This is Review of Noble Savant Wizard edition IEM. http://nobleaudio.com/en/shop/universal/
Would you believe that a company, as well known as Noble Audio, with one of the most complete portfolios of 3/4/5/6/8/10 driver IEMs (Custom and Universal) recently released a new model named Savant with a clear message of “undisclosed balanced armature configuration”? In today’s premium IEM market filled with many exotic driver configurations, the actual number of drivers plays an important role in marketing and pricing of the headphones. So it made me wonder about the driving force behind “undisclosed” configuration from a company known worldwide for their acclaimed K10 CIEM/UIEM. After some thinking I came to a conclusion with a very simple explanation – CONFIDENCE!!! I’m pretty sure I’m gonna eat my words if I get a chance to test/review K10, but it takes a lot of confidence as well as knowledge and experience to prove to the world that you don’t need to have half a dozen to a dozen of drivers to make IEM sound good. Noble Savant is the living proof of it.
Noble Audio is quite an established name in audiophile world. If you ever visited any of CanJam events, various Audio trade shows, or Head-Fi community meets – there is a good chance you ran into a stand with a complete selection of their headphones, and got a chance to meet their very enthusiastic spokesperson, Brannan Mason. As a co-owner and a successful business manager of the company, he wears a lot of hats (and apparently fills in a lot of ears to make impressions during the shows!!!), and I found him to be very professional and knowledgeable in our email exchange. But despite all that, only Dr John Moulton (the other co-owner) is allowed to wear the Wizard hat because he is the one with magical powers to create Noble Audio in-ear masterpieces. To get a better idea, I highly recommend you to visit their Lookbook page (http://nobleaudio.com/en/lookbook/) to see some of their exquisite creations. By definition, Custom IEMs have a degree of customization beyond a “custom” mold fitment where most of the companies allow you to choose different material colors, finishes, and faceplates, but nobody comes even close to a caliber of exotic materials and space age finishes like these guys. It does come at a premium price, but once you see how it looks – you will quickly realize why.
Another unique feature of Noble Audio products is being able to offer most of their in-ear monitors in both Universal and Custom fitments. Custom IEM requires a preparation of going to audiologist to get a mold of your inner/outer ear anatomy, waiting for manufacturing of your earpieces, and then dealing with a fact that it won’t be easy to sell it in the future, though Noble offers a unique ownership transfer service to remold the shell for a reasonable fee. But the end result is a perfect fitment and isolation and the unique customization artwork to make your CIEM stand out from the crowd. Universal fitment requires less preparation work and no commitment in case if you want to sell it later, but the only level of customization you get with Noble is in a form of different color screws. Luckily this has changed with introduction of Savant, still having a universal fitment but now offered in uniform version and in Wizard skin. My Noble Savant (NS) review unit arrived with a unique artwork style noted as Lot 7, #10 according to their product page. But NS is not just about eye-candy look, thus I would also like to share with you about other important aspects of its build quality and sound characteristics.
Unboxing and Accessories.
Arrived in a gift box package, you can get a sense of premium quality just by feeling the texture of the box material with a swirled pattern and a glossy black "NOBLE" with their signature crown symbol. The box also had a Wizard signature stamped on the sides which added a nice custom touch to the packaging. There is no spec or any other details about the design or accessories, just a mysterious "Undisclosed balanced armature configuration", the one I have mentioned about before. With the box cover off, you will see a genuine Pelican 1010 case which contains the product and all the included accessories.
It is very rare to see Pelican case with Universal IEMs which became a signature "case" for CIEMs. I just assume that Noble Audio is trying to keep packaging similar between all of their models to simplify the logistics. But either way, it's just a nice bonus with a superior protection when packing your UIEM/CIEM along with other accessories. For everyday use when you don't need this extra carry on protection, Noble also included a velvet draw-string pouch with a company logo/symbol. Other accessories include a carabiner clip for Pelican case, a cleaning tool for the shell, 2 rubber bands for securing external amp to your DAP, a pair of "crown" stickers with Wizard signature, ownership info card, and lots of eartips.
