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High-End Munich 2024 Recap Part 1
We were at 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!
I will be introducing the products that impressed me the most in this blog over the next few days and of course they will all be available at 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 as well as his father Jim and his mother Fumie at High-End 2024 and had the opportunity to chat with them a little. Incredibly nice people!
Jim Moulton, Kai's father, is responsible for producing the housings for the Prestige Universal and Custom In-Ears (IEMs) at Noble Audio and anyone who knows his creations knows that Jim Moulton is a gifted artist and designer when it comes to working with a wide variety of natural materials. Every single piece is unique!
Noble Audio Apollo
Kai Moulton later showed us Noble's new TWS Apollo over coffee and we were very impressed. Even the rough specifications read impressively:
- Full aluminum chassis of the finest workmanship
- Support all current Bluetooth codecs
- ANC support
- Noble App Support
- 80! Hours of battery life
- Included headphone cable with which the Apollo can be used as normal headphones with DAPs and headphone amplifiers
- Attachable microphone so that the Apollo can also be used as a (gaming) headset
- 649 USD Retail Price!
Since we're not talking about just any manufacturer here, but from Noble Audio, we would like to dispel any doubts: Yes, the Apollo sounds absolutely stunning for a Bluetooth headphone and all other manufacturers that are in it similar price regions (Hello Apple 👋), you can dress warmly!
After careful consideration, Noble decided not to use the touch controls that are so popular with other manufacturers and instead decided to use real "buttons" on the headphones and as a user experience designer I can only congratulate them on this decision!
The tests are stored inconspicuously and enable error-free and reliable operation without having to memorize complicated gestures. Here reason and usability triumphed over the last bit of “style” - Bravo!
What do the Apollo sound like? They sound really grown-up over Bluetooth - what I mean to say is that these are serious hi-fi headphones that can handle any genre well and provide a balanced, emotional and... have a very musical signature. This is not a neutral reference sound, but rather a fun machine that is intended to arouse emotions when listening to music (or gaming).
But that doesn't mean that the Apollo simply has an overblown bass that drowns out all other frequencies! The bass is voluminous and "punchy", goes deep and serves as a wonderful "foundation" for the mids and highs that supports them and allows them to really shine.
Kai also pointed out to us that you can also adapt the Apollo to your personal preferences and create different sound profiles using the equalizer in the Noble Audio app. And we're not talking about using alibi EQ to force the headphones to do something they can't do. The drivers used are of excellent quality and can handle such tuning without overdriving or clipping!
And if you then connect the Apollo to a really good DAP or headphone amplifier using a cable, you have a veritable audiophile Headphones that can compete with more expensive models.
Camerton Binomial ER 2024
At the stand of our friends from Ferrum Audio, Oleh, boss and mastermind of Camerton, also “made himself comfortable” with his 2024 Binom ER. He teamed up with Ferrum to present his latest creation on Ferrum's great devices - a good choice and wonderful combination, because OOR, Wandla and Hypsos make the Binom ER really "sing".
As a precaution, I packed the Lotoo Mjölnir, my beloved "workhorse", and the planned "try it out" turned into an extended listening session in the evening, which cost me a few hours of desperately needed sleep. 😵😍
Oleh is a perfectionist and so he revealed to us that it took him two whole years to make a silver version of his Binom ER in which all the components have the same silver tone. Does that sound trivial? Quite the opposite, because all individual components are made of different aluminum alloys, which sometimes have to be stiffer and sometimes more flexible depending on the intended use.
This naturally results in differences in coloring, 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 ultimately managed to adapt the material mixtures so that functionality was maintained and the color tone was still even.
But let's get to the changes or Binomial 2024 improvements.
The optionally available earpads, which are perforated on all sides, slim down the bass and emphasize the highs more, making the binomial more neutral and moving more towards "reference tuning". The differences in the pads alone are so big that you could almost think you have two different headphones in front of you.
So Camerton offers a cheap tuning option that should satisfy all customers. Excellent! Of course, the new earpads also fit the previous model, so that existing Binom ER owners can also enjoy better sound.
The second change or Adaptation affects the isodynamic drivers themselves:
Oleh has diligently collected customer and dealer feedback (including from us! 😉) and revised and re-tuned its unique self-developed planar drivers. The bass is now more voluminous and has more texture, the highs are silkier and more relaxed without losing detail.
Voices are more urgent and sonorous - singers are closer to the listener or stand out more clearly from the ensemble without compromising the overall picture.The biggest improvement, however, concerns the imaging or the stage: The representation is extremely airy and three-dimensional!