Dan Clark NOIRE X Headphone Review

[evernessince]

I need to get more time on mine - just got them last week - but I definitely found them a little hot in the treble. Granted I’m used to Sennheiser HD6xx.

I'd say give it some time. I found them a tad hot too out of the box but to my ears that goes completely away after a couple of weeks.

 

[tgray]

I'd say give it some time. I found them a tad hot too out of the box but to my ears that goes completely away after a couple of weeks.

Will do. I want to play around with EQ a little bit to figure out exactly what is bugging me.

They do sound very good though in general. Super comfortable too.

 

[Robbo99999]

Since it's a passive device it can't introduce a "whistle." Is it possible this is elsewhere in your system? Or am I not understanding how you are using "whistle?"

I have an idea - please write down the names of a few tracks that you think are reference tracks and are best mixed, then I will at least have an understanding of how you hear them in NOIRE X and what's wrong with my hearing
Maybe I shouldn't have adjusted the equalizer at all, and I just chose tracks that are not suitable for the test.

I'm thinking what @Ten Protons is referring to is probably something on the upper end of female voices, maybe there's a peak in the frequency response for him up there which is causing what he's calling a "whistle", it might be occurring around the sss sounds of female voices.

 

[Ten Protons]

I'm thinking what @Ten Protons is referring to is probably something on the upper end of female voices, maybe there's a peak in the frequency response for him up there which is causing what he's calling a "whistle", it might be occurring around the sss sounds of female voices.

You understood me correctly - I hear sss sounds of female voices and some instruments. But I began to doubt the quality of the mixing of the tracks I was testing the headphones with and started looking for lists of reference tracks for sound engineers, and it turned out that they exist!
Here it is:

Best Reference Track For All Genres

Using a great sounding reference track is one of the best ways to help you create professional sounding music. In this blog, we’ll list our suggestions for the best reference tracks across a huge range of genres, and an explanation as to why we’ve chosen that particular track.

www.masteringthemix.com

Almost all of these tracks NOIRE X played perfectly without equalizer and I'm shocked at how high quality and detailed they are for their price. So I will write another detailed review soon.

 

[Robbo99999]

You understood me correctly - I hear sss sounds of female voices and some instruments. But I began to doubt the quality of the mixing of the tracks I was testing the headphones with and started looking for lists of reference tracks for sound engineers, and it turned out that they exist!
Here it is:

Best Reference Track For All Genres

Using a great sounding reference track is one of the best ways to help you create professional sounding music. In this blog, we’ll list our suggestions for the best reference tracks across a huge range of genres, and an explanation as to why we’ve chosen that particular track.

www.masteringthemix.com

Almost all of these tracks NOIRE X played perfectly without equalizer and I'm shocked at how high quality and detailed they are for their price. So I will write another detailed review soon.

It's true that some recordings are better than others. I think you build up a picture of which are the good recordings once you've listened to various tracks on neutral gear - like anechoic flat speakers and/or a number of headphones that have been EQ'd to Harman if that's found to be your preferred target curve. You then get to build a picture of which ones are good recordings.

 

[Chagall]

@Ten Protons Also, if the music you are mainly listening to comes across as very sibilant on the Noire X, there is nothing wrong with having 2 or 3 EQ presets.
EQ1 - high-quality recordings, EQ2 - mostly played, EQ3 - metal -10dB shelf from 3k

However, I think Noire X (looking at the various measurements) would benefit from taming the treble in general.

 

[Dan Clark]

"If you wear glasses put the arms on top of the pad"
how is this even possible? puts lens at angle and distorts vision.

It depends on the lens, so YMMV. I use light reading glasses all the time with absolutely no distortion, but I use a 1.25. I don't think this approach is suitable for say going for a walk wearing glasses outside, but for readers the distortion is minimal. I've shared this tip for years and nobody has complained yet, FWIW.

 

[Salt]

It depends on the lens, so YMMV. I use light reading glasses all the time with absolutely no distortion, but I use a 1.25. I don't think this approach is suitable for say going for a walk wearing glasses outside, but for readers the distortion is minimal. I've shared this tip for years and nobody has complained yet, FWIW.

With single focal correction for distance or near this can work with low corrections (one or two dpt.), but with multi focus glasses and/or significant astigmatism visual distorsion becomes unacceptable.

Don't ask why I know this

 

[Oldson]

gonna try some straight arm glasses next as i am due new ones anyway.
doing away with the bit that angles down behind the ear may help reduce the angle of the lens a bit.
for me , this is the biggest issue with headphone use..... glasses

Dan, you seem to have mastered the art of headphone design, how about designing "headphone friendly" specs?

 

[Dan Clark]

gonna try some straight arm glasses next as i am due new ones anyway.
doing away with the bit that angles down behind the ear may help reduce the angle of the lens a bit.
for me , this is the biggest issue with headphone use..... glasses

Dan, you seem to have mastered the art of headphone design, how about designing "headphone friendly" specs?

Straight arm and low profile, like slim metal vs thick plastics...

