[ajs6269]

Being an entrepreneur isn't great, it is fantastic!

I've been out of America for 11 years now, and have been back twice.  Once to attend an audiology conference, and the second time was pretty special for Noble's history.


It was when we first launched the universal line up for Noble. (Thanksgiving)   The first batch of universals were actually completely built in the USA, upstairs at my brother house.


We bought the microscope off of e-bay, and shipped it to my brother house, along with the required soldering iron, tools etc.     I was surprised of how cheap the microscope was on e-bay.

But when I pulled it out of the box, it all made sense, as the microscope was 1/2 the physical size we usually use to build IEMs/CIEMs   

it was essentially a toy!    


So, the first couple of hundred universals, built at launch, were built in America (100%) by me, upstairs at my brother's house, using a toy microscope,
during Thanksgiving "vacation."

My noble 3's (#157) with the new mic wires.... Judas Priest "British steel", roxy music's "Avalon" and Elton John's "goodbye yellow brick road" being the latest stuff to put them through their paces

 

[Sorensiim]

£499 apparently and yes it can be charged when plugged in (and charges mojo too).

Yeah, I might had been interested at half that price, but for now I think I'll stick to my Mojo+laptop&foobar setup!

 

[petetheroadie]

Yeah, I might had been interested at half that price, but for now I think I'll stick to my Mojo+laptop&foobar setup!

Yep, same here! The price has not been well received! Anyway, back to all things noble. T minus 5.5 weeks or so til my Encores are scheduled to be ready...

 

[Sorensiim]

Yep, same here! The price has not been well received! Anyway, back to all things noble. T minus 5.5 weeks or so til my Encores are scheduled to be ready...

I guess the price is in line with the rest of the Chord lineup, but that is A LOT of money for what it does. You could buy a decent laptop for the same amount and it would do the same things as the Poly. Plus, you know, you'd have a laptop.

 

[krismusic]

   
 
 
Being an entrepreneur isn't great, it is fantastic!
 
I've been out of America for 11 years now, and have been back twice.  Once to attend an audiology conference, and the second time was pretty special for Noble's history.
 
 
It was when we first launched the universal line up for Noble. (Thanksgiving)   The first batch of universals were actually completely built in the USA, upstairs at my brother house.
 
 
We bought the microscope off of e-bay, and shipped it to my brother house, along with the required soldering iron, tools etc.     I was surprised of how cheap the microscope was on e-bay.
 
But when I pulled it out of the box, it all made sense, as the microscope was 1/2 the physical size we usually use to build IEMs/CIEMs   
 
it was essentially a toy!    
 
 
So, the first couple of hundred universals, built at launch, were built in America (100%) by me, upstairs at my brother's house, using a toy microscope,
during Thanksgiving "vacation."
 
 

A lovely insight into a great company. You can be truly proud.My K10's give me so much pleasure every day.

 

[Malevolent]

  Am I the only one treating the Noble product lineup as a todo-list? 

 

Wizard Design Sages with blue "Meteorite" faceplates, hanging out with my Wizard Design Encores. Very, very impressed by the Sage! If you want to dip your toes in the Noble waters, you should definitely grab the Sage. It's basically a baby Encore. Sure, you can hear a difference between the two, but with the Sage coming in at 1/3 the price... wow.
 
Edit: Remind me to resize the /dev/VG1/root lvm volume, btw.

 
Dude, leave some for the rest of us. 

 

[ScottFree]

  Am I the only one treating the Noble product lineup as a todo-list? 

 
I'm not. To be honest unless I suddenly win the lottery and have enough to buy a Katana I'm happy with my Savanna. Speaking of that though, if anyone has heard and/or owns both, I would be interested in a Savanna/Katana comparison.

 

[Kunlun]

I asked a friend to compare the CA Andromeda and Noble Katana I have on hand. She used her 6th gen iPad and foam tips on the Andromeda (as CA recommends).

The Katana won, hands down, with a more natural sound overall and a much smoother treble. The Andromeda had a deeper reaching bass, and she felt it was better than the Katanas (she likes bass and owns a jh16fp), but the Andromeda's treble was harsh and not realistic sounding. If she had to choose, it would be the Katana all the way.

