[FullCircle]

No black friday deal for ciem

Hi Jason,

Thus far we have no announcement on CIEMs. We are not trying to be cheeky on the topic of CIEMs, the root of the problem lays within inventory. We can not get the inventory for CIEM builds in fast enough to support a build time within our usual 8 - 10 weeks.

We have universal "in house" inventory on finished products, and inventory ordered to support any orders that are made beyond our current inventory. If it be the case we can find a way to offer CIEMs for the black Friday event, we would love to do so.

 

[Bina]

New product launch on Friday? Gotta be the new cheaper universals!

 

[FullCircle]

This is kind of a "Blog" type post:

As some folks may know, I attended the RMAF show. That may seem like nothing "special" and a logical thing to do for an owner of a portable audio company. That being said, considering that Noble is really a company based around a guy with insane passion on a hobby that he figured he could turn into a business, and not a business founded with shark tank investors.... it is a miracle we could afford the trip to RMAF. In the approximate 15 years I have living as an expat, I have been able to return 4 times to America.

While in America, I spent some time with my parents, and we took a trip to Canton, Texas, where the largest flea market in the USA is located. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...ews-First_Monday_Trade_Days-Canton_Texas.html

I saw a lot of fascinating things there, but I knew I could not possibly buy anything and take it home due to the limited amount of luggage I could carry.


I made an exception to that policy, as I walked by a gentleman selling cutting boards. He had a pair of blue tooth "CANS" and being a lover of audio gadgets, I saw the earphones first. I thought it was hilarious, the guy is trying to sell his wares, jamming out with head phones on...... then I looked at what he was selling...... beautiful Olive wood cutting boards......

Well, he had me at "Hello" wood, and earphones..... that is my language.


So I purchased a heavily burled cutting board and brought it home.





Brannan gave me a call, and informed me that some orders were taken for some Universal Katana Wizards, so I needed to work some magic

while doing so, I thought it would be interesting to take some build pictures of the process.




I made shot work of the cutting board, cutting out sections of the burl that I thought would offer up a nice result.




Now time for some shell modifications

The shell has a "snap" edge and is two bores.

That needs to be addressed in order to build a set of Katana Universals





"snap" removed. sanded smooth




Bores removed





Internal parts placed, epoxy added to fill in the bore




Olive wood face plate attached to the housing




Final Result




The first set of Wizard Katana Universals, made from Olive wood. (Wood sourced from Canton Texas, and was originally a cutting board)


It was a pleasure to build them, and I hope the owner appreciates them.

 

[PinkyPowers]

This is kind of a "Blog" type post:

As some folks may know, I attended the RMAF show. That may see like nothing "special" and a logical thing to do for an owner of a portable audio company. That being said, considering that Noble is really a company based around a guy with insane passion on a hobby that he figured he could turn into a business, and not a business founded with shark tank investors.... it is a miracle we could afford the trip to RMAF. In the approximate 15 years I have living at an expat, I have been able to return 4 times.

While in America, I spent some time with my parents, and we took a trip to Canton, Texas, where the largest flea market in the USA is located. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...ews-First_Monday_Trade_Days-Canton_Texas.html

I saw a lot of fascinating things there, but I knew I could not possibly buy anything and take it home due to the limited amount of luggage I could carry.


I made an exception to that policy, as I walked by a gentleman selling cutting boards. He had a pair of blue tooth "CANS" and being a lover of audio gadgets, I saw the earphones first. I thought it was hilarious, a guys trying to sell his wares, jamming our with head phones on...... then I looked at what he was selling...... beautiful Olive wood cutting boards......

Well, he had me at "Hello" wood, and earphones..... that is my language.


So I purchased a heavily burled cutting board and brought it home.

And you spanked the Pinky with it. Spanked him hard.

 

[rantng]

The next Wizard edition will be burled cutting board wood.

~edit - Ha, I was right! I was half-joking, but I was right. That's the genius of the Wizard. Some see a really nice cutting board, John sees his next project.

 

[chengsta]

Hi Jason,

Thus far we have no announcement on CIEMs. We are not trying to be cheeky on the topic of CIEMs, the root of the problem lays within inventory. We can not get the inventory for CIEM builds in fast enough to support a build time within our usual 8 - 10 weeks.

We have universal "in house" inventory on finished products, and inventory ordered to support any orders that are made beyond our current inventory. If it be the case we can find a way to offer CIEMs for the black Friday event, we would love to do so.

well at least that means business is still good. Don't feel rushed, take your time and keep building those ciems with love and quality.

 

[FullCircle]

What will the new Noble EDC sound signature close to?

Close to heaven.... no seriously they pack a surprise.

Why would a boutique and high end audio company like noble release an entry level iem at that price? What's the mentality behind it?

What is the mentality behind this move?????

there is "portable audio" and then there is "PORTABLE audio." While a Prestige Kaiser Encore may be an apex product, it still costs $3K USD. I personally am not comfortable tossing a $3K earphone in my pocket and running out the door. Although, the Prestige is small, due to its sheer cost, essentially removes it from the realm of "portable audio."

I wanted to develop a product line with a focus on EDC characteristics

• small
• easy fit
• more affordable
• good sound
• offers a good value

What's the mentality behind it? Many people can't afford the more expensive iems.

