TRUTHEARNOVA 1DD+4BA in-Ear Headphone (NOVA)…

Truthear have developed a stellar reputation in a very short amount of time for producing high quality IEMs with excellent crowd-pleasing tuning for the mass market at an affordable price point. The Truthear Nova however is Truthear's first product not aimed at the mass market, and its pricing reflects that. Checking out the frequency graph measurements online gives away what this IEM is really for: it's trying to eat the Moondrop Variations' lunch for a third of the cost, and possibly also the Blessing 3's for half the price of that model as well. I have never tried either the Moondrop Variations nor Blessing 3 so I will not be able to compare these products for you myself. What is clear though is that the Nova is Truthear's take on this distinct sound signature with a cult following, so before we can continue we need to explain what this signature is all about.The audible frequency range between 250 and 500Hz is one of the most frequently used in music, where the most commonly played bass notes, their overtones and the lowest treble notes all fall into, as well as most male vocals. Because this range is so busy and hectic in even a moderately complex music track, the separate instruments and vocals can start awkwardly masking each other and muffling each other into an incoherent, muddy mess. This region is therefore commonly called the "mud" region. Deliberately surpressing this region by even a few dB has the effect of making everything sound very "clean", as though all the mud was stripped away. Either you like that gritty, muddy feel or you don't. The Nova is strictly for people who hate mud and demand a very clean and clear signature sound. Fortunately for me, I am one of those people. If you aren't then the Nova is a very hard sell and you should probably look elsewhere.Although the upper bass is deliberately surpressed slightly in the Nova, it's by no means absent and the set makes up for it by extending well into the infrasonic (<20Hz) range. So long as these are sealing properly on your ears, these will go as low as your ears can detect and you will feel that sub-bass rumble. To ensure that clean signature feel, the treble (2-8KHz) is extremely smooth and consistent, avoiding awkward peaks and dips in the response that plague many IEMs including other Truthear products. A lot of attention seems to have been paid to getting this region right in the Nova and the work shows in the final result. For me personally, this is about as perfect a sound signature as I could expect to hear in an IEM not tuned specifically for my head. Your mileage may vary, of course - I don't really like the Truthear X Crinacle Zero, so I'm in the minority there. If you are still not satisfied, the Nova EQs very well so you can tailor the sound to your taste with little trouble. The Nova is also quite sensitive and can be fully driven by a modern phone, to the extent that you might need to turn them down a bit to spare your ears!The IEMs themselves superficially resemble the Zeros but have a more carefully tapered shape than other Truthear models. As always, make sure the product will fit your ears before purchasing, because nothing ruins the experience of an IEM faster than a bad fit. For me, the Novas are a very snug fit on my ears, with the small protrusion towards the nozzle fitting right into the gap in my ear lobe. The effect is that the IEM grips onto your entire ear instead of just the ear canal and is much more comfortable and stable like this - assuming, of course, that they fit you as well as they fit me. Part of this change in shape is out of sheer necessity, as there are five distinct drivers producing sound in each unit and the Novas are noticeably bulkier than their cheaper cousins because of it. The Dynamic Driver in the Nova handles 1050Hz and below, giving everything a familiar and natural timbre. Two pairs of Balanced Armature drivers handle the midrange and highs respectively, which helps the Nova to properly reproduce multiple distinct layers to the music you hear, simply because there are literally three distinct layers to the sound reproduction, with their own dedicated ports on the nozzles. (For comparison, the Zeros have two distinct Dynamic Drivers in each ear, one dedicated to <200Hz and the other handling everything else. The Hexas and Novas share the same configuration except the Nova has one extra BA in each ear.)The tips supplied with the Nova are interesting, as they're better quality than in other Truthear products and are more varied - this was my first experience with double-flange tips. The Nova has a tapered nozzle to make it more compatible with a wider range of aftermarket tips, but that comes at the cost of there being no "lip" holding the tips in place, so if a tip is too big it is highly likely to pop off in your ear when removing the IEM, so take care when trying out different tips. I stopped having this issue when I found tips that were the correct size for my ears, however. Third-party tips are worth serious consideration - all of the tips included with the Nova seem to de-emphasise bass which might actually be to the product's detriment! While I would have been able to live with using just the provided tips, I have had a better experience with a third-party set that already work well for me on other products and gave me a better overall bass response to boot, so I've stuck with those. I hate foam tips and it's not for me, but I tried the provided set just in case and can see the appeal as they really help to smooth out the frequency response of the Nova if you're especially sensitive to peaks and dips.The provided cable is a significant step up from the one provided with cheaper Truthear products and is also roughly 25cm longer than the industry average, so 1.5m long. This is just long enough to let me fully recline in my office chair when listening, so this is a massive improvement for me. The cable is still vulnerable to tangling, unfortunately, but nowhere near as bad as the cheaper Truthear cable. The zipper bag provided with the Nova is excellent and another step up from the already very good bag included with the Zero, feeling very secure and functional too with its backpack hook on the back for ease of use when travelling.Whether the Nova is a good buy for you or not is really going to come down to whether you're interested in that clean sound signature or not. If you're not, it's going to be very difficult to justify the price of these over the Zero:RED, which is the closest match to the Nova tuning-wise. The Nova has better mids than the Zero but that alone isn't so much better that it's worth paying three times the price for the Nova. The Hexa is a very different beast from the rest of Truthear's range all over again so if you like the Hexa you'll probably hate the rest of Truthear's products and vice-versa, so people looking at the Nova expecting a Hexa upgrade will come away disappointed - these are two very different products. If you are interested in that clean signature however, the Nova executes on its design goal superbly and is well worth the price of admission.