Specs... I have no idea how to start. The problem is that too many companies play spec games, like one big Japanese brand I won't name where every headphone has specs like 5Hz to 50KHz. Since there aren't any legit headphone measurement standards that I know of, we'd just be creating something others would say is self-promoting... Did you have something in mind?

 

[williamr]

FYI. There are some eyewear that have very slim arms

gonna try some straight arm glasses next as i am due new ones anyway.
doing away with the bit that angles down behind the ear may help reduce the angle of the lens a bit.
for me , this is the biggest issue with headphone use..... glasses

I bought a couple pair of Lindberg frames because they have very thin arms. See here (you have to click through a couple of images):

9556 | LINDBERG

2487 | LINDBERG

 

[Oldson]

Straight arm and low profile, like slim metal vs thick plastics...

Specs... I have no idea how to start. The problem is that too many companies play spec games, like one big Japanese brand I won't name where every headphone has specs like 5Hz to 50KHz. Since there aren't any legit headphone measurement standards that I know of, we'd just be creating something others would say is self-promoting... Did you have something in mind?

sorry Dan, i think you mis-understood?
i want you to branch out into glasses design! as you have already nailed it on headphone designs!
i said "specs" meaning spectacles not specifications.

 

[TK33]

FYI. There are some eyewear that have very slim arms


I bought a couple pair of Lindberg frames because they have very thin arms. See here (you have to click through a couple of images):

9556 | LINDBERG

2487 | LINDBERG

I have been using Lindberg frames as well. Have been great with headphones and they are indestructible.

 

[Jimbob54]

Got a pair of these today. Great set @Dan Clark. Some initial points:

1. Great build - the self adjusting strap is a big bonus over previous Aeon
2. Possibly the most tonally correct set I have had out of the box - maybe tied with the Audeze Maxwell but those are very different beasts.
3. I could happily live without EQ and its early days but shaving a dB or 2 from the pinna gain hump, small high shelf to roll off above 9k and a little bump to the sub bass improves things for me but I like low bass thump and sensitive to too much 2-4k for my ears - though this could just be tweakers' bias with those adjustments.
4. Not hard to drive in the grand scheme of overhead planars but these will max many a dongle easily especially with some negative pre-amp. Had some headroom on the 3V E1DA 9038D but not a huge amount. About -20 on the RME ADI 2 DAC is plenty loud.
5. Hair and beard are currently reasonably trimmed but doesnt take much seal break to lose the bass.

 

[Oldson]

Got a pair of these today. Great set @Dan Clark. Some initial points:

1. Great build - the self adjusting strap is a big bonus over previous Aeon
2. Possibly the most tonally correct set I have had out of the box - maybe tied with the Audeze Maxwell but those are very different beasts.
3. I could happily live without EQ and its early days but shaving a dB or 2 from the pinna gain hump, small high shelf to roll off above 9k and a little bump to the sub bass improves things for me but I like low bass thump and sensitive to too much 2-4k for my ears - though this could just be tweakers' bias with those adjustments.
4. Not hard to drive in the grand scheme of overhead planars but these will max many a dongle easily especially with some negative pre-amp. Had some headroom on the 3V E1DA 9038D but not a huge amount. About -20 on the RME ADI 2 DAC is plenty loud.
5. Hair and beard are currently reasonably trimmed but doesnt take much seal break to lose the bass.

no good for glasses wearer's then?

 

[Jimbob54]

no good for glasses wearer's then?

Think the challenges for glasses wearers have been acknowledged for lots of DCA units and likely lots of other phones . But definitely something to bear in mind here or try before you buy .

 

[Oldson]

ive never been more tempted to give contact lenses a try

 

[tgray]

Got a pair of these today. Great set @Dan Clark. Some initial points:

1. Great build - the self adjusting strap is a big bonus over previous Aeon
2. Possibly the most tonally correct set I have had out of the box - maybe tied with the Audeze Maxwell but those are very different beasts.
3. I could happily live without EQ and its early days but shaving a dB or 2 from the pinna gain hump, small high shelf to roll off above 9k and a little bump to the sub bass improves things for me but I like low bass thump and sensitive to too much 2-4k for my ears - though this could just be tweakers' bias with those adjustments.
4. Not hard to drive in the grand scheme of overhead planars but these will max many a dongle easily especially with some negative pre-amp. Had some headroom on the 3V E1DA 9038D but not a huge amount. About -20 on the RME ADI 2 DAC is plenty loud.
5. Hair and beard are currently reasonably trimmed but doesnt take much seal break to lose the bass.

I needed to EQ, but it was very much along the lines of what you wrote. Felt like it needed a little bit more bass (but pretty much the same generic boost I use elsewhere), and a treble roll off at 8k. Need to play around with a dip still in the 2-4k range - I haven't fine tuned that.

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

Are the pads as high as the Aeon 2 ones? Because they weren't high enough for me, I touched the magnets with one ear...

 

[Ten Protons]

Are the pads as high as the Aeon 2 ones? Because they weren't high enough for me, I touched the magnets with one ear...

The pads are deep enough, and sometimes I also touch the metamaterial with my right ear, so I just move the headphones forward a little bit, which doesn't affect their tonality.