[FullCircle]

A competitor made a video opening the Savant, now the Sage, to pretty much try and hurt Noble for not posting the driver count, saying its a rip off etc etc.

Correction, he didnt go out of business, he is just not curently open for business, and has not stated definitively when he will be open for business again...

Savvy?

 

[ForceMajeure]

The guy is not out of business.
He'll be launching a new line soon afaik.

 

[cleg]

As this Noble thread is the most active, will post there too. I've made a video about Kaiser Encore. Probably the longest one I've ever did

 

[Wyville]

A competitor made a video opening the Savant, now the Sage, to pretty much try and hurt Noble for not posting the driver count, saying its a rip off etc etc.

I think it is getting passed the time where driver count is seen as important. In Flinkenick's shootout we see a wide variety of driver counts, BA, dynamic and hybrid, and the scores are really close. So a single driver is competing head-to-head with 8-, 9- and even 18-driver IEMs and the scoring is decided on details. I have auditioned the Trident, Savanna, Sage and Dulce Bass and I knew the driver count of the Sage when I did. My conclusion? It is well placed in the Noble line. I felt it was very similar to the Dulce Bass and indeed the two are similar in price. If you ask me, I think Noble can be very proud of their technical achievement with the Sage and anyone looking in that price range will be able to recognise it as such.

 

[Kerouac]

As this Noble thread is the most active, will post there too. I've made a video about Kaiser Encore. Probably the longest one I've ever did

Thanks, especially the Andromeda comparison was helpfull to me...
Now, it seems that some very lucky person (winner of the giveaway contest) will be in for a treat soon

So a single driver is competing head-to-head with 8-, 9- and even 18-driver IEMs

And that's a single BA, not even a DD one

 

[Watagump]

I think it is getting passed the time where driver count is seen as important. In Flinkenick's shootout we see a wide variety of driver counts, BA, dynamic and hybrid, and the scores are really close. So a single driver is competing head-to-head with 8-, 9- and even 18-driver IEMs and the scoring is decided on details. I have auditioned the Trident, Savanna, Sage and Dulce Bass and I knew the driver count of the Sage when I did. My conclusion? It is well placed in the Noble line. I felt it was very similar to the Dulce Bass and indeed the two are similar in price. If you ask me, I think Noble can be very proud of their technical achievement with the Sage and anyone looking in that price range will be able to recognise it as such.

The flip side is, if the single driver we are talking about sounded better with more drivers, then what?

 

[Wyville]

The flip side is, if the single driver we are talking about sounded better with more drivers, then what?

Interesting question. Would it sound better with two such drivers? Would it even be possible to make the same IEM with two drivers each side? I know absolutely nothing about designing IEMs, so those are genuine questions. The Encore I think is probably not five times the IEM of the Sage, so getting more drivers to work together to produce improved performance must be more tricky than simply adding them and expecting a linear improvement. Honestly, I wish I had the time to look into these things, it is quite fascinating.

 

[Watagump]

Interesting question. Would it sound better with two such drivers? Would it even be possible to make the same IEM with two drivers each side? I know absolutely nothing about designing IEMs, so those are genuine questions. The Encore I think is probably not five times the IEM of the Sage, so getting more drivers to work together to produce improved performance must be more tricky than simply adding them and expecting a linear improvement. Honestly, I wish I had the time to look into these things, it is quite fascinating.

I am no expert on making them either. Its asking a lot for a single driver to cover all the frequencies in sound, but hey, a giant over the ear headphone is also a single driver, its just kinda bigger. That's why crossovers and other things are around, people who know more about these things can enlighten us of course. In all honesty, I do think driver count matters in IEM's, but its far from being the end all answer.

 

[Wyville]

I am no expert on making them either. Its asking a lot for a single driver to cover all the frequencies in sound, but hey, a giant over the ear headphone is also a single driver, its just kinda bigger. That's why crossovers and other things are around, people who know more about these things can enlighten us of course.

Indeed.

In all honesty, I do think driver count matters in IEM's, but its far from being the end all answer.

Yes, I think so too.

 

[FullCircle]

Driver Count:

The number of drivers is important, but something that should not be overlooked, is the tuning, including driver selection - paring - coordination etc, and a good
testament to that is the Sage.

I think it is getting passed the time where driver count is seen as important....

 

[Watagump]

Sleep is important, and I just had a hell of a nap. I don't usually get sick in the summer, but I'll be dammed, I cant say never now. It looks like its going to be a K10-less couple of day, maybe longer.

 

[uzi2]

Driver Count:

The number of drivers is important, but something that should not be overlooked, is the tuning, including driver selection - paring - coordination etc, and a good
testament to that is the Sage.

.

A five driver solution with a perfectly balanced response...

 

[Feedbacker]

Hi everyone,

There's loads of information about Kaiser Encore and Katana, and quite a bit about the rest of the Noble line, except, it seems, for the Django. I wonder if anybody could post any impressions of the Django, particularly in comparison with Encore and Katana. I ask because I'm seriously contemplating diving in for one or other of the three. I'm in the UK, so probably can get a preview, but I'm interested in opinion.

For background, my musical tastes are extremely broad, from acoustic folky music, all the way to the densest extreme noise rock! I like a firm bass, so my preference between Encore and Katana, based on the information available, is for Encore. But how does Django fit in? (It would obviously save me some money...)

 

[Cloudtastrophe]

Hi everyone,

There's loads of information about Kaiser Encore and Katana, and quite a bit about the rest of the Noble line, except, it seems, for the Django. I wonder if anybody could post any impressions of the Django, particularly in comparison with Encore and Katana. I ask because I'm seriously contemplating diving in for one or other of the three. I'm in the UK, so probably can get a preview, but I'm interested in opinion.

For background, my musical tastes are extremely broad, from acoustic folky music, all the way to the densest extreme noise rock! I like a firm bass, so my preference between Encore and Katana, based on the information available, is for Encore. But how does Django fit in? (It would obviously save me some money...)

I had a quick comparison of the django a couple weeks vs some of the iems in the line up here: https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/noble-audio-the-wizard-returns.684787/page-1682#post-13414664.

I really liked what it did and its technical capabilities. Being fun but ALSO technically proficient is a hard line to stradle and Noble does it fantastically with the Django. If you like a medium amount of boosted bass and treble (about +2 to +4 db) then the Djangos are basically the upgrade path for mild V-shape iems. Take this impression with a grain of salt and consider it along with my other impressions of the other iems in the lineup, since i heard them all at the same time, that is the impression they had on me in comparison to each other.

Also keep in mind, i conditioned my hearing to the SQ of the Ether C (non flow) and thats where i am coming from. They are reference and almost completely neutral, so if you are coming from a different headphone the Djangos may not have the same impression on you as it did on me.

 

[Malevolent]

Driver Count:

The number of drivers is important, but something that should not be overlooked, is the tuning, including driver selection - paring - coordination etc, and a good
testament to that is the Sage.

Yup.

I'd say, a well-tuned multi-BA IEM has a greater potential than a well-tuned single-BA model. It gets more complex as the driver count increases, but when tuned correctly, a earphone will sound absolutely splendid.

Still, it doesn't discount the fact that an IEM with a low-driver count could easily surpass the abilities of a earphone with twice (or thrice) it's driver count. It's all in the know-how.

Just saying.