These were the first IEM's ive purchased and i wasnt sure what tonality i would like. When i first listened to them i was impressed by the soundstage, but the mids sounded a bit thin for my liking and treble sounded a bit shouty, and i was contemplating returning. After minor adjustments to the EQ (very easy to tune) and using the foam tips, it fixed both issues and they sound amazing. Due to the fact that they were minor adjustments and the bass and clarity are fantastic, they won me over. I've always been more of a over-the-ear headphones fan with my DT770's (32 ohm and 80 ohm) and WH-1000XM5's, but i have been pleasantly surprised with the performance of these IEM's. I currently have them paired with my Hiby R4 and i occasionally use them with my iFi Zen DAC v2, and they sound great on both.

It’s probably the closest harman tuned iem you can get for the price. Put them in your ears and then forget they’re there while you enjoy your music. It’d be 5 stars but the cable can be a bit hypophonic which means the fabric covered cable can rub on your clothes and travel up the cable and into your ears. Other than that it’s a great iem with enough bass but not too much so that it covers the mids.

Look stunning better than some sets costing a lot more, sound wise they are excellent a lot better than I expected. Bass is on point and mud free, there’s plenty of bass where it’s needed and the vocals are clear, worthy addition to my collection even to the £1000 category 👍

If like me you have taken a keen interest in the iem/dac market and are looking for the best sound possible with out spending a fortune but want the best sound possible. These could be the only iems you will ever need. For serious detail retrieval these are better than the average budget iems due to the 4 BA drivers which can provide greater clarity and ultimately a more engaging sound.My equipment is the iPhone 16 pro, Qobuz and the Onix alpha1 dongle. The Onix is the only dongle I have which does not need an android app to change the gain, filter and control settings because you can do this directly from the dongle. So I can set the sound to suit my ears. Ultimately the tuning and tone of an iem can either make or break your listing experience. These are not too bright or too dull which can make the sound tiring or fatiguing at the end of a sound session.

Never did i think i would choose "earphones" over headphones. I recently went back to my DT 990 PRO headset to test the difference and these beat it, not an easy feat. Well worth the money.AWESOME for gaming too.

These are probably THE BEST iems I own ATM they are like and better than headphones double if not 2 an 3 times the price wow of your thinking hmm I've got the hexa etc so did I yes there is enough bass just buy them these are %100 future classics and will be talked about like the Aria Kato hexa IMHO better cool case

Have other high end models and prefer the extra sub bass and bass that these offer without much sacrificing mid and highs. Yes Ue18s have some more clarity but I've discovered I'm more inclined to the extra bass and mustn't be so much an audiophile. So be it. Sometimes less is more. Use these with bT20 bluetooth adapter. Works great although 2 pin connections to adapters are a little loose.