A cleaning tool is another accessory associated with CIEMs, and it's actually very useful for CIEM-like 2-bore nozzle design of NS, though you do have to realize that silicone eartips will keep away the nozzle from digging into your earwax. And speaking of eartips, Noble went all the way with a whooping 4 sets. You will find a hybrid red stem S/M/L set with a more springy cap (my favorite for the best isolation), another hybrid blue stem S/M/L set with a softer cap and a narrow bar across the bore opening (like in Senns eartips), a set of S/M/L dual flange silicone eartips, and another set of S/M/L soft memory foam eartips (not Comply). The correct selection of eartips is very important with NS to ensure a better seal which improves a low frequency performance and provides earplug quality isolation. I found Savant to provide one of the best passive noise isolations among other universal IEMs I’ve tested in the past.
Overall, this is a decent selection of accessories for a premium set of headphones. If I could offer a suggestion, it would be to make rubber bands bigger since they would be too tight for any modern DAP/amp combo and to use genuine Comply tips because the included ones don't have silicone core thus prone to rip.
I typically consider a cable to be a part of the design unless if it's a detachable one. If you can replace it, might as well count it as an accessory. I'm personally a cable believer and have a collection of various silver-plated, pure silver, and pure copper cables I like to try with different IEMs/CIEMs, but in order to appreciate the replacement, you always have to start with a stock cable to get used to the original sound intended by the manufacturer.
I was actually pleased with a cable Noble included with NS. The cable itself made out of 4 separate wires/conductors, each one is thin and soft with a tight rubbery jacket, twisted in pairs corresponding to L/R sides and then twisted again after y-slitter going down to a very slim gold-plated 3.5mm connector. Y-splitter is just a clear heat-shrink piece of silicone tube and a chin-slider is another loose piece of the same tubing that slides up/down. It was a wise decision to keep all 4 wires separated and isolated all the way down to the headphone connector, thus preventing a noise coupling of a shared ground below y-splitter. My only negative comment here is a rather slippery housing of the headphone connector, wish they can use something more textured to enhance the grip.
Going up to the earpiece, you have an industry standard 2-pin connector with a slim plastic housing labeled with corresponding blue/red dots to distinguish and ID the Left/Right sides. Connector plug itself is slim enough to work even with other headphones that use recessed socket, though with Noble CIEMs/UIEMs the socket is always surface mounted. Considering ergonomics of over-the-ear cable fitment as intended by NS design, you can also find a short piece of a memory flex wire covered by plastic tubing. Interestingly enough, in comparison to other cables, this is probably the shortest piece of memory wire I have seen, but it works quite well, and I found it to be very comfortable.
As far as the sound quality goes, I will talk more about it later in my review, but to my big surprise I actually preferred this stock cable over my replacement cables. This is a perfect example of taking your time to get to know the sound signature with the original cable. Once I got used to the smooth transparent detailed sound with a stock cable, going to silver-plated or pure silver added extra brightness that I found to take away from smooth organic nature of NS original signature. To my ears the replacement cable usually offers some level of refinement, but I didn't find it to my liking with NS, thus I kept it stock-cabled. I do have to mention there is some microphonics with an included cable, but it wasn't too distracting.
Design details.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm a big fan of Westone bean-shaped IEMs and consider them to be among the most comfortable I've tried. I never thought I will find anything to rival them, until I tried NS. They fit like a custom Universal IEM, thanks to their small shape, slick rounded body, and comfortable short nozzle. I'm dead serious when I say that with a large hybrid tips they felt like a perfect pair of earplugs that gave me a very impressive level of sound isolation, and were comfortable enough to be used even with my head on the pillow. Due to wire up default fitment, earpieces are obviously not symmetrical so there is no confusion about the sides, and the Right shell has an etched Wizard signature. Also, you can use red/blue cable dot for a quick id.
The housing material of NS feels like a typical acrylic, definitely not some cheap plastic. It's like one molded piece with the only opening being 2 bores at the tip of the nozzle. With these being Wizard edition, instead of a uniform black faceplate with Noble's crown logo and corresponding color screws, my review unit had a very distinct artwork pattern with mosaic pieces "baked" into the faceplate. It definitely added a special touch to their look where you can actually mistake these for CIEM from a distance. The Wizard touch is quite unique, but it also comes at an additional premium cost. Either way, you have a choice depending on your budget. Also keep in mind, whatever you decide will only affect the look, not the actual sound quality.
