[Watagump]

You'll just have to kill him and build a better Brannan. I have a good store of spare parts.

He already exists, its ME.

 

[slankoe]

[...] My point is that the money we pay does not pay for handling clients with kid gloves. The personalities involved that create a high end specialist business do not necessarily lend themselves to fawning and mollycodling. [...]

Heh, maybe my experience differs once again. I did feel "mollycoddled," at times actually. Heck I'm even pretty certain that Mr. Wang did send me a winky kiss heart emoji thing at one point in our email exchanges. Haha! Having said that, I felt I was treated very nicely and it definitely raised my opinion of Noble Audio as a whole. As a new customer, they have earned my praise.

 

[slankoe]

I like the Healey.

Wow cool. That must be a new product. Freddy C is a pretty cool watchmaker. They are out of Geneva where all the other top dogs like Vacheron Constantine and Patek Philipe et al operate, but their prices are a lot less.... um, exorbitant. Ha. Still a pretty penny, but I got my Slimline for 1500 on the grey market. So worth it.

 

[Watagump]

Wow cool. That must be a new product. Freddy C is a pretty cool watchmaker. They are out of Geneva where all the other top dogs like Vacheron Constantine and Patek Philipe et al operate, but their prices are a lot less.... um, exorbitant. Ha. Still a pretty penny, but I got my Slimline for 1500 on the grey market. So worth it.

I was interested in it until I did my research and found out its only gold plating. I ended up just getting a Hamilton Jazzmaster, used for around $500. I have 3 other watches, all cheaper than my Hamilton. I had a Rolex Datejust back in the day, but have gravitated to larger watches, my Hamilton at 42mm is my smallest.

 

[krismusic]

I should have made clear that I in no way intended any criticism of Brannan. I've had several very enjoyable conversations with him at meets. In fact my comments were not directed at Brannan at all. I was just suggesting that there can be an over expectation on our part of levels of interest in customers concerns. Especially if they are concerns not actual problems?

 

[Wyville]

When I imagined buying a TOTL CIEM I naively expected to be treated as a high end customer.

Why would that be naive? Sure I never expected to be treated like royalty when I bought my (entry level) CIEMs, but I did expect a certain level of service not normally provided when buying IEMs. For many people CIEMs are a huge investment, even if that investment is "only" $500 or $1,000 and companies need to take that into consideration.

That said, I worked with the aforementioned Gisele who is a Noble recommended audiologist and her service was high end all the way. Although I ended up deciding on another brand, I spoke to her about the different CIEM companies and she clearly rated Noble very highly.

What is important to understand is that CIEM companies like Noble have a few key people doing an awful lot of work and sometimes replies are delayed or kept short because there simply are not enough hours in the day. Gisele occasionally did not respond to one of my questions, most notably my "can you send me the bill?" question, but that did not mean she wasn't going above and beyond to help me out. I guess people sometimes do not see beyond their own order, like in the case that a big show such as Canjam is going on and staff will be stretched to their limit dealing with everything that adds to their normal workload. I try to keep that in mind and it usually makes it more understandable when a response is delayed or kept short.

 

[slankoe]

I was interested in it until I did my research and found out its only gold plating. I ended up just getting a Hamilton Jazzmaster, used for around $500. I have 3 other watches, all cheaper than my Hamilton. I had a Rolex Datejust back in the day, but have gravitated to larger watches, my Hamilton at 42mm is my smallest.

Yeah I don't recommend Freddy C gold anything. I think all models in gold are plated although they use a good plating, it isnt the same as solid gold. I'd only get stainless steel. I got the 42mm blue slimline moon with the steel bracelet. I have the strap too but I prefer the bracelet, as it's one of the best looking bracelets I've ever seen, OEM or not.



The Jazzmaster is a really solid watch, hard to go wrong with it! I'd definitely be really tempted to get one if I didn't have the Freddy.

Oh and by the way, I didn't get mollycoddled much at all by the grey market retailer of the watch. Noble Audio's mollycoddling was far superior.

Yeah I'm definitely part of the cult--er, community now.

 

[slankoe]

I'm still kinda learning how to use this forum but, I wanted to quote my previous post so readers can see the changes I have made to it. I modified the post a bit and added some more comments on my service. I think the praise is well deserved.

Thanks bro. I am proud to have such works of art in my ear canals!!
But I have to agree with watagump on that one... I wear em everywhere! Now I just have to research a good material to polish acrylic with since tese will inevitably get scratced up, being as it may that they are not in a glass case.

But I must add... the Wizard is a gifted artist really. No idea how he even does it. Must manipulate the acrylic while it's setting or something. And the complex wooden pieces? What The craftsmanship is amazing.

