RAZ's TOTL review and rambles thread... could it be.... alive?

[Progisus]

@mvvRAZ Did you get the Fourte Blanc?

 

[mvvRAZ]

@mvvRAZ Did you get the Fourte Blanc?

Speak of the devil, arriving tomorrow!

 

[mvvRAZ]

 

[SteveK27]

Love the aesthetic but dont know how I feel about wrapping the cable on the podium

Happy for your new setup!!

 

[FullCircle]

Pre-first impressions of the Noble Viking Ragnar, here we go!

The signature is pretty much an inverse L shape. Treble sits above bass and midrange. The signature as a whole is extremely linear and smooth, it is airy and delicate and transparent.

The bass really is quite flat and light as @gryphonos and a few others mentioned. I don’t know if it improved since last night or I got more used to it, but it’s definitely very neutral. Quality is somewhere around the Odin’s Imo, very impressive and a bit short from something like FiR’s kinetic bass

As far as personal preference goes, I’m missing midbass quantity. The quality is great and so is the decay, but I’m missing a little more presence

Midrange is incredibly airy. It’s pretty linear, no forwardness in the upper mids and male vocals sound great. What sets it apart is how clean it sounds and how it “flows” effortlessly, almost like a phantom image of the vocals. Incredible all around

Treble is spectacular. Very present, smooth, ethereal, extended - everything I could want and hope for

Technical ability is up there, but the staging is the one thing that really sets it apart - I don’t think I’ve heard an IEM that stretches this far in all directions. Kr5 and Traillii are pretty wide for example, Thumimm is very spherical and tall, A12t is quite deep, but the Ragnar pushes in all directions almost endlessly.

It definitely is the most technical Noble I’ve heard to date, I can’t rate it highly enough. Based on first day of listening, I’m sure a few won’t love it because it is very neutral and as some others have mentioned “digital,” but it’s right down my street personally

 

[immortalsoul]

https://www.head-fi.org/members/513448/ HI, can you please describe the differences between Craft Ears Aurum and Fir Kr5. Please go a bit in detail because I just bought the Craft Aurum and I wanted to know more about the Kr5. Thank you!

 

[DaveStarWalker]

https://www.head-fi.org/members/513448/ HI, can you please describe the differences between Craft Ears Aurum and Fir Kr5. Please go a bit in detail because I just bought the Craft Aurum and I wanted to know more about the Kr5. Thank you!

I can say :

Kr5 : way more easy to drive, no comparison because : easy to drive. More intense (in my book one of the more intense gear I know). Can be a little peaky with treble, so beware about the tips. Average phonic isolation. Huge soundstage. Mild "V" restitution. Subwoofer effect (maybe a little too pronunced?). This is all here about "over the top" performance.

Aurum : need juice. A lot. Difficult to drive, and need to play loud to... live. Way more "relaxed" than the kr5 but no slouch at all. But need juice... "W" restitution. I found the registers (bandwidth) a little disjointed but it's fine. Very good phonic isolation. I would say a more mainstream tuning.

These two uiems are reactive to cable and tips rolling.

My 2 cts

 

[mvvRAZ]

Dead-Thread update:

Noble x Eletech Ronin purchased because that name and design are FAR TOO COOL, and also a Katana successor is hype. To be with me tomorrow

To be tested with apple dongle

Return to the hobby? Maaaaybe

 

[justsomesonyfan]

Dead-Thread update:

Noble x Eletech Ronin purchased because that name and design are FAR TOO COOL, and also a Katana successor is hype. To be with me tomorrow

To be tested with apple dongle

Return to the hobby? Maaaaybe

don't do it. save yourself.

 

[gryphonos]

Dead-Thread update:

Noble x Eletech Ronin purchased because that name and design are FAR TOO COOL, and also a Katana successor is hype. To be with me tomorrow

To be tested with apple dongle

Return to the hobby? Maaaaybe

@mvvRAZ,

I expected your next feedback to be about Viking Ragnar. Did the Ragnar never arrived at your place?
Ronin sounds very tempting either.

I'm very interested to hear about your impressions!

 

[mvvRAZ]

@mvvRAZ,

I expected your next feedback to be about Viking Ragnar. Did the Ragnar never arrived at your place?
Ronin sounds very tempting either.

I'm very interested to hear about your impressions!

I did have the Ragnar for a few weeks yeah, but it ended up moving on a little fast because of the lack of midbass.

It's an excellent IEM all round, very technical, clean sound, plenty quality and quantity of treble that sits nicely on top of the midrange, massive staging. Upper midrange was a little overdone but nothing too dramatic

What killed it for me is the lack of midbass. It's great with electronic that has crazy overdone midbass, and it isn't as criminally absent as the midbass of the Elysian X, but well, it's also forcing me to focus to hear the midbass which is a big enough offense for me personally.

My one line review of the Ragnar is basically the better version of the Elysian X, with bigger staging, less exaggerated midrange and the same fundamental flaw, the midbass.

 

[ahossam]

Dead-Thread update:

Noble x Eletech Ronin purchased because that name and design are FAR TOO COOL, and also a Katana successor is hype. To be with me tomorrow

To be tested with apple dongle

Return to the hobby? Maaaaybe

Can't wait for your take on Ronin, and I hope you do some comparison with other recent TOTL IEM's.

 

[KuroKitsu]

Dead-Thread update:

Noble x Eletech Ronin purchased because that name and design are FAR TOO COOL, and also a Katana successor is hype. To be with me tomorrow

To be tested with apple dongle

Return to the hobby? Maaaaybe

Dibs on the cable if Ronin goes

 

[productred]

https://www.head-fi.org/members/513448/ HI, can you please describe the differences between Craft Ears Aurum and Fir Kr5. Please go a bit in detail because I just bought the Craft Aurum and I wanted to know more about the Kr5. Thank you!

The Aurum is much more coherent than the Kr5 (actually IMHO the Aurum is one of the most coherent sounding hybrid I have tried) and the trebles on the Aurum are way more linear.............The Kr5's FR ranges are quite disjointed, its bass a lot more intrusive and the high mids and trebles are a bit too peaky to my liking. In Kr5 you are looking for excitement and that extra edgy feeling.

YMMV though. The Kr5 is getting very little love in my proximity and I can definitely see why - it is a pair I WANTED to love given its amazing aesthetics and, as I have mentioned, the exciting edgy kind of sound profile. But the sonic details just isn't done rite to my ears.

 

[DaveStarWalker]

The Aurum is much more coherent than the Kr5 (actually IMHO the Aurum is one of the most coherent sounding hybrid I have tried) and the trebles on the Aurum are way more linear.............The Kr5's FR ranges are quite disjointed, its bass a lot more intrusive and the high mids and trebles are a bit too peaky to my liking. In Kr5 you are looking for excitement and that extra edgy feeling.

YMMV though. The Kr5 is getting very little love in my proximity and I can definitely see why - it is a pair I WANTED to love given its amazing aesthetics and, as I have mentioned, the exciting edgy kind of sound profile. But the sonic details just isn't done rite to my ears.

Agreed

However, I like the Kr5 very much but, in their style... in their own way, so to speak :

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/rank-the-iems-youve-heard.454855/page-302#post-17412898

The Aurum : power and current devourers. But very good

P.s. : you should absolutely try the Alambic Ears Mentawai. Best tribrids I know so far.

And about the price of the Aurum.