[theintention]

So I haven't tested it out yet, but Code 24C just came in yesterday.

There needs to be an emote for friendly jealousy lol

Love that color

 

[drftr]

TL;DR - Onyx is my new favourite IEM. And while I wasn't able to pull the trigger on Ronin, Radon 6, Mentor, Traillii, or Storm (mentioning but a few), I can on Onyx. Does that make it perfect for me? Absolutely not!

Best regards,
Mr. Hard To Please.

Today I travelled all the way back to Rotterdam to give Noble Onyx a second chance, as I thought my demo 2 weeks ago was heavily influenced by listening to Volür for 1.5 hrs first. Volür being warm and closed in may have made Onyx sound very bright as a result, or so I thought, and this appeared to be the case.

I'm hearing Onyx as an upgraded Sultan with better comfort (super comfortable in fact), a much better standard cable, improved treble, perfectioned mids, and (unfortunately for me) an even bigger bass shelf. They look unremarkable to me which I'm totally okay with as I'm only in it for the ear candy.

BASS:

Let me get this out of the way first: It's a bit much for me and only listenable when EQ-ing 50 Hz down by 1.5 dB (Q=0.3). But even then it's too thick, has too little impact, and I would have loved it to be much tighter overall. Dire Straits' Six Blade Knife and Sultans Of Swing, or Tracy Chapman's Baby Can I Hold You Tonight and Michael's Thriller become uncomfortably thick for me. Perhaps it can be cured with a cable/DAP combination that opens up upper bass / lower mids a bit, but since there's only one shop in the whole friggin' Netherlands that at least has a high-end cable (but not Onyx) I won't be able to find out before I hit the road again. And I absolutely didn't have the guts to try my PWA copper cable on them as I learned my lesson last time. That would've been death by sub-bass for sure. When listening to Us And Them / Any Colour You Like I honestly thought there might be something wrong with the IEMs because of the bass shelf and weird effect, but when listening to the same songs on Sultan back home I'm hearing a similar problem in the bass, just not as obvious. It may have to do with my CD pressing and I do realize no IEM can make all albums to sound fantastic.

MIDS:

Totally incredible, lush, palpable, warm, open mids that are so uniquely 3D sounding that it's like you have a 3rd IEM in the front of your head that is exclusively used for center-stage vocalists. I don't think it gets any better than this and you can embrace vocalists that are right there, even on not too great sounding tracks like Black Sabbath's Children Of The Sea. And Sade sounds better on Onyx than in real life, period. But also, you can almost see the slime on Suzanne Vega's vocal cords so it's definitely very detailed while being warmly tuned. Last but not least I have a few recordings where male singers always sounded too boy-like and nasal (Geddy Lee or Bryan Ferry on the title track of Avalon for instance) but they were perfectly supported this time 'round.

TREBLE:

What was my biggest gripe last time turned out to be just fine and influenced by my Volür demo indeed. Sure, very bright recordings stay very bright. Like, San Francisco Bay Blues from Eric Clapton's Unplugged has a bit of a waterfall effect, partly created by all the hand clapping, and Onyx isn't going to repair that. And neither should it. But problems I had with snare drums on Metallica's self-titled album or for instance Dire Straits' Walk Of Life were very close to being solved; although Sad But True still had too much snare drum energy for me. Acoustic strings on A Fridaynight In San Francisco sounded a tad too smoky for me and lacked a little bit of definition because of it, but this is nothing a great silver cable can't solve I would think. It would add a bit more air and attack at the same time and most likely a bit of glow on Miles' trumpet that is welcome all the same.

TECHNICALITIES:

I have yet to hear a more speaker-like BUT realistic presentation of Rumours and A Momentary Lapse Of Reason. Not necessarily extremely wide, but very nice imaging, staging and layering. Micro dynamics can be improved while macro dynamics can't, or at least not by much. Timbre's great, tonality is great with bass toned down a little, and PRaT ticks all the boxes for me.

drftr in trouble

 

[berger]

A cable is a fundamental part of the sound that the manufacturer can control. Where is the logic that they are sending out their expensive product with a cable that doesn't do the "correct" sound?

Please tell me the logic you are using to say why these manufacturers would sell these products without a cable that produces what they consider the correct sound.

Think of iems manufacturer as a ramen noodle vendor. Just like the ramen vendor selects ingredients for the perfect ramen, the manufacturer chooses components for optimal sound quality. I understand that you expect their iems to sound excellent right out of the box, much like the vendor's regular serving of ramen. However, just as the ramen vendor must acknowledge that taste is subjective, the iems manufacturer must realize that our preferences vary, often down to a minuscule level. So, similar to how the ramen vendor offers customization options like extra toppings or adjusted seasoning, perhaps some manufacturers simply wants us to explore uncharted possibilities with cable rolling and tip rolling.

