Noble Audio Dulce Bass Review

I’ve been reviewing a lot of balanced IEM’s lately, and although I love them for their versatility, I’m starting to get a little hungry. So, to get me some protein, I decided to pull out the Dulce Bass for a test drive. Will these buds please my little bass-head audiophiles? Or should you just be a patient soldier and save up for the Campfire Vega (for example)? Let’s find out in this Noble Audio Dulce Bass Review.

Noble Audio Dulce Bass Review

IN the BOX

FIT

Unless you’re wearing the Noble Audio Katana or Kaiser, you shouldn’t have a problem with comfort. Unlike the flagship models, the Audio Dulce has a more compact shell and shouldn’t press on your ear contours. But I should warn you that the top plate of the shell is ridged, so if you have extremely sensitive skin, you might find the fit problematic. Those who get scared away by over-ear wires, relax. These wires are sort of elastic, and they naturally fall around your ear without having to mold them. 

DESIGN

We’ve got 5 balanced armature drivers. Noble Audio is all hush-hush about their specs on their website, so, I can’t tell you where these drivers are going. But I’m venturing to guess that they’re not focused on the high frequencies. The cable uses a 2 pin connection, which some say is a more reliable connection than the more fragile MMCX. The jury is out, and I don’t know when they’ll be back. The cable doesn’t look like anything special and neither does the 3.5mm connector. That is, it doesn’t have the solidity of Empire Ears’ right angle plug, or the snazziness of Campfire’s ALO Copper Litz cable. But hey, the cable could be made from black gold. Who knows?

SOUND

“Restrained” bass-head’s bass, warm and super fast.

Lows

You don’t have to be a hedonist to appreciate these buds. I expected the lows to be overwhelming. You know when a hydraulic car stops at a red light and you feel an earthquake about to hit? Well, the Dulce Bass doesn’t sound like that. They’re not as subby as I expected, and there’s little resonance. In fact, listening to pop, it felt just perfect. Wait. Am I a bass-head? Whatever. If you’re into any genre that requires a punchy, forward sitting bass, these will impress you. Though I wouldn’t call the bass bone dry, it still has a decent amount of grip and cleanliness. And in true Noble Audio fashion, the speed is primo.

Moving onto rock…Ok, here we go. It is indeed bassy. I played “My Sweet Lord” (though somewhat folky), and I couldn’t even make out the guitar strums in the lower frequencies. But then I played “Watching the Wheels”  and it brought out some great qualities in the song. (Got a problem with post-Beatles?) The bass line, though ridiculously present, was very melodic. And the kick had fantastic kick. The lows gave the track a warm quality, and I’m not going to lie…I liked it.

Mids

The mids are definitely there. And those who are easily affected by the harshness of an emphasized upper mid range will appreciate this sound profile. If you like lush and heavy rock choruses, these buds are for you as well. Moving onto folk, as I mentioned, when acoustic guitars hit the lower mid frequencies, the sound becomes less than detailed. But in the higher-mids, the transparency and resolve is much more impressive. Though I wouldn’t buy these earphones for folk, I have to say, Bob Dylan sounded good. There’s a nice balance between clarity and warm softness in this range that gives music an emotive quality.

Highs

What highs? Don’t expect much clarity in this range. Smooth, round and sizzle free, yes. But if you listen to a lot of classical, the lack of detail in strings will be a problem. Anyway, don’t you have some Grado reviews to read? To all my jazzy folks out there, yeah…These aren’t for you either.

Soundstage

This is a soundstage worthy of the price tag. You’ve got depth, height, spaciousness and accuracy. If you’re looking for a multidimensional experience, you won’t be disappointed.

SUMMARY

If you mainly listen to pop, EDM, hip-hop and heavy hitting rock or pop-rock, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better IEM for the price. The speed and reasonable nature of these bass-head’s lows lends itself perfectly to the above genres. And, actually, that’s a decent number of genres for one IEM to cover. Still, at a pricey $700, they’re less than versatile. Certainly, if you’re willing to spend three or four hundred dollars more, you can keep your bass without losing the other genres. Still, at the end of the day, do I love them? You bet.

You can find these bassy babies for the best price at:

Audio 46 (Use our promo code, “majorhifi” to get a 10% discount)

Amazon: Noble Audio Dulce Bass Universal In-Ear Headphone Monitor

SPECIFICATIONS

I have no idea.

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