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So I'm about to send these off. I'm not going to write a full review, I've had a bad head cold for the past week and my ears have been a bit blocked and I struggled to get a good fit with these. So I don't think I've had time to assess them properly. But here are my partial conclusions...
Build/fit/aesthetics: The build quality on these is excellent, solid and under-stated. The housing is huge, so much so that I had difficulty getting a good fit.
Switch: This is very interesting idea. At first I found it quite disconcerting. If you switch too much it just makes both modes sound bad. But once you get the hang of it it is pretty cool. I found myself mostly using the "Pure" mode, but switching to the more aggressive R mode for music with electric guitars when you want that extra bite. I think ultimately I'd prefer a single mode somewhere in the middle of the two, but I think I lot of people will really like the switch idea.
SQ: I think these would be better called Noble FA, Flat and Agressive. Reference and Pure are a bit vague and the descriptions they give make them sound the same. Switch up, "Pure" mode, they struck me as very flat. They remind me of the ER-4 in this mode, smooth, natural, balanced and detailed. Nothing out of place. But like the ER-4, at times lacking that last smidge of treble energy. In "Reference" mode, they tilt more towards the treble, giving them a clearer, more energetic character. Still good balance but trading off a little natural smoothness. In both modes bass is very flat natural, but bass-heads will find them lacking. Soundstage and imaging is superb, huge and very accurate to my ears.
Yes, that is true the PR isn't a good candidate for the bass head group.
In fact the PR should be considered the most bass anemic product within the Noble line up.
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