 

[fejnomit]

Think of iems manufacturer as a ramen noodle vendor. Just like the ramen vendor selects ingredients for the perfect ramen, the manufacturer chooses components for optimal sound quality. I understand that you expect their iems to sound excellent right out of the box, much like the vendor's regular serving of ramen. However, just as the ramen vendor must acknowledge that taste is subjective, the iems manufacturer must realize that our preferences vary, often down to a minuscule level. So, similar to how the ramen vendor offers customization options like extra toppings or adjusted seasoning, perhaps some manufacturers simply wants us to explore uncharted possibilities with cable rolling and tip rolling.

I think the ramen metaphor applies to all aspects of this hobby! Well put! Instead of "YMMV, etc" at the end of a post, I'm just going to say "ramen."

 

[maegnificant]

I think the ramen metaphor applies to all aspects of this hobby! Well put! Instead of "YMMV, etc" at the end of a post, I'm just going to say "ramen."

Sounds like a new cult to me... I'm in!
Ramen!

 

[wolfstar76]

TL;DR - Onyx is my new favourite IEM. And while I wasn't able to pull the trigger on Ronin, Radon 6, Mentor, Traillii, or Storm (mentioning but a few), I can on Onyx. Does that make it perfect for me? Absolutely not!

Best regards,
Mr. Hard To Please.

Today I travelled all the way back to Rotterdam to give Noble Onyx a second chance, as I thought my demo 2 weeks ago was heavily influenced by listening to Volür for 1.5 hrs first. Volür being warm and closed in may have made Onyx sound very bright as a result, or so I thought, and this appeared to be the case.

I'm hearing Onyx as an upgraded Sultan with better comfort (super comfortable in fact), a much better standard cable, improved treble, perfectioned mids, and (unfortunately for me) an even bigger bass shelf. They look unremarkable to me which I'm totally okay with as I'm only in it for the ear candy.



BASS:

Let me get this out of the way first: It's a bit much for me and only listenable when EQ-ing 50 Hz down by 1.5 dB (Q=0.3). But even then it's too thick, has too little impact, and I would have loved it to be much tighter overall. Dire Straits' Six Blade Knife and Sultans Of Swing, or Tracy Chapman's Baby Can I Hold You Tonight and Michael's Thriller become uncomfortably thick for me. Perhaps it can be cured with a cable/DAP combination that opens up upper bass / lower mids a bit, but since there's only one shop in the whole friggin' Netherlands that at least has a high-end cable (but not Onyx) I won't be able to find out before I hit the road again. And I absolutely didn't have the guts to try my PWA copper cable on them as I learned my lesson last time. That would've been death by sub-bass for sure. When listening to Us And Them / Any Colour You Like I honestly thought there might be something wrong with the IEMs because of the bass shelf and weird effect, but when listening to the same songs on Sultan back home I'm hearing a similar problem in the bass, just not as obvious. It may have to do with my CD pressing and I do realize no IEM can make all albums to sound fantastic.

MIDS:

Totally incredible, lush, palpable, warm, open mids that are so uniquely 3D sounding that it's like you have a 3rd IEM in the front of your head that is exclusively used for center-stage vocalists. I don't think it gets any better than this and you can embrace vocalists that are right there, even on not too great sounding tracks like Black Sabbath's Children Of The Sea. And Sade sounds better on Onyx than in real life, period. But also, you can almost see the slime on Suzanne Vega's vocal cords so it's definitely very detailed while being warmly tuned. Last but not least I have a few recordings where male singers always sounded too boy-like and nasal (Geddy Lee or Bryan Ferry on the title track of Avalon for instance) but they were perfectly supported this time 'round.

TREBLE:

What was my biggest gripe last time turned out to be just fine and influenced by my Volür demo indeed. Sure, very bright recordings stay very bright. Like, San Francisco Bay Blues from Eric Clapton's Unplugged has a bit of a waterfall effect, partly created by all the hand clapping, and Onyx isn't going to repair that. And neither should it. But problems I had with snare drums on Metallica's self-titled album or for instance Dire Straits' Walk Of Life were very close to being solved; although Sad But True still had too much snare drum energy for me. Acoustic strings on A Fridaynight In San Francisco sounded a tad too smoky for me and lacked a little bit of definition because of it, but this is nothing a great silver cable can't solve I would think. It would add a bit more air and attack at the same time and most likely a bit of glow on Miles' trumpet that is welcome all the same.

