Review: Noble Audio FoKus Amadeus True Wireless
Review of the Noble Audio Amadeus True Wireless earphones.
If there is one thing that the past 5 years has properly solidified for personal audio enthusiasts, it is that the True Wireless category of Earphones is here to stay. While Apple may lead the category in many ways, there is still plenty of room left for improvement. This includes all of the millions of portable devices available outside of the Apple ecosystem. The latest Wireless IEM from Noble Audio is the Fokus Amadeus and comes packed with a hefty feature set and plenty of new tech to party with.
The Amadeus sits at the entry level of the Fokus range with a cost of $320. Right from the start, things look good from a tech and specs perspective. One of the biggest headaches with True Wireless headphones is limited playback time, often topping off at 5 hours of playback. Even the latest Airpods Pro 2 are rated at 6 hours of listening (4.5 hours of talk). The Amadeus includes a 65mAh battery claiming a full 8-12 hours of continuous playback with 42 hours total (including the case recharge). There is also an impressive 10-minute fastcharge feature that gives 2 hours of playback. This little spec battlefield is perhaps the biggest signal that the war for earphone supremacy lies not in the sound quality, but the battery. But, in all real use cases, eventually we will hit an adequate plateau on the scale and reach some form of contentment for the market. For my use cases, 8 hours is plenty for a day, and 42 hours is enough for extended travel.
Another big consequence of the true wireless battlefield is Bluetooth tech. Although Bluetooth 6.0 was announced last year, version 5.4 is the latest standard for the current industry and the Noble Audio Amadeus has it. More importantly, the NAA includes a personalized audio profile via Audiodo Personal Sound. Once updated the sound correction follows the earphone without the need to reconnect to another app, a pretty handy option if you know what you like on a very personalized level.
During the critical listening process I did not employ a personalized audio profile. I utilized my Apple iPhone and a few Astell and Kern DAPs I had on hand as a source. The default silicone ear tips that the NAA shipped with provided a good fit and seal for my ear canal, and connecting to all sources was as easy as any run-of-the-mill audio Bluetooth device. In my time with the Amadeus, I did not notice any dropped connection with either earphone and the sound quality was never digitally choppy, pixilated or overtly crispy. Call quality was good on my end, and the outgoing signal with the on-board mics was acceptable, but not amazing – which has been the case for most of TW category I have reviewed over the years.
The case is a little upscale from some of the more plastic-y versions I have seen in the past years. The sides and top opt for a metal material, and the bottom is a textured plastic. The lid stays very secure with a magnet system as do the earphones themselves. The retrieval and setting of the earphones in the case was extremely simple. For some reason, there have been a large batch of True Wireless earphones that twist and turn themselves into the case in odd and confusing ways. So the observation here may seem quite basic, but given the contacts for the charging are exposed and the magnets pull them into place easily, it was just a nice, simplistic and functional design to see and utilize. Likewise, the earpiece itself fit into my ear canal and surrounding flesh with ease. There was no twisting or turning to fumble with, and ( this is important) the depth of the earphone was an acceptable size, both in terms of how it sat in the ear without support and its distance sticking out from the head. Too much pressure on the stem in the ear canal (either from high weight or bad design) can cause fatigue. Everything was weighted and shaped well for my ear, and the touchpad on the outside facing panel also worked fairly well. Touch panels that sit perpendicular to the head need to be extra sensitive so as to not accidentally push the IEM deeper into the ear canal, and the NAA was just sensitive enough to avoid this common pitfall in my experience.
The obvious upgrades the Noble Audio Fokus Amadeus gives you over a pair of ear “buds” like the regular non-pro Airpods is better bass response, more defined treble and overall enhanced fidelity throughout. Compared to a sealed IEM like Apple’s pro versions, the changes are slightly more nuanced but still noticeable. What the NAA excels best at is high end treble detail, without developing an overheated exchange in the process. Likewise the bass is robust and tight. The overall frequency response leans into the V-shaped profile of many popular in-ears on the market of this type, but still provides a rich midrange for vocals and guitars to sit in.
Listening to Radiohead’s Hail To The Thief Live Recordings 2003-2009 on Apple Streaming (lossless) was an amazing raw refresh to the album polish of the band’s seminal 6th studio release. The slightly “spikey” tone of Johnny and Ed’s guitars managed to drag along even more realism and on-stage persona through the Amadeus’ acoustic system. Tunes like There, There bustled with crowd participation and slight variations in guitar feedback and backing vocals from the original studio release. The flow through even a modest cellular phone is quite an achievement and testament to how far digital playback has come in so few years. Music is busy and dense when called for, and soft and alluring at the appropriate moments.
Summary
If you are looking into an earphone like the Noble Audio Fokus Amadeus, you are likely searching for a little something “more” from your music. The little extra that this earphone offers is a good sense of that “out of head” experience, mostly borrowed from an increased sense of soundstage width, rather than depth. It is a pleasing effect, and one that is most welcome from a driver that sits inside the ear canal. There is bass extension that travels down farther than many of its rivals, and treble that creates a good sense of space, timing and clarity. To implement them into your digital playback system or phone is extremely simple, and the small carrying case packs a pretty big punch in terms of utility and battery support. It all accumulates to something that is a bit “more” than you might be used to in an earphone, a welcome divergence from the every-growing sea of audiophile options in the market. Well done.
More info: Noble Audio FoKus Amadeus
