Hello, I’m Alexander. Today we are checking the Truthear NOVA IEM and I want to thank Shenzhen Audio for providing the sample for this review. As always, I’m not paid to make this review. I don’t offer any specific opinions. And all thoughts expressed in this review are my own.
Truthear NOVA features 1 dynamic driver and 4 balanced armatures, beautiful resin shells with long nozzles, a de-attachable cable, and a very promising tuning. But as usual, we will start with the unboxing.
The IEM arrived in a medium-sized box. There is yet another Waifu on the front of the sleeve along with the model name and company logo. The specifications, frequency response graph, and company information are on the sleeve’s back. Inside the sleeve, there is a black box. It contains the IEMs, 2 pairs of dual flange silicone ear tips, 1 pair of foam ear tips, three pairs of silicone ear tips, a nice storage pouch with a zipper, a detachable cable, and a user manual. The impedance of Nova is 14.8 Ohms, and the sensitivity is 123 dB.
Design & build
The shells of Nova are made out of medical-grade resin. Each face plate has an interesting blue swirling pattern. As the finish is glossy it catches the fingerprints easily. There is a company name and channel indication on the side of each shell. The shells are on a larger side with a long nozzle which helps with the fit. The nozzle diameter is 6 mm. The nozzles are also made from resin and have three sound bores on the top that are connected to the acoustic tubes inside the shell. As there is no filter or mesh at the end of the nozzle, you need to be careful and make sure you clean your ear tips regularly. The IEMs also have 4 vents on top of the shell near the connector.
I have mixed feelings about the cable that comes with this IEM as it’s microphonic because Truthear decided to go with a fabric sleeve. There is a 3.5mm connector termination on one end of two 0.78 mm 2-pin connector termination on the other. The connectors are good quality and are gold-plated. The cable also has a metal splitter and a metal chin slider, but the pre-molded ear guides are for some reason shorter than they need to be and this affects the fit too so I would recommend changing the stock cable.
If we put aside the cable, the Nova is lightweight and comfortable. And thanks to the shape of the shell and nozzle length I found a good fit and seal with the stock silicone ear tips. Nova won’t tire you during long listening sessions due to their weight and weight distribution, but the long nozzles might not suit everyone’s ears.
Truthear Nova sound overview
As always, all sound impressions on my channel are completely subjective. You should take them with a grain of salt.
Truthear Nova has both low impedance and high sensitivity and as a result, you can drive it with ease with many portable sources. My Samsung Galaxy S10 is usually my first go-to device when I start the IEM evaluation and it had no problems providing enough power to make the NOVA shine. Pairing Nova with better sources might provide marginal quality improvement, but this pair doesn’t scale much.
Since Truthear released Hexa, I understood which direction Truthear was heading. The HEXA’s sound signature quite resembles the Moondrop Blessing2 Dusk which is 4 times more expensive. Hexa is offering probably 80% of its sound, and that’s exactly why I would say Hexa is a ground-breaking IEM. But the company cut the corners, so by no means Hexa can dethrone the Blessing2 Dusk in anything other than the price.
Now I’m having Nova on my table and its frequency response resembles the Moondrop Variations. What is going on? Is it a coincidence? I don’t know. Again, graphs are not everything, and one still needs to trust his ears too to make a proper judgment. Variations are more than 3 times more expensive than Nova, but can we call Nova a baby Variations then? Not really. But bear with me, and let’s discuss the frequency response of Nova.
Bass, midrange, treble
The bass here is as good as it gets and those who like Harman tuning will especially like it. The sub-bass is more prominent here than the mid-bass and it goes deep, has a solid rumble, and is well-controlled and deep. The mid-bass is good too, but what is missing here is a bit of punch and body, which becomes even more clear with the tracks that rely on mid-bass a lot. This is frankly surprising, but I understand that the priority here was the sub-bass. Those who prefer sub-bass over mid-bass will appreciate such tuning, as the tracks with deep bass sound fantastic.
The midrange on Nova is clear, and there is also bass bleed into the midrange, which adds some warmth to this part of the frequency response. Still, it’s not as forward as I like the midrange to be, and I wouldn’t call it lush, as the lower mids still sound a bit thin to me. At the same time, the vocals and instruments have a natural timbre and sound crisp and detailed. The BA drivers are tuned well. Yet, the lower mids still lack a bit of body in my opinion. Female vocals on the other hand sound great and this should be noted by those who are into female vocals.
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The treble is well extended. It’s smooth, with just enough sparkle and air for my personal preference without sounding grainy or artificial. It reveals a lot of details and nuances and is a good example of a well-tuned treble. It’s also not too analytical, which can be a good thing if the smooth treble is your cup of tea. And as Nova was generally tuned to have a warm sound presentation, such treble tuning blends well into the mix.
The technical capabilities of Nova are great and it punches above their weight in this department. The soundstage is large, and it’s also quite deep. Instruments hold their particular places in space well, and the soundstage feels spacious. The imaging is good. The detail retrieval is good too, and on par with the class-leading models in this price bracket. While some other competitors might provide just a pinch of better details and resolution, I still think the Nova and its driver configuration are very capable, especially with such a price-to-performance ratio.
Overall the musical performance on NOVA is very good and engaging. Besides, it also worked well for movies and games, as it rendered a realistic sound landscape with a good sense of distance and direction.
So what do I like about this IEM?
It has a good fit & comfort, well-tuned hybrid configuration, great sub-bass response, detailed midrange, smooth treble with a good level of detail, good technical abilities, a nice set of accessories, and a great price-to-performance ratio.
What I didn’t like?
The stock cable is not very good, the mid-bass lacks a bit of impact and body and the midrange is still a bit thin.
Truthear Nova is not perfect. But taking into consideration their pros, I can forget about their shortcomings. This pair stands out in the sub-$200 category with a coherent driver configuration and warm-neutral sound signature with a bass boost. This makes it a perfect pair for those who seek a well-blended fun and technical sound signature. What is even more important – it has an excellent technical performance in its class and a very good price-to-performance ratio. Besides, it provides good sound isolation and excellent comfort that will make long listening sessions a breeze.
Overall, this is another successful release from Truthear. I recommend this pair to anyone looking for a well-tuned hybrid configuration and appreciates a warm-neutral tuning with a bass boost.
And that concludes my review for today. If you want to see more content like this consider subscribing to my YouTube channel for future updates. Thank you for joining me, and until next time, goodbye!
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