TECHNICALITIES:

I have yet to hear a more speaker-like BUT realistic presentation of Rumours and A Momentary Lapse Of Reason. Not necessarily extremely wide, but very nice imaging, staging and layering. Micro dynamics can be improved while macro dynamics can't, or at least not by much. Timbre's great, tonality is great with bass toned down a little, and PRaT ticks all the boxes for me.

drftr in trouble

I am always wondering the use of BCD in IEMs, ranging from UM's initial anything but low-end, to Fir's low-end only, to UM's later version of full range frequency. Onyx's BCD is also unique in the sense that it covers high and ultra-high.

I never have the chance to demo Onyx, but from your description, I suspect the midrange wonder is actually created by the BCD working on the treble. Sound impression is a tricky business, since all frequency influence each other. Sometimes, the magic in one frequency comes from another frequency: such as Onyx's mids influnced by treble BCD, or Quattro's thick mids influenced by the bass.

Again, because of that, it is very hard to design a perfect IEM.

 

[PixelSquish]

Think of iems manufacturer as a ramen noodle vendor. Just like the ramen vendor selects ingredients for the perfect ramen, the manufacturer chooses components for optimal sound quality. I understand that you expect their iems to sound excellent right out of the box, much like the vendor's regular serving of ramen. However, just as the ramen vendor must acknowledge that taste is subjective, the iems manufacturer must realize that our preferences vary, often down to a minuscule level. So, similar to how the ramen vendor offers customization options like extra toppings or adjusted seasoning, perhaps some manufacturers simply wants us to explore uncharted possibilities with cable rolling and tip rolling.

I mean I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. Are you saying that the manufacturers send the product out with a sound that they want to send out or not? And that users may want to change it afterwards?

If so, you're totally agreeing with me. If not please explain it further cuz I'm not sure what you're trying to say exactly.

Although being a raman aficionado and living next to New York City, I have tried so many bowls and I count my blessings that I live here for such access.

 

[berger]

I mean I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. Are you saying that the manufacturers send the product out with a sound that they want to send out or not? And that users may want to change it afterwards?

If so, you're totally agreeing with me. If not please explain it further cuz I'm not sure what you're trying to say exactly.

Although being a raman aficionado and living next to New York City, I have tried so many bowls and I count my blessings that I live here for such access.

It was never my intention to draw a line. I just wanted to add different perspective.

Btw, I like eating ramen noodles too. Often times I eat them the way they are served, however the chef prefers. Sometimes, I feel like adding chopped green chilies which I bring from home to make them more spicy (not that I don't trust the chef's ability in making tasty ramen, I just want to explore my tolerance for spicy food). The servers often looked surprised when I added the chilies, thinking maybe their ramen was good enough for most of their customers. I am sure the chef wouldn't mind me doing so, as long I keep coming back.

Speaking about noodles, this instant noodle is so popular in Indonesia. It's probably not going to win a healthy food award, but it's okay.

Using only the ingredients included in the packaging, this noodle would already taste good, but people can always step up the game by adding extra toppings (I usually add eggs and chilies). From the manucturer's perpective, this noodle is perfect, hence the consistency in ingredients/recipe, but people who buy it will never stop exploring possibilities and being creative with it, incorporating their own elements of choice to the already acceptable taste.

 

[Ike1985]

@Sajid Amit Great to hear from you again, thank you for all the great impressions. I also have my eye on a 465 and I see you are still rocking the Jewels, me too although mine are in for repair atm, I miss them so much.

 

[Scubadevils]

TL;DR - Onyx is my new favourite IEM. And while I wasn't able to pull the trigger on Ronin, Radon 6, Mentor, Traillii, or Storm (mentioning but a few), I can on Onyx. Does that make it perfect for me? Absolutely not!

Best regards,
Mr. Hard To Please.

Today I travelled all the way back to Rotterdam to give Noble Onyx a second chance, as I thought my demo 2 weeks ago was heavily influenced by listening to Volür for 1.5 hrs first. Volür being warm and closed in may have made Onyx sound very bright as a result, or so I thought, and this appeared to be the case.

I'm hearing Onyx as an upgraded Sultan with better comfort (super comfortable in fact), a much better standard cable, improved treble, perfectioned mids, and (unfortunately for me) an even bigger bass shelf. They look unremarkable to me which I'm totally okay with as I'm only in it for the ear candy.



BASS:

Let me get this out of the way first: It's a bit much for me and only listenable when EQ-ing 50 Hz down by 1.5 dB (Q=0.3). But even then it's too thick, has too little impact, and I would have loved it to be much tighter overall. Dire Straits' Six Blade Knife and Sultans Of Swing, or Tracy Chapman's Baby Can I Hold You Tonight and Michael's Thriller become uncomfortably thick for me. Perhaps it can be cured with a cable/DAP combination that opens up upper bass / lower mids a bit, but since there's only one shop in the whole friggin' Netherlands that at least has a high-end cable (but not Onyx) I won't be able to find out before I hit the road again. And I absolutely didn't have the guts to try my PWA copper cable on them as I learned my lesson last time. That would've been death by sub-bass for sure. When listening to Us And Them / Any Colour You Like I honestly thought there might be something wrong with the IEMs because of the bass shelf and weird effect, but when listening to the same songs on Sultan back home I'm hearing a similar problem in the bass, just not as obvious. It may have to do with my CD pressing and I do realize no IEM can make all albums to sound fantastic.