She also tried my ie800 and took the Katana over that as well, with much the same take as versus the Andromeda.

Just one person's opinion, but since it came out Noble's way, I thought I'd post it here.

 

[darinf]

   
I'm not. To be honest unless I suddenly win the lottery and have enough to buy a Katana I'm happy with my Savanna. Speaking of that though, if anyone has heard and/or owns both, I would be interested in a Savanna/Katana comparison.

I have the Savanna and Katana universals.
 
I just did a comparison: JRiver --> USB --> Modi Multibit --> Vali 2 (Voskhod Rockets 6n23p '73 XI)
 
Well, not really bad news, but it's pretty obvious why the Katana is priced the way it is. 

 
First I tried the Savanna with some Comply tips. Not good. Too dark, strange mid-range, bass OK. Switching over to some Spiral Dots was much better. Great highs. Mid range a little lean. Bass is detailed, but not enough bass for me. I can see why Noble says the Savannas are good for acoustic music. Reminds me of my Ety ER4S but the Savanna has more bass.
 
Switching over to the Katana's with Comply tips: Wow! Like I said, there is a reason why they are a flagship IEM. Everything across the board is just better. A lot more bass which also helps the mids feel much fuller and richer. The highs are just SO smooth and detailed and no harshness or sibilance whatsoever. Overall just a much more refined, smooth, neutral sound. Reminds me a lot of electrostatic headphones like my SR-009's. Also reminds me a lot of my Focal Utopias. (I know IEM's are not the same as full size headphones, but the Katanas sound pretty amazing.) 
 
So, sorry I can't tell you that you can save some money and the Savanna's are just as good as the Katana's... the Katana's are totally worth the upgrade.
 
-Darin

 

[Saraguie]

I have the Savanna and Katana universals.

I just did a comparison: JRiver --> USB --> Modi Multibit --> Vali 2 ([COLOR=222222]Voskhod[/COLOR][COLOR=222222] Rockets 6n23p '73 XI)[/COLOR]

[COLOR=222222]Well, not really bad news, but it's pretty obvious why the Katana is priced the way it is. [/COLOR]

First I tried the Savanna with some Comply tips. Not good. Too dark, strange mid-range, bass OK. Switching over to some Spiral Dots was much better. Great highs. Mid range a little lean. Bass is detailed, but not enough bass for me. I can see why Noble says the Savannas are good for acoustic music. Reminds me of my Ety ER4S but the Savanna has more bass.

Switching over to the Katana's with Comply tips: Wow! Like I said, there is a reason why they are a flagship IEM. Everything across the board is just better. A lot more bass which also helps the mids feel much fuller and richer. The highs are just SO smooth and detailed and no harshness or sibilance whatsoever. Overall just a much more refined, smooth, neutral sound. Reminds me a lot of electrostatic headphones like my SR-009's. Also reminds me a lot of my Focal Utopias. (I know IEM's are not the same as full size headphones, but the Katanas sound pretty amazing.) 

So, sorry I can't tell you that you can save some money and the Savanna's are just as good as the Katana's... the Katana's are totally worth the upgrade.

-Darin

Informative review thanks.

 

[Malevolent]

I asked a friend to compare the CA Andromeda and Noble Katana I have on hand. She used her 6th gen iPad and foam tips on the Andromeda (as CA recommends).

The Katana won, hands down, with a more natural sound overall and a much smoother treble. The Andromeda had a deeper reaching bass, and she felt it was better than the Katanas (she likes bass and owns a jh16fp), but the Andromeda's treble was harsh and not realistic sounding. If she had to choose, it would be the Katana all the way.

She also tried my ie800 and took the Katana over that as well, with much the same take as versus the Andromeda.

Just one person's opinion, but since it came out Noble's way, I thought I'd post it here.

I've tried the Andromeda and the Vega, and I felt the Katana was better than the 2. The Katana had a fuller body, without sacrificing any of that fantastic imaging and instrument separation that I hear on the CA flagships. The Katana was also more proficient in its lows, which lent a hand when playing bass-heavy genres. Unfortunately, I was not able to compare them side by side, but at 2 different locations. Still, I didn't get that great a wow factor with the CA IEMs as I did with the Katana. I used the same equipment when I tested the 3, so it's more of a subjective opinion, if anything. Nevertheless, if I had to choose between the 3, I'd take the Katana anytime, even though it costs a fair bit more.

