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High-end Munich 2024 Recap Part 1
We were at the High-End Munich again this year, and this trade fair was particularly exciting: lots of new products and great discussions made High-End 2024 an absolute highlight!
In this blog over the next few days I will present the products that impressed me the most and of course all of them will be available from Audio Essence this year (some very, very soon)! 🙌😊
Let’s start with Noble Audio’s first TWS (Bluetooth) on-ear headphones, the Apollo.
We met Kai Moulton, his father Jim, and his mother Fumie at High-End 2024 and had the chance to chat with them for a bit. Incredibly nice people!
Jim Moulton, Kai's father, is at Noble Audio Jim Moulton is responsible for the manufacture of the housings for the Prestige Universal and Custom in-ears (IEMs). Anyone familiar with his creations knows that Jim Moulton is a gifted artist and designer who works with a wide variety of natural materials. Each individual piece is unique!
Noble Audio Apollo
Later, over coffee, Kai Moulton showed us Noble's new TWS Apollo, and we were seriously impressed. Even the rough specifications are impressive:
- Full aluminum chassis with finest workmanship
- Supports all current Bluetooth codecs
- ANC support
- Noble App Support
- 80! Hours of battery life
- Included headphone cable, which allows the Apollo to be used as normal headphones with DAPs and headphone amplifiers
- Attachable microphone so that the Apollo auxch can be used as a (gaming) headset
- 649 USD Retail Price!
Since we are not talking about just any manufacturer here, but about Noble Audio, we would like to dispel any doubts: Yes, the Apollo sounds absolutely stunning for a Bluetooth headset and all other manufacturers that are in similar price ranges (Hello Apple 👋), you can dress warmly!
After careful consideration, Noble decided to abandon the touch controls so popular with other manufacturers and instead use real "buttons" on the headphones. As a user experience designer, I can only congratulate them on this decision!
The buttons are discreetly placed, allowing for flawless and reliable operation without having to memorize complicated gestures. Here, common sense and usability have triumphed over the last bit of "style" – bravo!
How do the Apollo sound? They sound truly mature, even over Bluetooth—meaning these are serious hi-fi headphones that can handle any genre and have a balanced, emotional, and highly musical signature. This isn't a neutral reference sound, but rather a fun machine designed to evoke emotions while listening to music (or even gaming).
But that doesn't mean the Apollo simply has a bloated bass that drowns out all other frequencies! The bass is voluminous and punchy, reaching deep down and serving as a wonderful foundation for the mids and highs, carrying them and allowing them to really shine.
Kai also pointed out to us that using the equalizer in the Noble Audio The app also allows Apollo to customize the sound to your personal preferences and create various sound profiles. And we're not talking about using token EQ to force the headphones to do something they're not capable of. The drivers used are of excellent quality and can handle this kind of tuning without clipping or overdriving!
And if you then connect the Apollo to a really good DAP or headphone amplifier via cable, you have a veritable audiophile headphone that can compete with even more expensive models.
Camerton Binom ER 2024
At the stand of our friends from Ferrum Audio, Oleh, boss and mastermind of Camerton with his 2024 Binomial ER "made himself comfortable," or rather, he had teamed up with Ferrum to present his latest creation on Ferrum's magnificent equipment - a good choice and a wonderful combination, because OOR, Wandla, and Hypsos really make the Binom ER "sing."
As a precaution, I had packed the Lotoo Mjölnir, my beloved "workhorse" and taken it out of the What was planned as a "quick try-out" turned into an extended listening session in the evening, which cost me a few hours of much-needed sleep. 😵😍
Oleh is a perfectionist, so he revealed to us that it took him two years to create a silver version of his Binom ER, where all components have the same silver tone. Does that sound trivial? Quite the opposite, because all the individual components are made of different aluminum alloys, which sometimes need to be stiffer or more flexible depending on their intended use.
From this Naturally, variations in coloration result, which is why the predecessor was initially only available in black. As you can see, thanks to his over 20 years of experience in headphone construction, Oleh finally managed to adjust the material blends so that functionality was maintained while the color tone remained consistent.
But let’s look at the changes and improvements to the Binomial 2024.
The optionally available, all-round perforated ear pads slim down the bass and emphasize the treble more, making the Binom more neutral and moving more towards "reference tuning."The differences in the pads alone are so great that you could almost think you were looking at two different headphones.
So, Camerton offers a cost-effective tuning option that should satisfy all customers. Great! Of course, the new earpads also fit the previous model, so existing Binom ER owners can also enjoy a better experience. sound come.
The second change or adjustment concerns the isodynamic drivers himself:
Oleh has been diligently collecting customer and dealer feedback (including from us! 😉) and redesigned and retuned its unique, proprietary planar drivers. The bass is now more voluminous and textured, and the highs are silkier and more relaxed without sacrificing detail.
Voices are more penetrating and sonorous - singers are closer to the listener or stand out more clearly from the ensemble without the bigger picture suffering. The biggest improvement, however, concerns the imaging and the stage: the presentation is extremely airy and three-dimensional!