I love the fact that they very closely match the color of the face of my dress watch (which is a blue Frederique Constant Slimline moonphase). I also like that they aren't too flashy when worn in public which I was afraid of when I ordered. From any distance they look pretty bland but once you look closer things get deep.

Frickin' classy Can't thank the wizard enough. Also just want to edit / amend this post. Would like to add that my particular design was ordered as a "re-print" to capture the spirit of the design... this is that design..
.


I then included a few instructions in the order form, that I want this image recreated, but with a more infinite space nebula vibe, and that asymmetry is a-ok, as well as to include a mic cable compatible with android.

Well, as you can see Noble Audio delivered. Even the cable works. Most android cables only have the one play-pause-next-back button, but this one had volume rockers too. Those never tend to work on android, only iPhone, but for some reason, I can control the volume on the android which is pretty awesome.

Too bad the Astell&Kern AK300 doesn't work with it, but that's the player's problem not the cable.

Needless to say I am pleased with my service

Really, I don't know how the Wizard did it but, this is something else I want to mention now. It's kind of woo-woo, so don't read this if you aren't into personality theory, bioenergetics, quantum indeterminacy, hippie-babble, or any other psuedo-scientific (but no less real) ideas. But I need to explain it in order to tell you why I am so pleased with the order.

Spoiler: (clicky)

You see, I believe every individual has what I call an "energy signature," and that the way they express themselves comes from this energy they possess in their body and mind etc. So, my nickname is Slankoe, and it seemd that this matches my energy. I could be described by some as - to paraphrase - a chill intellectual musician with a balanced masculine/feminine energy. Like a closet transvestite except without all of the crossdressing and deeply rooted insecurity and mental imbalance, to use such a silly simile. I am a weird but cool dude, if I could say so of myself, but on the outside I strive to remain ninja - with varying levels of success - I hide who I am when I am out and about, as we all do to a point. Think of how we don't show our true selves at the workplace or around certain groups of people.

Well having said that, I'd say that my earbuds from Noble Audio with their custom design represent this marvellously. From a given distance they appear quite subtle and not all that flashy, like many of the other IEMs in the Noble Lookbook. But if you look closer, you will get to enjoy the deep Wizardly design on my earphones.

And onto the topic of listening to the Katana itself, it was by sheer good research on my part that the sound of the product matched my expectations. I was nervous that the treble may pierce my eardrums, or that the bass may be floppy - despite reviews claiming otherwise. I was skeptical but took a leap of faith. Well I put the artwork into my ears, and I was stunned first not by the detail, or the epic soundstage that I later began to appreciate. No, the first thing I noticed was how FLAT and NEUTRAL they sounded. My music sounded exactly like the music ought to sound. And that was a huge relief and a pleasant surprise indeed. They still manage to sound great with my favourite tunes to jam out to, and benefit from higher bitrate recordings and a clean signal path from a good DAC (the Chord Hugo does a great job, and I've found that the illusion of increased soundstage offered by the crossfeed function jives brilliantly with the Katana!)

The best part is, when it comes to the WizArt design, and tying back into the whole "energy signature," mumbo-jumbo... I never mentioned any of this balogna in the short comment section of my order form. Somehow, Dr. John has used his wizard powers to see this customer, and make a special IEM just for him - and for me.

Now THAT was really what impressed me the most, and it took a while to get it into words but today I think I've done it. If anyone reading here can relate to any of this, let this be my form of a recommendation for the custom design. Thanks for you time.

 

[FullCircle]

Interesting enough, the best lab members that we have share a lot of the personality traits u speak of. They are quite introverted type people, but take a lot of pride in their work. All of them are alpha type personalities that want minimum direction, and essentially want to be just left alone to focus on their art.

They are:

fastidious
personal space guarding
don't like people touching their tools
don't like anyone to set anything down in their zone

Rico Suave used to tease Jimmy Hoffa by unlocking his tool drawer (picked the lock) and Jimmy would walk around all flustered thinking he forgot to lock his tools.

Now that may seem cruel, but the reality was, they were never his tools to begin with, but Jimmy would always grab the newest tools in the lab, lock them up and treat them as if they were his, keeping others from using them.

So Rico liked to covertly tease him from time to time.

 

[Wyville]

I'm still kinda learning how to use this forum but, I wanted to quote my previous post so readers can see the changes I have made to it. I modified the post a bit and added some more comments on my service. I think the praise is well deserved.



Really, I don't know how the Wizard did it but, this is something else I want to mention now. It's kind of woo-woo, so don't read this if you aren't into personality theory, bioenergetics, quantum indeterminacy, hippie-babble, or any other psuedo-scientific (but no less real) ideas. But I need to explain it in order to tell you why I am so pleased with the order.

