[Cagin]

Today I am celebrating the arrival of my first Noble product, the Katana! They are great.

They have been in my ears for about two hours. My first impression is that they sound like the Oppo PM-3 but with a better bass (perfect in the upper bass unlike the slightly boomy PM-3), and everything wrong with the PM-3 treble extension and lack of, fixed. Very good balance of low-mid-high.

The other thing I notice is that they sound very smooth despite the balance. The mids are never shouty, but they aren't absent either. Mids sound really good similar to Sennheiser HD 650. And having mentioned the 650, one thing that isn't best about those is that the bass humps but then drops off, which sometimes lacks excitement during critical moments. The Katana does not have this problem. The sub-bass is SWEET. If this is the "analytical," sound then the Encores must be really musical indeed.

The only downside of all of this is not even a real downside. I may need these re-fit as I do lose the seal sometimes when opening my mouth or even walking. Hanging upside down gives a poor result too. However when they do fit perfect, it is an amazing thing to not have my ears feel so weird. That and the high comfort make these really epic. It's almost uncomfortable how I no longer have to constantly keep pushing in my IEM for it to seal right. It still happens but when I get the seal perfect it must be a very different thing indeed. I am starting to get what user watagump was saying about his custom vs. universal journey. Seeing as a re-fit will probably be needed, after more testing by me, it will surely be worth the wait. At least for today I get to re-listen to my whole music library.

But if anyone can chime in to say if my exp is normal, my ears will adjust etc, speak up! I will be grateful.

Because of how strange my ears are shaped, the left earbud sticks out at an angle more than the right, which is flush in the ear. Hate having odd ears!

The design is great too. Better in person than in the pics, it matches the face of my watch perfectly. Sweet. Good job Mr. Wizard and Noble team. Really nice work.

Hooooooold up now *McCree's voice*
You just received a Noble ciem and you're not sharing a photo?

You got to share the wizart!

 

[ejong7]

Hanging upside down gives a poor result too. .

Now that's something that I want to have a better look at.

 

[slankoe]

Hooooooold up now *McCree's voice*
You just received a Noble ciem and you're not sharing a photo?

You got to share the wizart!

ahhhh you're right buds, ok. Here she is. Tough to capture I must say. I hope this is acceptable. or reference I've attached a photo I got from Noble. Just to show how dark it is, but when the sun decides to come out to play, I'll take another photo. It looks awesome in sunlight! This is a re-print / slight edit of another space design, wanted a darker classier with asymmetry. Wizard delivered.

Enjoy the WizArt



If I had more than a phone camera with a magni-lens they may make you drool. I also am finding I prefer the phone cable vs the stock cable. I am strictly speaking of ergonomics, and my eyeglasses pretty much are to blame for that.

 

[PinkyPowers]

Beautiful! Congrats!

 

[slankoe]

Thanks man. I am just checking in at about... I think it's been 4 or 5 hours total. Been in my ears for most of the time. I can say this is interesting, that I can hear great detail even at low volumes. And not lose musicality or anything else that stands out in the mix... on most good recordings everything sounds excellent. Nothing is too much or too little in volume, attack, "tone," etc etc

It is a superb headphone!

IMO the Katana treble is better than HE-560 in regards to naturalness of tone

What struck me immediately is that the headphone sang a neutral tone that feels very true to the source. In my personal hi-fi journey, this one attribute trumps all of them for me. When a headphone can visually depict what is going on in a recording, with eyes closed it brings up a hologram of what my ears are input-ting. Yeah that hits the spot, good job Katana. Fit in my ear seems to be improving now too. Further testing will reveal. I think a re-fit may not be necessary! Time will tell.

Hope you all have a nice day. Cheers

 

[slankoe]

You know what folks, this Katana does things I thought only open backed headphones could do. They are so airy! It's amazing. and the timbre is bang on. I don't really hear any imperfections. They nailed my preferred sound sig.

I knew it. Deal is done and seal the deal.

I ended up preferring the microphone cable for android / iphone etc. When Linum isn't out of stock on superBAX 2-pin cables I will get them.

 

[ThomasHK]

I think the problem is that the Noble nozzles are super wide, hence even the small tips end up being too large to fit comfortably.

I was having issues with comfort and fit the first hour on my new Katana. I think the the trick is not to push the silicons too deep. There's a parting line on the housing and it appears as if the silicons have to pushed that far, but then there is very little give in the silicon surround to create a good seal. If you just push the silicons on the tube until they "click" (and they do) I get a much more comfortable fit and better seal. YMMV

 

[slankoe]

Brennan, John... just wanna say that your CIEM team in China make me very happy! They are awesome and on point with responding to messages and all. You can always charge a price and have lesser service, but you made a good product and back it up with good service. therefore I am glad to say that it was a good experience getting a high end CIEM done. Cheers!