The money aspect wasn't really the driving force behind this project, is was really about offering an EDC focused product. Affordability, just happens to be one of the properties that I believe an EDC product should have

Cover more price points, get more customers. Allow people to get into the noble family earlier and move them up the ladder when their budgets allow. Much easier for luxury companies to go down market than mass market companies to go up market.

It’s a smart move.

More price points = more customers, yes that may be true. But one of the driving factors for a EDC focused product was that our dealerships reported to us that they are getting more and more female customers, and frankly speaking our universal shells are just too big to match their customers physical needs. So we felt, that we needed to address that as well with the EDC line.

So the hope is, the smaller size = more customers as well.

Smart move - rarely have I been told I'm smart..... so thanks for that.

Thanks for the input guys. Was just looking at it from the perspective of a company like say, Rolex. They don't make cheap watches and yet still make a killing. That's why I asked cause noble to music is like Rolex to watches.

Noble is the Rolex in the portable audio industry? Thanks!!!! (and I love watches)

They do.... they sell under name of Tudor

I'll have to look into Tudor

Tudor watches are excellent, the quality is great. And Rolex is a good analogue to Noble.

I'm looking forward to hearing the Velvet for sure.

Thanks Kunlun

 

[Drewminus]

But one of the driving factors for a EDC focused product was that our dealerships reported to us that they are getting more and more female customers, and frankly speaking our universal shells are just too big to match their customers physical needs. So we felt, that we needed to address that as well with the EDC line.

So the hope is, the smaller size = more customers as well.

I was looking at getting my fiancé some noble iems but this was exactly the problem I found, her ears are tiny and most average size iems are too big let alone larger ones.

 

[Wyville]

My experience at the shows I have attended, it seemed to be a 50/50 response. In fact we sold at the show the same number of Kaiser Encores, as we did the Katana

Interesting, thanks! I had not expected that. Although I guess I favoured the Katana myself as well, but I am a classical music lover, so that might not be a huge surprise.

 

[jrbgarcia]

Thanks for the information, Wizard. It's interesting, and cool to see that there are more females joining the audiophile community. Also, it's surprising that it's not profit driving this move, instead true portability.

 

[muziq]

I'll have to look into Tudor

Don't get too excited; Tudors utilize ETA (and sometimes Valjoux) movements--which you can find in a wide range of less expensive watches. I'm not knocking them, but just know you're not getting a Rolex movement.

Back on topic: excited about the new product though!

 

[Kunlun]

Don't get too excited; Tudors utilize ETA (and sometimes Valjoux) movements--which you can find in a wide range of less expensive watches. I'm not knocking them, but just know you're not getting a Rolex movement.

Wrong! They have in-house movements now, and very good ones.

Actually, you are also wrong about the older Tudors as well, since the highest-grade ETA ebauches were extensively reworked by Tudor. We are not talking stamping the rotor with a brand name and calling it a day, here.

The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, which are basically the oscars of watchmaking, has given prizes to Tudor the last two years. The Pelagos won last year in the sports watch category and the Black Bay Chrono in the chronograph category this year. The Pelagos has an in-house movement, while the Black Bay Chrono has an upgraded version of the already well-regarded chronograph movement developed by Breitling.
(Rolex doesn't offer its watches for these awards).

So, yeah, the Katana's Japanese audio award fits right in.

I've brought my Katana to a number of meets and allowed audiophiles to do head-to-head comparisons and it most often comes out on top and always gets a lot of respect. It's a well tuned, euphonic take on a more reference sound with excellent clarity.

 

[PinkyPowers]

Well, it's official. I like Encore better than the Empire Ears Zeus XR. I find it clearer, more transparent, and renders at a higher resolution. Don't get me wrong, Zeus is really amazing in these areas, one of the very best, but Encore is even better. That's a true achievement for Noble.

Zeus does some things better, like warmer, more natural treble, and greater sense of 3D space.

What really concludes the matter for me is the bass. Zeus's bass is quite forgettable, whereas Encore has some truly excellent sub-bass. Neither have what I consider to be "enough bass" for my sick demands, but Encore does more with what it has.

 

[muziq]

Wrong! They have in-house movements now, and very good ones.

Wasn't aware they were now making their own (100%?) in-house movements. Hat-tip to you. Are they chronometers? Sorry, I don't spend a lot of time looking in the direction of Rolex stuff. I have three ETA-based watches I quite like, the 2892 in my Perrelet being the most accurate among them. But my heart is focused on stranger things like Franck Muller.

 

[Kunlun]

Wasn't aware they were now making their own (100%?) in-house movements. Hat-tip to you. Are they chronometers? Sorry, I don't spend a lot of time looking in the direction of Rolex stuff. I have three ETA-based watches I quite like, the 2892 in my Perrelet being the most accurate among them. But my heart is focused on stranger things like Franck Muller.

Yeah, they are interesting, a bit ahead of the 3135 in a submariner, although that is an underrated movement.

A Frank Muller Fan?! So, you're the one!

It's very cool that you are a fan of high-end watchmaking (haute horology). I love F.P. Journe myself.

It goes hand in hand with a love of high end audio.