Dan Clark NOIRE X Headphone Review

[Dan Clark]

Dan,
By chance have you heard from Tyll or anyone who’s seen Tyll in past few years? I’ve wondered how he’s been since many years back when he hit the road in that conversion vehicle of his. I hope he’s well and living life to the fullest.

I heard from him a bit over a year ago, that was the last. He was enjoying spending most of his time in AZ if I recall...

 

[Zibi]

What about driving it with rme adi2?

If you have basic version RME ADI-2 DAC FS I would be careful. My experience with Aeon 2 Noire and ADI-2 was rather disappointing, and I attributed it to low Noire impedance of 13 ohms. Noire X also has similar low impedance. If you can try audition this pairing to see if you like it.

 

[DEF]

If you have basic version RME ADI-2 DAC FS I would be careful. My experience with Aeon 2 Noire and ADI-2 was rather disappointing, and I attributed it to low Noire impedance of 13 ohms. Noire X also has similar low impedance. If you can try audition this pairing to see if you like it.

Don't forget that higher end headphones are very much overstated of what they are capable of.
You can gain something, but it won't be much, and it depends on your head itself, because those are not giving consistent results for each head.
And of course - they can't compete against ideal speakers in ideal room.

 

[Zibi]

Don't forget that higher end headphones are very much overstated of what they are capable of.
You can gain something, but it won't be much, and it depends on your head itself, because those are not giving consistent results for each head.
And of course - they can't compete against ideal speakers in ideal room.

Fair, but let me clarify. After my extensive usage of A2 Noire with ADI-2 DAC FS and disappointing results (subjective : flat and shallow soundstage, no bass slam, generally anemic bass) I had a chance to take my Noire for a test on premium Mola Mola Tambaqui. My Noire really woke up there. I also tested them on XLR pull/push output of Violectric V222 and Ferrum OOR - in both cases Noire performed much better than on single ended output of my ADI-2.
If I learned anything in this hobby - pairing the headphones with the right amplifier is the key. I would rather prefer well matched lower budget combo than mismatched expensive components.

 

[DEF]

Fair, but let me clarify. After my extensive usage of A2 Noire with ADI-2 DAC FS and disappointing results (subjective : flat and shallow soundstage, no bass slam, generally anemic bass) I had a chance to take my Noire for a test on premium Mola Mola Tambaqui. My Noire really woke up there. I also tested them on XLR pull/push output of Violectric V222 and Ferrum OOR - in both cases Noire performed much better than on single ended output of my ADI-2.
If I learned anything in this hobby - pairing the headphones with the right amplifier is the key. I would rather prefer well matched lower budget combo than mismatched expensive components.

Yet we don't have data for that. DT 770 and DT 990 pair great with ADI-2 but they are cheap

 

[Zibi]

Yet we don't have data for that. DT 770 and DT 990 pair great with ADI-2 but they are cheap

You are just proving my point :
48 ohms
The impedance of Beyerdynamic DT 770 headphones is 48 ohm

 

[DEF]

You are just proving my point :
48 ohms
The impedance of Beyerdynamic DT 770 headphones is 48 ohm

That isn't the same model. 770 and 990 got 250 Ohm at defaults, the pro x le is an different model

 

[Robbo99999]

Fair, but let me clarify. After my extensive usage of A2 Noire with ADI-2 DAC FS and disappointing results (subjective : flat and shallow soundstage, no bass slam, generally anemic bass) I had a chance to take my Noire for a test on premium Mola Mola Tambaqui. My Noire really woke up there. I also tested them on XLR pull/push output of Violectric V222 and Ferrum OOR - in both cases Noire performed much better than on single ended output of my ADI-2.
If I learned anything in this hobby - pairing the headphones with the right amplifier is the key. I would rather prefer well matched lower budget combo than mismatched expensive components.

That's one of the worst pieces of advice I've seen, hocus pocus "synergy" between amps and headphones. Just get a headphone amp with enough power that measures well here on this site and then it can drive every headphone transparently, there is no "synergy". No need to complicate matters for people or yourself.

 

[Marc1973]

How many ohms does the headphone have? Somehow different information appears online.Which headphone amplifier or what power is recommended for the headphones?

 

[Robbo99999]

How many ohms does the headphone have? Somehow different information appears online.Which headphone amplifier or what power is recommended for the headphones?

It's already in the review, 13ohms for the headphone:

And in terms of how easy or difficult to drive it's not that difficult to drive:

You can see it only sits fractionally higher than the Hifiman HE400SE which I have, and that headphone is super easy to drive with the JDS Labs Atom Amp headphone amp, and even using a European 1V Apple Dongle I run that at around 60% (if I recall) and that's including a negative preamp & EQ although the EQ does boost the 1.5kHz area which will make it louder, but still that's covered off by the negative preamp - yeah, I don't find HE400SE difficult to drive at all and this DCA Noire X only sits fractionally above that. Just get any headphone amp that measures well here on ASR (and is not flagged up by Amir for lacking power) and you'll be fine .

 

[Zoide]

IMO none of the DCA line comes close to Senn HD800s soundstage level, far from it. With Noire 2 you’re also going to need a powerful amp and some optimization to reach higher fidelity.
But the rise of recent portable DAC/Amps replacing desktops, such as the Fiio KA15, drove my Noire 2 with ease. That together with Amir’s EQ was the saving grace making it my third favorite HP at home.
From this review, X sounds quite an improvement I probably would’ve considered if it weren’t for the weight and power efficiency. Something tells me whatever comes next will be more to my liking.

