Noble Audio Knight Vs Meze Alba Comparison Review

The quest for sound perfection often leads audiophiles to a clash of features, designs, and unique sonic signatures. Enter the Meze Alba and Noble Audio Knight, two contenders that promise to elevate your listening experience without breaking the bank. Both models exude a premium look and feel, defying their price point while offering an interesting juxtaposition in terms of sound quality and comfort. This review delves into the aesthetic appeal, audio performance, and overall value of each model, helping you decide which pair of IEMs aligns best with your listening preferences.

What You Get

Look & Feel

The Meze Alba and Noble Audio Knight are both spectacular in terms of design. These are both IEMs that share looks that remind you of more premium earphones rather than the inexpensive options that they are. The Alba’s design is a lot more simple than the Knight, which appears even more high-end due to its more striking features. You might prefer te Alba in terms of fit though, as its housing is much smaller. I think the Knight has a nice ergonomic shape to it too, but I understand that the shell can be a bit big for people with smaller ears.

Design

Looking at the driver configuration of both IEMs, the Alba is much more simple than the Knight. The Alba has one 10.8mm dynamic driver, while the Knight is a tri-brid system, combining a dynamic, balanced armature, and Piezo unit. They both have designs that best produce their intended signal, but the configuration seen in the Knight is definitely rarer than the Alba’s single driver. Only the Alba comes with its own USB-C DAC though, which ups the value of the Alba more than the Knight. However, the stock cable of the Knight is superior and is terminated to a balanced 4.4mm connection.

Soundstage

The clearest difference I can assess between the Knight and Alba is their presentation of soundstage and imaging. When listening to the Alba, I get a sense of cleaner precision from instruments with more exact placement, while the Knight is a bit floatier. The Alba might be superior if you want sounds to be more pinpointed in the mix. However, I think the Knight is more cavernous, displaying deeper layers and more non-linearity from the music. They both contain almost equal amounts of width, but the Alba seems to have a flatter surface when switching back and forth. This might make you think the Knight has more immersive qualities, less organized, but more dimensional.

Low End

I would consider the bass on both IEMs to be very similar. They’re both dynamic and detailed, featuring a combination of impact and control. With the Alba, the bass has a more direct punch, while the Knight has a grander resonance that forms a clear warmth. Both IEMs have a bass that you can feel underneath you, with the Alba being more pointed, and the Knight being more rumbly. Neither bass will disappoint here, as they both have even low-frequency detail and power.

Mids

While the Alba has good detail and clarity in its midrange, the Knight brings the flavor. The instruments feel fuller than the Alba, even if the Alba exhibits more finesse in its notes. You get more striking elements with the Alba’s midrange, but the Knight expresses a level of transparency that’s more freeing, especially when it comes to acoustic instruments. With that said vocals on the Alba are much clearer, as the Knight sometimes hits a sharp corner in the upper mids.

Highs

In the highs, the Alba is a lot easier to consume, with more sparkle and shine compared to the more raw Knight. However, it is more possible that the Alba will feature harsher elements than the Knight, as even though the Knight has some peakiness, its frequency response has more control than the Alba. Neither set of IEMs is considered very bright or harmful, but the Alba is less shy than the Knight.

Summary

Ultimately, the choice between the Meze Alba and the Noble Audio Knight boils down to personal taste and listening habits. The Alba shines with its user-friendly features, precise soundstage, and clear midrange, making it an appealing option for those who seek detail and comfort. Conversely, the Knight offers a more complex audio experience with a tri-brid driver setup, providing a rich, immersive sound that may captivate those who value depth and dimensionality in their music. Whichever model you choose, rest assured that both IEMs deliver remarkable sound performance and are worthy additions to any audiophile’s collection.

The Noble Audio Knight & Meze Alba are available at Audio46.