Astell&Kern NOVUS Review

Astell&Kern Novus

 

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Package and Build Quality

The packaging of the NOVUS is a clear statement that this is a luxury piece. You get a hefty box with embossed silver logos on top. Once you have removed the outer sleeve and flipped open the box, you’ll find accessories, a quick-start guide, a protective metal carrying case as well as the NOVUS IEMs.

In the metal case you’ll find protective bags to put the IEMs in while travelling. I strongly suggest to use these bags, as the NOVUS shells are prone to scratches and lose some of the coating when the shells touch each other over time.

In the accessories box you get five sets of Final Audio Type E ear-tips, a cleaning tool, a warranty card, a card with the serial number on it as well as a cleaning cloth and a 4.4 mm to 3.5 mm adapter.

The supplied cable feels very nice and according to the spec-sheet it’s made of copper, gold and silver. It is terminated to a 4.4 mm balanced plug, which has become the industry standard for portable HiFi.

The packaging is well made, and you see what you paid for here.

The design of the NOVUS can be described as sort of industrial. I admit, that from the pictures it didn’t speak to me much, but once I had them in hands, that changed. NOVUS’ shells are made of aluminum, which is coated with a diamond like carbon coating. The faceplate a 24k gold-plated base with a black grid inlay. This inlay features a pattern of tiny squares. I can only imagine the stress this has caused while producing.

Astell&Kern Novus

In this inlay the respective logos of AK and Empire Ears are found. On top of that sits a piece of sapphire glass, while everything is held together by another 24k gold-plated top plate.

A quick word about the shells.

The design of the shells is clearly following AK’s principles of light and shadow, which we have seen in their DAPs in the past. There are many angles and corners. While that gives us a striking appearance, which is very nice to look at, it also is the main cause of damages to the shell. I mentioned before that you should always use the protective bags that come supplied with the NOVUS. I really want to stress it again, if you want your NOVUS IEMs to keep the aesthetics of a brand new one, do not forget to protect them. They will develop scratches. Mine did, because I have not used the bags.

The two-pin sockets of the NOVUS are very tight, and admittedly I was a bit scared I would cause damage to them, when I tried to remove the cable. Since I didn’t want to break the sockets or pins, I have not replaced the stock cable at any time.

One thing I am desperately missing from the build quality of the NOVUS is a small lip on the nozzle of the IEMs. The nozzles are almost straight, and the absence of a lip might cause the ear-tips to slide off when taking out the IEMs from your ears. This has happened to me, and while I was already used to this behavior from other IEMs, it is very annoying to pull out lost ear-tips from your ears.

All in all, I am very pleased with the design of the NOVUS, and I am always happy to see metal IEMs, but these really need to be taken care of properly. Take that into account when considering the NOVUS.

Astell&Kern Novus

Sound

During my time with the NOVUS I have used a multitude of different sources to feed them. I started with the Lotoo PAW Gold Touch, AK SR35 and Lotoo PAW 6000. Then moved on to the Chord Hugo TT2, the ONIX Miracle and the Matrix Audio Element M2, to see how much the NOVUS can scale with proper power. Most of my time went into the PAW Gold Touch though.

The NOVUS has a well-balanced signature, that puts a lot of attention to the low-end. Empire’s dynamic drivers have been at the top of the bass-game for a long time, and the new NOVUS makes no exception here. The mids are detailed and come out with decent body. Treble is extended and softer. A star of the show is clearly their detail-retrieval, as the NOVUS picks out fine nuances. Overall, I’d say the NOVUS is a W-shaped sounding IEM, that has more emphasis on the bass. NOVUS is a superbly executed IEM, but it isn’t perfect.

Let’s dive in a little deeper.

The bass of the NOVUS is one of the best, if not the best in its class. It is fast, precise, dynamic and oh so wonderful. NOVUS uses each of the two dynamic drivers for specific regions. One takes care of the sub-bass while the other is taking care of the remaining low ends. And you can hear that, for example in Kraftwerk’s The Man Machine (3D) there are separate bass lines in the sub and mid bass region. The NOVUS finely picks them out and displays them with absolute precision.