 

[proedros]

 
I've tried the Andromeda and the Vega, and I felt the Katana was better than the 2. The Katana had a fuller body, without sacrificing any of that fantastic imaging and instrument separation that I hear on the CA flagships. The Katana was also more proficient in its lows, which lent a hand when playing bass-heavy genres. Unfortunately, I was not able to compare them side by side, but at 2 different locations. Still, I didn't get that great a wow factor with the CA IEMs as I did with the Katana. I used the same equipment when I tested the 3, so it's more of a subjective opinion, if anything. Nevertheless, if I had to choose between the 3, I'd take the Katana anytime, even though it costs a fair bit more.

 
well andromeda is 1100$
vega is 1300$
katana is 1850$

is it is not a fair comparison , price-wise at least since katana costs 70%/40% more than andromeda/vega (or 750$/550$ in real money) so they are aimed at different budgets/buyers
 
 
 also curious how katana would compare next to the also reference beast Hidition NT6 (nic should compare nt6pro and katana in his 16 totl ciem shootout, very curious about his findings , as he has heard tons of totl ciems so his opinion has a bit more objectivity....)

 

[tienbasse]

   
well andromeda is 1100$
vega is 1300$
katana is 1850$

is it is not a fair comparison , price-wise at least since katana costs 70%/40% more than andromeda/vega (or 750$/550$ in real money) so they are aimed at different budgets/buyers
 
 
 also curious how katana would compare next to the also reference beast Hidition NT6 (nic should compare nt6pro and katana in his 16 totl ciem shootout, very curious about his findings , as he has heard tons of totl ciems so his opinion has a bit more objectivity....)

Please take a minute to reflect on your post.
 
I'd be curious to know your definition of a "fair" comparison, because it just does NOT exist, it's a purely personal thing that boils down to many personal factors (forget the "objectivity" you seem to be after, these are all subjective opinions, just more or less "educated", which I suspect is what you really are after).

I may admit that comparing 1800$ CIEMs with 10$ earbuds is somehow unfair because manufacturing constraints wouldn't be the same at all, but given the comfortable margins when it comes to the expensive models listed above, I don't see why the comparison would be unfair.
 
Price-per-value for the user (= personal) shouldn't be confused with product range pricing by the manufacturer (=marketing).
Expecting that a 1850$ model should necessarily "outperform" a 1100$ one is just playing into manufacturers hands to justify abyssal price stretch over their product range, and it applies even less when comparing models from different manufacturers (typically because they have different marketing and manufacturing strategies).
 
I wish people could keep prices out of their comparison criteria, all the more when comparing expensive models. Taking price into account doesn't make the comparisons more objective.
Malevolent's post is a good example of this, he preferred the Katana "even though it costs a fait bit more", and this is all there is to it: price only defines if you're willing/able to buy it or not.

 

[FullCircle]

A $3,000 Prestige K10 CIEM, performs the same as a $1,650 hand made K10 CIEM.
 
 
 
Oh, and speaking of the K10
 
 

1. Hi-Fi World Magazine - Headphone of the Year
2. Hi-Fi+ Magazine - CIEM of the Year
3. Enjoy the Music - 2015 Blue Note Award
4. AVForums - Best Buy Headphones and Earphones
5. Part Time Audiophile - Editor’s Choice
6. Headfonics – CIEM of 2015 (Writer’s Choice)
7. Headphone.guru - 2015 Writer’s Choice Award
8. InnerFidelity - Wall of Fame
9. Head-Fi.org - #1 Rated In-Ear Product
10. Head-Fi.org – #1 Rated Custom In-Ear Product

1. Headfonics - IEM of 2015 (Writer’s Choice)
2. Audio-Head – Favorite Bits of 2015

 
 
 

 

[Layman1]

   

Hahahahaha... This!
Just brilliant. I love that film and quoting it in this context!