New Noble Katana Universal Flagship IEM

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by GoodEnoughGear, Jul 12, 2016.

  1. Warrior

    Warrior RIP 2021

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  2. Out Of Your Head

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  3. Warrior

    Warrior RIP 2021

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    I wish I could. I can't even imagine the look on Wifey's face... "babe I'm flying to Cali to check out some headphones." lol
     
  4. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    I'm looking forward to these.
     
  5. Warrior

    Warrior RIP 2021

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    They sound interesting, even if they aren't my preferred sound signature. I'm trying to diversify my listening, but I truly love hard hitting bass.
     
  6. jowls

    jowls Never shitposts (please) - Friend

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    I've been down that road, more times than I care to remember. Good luck to you.
     
  7. zachchen1996

    zachchen1996 Friend

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    I'm the same way, part time bass head. I'll love something, but only if it has sufficient bass haha.
     
  8. Warrior

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    Not part time for me, but I'm really trying to diversify.
     
  9. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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  10. The Life

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    The one time I went down that road was with the K10 and it faaaaar exceeded my expectations so I was willing to give Noble another chance to prove me stupid.
     
  11. Out Of Your Head

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    FYI, I went to the Noble Katana event at Affordable Audio today.

    I posted some photos on Head-Fi.

    My impressions from Head-Fi below: (full disclosure, I am a Noble fanboy. I also do some photography work for Noble and am friends with Brannan.)

    I brought my K10 customs to compare, but also listened to the Katana, K10U, Savanna, Savant, Dulce Bass, and DJango.

    For a source, I was using my own music on a well broken in and warmed up PONO player and an AK120 (first gen). All the cables on hand were single ended, stock Noble cables.

    As suspected, the Katana sounded very different from both my K10 customs and the K10U. Much like how @Chodi (http://www.head-fi.org/t/684787/noble-audio-the-wizard-returns/21255#post_12736374) and @Stillhart (http://www.head-fi.org/t/814293/katana-listening-event-affordable-audio#post_12742488) wrote, I agree with their impressions.

    I love my K10's for their "fun" sound signature, tons of bass, and lots of detail in spite of being somewhat "dark", but they were never my most preferred sound signature like my Stax SR-009's, or Audio Zenith PM-x2's. The Katana's are right up my alley.

    The Katana's do not have the sheer quantity of bass that the K10's have. The bass on the Katana still extends very low but doesn't "rattle my eyeballs" on heavy bass content like the K10's can. I wouldn't call the Katana's bass light at all, they're more neutral or reference than "fun". With less bass level, you still get very deep, tight, clean bass.

    By contrast, the treble is the opposite. The K10's have less treble and the Katana's have a lot more. Much like the Stax 009 sound, which I consider to have slightly elevated treble, so does the Katana to my ears. But also like the Stax, the Katana's highs are still smooth and not as bright as say the HD800's. Unlike the K10's, I can certainly expect that lower quality recordings may get harsh on the Katana's. For me, un-modded HD800's are too harsh and bright and can be downright painful on poorly recorded/mixed material. The Katana's aren't like that, but since the highs are slightly elevated, I could see some potential harshness on low quality recordings. With really well recorded music, I did not hear any harshness with the Katana's.

    Along with the highs, the Katana's have a crazy amount of detail and what I call "airy-ness". I am not sure if that means wide imaging or sound-stage. I don't really understand imaging in headphones, and that's why I prefer to use my software to get real, speaker-like imaging. (Otherwise, to me, all headphones sound like all the sound is in my head between my ears.) But the Katana's do sound a lot more open than I am used to hearing from IEMs. Generally headphones with a lot of treble sound more open and airy to me.

    The mids of the Katana are what I would consider "reference" or neutral too. They just sound right. The "sound" of vocals or piano sound natural. I don't hear the mids as forward like the Savanna. I usually just check a couple female and male vocal tracks that I know well to make sure they sound natural and make sure there's nothing funky like too much mid-bass or treble, or shouty or hollow. The Katana's had none of these problems.

    After listening to both the K10U's and Katana's side by side, I completely understand why Noble is calling the two models "co-flagship" models. They both absolutely warrant being "flagships". But both sound very different. With each of their models I tried, the lower models had similar flavors of sound, but the K10 and Katana were always better.

    Sorry, I don't have a really well trained ear and I don't have the gift of a reviewers writing skills. But hopefully one more impression this early in the game will help people decide whether or not the Katana is something they want to consider.

    It seems that most people either prefer more highs like Stax or HD800, etc. and others prefer a darker sound with more bass That makes the choice easy. Katana = more highs; K10 = darker, more bass.

    That's why I own Stax and HD800, but also own LFF's Enigma's. Completely different sounds, but both have their merits and "sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't." (some of you might be too young to get that reference!)

    For me, I prefer the Katana, but happy that they will complement my K10's perfectly. (You need to have both!)​

    -Darin
     
  12. ivanrocks321

    ivanrocks321 New

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    I wonder how these compare to the campfire Andro. Look to pickup a complimentary OEM to my k10 but the full price is a bit out of range right now since I just got the k10. I may consider them if they go on sale if they fit my taste better than the andro
     
  13. Out Of Your Head

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    Unfortunately, I've never heard the Andro, but really want to compare them. Maybe at the SBAF meet in November.
     
  14. SingSing

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    1899?

    Is this "Dolce and Katana"?
     
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2016
  15. The Life

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    I received my custom Katanas yesterday. So far I'll have to say they are exactly what I was hoping for them to be. It has the nuetral and balanced FR I loved in my Andros but also has a bit of that "musical feel" that I found lacking in the Andros vis-a-vis the K10s.
     
  16. jowls

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    Awesome! How do you find the imaging? For me, K10 were pleasantly warm and but enveloping with little sense of space.

    It sounds like Noble has both flavours of high end covered. If only they weren't twice the price of Andromeda :(
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2016
  17. Warrior

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    @The Life that makes me want to order them. I can't do cold analytical, but want that clarity. Katana might be an excellent choice for that. I'll see how I like the K10 first... I have doubts I'll love it like everyone else.
     
  18. The Life

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    Actually, from the little I know about your tastes in IEMs, I'll bet anything that you'll love the K10s after a short adjustment period. They may not have the absolute clarity of the Katanas but they are still about as clear as I can imagine an IEM being while still having a warm and brassy tuning.
     
  19. The Life

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    I don't want to overhype the Katanas, but I've never heard a cleaner, more open, more spacious IEM. My mind's eye can easily pick out every instrument in even the densest most complex classical pieces.
     
  20. Warrior

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    They have some stiff competition. Between my two Sonys that I love and the 2 tralucent's, should be interesting.
     

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