Going fully Wireless IEMs. Too soon? Or are we there yet?
Jan 23, 2023 at 7:35 AM Post #50,373 of 62,389
I'm in Australia and have ordered from them many times with $2000+ iems, etc and they have been very reliable, quick to send and are well known to many Headfi'ers as a go-to retailer - definitely reputable!
That's cool! I've never seen them mentioned before, which I have with Bloom, Audio46 et al.
Might put in an order with them then, we'll see!
 
Jan 23, 2023 at 10:16 AM Post #50,376 of 62,389
So, I think the Mystique sound incredible, but I’ve been wrong before. Trying to compare and contrast to Pro but haven’t drawn out the differences well enough yet.
What I can say is the ambient works but you really need to turn the music down to have a conversation. That said, you can have one. What I don’t like at all is no ambient control on the buds, only the app. Good thing app is responsive and stays open in cache so fairly easy to switch once phone is open. I haven’t had a phone call yet. Connection seems good, even walked around outside in NYC and didn’t have any cutouts. Of course responds well to EQ. Passive isolation is great. Super comfortable, feels just a little smaller and more comfortable than the Pro.

Edit: I’d add that ambient mode doesn’t really seem to impact sound quality too much .
FF23D915-10B8-4200-B6AB-24C154E07F40.jpeg
FYI, you can activate ambient mode without the app by a long press on the left earbud.
 
Noble Audio Stay updated on Noble Audio at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
https://www.facebook.com/NobleAudio https://www.twitter.com/noblebywizard https://www.instagram.com/nobleaudio https://nobleaudio.com/en/ contact@nobleaudio.com
Jan 23, 2023 at 10:42 AM Post #50,378 of 62,389
I have the PX8 and the Nura Pro. At low volumes, I think the Nura sound better and have more impact. Am I crazy? They are making me reconsider needing the PX8. Any tip rolling suggestings? The Nura seem to slide around easily. Not sure what the "wings" do but for me - nothing.
 
Jan 23, 2023 at 11:20 AM Post #50,379 of 62,389
I have the PX8 and the Nura Pro. At low volumes, I think the Nura sound better and have more impact. Am I crazy? They are making me reconsider needing the PX8. Any tip rolling suggestings? The Nura seem to slide around easily. Not sure what the "wings" do but for me - nothing.
After constantly rolling, I went back to the XL stock tips with no wings. Tried a half dozen other tips. And yes, you're crazy.
 
Jan 23, 2023 at 1:21 PM Post #50,380 of 62,389
Been A/B’ing Orbit, QC II, B&O ex, TWX9, and as a wildcard, the Soundcore Liberty 4. For my test tracks I used Chesky Records tracks by the Larry Coryell, Victor Bailey, Lenny White (super busy multi-instrumental) Electric, and Rebecca Pidgeon’s The Raven (wonderful vocal range, phrasing, breath control and portamento. Sparse instrumentation so there is nowhere for individual musicians to hide). Of course Chesky Recordings are immaculately recorded, produced and mastered.

5) QC II - pretty good sound for busier recordings. When it gets to Pidgeon’s Spanish Harlem it’s very obvious that across the lower frequencies details are smeared. But if you want ANC this may be the one

4) Soundcore Liberty 4 - surprising quality in separation of instruments and more defined bass. If you’re looking for a bang-for-buck bargain, this is a serious contender.

3) TWX9 - nice separation; rich bass a little unrefined. Vocals have good details but women’s lower ranges have something recessed about them. Mid-range percussion has a nice snap to it. Separation seems great for some instruments but the rest feel like they lack location.

2) B&O ex - very nice. Wide soundstage. Good positional definition of each component in the instrumentation. Some details are a little blurry. The vocal overall feels a little recessed and sibilant.

1) Campfire Audio Orbit - Soundstage actually feels appropriately different for each recording session. Distances of instruments from each other feel palpable. That’s because the Orbit seems to honor silence as much as an instrument playing. There is a space of silence you can feel from a guitar to the vocalist. Percussion snaps and thumps as it should. The bass reaches downward from the fingers plucking the string and sliding on the fretboard and rumbles appropriately depending on the instrument being played. The vocals are placed right, noticeably avoid sibilance, and the portamento from note to note transforms as it should into tone to tone. The gentle inhalations are as real as the fingers on the instruments. Never have I heard TWS that honors the voice so much as an instrument with defined placement on the stage. All in all, in every instance, there is no doubt that the music is being performed by human beings. Wow.

There are a lot of musical recordings that these things might not matter so much, and all of them get murky with sub-par recording or mastering. My hearing is different than yours and my priorities may be different as well, so “grain of salt”, people. Grain of salt.
 
Last edited:
Jan 23, 2023 at 1:53 PM Post #50,381 of 62,389
Mystique's are in and... wow. I skipped the NFP but these are phenomenal. I listen to a variety of music, but a lot of bass heavy rap too - you can hear clearly when songs are poorly produced, but when they're well produced these things boom and sound fantastic. I have barely adjusted the EQ up (and tried Rap EQ preset in app) and it was a huge difference and I have way more headroom on the volume than I have had on my other TWS.

I'm only 30 mins in to listening, but these are a purchase I'm VERY happy with so far. 2c
 
Jan 23, 2023 at 2:55 PM Post #50,382 of 62,389
Mystique's are in and... wow. I skipped the NFP but these are phenomenal. I listen to a variety of music, but a lot of bass heavy rap too - you can hear clearly when songs are poorly produced, but when they're well produced these things boom and sound fantastic. I have barely adjusted the EQ up (and tried Rap EQ preset in app) and it was a huge difference and I have way more headroom on the volume than I have had on my other TWS.

I'm only 30 mins in to listening, but these are a purchase I'm VERY happy with so far. 2c

Sounds phenomenal! Guessing I'll get both the Mystiques and the new Technics this year! The Technics for general usage when you're in need of great ANC/Ambient/features and the Mysticques for those time that I can only focus on the music.
 
Jan 23, 2023 at 3:16 PM Post #50,383 of 62,389
Mystique's are in and... wow. I skipped the NFP but these are phenomenal. I listen to a variety of music, but a lot of bass heavy rap too - you can hear clearly when songs are poorly produced, but when they're well produced these things boom and sound fantastic. I have barely adjusted the EQ up (and tried Rap EQ preset in app) and it was a huge difference and I have way more headroom on the volume than I have had on my other TWS.

I'm only 30 mins in to listening, but these are a purchase I'm VERY happy with so far. 2c
Battery life is remarkable too. Pretty sure I’ve been listening for over 6 hours, with ambient on most of the time, and still says 20% left.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top