MIDS:

Totally incredible, lush, palpable, warm, open mids that are so uniquely 3D sounding that it's like you have a 3rd IEM in the front of your head that is exclusively used for center-stage vocalists. I don't think it gets any better than this and you can embrace vocalists that are right there, even on not too great sounding tracks like Black Sabbath's Children Of The Sea. And Sade sounds better on Onyx than in real life, period. But also, you can almost see the slime on Suzanne Vega's vocal cords so it's definitely very detailed while being warmly tuned. Last but not least I have a few recordings where male singers always sounded too boy-like and nasal (Geddy Lee or Bryan Ferry on the title track of Avalon for instance) but they were perfectly supported this time 'round.

TREBLE:

What was my biggest gripe last time turned out to be just fine and influenced by my Volür demo indeed. Sure, very bright recordings stay very bright. Like, San Francisco Bay Blues from Eric Clapton's Unplugged has a bit of a waterfall effect, partly created by all the hand clapping, and Onyx isn't going to repair that. And neither should it. But problems I had with snare drums on Metallica's self-titled album or for instance Dire Straits' Walk Of Life were very close to being solved; although Sad But True still had too much snare drum energy for me. Acoustic strings on A Fridaynight In San Francisco sounded a tad too smoky for me and lacked a little bit of definition because of it, but this is nothing a great silver cable can't solve I would think. It would add a bit more air and attack at the same time and most likely a bit of glow on Miles' trumpet that is welcome all the same.

TECHNICALITIES:

I have yet to hear a more speaker-like BUT realistic presentation of Rumours and A Momentary Lapse Of Reason. Not necessarily extremely wide, but very nice imaging, staging and layering. Micro dynamics can be improved while macro dynamics can't, or at least not by much. Timbre's great, tonality is great with bass toned down a little, and PRaT ticks all the boxes for me.

drftr in trouble

Great write up and further fuelling my curiosity for Onyx!

 

[thaslaya]

9. Elysian Pilgrim Noir & OG
Og feels like a baby Anni. Tuned to be more neutral with slightly more forward upper mid but without being sibilance. It’s the best iem under $500 I’ve ever heard.

Noir is bassier and warmer - treble isnt as forward. Its more fun that og. Bass texture is definitely a step up from the og.

I was hoping the Noir would be a warmer version as that is my preference. I was excited about the Pilgrim but now the Noir has my full attention! Do we know the price point? Will it be the same price as Pilgrim but just a retune?

 

[Scubadevils]

A beautiful spring morning here in Dublin earlier, the first day in a while where it felt like some heat in the sun… roll on summer.

 

[lycos]

I was hoping the Noir would be a warmer version as that is my preference. I was excited about the Pilgrim but now the Noir has my full attention! Do we know the price point? Will it be the same price as Pilgrim but just a retune?

Noir $799
Og $399

 

[PixelSquish]

Noir $799
Og $399

Thanks. How much warmer would you say? Does the treble take a couple steps back compared to the plain pilgrim?

 

[PixelSquish]

It was never my intention to draw a line. I just wanted to add different perspective.

Btw, I like eating ramen noodles too. Often times I eat them the way they are served, however the chef prefers. Sometimes, I feel like adding chopped green chilies which I bring from home to make them more spicy (not that I don't trust the chef's ability in making tasty ramen, I just want to explore my tolerance for spicy food). The servers often looked surprised when I added the chilies, thinking maybe their ramen was good enough for most of their customers. I am sure the chef wouldn't mind me doing so, as long I keep coming back with cash.

Speaking about noodles, this instant noodle is so popular in Indonesia. It's probably not going to win a healthy food award, but it's okay.



Using only the ingredients included in the packaging, this noodle would already taste good, but people can always step up the game by adding extra toppings (I usually add eggs and chilies). From the manucturer's perpective, this noodle is perfect, hence the consistency in ingredients/recipe, but people who buy it will never stop exploring possibilities and being creative with it, incorporating their own elements of choice to the already acceptable taste.

I think dried noodles are limited because they are dried and have to maintain a very long shelf life, and be cheap. I love ramen and have had many fresh bowls, and have tried and still try lots of dry ramen noodles. But I really fail to see any connection between dried ramen and expensive iem, as far as what you get out of the box.

It's a cute analogy, but it's just not a good one compared to a 2k IEM.