 

[FullCircle]

May want to pm photos of them inserted in your ears, a lot of times folks get them inserted wrong especially the left side. (right handed people find the left ear to be a bit more tricky)

 

[Watagump]

When Linum isn't out of stock on superBAX 2-pin cables I will get them.

Which seems to be ALWAYS.

 

[TheAdmiralty]

Pack of Comply small isolation+ tips came today. Yay. For some reason silicone tips and I just don't get along... If only they didn't jack the damn price up on these.

*sigh* Each time I listen to the new Encores I want to order a pair of Encore CIEMs even more, and not because the universals are uncomfortable - they've been blocking out everyone around me in the office for nine hours each day quite nicely - but because I've finally found something that I can't think of a single thing I'd like to change on it. I remember seeing what I think was a pair of Prestige K10s a while back in carbon glass with gold flake... I wonder how much my bank account would hate me if I put in an order for a reprint of those only blue.

EDIT: Wait, found it. These right here.
...Someone please stop me from throwing a second paycheck at the Noble guys.

 

[Audiotistic]

Pack of Comply small isolation+ tips came today. Yay. For some reason silicone tips and I just don't get along... If only they didn't jack the damn price up on these.

*sigh* Each time I listen to the new Encores I want to order a pair of Encore CIEMs even more, and not because the universals are uncomfortable - they've been blocking out everyone around me in the office for nine hours each day quite nicely - but because I've finally found something that I can't think of a single thing I'd like to change on it. I remember seeing what I think was a pair of Prestige K10s a while back in carbon glass with gold flake... I wonder how much my bank account would hate me if I put in an order for a reprint of those only blue.

EDIT: Wait, found it. These right here.
...Someone please stop me from throwing a second paycheck at the Noble guys.

I can help you out. Just send your check to me and I'll make sure it doesn't get anywhere near Noble

Those do look gorgeous by the way, very classy

 

[Watagump]

Pack of Comply small isolation+ tips came today. Yay. For some reason silicone tips and I just don't get along... If only they didn't jack the damn price up on these.

*sigh* Each time I listen to the new Encores I want to order a pair of Encore CIEMs even more, and not because the universals are uncomfortable - they've been blocking out everyone around me in the office for nine hours each day quite nicely - but because I've finally found something that I can't think of a single thing I'd like to change on it. I remember seeing what I think was a pair of Prestige K10s a while back in carbon glass with gold flake... I wonder how much my bank account would hate me if I put in an order for a reprint of those only blue.

EDIT: Wait, found it. These right here.
...Someone please stop me from throwing a second paycheck at the Noble guys.

I cant say enough how great it is to not ever have to deal with tips, I know everyone is different, but if you can afford it, customs are the way to go.

 

[slankoe]

Today on the plane I found myself losing the seal easily on my customs while sitting there, and maybe the sweat was exaggerating this. It was difficult for the left ear to find a proper seal, and it is possible that during my trip to the audiologist for my impressions, I had moved my a bit too much as the silicone was setting in.

Speculation aside, I have arrived at my work camp and the seal is perfect now unless I open my mouth wide like yawning or if laughing loudly. Eating a small dinner I only lost my seal when taking a large bite out of some food. That is totally acceptable.

Comfort is ideal. These are very comfy indeed. The mic cable without the memory wire has adapted to the shape of my ears and the cable no longer uncurls itself from around the top of my ear.

I have emailed the CIEM Labs team and let them know that I will hold onto the Katana for the next two weeks until I arrive back to town.

If the fit is still a problem, I will take advantage of refitting under warranty.

@FullCircle, I will try to take some pics this week. However I think I may have already figured out the issue of the earphone jutting out. It actually does not do so that much when I use the proper insertion method, so thanks for pointing me that way. Feels better now.

As for the actual issue of fit, it seems that the IEMs are just a touch too small especially on the left ear. I think the "canal" part might have to be thicker. I will experiment and send a more detailed email at some point during this trial.

As for the sound, I think I've already made it clear in earlier posts that the Katana are one of the most Excellent pieces of headgear I've worn yet. Good show.

 

[Cloudtastrophe]

Does anyone know if noble does repairs? one of my buds fell off of the table and now theres a visible hairline fracture ):