Lows are energetic, powerful and come with thunder and impact when called upon. There is great body and weight in them to give them an organic appearance with good richness. I am a big fan of the music from Yello, Boris Blank, Underworld and of course Kraftwerk. All of them sound spectacularly dynamic and exciting with the NOVUS.  

The bass doesn’t particularly flow seamlessly into the mids. There’s a small disconnection which can be heard. Lower mids sound lush and weighty with good density. They don’t sound overly full or heavy in my opinion. Some monitors tend to oversaturate the lower midrange, but the NOVUS does not. It gives them proper lighting and puts enough neutral airiness in them, that they don’t become slow.

Astell&Kern Novus

Vocals and instruments on the NOVUS sound well defined and have great body. The richness is something I like in particular with the AK IEM. Each midrange note is kept away from sounding dry, which is very pleasing to my ears. The NOVUS’ precision in the mids is astonishing at times, where you can pick out very fine details with pinpoint accuracy.

The weight and body of the NOVUS also gives it a nicely emotional character when we look at vocals. Especially female vocals come across with emotions, which often caught my attention when listening to the NOVUS.

The technical abilities of the NOVUS are at the very top of the game. Its resolution and detailing are among the very best I have heard to date. NOVUS tickles out every little nuance across the entire frequency range and displays them with utmost care.

Kraftwerk’s 3D-Catalogue is an excellent album for stage sizing in my opinion. There are notes flowing around front to back and from side to side. The NOVUS creates a vast soundstage with superb dimensions. I especially have been in awe of its layering abilities here. Depth and width are executed to perfection in my opinion, where the NOVUS reaches far and wide out of your head. It stretches a large venue, where you’re seated close to the stage.

Imaging is another aspect that the NOVUS fully nails. It displays each instrument and musician on a pitch-black background but gives them perfect spotlight which highlights the contours of them easily. The contrast between background and musicians is just excellent.

The NOVUS’ treble performs very well again. While its extension goes far up the ladder, it does so with a softer touch. I cannot detect any sharpness or sibilance in the highs, that would be conflicting to me. Treble is a strongly subjective frequency spectrum though. To me, the highs sound agile, fast and detailed, but it doesn’t produce any harsh sounds in the top end.

A point of critique is the coherence. With a total of 13 drivers, it is a very difficult task to make them all sound as one. And while the precision of the sound is a huge benefit, you can pick out the respective drivers and their frequencies as separates. This might not be an issue for everyone out there, but to me the NOVUS sounds a little too individual.

The review continues on page three!

Page 1: Intro, Astell&Kern, Novus

Page 2: Packaging, Build quality, Sound

Page 3: Comparisons, Conclusion, Summary

4.2/5 - (143 votes)
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Been into music and sound since he was a little brat, but spent his profession in a more binary field making things do what they were supposed to do. Ultimately just another dude on the internet with an opinion, into which you shouldn't put too much thought.

3 Comments

  • Reply September 18, 2024

    UTVOL06

    I have had the NOVUS since its first shipments started landing at MusicTeck in the later part of August. This is one of the best IEMs I’ve ever had the pleasure to use. The bass is the star, but the whole performance is out of this world. The dual Sonion Bone Conduction Drivers are much more potent than the one that was in the Empire Ears Raven. This produces a larger more holographic soundstage coupled with beats in the music that you can physically feel. This is above and beyond what the Raven offers. it’s in a whole different quality tier of IEMs that sit at the top. If you love powerful tight controlled and hard hitting bass that you can feel coupled with amazing performance across the entire sound spectrum. If you want the best bass experience you can get coupled with tons of detail, separation, and large holographic soundstage..these are a no brainer.

  • Reply December 28, 2024

    Willymc

    Good review. Outside of the Gold Touch, you mentioned trying the Novus with other sources, like the Chord Hugo TT2. How does the Novus scale with more amplification?

    • Reply December 30, 2024

      Felix

      IMO it scales pretty well. With the Hugo TT2 for example bass is better controlled, resolution is higher and overall it gets cleaner/sharper and more precise.

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