Spoiler: (clicky)

You see, I believe every individual has what I call an "energy signature," and that the way they express themselves comes from this energy they possess in their body and mind etc. So, my nickname is Slankoe, and it seemd that this matches my energy. I could be described by some as - to paraphrase - a chill intellectual musician with a balanced masculine/feminine energy. Like a closet transvestite except without all of the crossdressing and deeply rooted insecurity and mental imbalance, to use such a silly simile. I am a weird but cool dude, if I could say so of myself, but on the outside I strive to remain ninja - with varying levels of success - I hide who I am when I am out and about, as we all do to a point. Think of how we don't show our true selves at the workplace or around certain groups of people.

Well having said that, I'd say that my earbuds from Noble Audio with their custom design represent this marvellously. From a given distance they appear quite subtle and not all that flashy, like many of the other IEMs in the Noble Lookbook. But if you look closer, you will get to enjoy the deep Wizardly design on my earphones.

And onto the topic of listening to the Katana itself, it was by sheer good research on my part that the sound of the product matched my expectations. I was nervous that the treble may pierce my eardrums, or that the bass may be floppy - despite reviews claiming otherwise. I was skeptical but took a leap of faith. Well I put the artwork into my ears, and I was stunned first not by the detail, or the epic soundstage that I later began to appreciate. No, the first thing I noticed was how FLAT and NEUTRAL they sounded. My music sounded exactly like the music ought to sound. And that was a huge relief and a pleasant surprise indeed. They still manage to sound great with my favourite tunes to jam out to, and benefit from higher bitrate recordings and a clean signal path from a good DAC (the Chord Hugo does a great job, and I've found that the illusion of increased soundstage offered by the crossfeed function jives brilliantly with the Katana!)

The best part is, when it comes to the WizArt design, and tying back into the whole "energy signature," mumbo-jumbo... I never mentioned any of this balogna in the short comment section of my order form. Somehow, Dr. John has used his wizard powers to see this customer, and make a special IEM just for him - and for me.

Now THAT was really what impressed me the most, and it took a while to get it into words but today I think I've done it. If anyone reading here can relate to any of this, let this be my form of a recommendation for the custom design. Thanks for you time.

I am a scientist and a scholar, so I obviously take the "mumbo-jumbo" (your words, not mine ) with a pinch of salt (although you might be surprised at some of my opinions on such subjects), but I can see what you mean here. It is really nice when you take a chance on something and everything just comes together so nicely and it just feels exactly right. Enjoy!

 

[Watagump]

Yeah I don't recommend Freddy C gold anything. I think all models in gold are plated although they use a good plating, it isnt the same as solid gold. I'd only get stainless steel. I got the 42mm blue slimline moon with the steel bracelet. I have the strap too but I prefer the bracelet, as it's one of the best looking bracelets I've ever seen, OEM or not.



The Jazzmaster is a really solid watch, hard to go wrong with it! I'd definitely be really tempted to get one if I didn't have the Freddy.

Oh and by the way, I didn't get mollycoddled much at all by the grey market retailer of the watch. Noble Audio's mollycoddling was far superior.

Yeah I'm definitely part of the cult--er, community now.

The Hamilton I swap between a brown croc strap and the black. The Ingersoll I bought a blue and that stays on it all the time. Brannan saw it at CanJam and complimented me on it.

 

[FullCircle]

Wata , I did not know you were a horologist.

 

[Watagump]

Wata , I did not know you were a horologist.

I had to look that up, I just like watches.

 

[Wyville]

I had to look that up, I just like watches.

My grandfather used to hand make the smallest parts for local jewellers who could not find the parts for old or unique watches and clocks. He had this tiniest lathe you have ever seen and he could make quite intricate little parts. Very cool stuff and I still greatly appreciate the skills of a master watchmaker.

 

[PaulOlivetti]

I was going to send you a PM but I think I will stick my neck out and answer this publicly. I have dealt with JHA and Noble. The money I spent is, to me, a huge consideration. When I imagined buying a TOTL CIEM I naively expected to be treated as a high end customer. My experience with both companies did not really feel like that. However, I feel I have been fairly treated. I am not buying a £50,000 bespoke shotgun or a £100,000 car. I am buying a £1,000 custom. This is probably at the lower end of the bespoke market. I am not a premium buyer. I am just lucky enough to be able to afford an expensive CIEM. The manufacturers are running a business. They offer a service, including refits. At which point they could quickly start to lose money. My point is that the money we pay does not pay for handling clients with kid gloves. The personalities involved that create a high end specialist business do not necessarily lend themselves to fawning and mollycodling. In both cases I got what I paid for. Superlative CIEM's. Perhaps this is a controversial view but I accept that the manufacturer is a maker proud of his product, that I enter into a contact with to supply me with a finely crafted product. He has the right to protect himself from the expectations of his customers IMHO. Something like that. I haven't really explained myself very well.

Yeah, not the best experience here either.