Thieaudio Elite Noir Cable's Review

 

Gears Used for Testing

• Letshuoer Mystic 8

• Spirit Torino Twin Pulse IEM

• Dunu DK3001BD

• Tanchjim Origin

Specifications

Material

• 7x7x0.08mm Silver-Plated 5N LCOFC wire

• 16x7x0.06mm Silver-Plated 4N LCOFC wire

Core Count

• 161 individual wires, with a 20AWG specification

Structure

• Spiral Shielding and Litz Type 2

Cable Length

• Approximately 120cm (excluding plugs)

Jacket

• Smoke Black-Blue Soft PVC

Connectors

• Standard 0.78mm 2 Pin

Audio Plugs

• Standard 3.5mm single-ended / 4.4mm balanced gold plated interchangeable plugs

Build Quality

The cable itself is very well built, it is very soft and doesn’t retain cable memory, hence making it easy to store and bring out from storage. The 0.78 2 pin jack as well as the modular plug is very solid, the plug has good ergonomics based on my experience of using it for several weeks , where the shape of the jack somehow provides a very good grip when you want to unplug it from the headphone or your amp. Very well thought out, although it might sound a little inconvenient, but i do hope there will be some locking mechanism on the modular plug itself to further secure it, similar to Moondrop Aria II’s stock cable’s mechanism. Overall, i like the build quality very much, aesthetically as well as the tactile of the cable. The cable it

Foreword

My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound Impression

*The cable has been run in for approximately 20-30 hours prior to writing this sound impression.

I have tested several silver plated based cables and despite having the same material, they all sound different, i am aware that this is a rather controversial topic, hence if you are someone who believes in cable, feel free to read further, else just skip this review/impression at once. The Elite Noir does improve several aspects of the sound, in terms of slightly better note weight as well as a more spacious sound, mid bass has better punch and slightly better extension on the sub bass 

Listening impression
Letshuoer Mystic 8 with Elite Noir

• Compared to stock cable of Mystic 8, pairing it with the Elite Noir improved the overall note weight, with a bit more texture and body on the mids and lows, treble is slightly smoother while doesn’t sacrifice much in terms of technicalities, Mystic 8 with the stock cable sounded not as dynamic compared to pairing it with the Elite Noir

• I also noticed slightly better soundstage reproduction as well, the soundstage rendition gives a more 3D-ish perception

• Vocal positioning doesn’t change much but slightly better texture on the mids

Spirit Torino Twin Pulse IEM

• Twin Pulse IEM’s sound profile is very natural overall and Elite Noir do well in terms of synergy

• The soundstage on the Twin Pulse is slightly more spacious sounding, in terms of width, slightly more out of your head, as well as better depth, using the stock cable, the soundstage is not as expansive, kind of like 2D-ish

• The vocal positioning however, is being pushed back by a little

• Not much changes on the treble

Dunu DK3001BD (with 2pin to mmcx adapter)

• DK3001BD sports the new meta tuning, hence pairing this with the Elite Noir does make the overall note weight slightly thicker, making the DK3001BD slightly thicker sounding, with a better punch on the mid bass while retaining the rumbly sub bass with slightly better extension

• Treble is slightly smoother, somehow the planar timbre has been reduced slightly, possibly masked by the thicker note weight 

Tanchjim Origin with default nozzle

• Origin’s sound profile is leaning towards neutral with slight warmth, The bass has very good quality but somehow, just a little bit lacking in terms of quantity,

• Treble also slightly smoothed out, making Origin a slightly warmer set

• This pairing is good for those who find the Originis lacking in terms of bass and note weight

Final Thoughts

Cable altering/improving the sound of the transducer is a very controversial topic, there are some who don’t hear any difference and there are those who are like me, who have the ability to perceive the changes/improvement. Do keep in mind that cable will not make a bad sounding headphone sound better, That aside, Thieaudio Elite Noir is definitely a worthy investment if you are looking to improve or tweak a certain aspect of your headphone (soundstage,lusher mids and slightly better treble extension), this is the cable for you, not to mention, it is also the stock cable of the brand’s IEM, Thieaudio Origin

*Received the review sample from Linsoul for the purpose of this review, big thanks to them for the support as always

Head over to their dealer Linsoul to purchase one if you’re interested:

Thieaudio Elite Noir - Non Affiliated