Would you believe that a company, as well known as Noble Audio, with one of the most complete portfolios of 3/4/5/6/8/10 driver IEMs (Custom and Universal) recently released a new model named Savant with a clear message of “undisclosed balanced armature configuration”? In today’s premium IEM market filled with many exotic driver configurations, the actual number of drivers plays an important role in marketing and pricing of the headphones. So it made me wonder about the driving force behind “undisclosed” configuration from a company known worldwide for their acclaimed K10 CIEM/UIEM. After some thinking I came to a conclusion with a very simple explanation – CONFIDENCE!!! I’m pretty sure I’m gonna eat my words if I get a chance to test/review K10, but it takes a lot of confidence as well as knowledge and experience to prove to the world that you don’t need to have half a dozen to a dozen of drivers to make IEM sound good. Noble Savant is the living proof of it.
Noble Audio is quite an established name in audiophile world. If you ever visited any of CanJam events, various Audio trade shows, or Head-Fi community meets – there is a good chance you ran into a stand with a complete selection of their headphones, and got a chance to meet their very enthusiastic spokesperson, Brannan Mason. As a co-owner and a successful business manager of the company, he wears a lot of hats (and apparently fills in a lot of ears to make impressions during the shows!!!), and I found him to be very professional and knowledgeable in our email exchange. But despite all that, only Dr John Moulton (the other co-owner) is allowed to wear the Wizard hat because he is the one with magical powers to create Noble Audio in-ear masterpieces. To get a better idea, I highly recommend you to visit their Lookbook page (http://nobleaudio.com/en/lookbook/) to see some of their exquisite creations. By definition, Custom IEMs have a degree of customization beyond a “custom” mold fitment where most of the companies allow you to choose different material colors, finishes, and faceplates, but nobody comes even close to a caliber of exotic materials and space age finishes like these guys. It does come at a premium price, but once you see how it looks – you will quickly realize why.
Another unique feature of Noble Audio products is being able to offer most of their in-ear monitors in both Universal and Custom fitments. Custom IEM requires a preparation of going to audiologist to get a mold of your inner/outer ear anatomy, waiting for manufacturing of your earpieces, and then dealing with a fact that it won’t be easy to sell it in the future, though Noble offers a unique ownership transfer service to remold the shell for a reasonable fee. But the end result is a perfect fitment and isolation and the unique customization artwork to make your CIEM stand out from the crowd. Universal fitment requires less preparation work and no commitment in case if you want to sell it later, but the only level of customization you get with Noble is in a form of different color screws. Luckily this has changed with introduction of Savant, still having a universal fitment but now offered in uniform version and in Wizard skin. My Noble Savant (NS) review unit arrived with a unique artwork style noted as Lot 7, #10 according to their product page. But NS is not just about eye-candy look, thus I would also like to share with you about other important aspects of its build quality and sound characteristics.
Unboxing and Accessories.
Arrived in a gift box package, you can get a sense of premium quality just by feeling the texture of the box material with a swirled pattern and a glossy black "NOBLE" with their signature crown symbol. The box also had a Wizard signature stamped on the sides which added a nice custom touch to the packaging. There is no spec or any other details about the design or accessories, just a mysterious "Undisclosed balanced armature configuration", the one I have mentioned about before. With the box cover off, you will see a genuine Pelican 1010 case which contains the product and all the included accessories.
It is very rare to see Pelican case with Universal IEMs which became a signature "case" for CIEMs. I just assume that Noble Audio is trying to keep packaging similar between all of their models to simplify the logistics. But either way, it's just a nice bonus with a superior protection when packing your UIEM/CIEM along with other accessories. For everyday use when you don't need this extra carry on protection, Noble also included a velvet draw-string pouch with a company logo/symbol. Other accessories include a carabiner clip for Pelican case, a cleaning tool for the shell, 2 rubber bands for securing external amp to your DAP, a pair of "crown" stickers with Wizard signature, ownership info card, and lots of eartips.
