@SeeSax that is an extremely well written and enjoyable review to read.
Collin sent me his Zephyr IEM to play with (he had no choice since I sent him my Sultan). I had no intentions to purchase the Zephyr but after a day of spending time with it I contacted Noble without knowing anything about cost and just said that I would like to order a Zephyr. I asked to please send me pictures of any that are available and please send me an invoice.
That is how impressed I was with the sound of the Zephyr. I think Collin was spot on in his review impressions. He has spent a good 6 months I believe with the Zephyr so no one can fault his lack of experience with it.
So these are my impressions of the Zephyr slapped down in a rapid consciousness or unconsciousness of thought. I also included pictures at the end. I also included pictures of the packaging which has changed since Collin received his. Sorry about that Collin but my packaging is your packaging. That does not sound correct. But anyway you can have my Zephyr packaging. It is really cool!
Upon first listen I do hear how smooth and neutral it is. I thought "oh boy is this another retirement IEM like the Earsonics S-EM6-V2?" That quickly changed. Very quickly. The reason being that the notes coming from the Zephyr have emotion attached to them. Like the Elysium mids. Also the soundstage is wide from left to right (very unexpected with the driver count). The instruments are well separated. The timbre is among the best. The sound is slightly warm but very detailed. That is the oxymoron of the day.
The bass is deep and thick. The mids are the star IMHO. They are so alive! The vocals are right where they should be with excellent timbre. The treble for me is forward (not Collin treble forward) but not sparkly annoying. and not too relaxed like the LX. Of course I still love the LX!
Another amazing thing about these is that the upper mids flow into the bass so extremely well. The coherence of it is really good. It is obvious time was spent getting that part right.
I would compare these to a Luna but with every note being thicker and the bass being deeper. Much deeper in fact. More meat. I find the Luna to be excellent with the slow Jazz I listen to. The Luna to me is very good. The Zephyr does all genres of music that I listen to. The Luna poops out IMHO as the music gets livelier.
It is hard to compare the Zephyr to the Sultan. They are massively different beasts. A palate cleanser is needed when I go from Sultan to anything else. The Sultan is so alive and so 3D. The music is surrounding you. I smoke a cigar and take a shower after every 30 minutes with the Sultan.
The Zephyr reminds me from memory of what I wanted the Solaris 2020 to be. For me the emotions were lacking in the Sultan 2020 and the mids were too thin for me.
The Zephyr reminds me from memory of the Tia Trio but once again with more emotion and more detail of the notes and with more separation of instruments.
The Universal Aluminum shell ($1450) seems like an excellent price to quality deal! The Prestige is for those that want the extra artisanal touch of the shell! I am unable to handle custom shells but the custom price $1650 seems like a very good price. All of this being relative to current IEM prices on the market.
Like Collin I only review what I want to review and I only review what I get excited about. I could review Zephyr in a heartbeat. It would not be about pole dancers like the Sultan review but would be about the plains of North Dakota and all the visual memories of it I could attach to the sound of the Zephyr