NCMs flagship - to hear with my own ears whether the tuning of these two really is so close...

Well, this are just some first impressions, but I`d describe the NC5 V2 as a true "Ying and Yang phone". Not only because of the sound but also because imo it offers a way, way better price performance ratio than all of these recent 2000 dollar phones. I am very happy with my purchase and hope the fit problems can be solved soon!

Excellent first impressions.. I was the one who said sparkle and i meant it in a good way (in harmony with the rest of the spectrum). I'll be getting my universals soon.

EDIT: I want to qualify that statement further by giving a situation where there is a busy bass track playing and at the same time you hear the lovely highs, at no point coming in the way of each other but rather complimenting each other. The mature bass coupled with the cohesion across the frequencies is what got me.

 

[superuser1]

 

[Hanesu]

Excellent first impressions.. I was the one who said sparkle and i meant it in a good way (in harmony with the rest of the spectrum). I'll be getting my universals soon.

EDIT: I want to qualify that statement further by giving a situation where there is a busy bass track playing and at the same time you hear the lovely highs, at no point coming in the way of each other but rather complimenting each other. The mature bass coupled with the cohesion across the frequencies is what got me.

Hi superuser!

I did not take it in a bad way at all!
Just wanted to point out my impression, that the "sparkle" in deed is there but does not stand out to my hearing, because the other elements kind of balance it out. The Andromeda in direct comparison for sure brings the listeners attention to the sparkle, while the NC5 does not so much. At least this is what I hear. Both sound great IMO and both have their strengths (Andromedas micro detail is higher while NC5s bass and overall signature sounds more engaging).