A cleaning tool is another accessory associated with CIEMs, and it's actually very useful for CIEM-like 2-bore nozzle design of NS, though you do have to realize that silicone eartips will keep away the nozzle from digging into your earwax. And speaking of eartips, Noble went all the way with a whooping 4 sets. You will find a hybrid red stem S/M/L set with a more springy cap (my favorite for the best isolation), another hybrid blue stem S/M/L set with a softer cap and a narrow bar across the bore opening (like in Senns eartips), a set of S/M/L dual flange silicone eartips, and another set of S/M/L soft memory foam eartips (not Comply). The correct selection of eartips is very important with NS to ensure a better seal which improves a low frequency performance and provides earplug quality isolation. I found Savant to provide one of the best passive noise isolations among other universal IEMs I’ve tested in the past.
Overall, this is a decent selection of accessories for a premium set of headphones. If I could offer a suggestion, it would be to make rubber bands bigger since they would be too tight for any modern DAP/amp combo and to use genuine Comply tips because the included ones don't have silicone core thus prone to rip.
I typically consider a cable to be a part of the design unless if it's a detachable one. If you can replace it, might as well count it as an accessory. I'm personally a cable believer and have a collection of various silver-plated, pure silver, and pure copper cables I like to try with different IEMs/CIEMs, but in order to appreciate the replacement, you always have to start with a stock cable to get used to the original sound intended by the manufacturer.
I was actually pleased with a cable Noble included with NS. The cable itself made out of 4 separate wires/conductors, each one is thin and soft with a tight rubbery jacket, twisted in pairs corresponding to L/R sides and then twisted again after y-slitter going down to a very slim gold-plated 3.5mm connector. Y-splitter is just a clear heat-shrink piece of silicone tube and a chin-slider is another loose piece of the same tubing that slides up/down. It was a wise decision to keep all 4 wires separated and isolated all the way down to the headphone connector, thus preventing a noise coupling of a shared ground below y-splitter. My only negative comment here is a rather slippery housing of the headphone connector, wish they can use something more textured to enhance the grip.
Going up to the earpiece, you have an industry standard 2-pin connector with a slim plastic housing labeled with corresponding blue/red dots to distinguish and ID the Left/Right sides. Connector plug itself is slim enough to work even with other headphones that use recessed socket, though with Noble CIEMs/UIEMs the socket is always surface mounted. Considering ergonomics of over-the-ear cable fitment as intended by NS design, you can also find a short piece of a memory flex wire covered by plastic tubing. Interestingly enough, in comparison to other cables, this is probably the shortest piece of memory wire I have seen, but it works quite well, and I found it to be very comfortable.
As far as the sound quality goes, I will talk more about it later in my review, but to my big surprise I actually preferred this stock cable over my replacement cables. This is a perfect example of taking your time to get to know the sound signature with the original cable. Once I got used to the smooth transparent detailed sound with a stock cable, going to silver-plated or pure silver added extra brightness that I found to take away from smooth organic nature of NS original signature. To my ears the replacement cable usually offers some level of refinement, but I didn't find it to my liking with NS, thus I kept it stock-cabled. I do have to mention there is some microphonics with an included cable, but it wasn't too distracting.
Design details.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm a big fan of Westone bean-shaped IEMs and consider them to be among the most comfortable I've tried. I never thought I will find anything to rival them, until I tried NS. They fit like a custom Universal IEM, thanks to their small shape, slick rounded body, and comfortable short nozzle. I'm dead serious when I say that with a large hybrid tips they felt like a perfect pair of earplugs that gave me a very impressive level of sound isolation, and were comfortable enough to be used even with my head on the pillow. Due to wire up default fitment, earpieces are obviously not symmetrical so there is no confusion about the sides, and the Right shell has an etched Wizard signature. Also, you can use red/blue cable dot for a quick id.
The housing material of NS feels like a typical acrylic, definitely not some cheap plastic. It's like one molded piece with the only opening being 2 bores at the tip of the nozzle. With these being Wizard edition, instead of a uniform black faceplate with Noble's crown logo and corresponding color screws, my review unit had a very distinct artwork pattern with mosaic pieces "baked" into the faceplate. It definitely added a special touch to their look where you can actually mistake these for CIEM from a distance. The Wizard touch is quite unique, but it also comes at an additional premium cost. Either way, you have a choice depending on your budget. Also keep in mind, whatever you decide will only affect the look, not the actual sound quality.