@amirm Any chance of a FiiO K15 review in the near future? Thanks

 

[cptboogy]

What would the E3 give me that the NX doesn't? Looking for a mixing/mastering tool to replace my LCDX ( not a fan the upper midrange even when EQd).

 

[Dan Clark]

What would the E3 give me that the NX doesn't? Looking for a mixing/mastering tool to replace my LCDX ( not a fan the upper midrange even when EQd).

Lower distortion, larger soundstage, higher peak SPL, a slightly stronger bottom end, and a slightly smoother mid-upper region.

 

[holicst]

I wonder if it makes sense to buy the Noire X if I have a well-measuring IEMs (Truthear Nova and both Zeros) and a well measuring dongle dac/amp? I'm afraid that I'll be disappointed after spending 999 EUR on this and possibly a new dac/amp... would it be a supersonic insane upgrade, or just a "meh"?

 

[ckernel8]

I wonder if it makes sense to buy the Noire X if I have a well-measuring IEMs (Truthear Nova and both Zeros) and a well measuring dongle dac/amp? I'm afraid that I'll be disappointed after spending 999 EUR on this and possibly a new dac/amp... would it be a supersonic insane upgrade, or just a "meh"?

That's going to be solely up to you, but I think if you're used to IEMs you might be surprised by how nice a pair of over-ears is to listen to and have nothing in your ear canals. From a comfort standpoint, DCA has been absolutely perfect for me, and I have no doubt that the NX is just as good as my E3 in that regard.

 

[Somafunk]

I wonder if it makes sense to buy the Noire X if I have a well-measuring IEMs (Truthear Nova and both Zeros) and a well measuring dongle dac/amp? I'm afraid that I'll be disappointed after spending 999 EUR on this and possibly a new dac/amp... would it be a supersonic insane upgrade, or just a "meh"?

I have some quite expensive iem’s such as the Symphonium Meteor/FatFreq Deuce but I’d much rather listen to my Sennheiser HD490’s, it’s not a supersonic upgrade but it sounds far nicer

If you do decide to buy the Noire X instead of buying a new dac/amp, perhaps buy a Dap such as the Hiby R4 and have a portable all in one solution

 

[holicst]

I have some quite expensive iem’s such as the Symphonium Meteor/FatFreq Deuce but I’d much rather listen to my Sennheiser HD490’s, it’s not a supersonic upgrade but it sounds far nicer

If you do decide to buy the Noire X instead of buying a new dac/amp, perhaps buy a Dap such as the Hiby R4 and have a portable all in one solution

Actually, I'd possibly prefer a portable dac+amp that is powerful enough. The Topping G5 looks perfect, I'm just not sure about the quality control and battery degradation over time. This way I could use my phone, laptop or basically anything as a source. I'm also a bit lost on minimum power requirements. Some say 0.5W is enough, some say you'd need 2-3W for headphones with similar sensitivity. I know about the calculators but those seem to be very optimistic compared to the subjectivistic advices. I have a E1DA S9038 G3, which provides around 0.5W into 16 Ohms. If that would not limit the performance of the Noire X, maybe I don't need anything new to power it.

But I agree that the problem with IEMs is the IE part...

 

[ckernel8]

Actually, I'd possibly prefer a portable dac+amp that is powerful enough. The Topping G5 looks perfect, I'm just not sure about the quality control and battery degradation over time. This way I could use my phone, laptop or basically anything as a source. I'm also a bit lost on minimum power requirements. Some say 0.5W is enough, some say you'd need 2-3W for headphones with similar sensitivity. I know about the calculators but those seem to be very optimistic compared to the subjectivistic advices. I have a E1DA S9038 G3, which provides around 0.5W into 16 Ohms. If that would not limit the performance of the Noire X, maybe I don't need anything new to power it.

But I agree that the problem with IEMs is the IE part...

I've used my E3 with my Qudelix T71 in 2 channel balanced mode. It definitely gets loud enough for me, and it should be even easier to drive the NX. Plus you get a hardware DSP and a nice little MagSafe case that lets you attach it securely to your iPhone. It's a little bit of a "nerd" product though; support isn't excellent and the company is TINY so you can expect to figure a lot of things out for yourself and have to deal with lots of little quirks.

 

[TK33]

Fair, but let me clarify. After my extensive usage of A2 Noire with ADI-2 DAC FS and disappointing results (subjective : flat and shallow soundstage, no bass slam, generally anemic bass) I had a chance to take my Noire for a test on premium Mola Mola Tambaqui. My Noire really woke up there. I also tested them on XLR pull/push output of Violectric V222 and Ferrum OOR - in both cases Noire performed much better than on single ended output of my ADI-2.
If I learned anything in this hobby - pairing the headphones with the right amplifier is the key. I would rather prefer well matched lower budget combo than mismatched expensive components.

I have been using my Aeon 2 Noire with a RME ADI-2 DAC FS for years. Usually listen around -50 - -60 db using PEQ and have never had any issues. Works great for me.

 

[Zoide]

@amirm Any chance of a FiiO K15 review in the near future? Thanks

Arghh, I meant KA15, not K15.
Looks like it could be a great portable amp for powering the DCA cans like the Noire X and E3 around the house. (maybe even better than the Tanchjim Luna)