Bass
The NT6-pro is an ambassador of BA-driven bass, representing pretty much all the stereotypes that come with it: fast, precise, and a quick decay. It might not have the warmest tone, or the most natural decay; but what it does good, it does exceptionally well. This is a bass that will keep up with anything you throw at it. It quickly delivers its hits, and dissolves soon after – coming and going as a thief in the night. Nevertheless, this isn’t a flat, overly neutral bass. It’s slightly boosted, though ‘slightly’ is the keyword here. It’s sufficient enough for a bit of fun, although it won’t nearly be enough for listeners prioritizing quantity.
There’s a dip in its upper bass. Just like its fast pace and quick decay, its tuned to create a cleaner presentation, contributing to the airiness of the stage and its spacious feel – even though the actual dimensions are only roughly average. The sub-bass hits are not only controlled, the resolution of the mid-bass is quite good, as is its low-end extension; the bass notes are very well defined. And while its tone isn’t bad, it isn’t the most accurate either. To simplify things: overall, the impact and quantity of the bass is close to neutral, yet sufficiently engaging. This might be a highly technical bass, but I mean that in the most positive of ways. It’s satisfying for its precision, as well as its effect on the stage.
Midrange
The NT6-pro’s midrange isn’t overly large in size, or forward for that matter. Its lower midrange is quite neutral. But it has an essential bump in its midrange that gives the sound body and solidity. And most importantly, despite its enhanced treble, it has a pleasing tone. There’s an essential bit of warmth in the midrange to convey a feel of naturalness. This certainly isn’t a lean, distant, or bright midrange – an ‘analytical’ midrange, with the negative connotation that tends to come with that. It is however a highly detailed one.
Naturally, this is related to its significant treble lift. But enhancing the treble not only brings out more detail throughout the midrange, the NT6-pro sparkles like nothing else. Its timbre of course won’t be the most accurate, but there’s a joyful liveliness throughout the presentation. The NT6-pro takes your music, and sprinkles fairy dust all over it. The result is a mixture of analytical precision with a healthy splash of ‘fun’. Even so, it remains a rather smooth midrange due to an upper midrange dip. But as we’ve previously seen with the S-EM9, this also results in a leaner body of instruments. Accordingly, it isn’t a particularly full sound, although it isn’t thin altogether.
But at the very core of the NT6-pro’s character and uniqueness, is its vocal presentation. It’s not as full or forward as a midcentric iem; it’s fairly neutral in overall size. But it’s dense, providing quite a bit of singing power we surely all adore. It’s a balanced presentation, transitioning seemingly evenly from the centre to upper midrange. And despite its lifted treble, the vocals are warm in tone. Make no mistake, this is a vocal presentation capable of conveying emotion, intimacy even. The NT6-pro’s excellent vocal performance is such a key feature, because it allows to shine for a wide range of music. One might suspect the NT6-pro is just good for pop or EDM. And yes, it’s great for that, no doubt. But it’s also a delight for easy-listening or classic rock, to sap away with romantic duets accompanied by acoustic guitars or violins – maybe even more so. The vocals are warm and emotional, but surrounded by sparkles of light.
Treble
Mention the NT6-pro, and the first thing that will usually come to mind is its treble. And not without reason, for the NT6-pro’s boosted treble is probably one if its most discerning feats – out of all these iems, the NT6-pro is the one to go to for sparkle. The NT6-pro has peaks in its lower and mid treble regions. The first is the common 7 KHz peak that boosts its clarity and precision. The second peak is more uncommon, a mid-treble peak roughly similar to Noble’s Katana. With Katana, it’s pushed a bit further out of the instrument band, resulting in a slightly more neutral sound. The NT6-pro’s second peak on the other hand is a bit more present within the sound, sprinkling that fairy dust I mentioned before, while adding air to the soundstage.
The treble notes are a bit thin due to the uneven peaks. Technically speaking, their decay is quick, and the treble is well-defined; much like its bass, it’s fast and precise. And its top-end extension is quite good, ranging up to roughly 13 KHz. But of course there’s no going around that such a treble lift can be polarizing. For sensitive listeners, the brighter touch might sound icy sharp; it’s very hard for me to judge. For a regular listener unburdened by sensitivities however, the treble isn’t overly harsh. Of course there are moments I come across certain treble-heavy tracks, and feel it’s just pushing it. But generally speaking, I really enjoy this treble. This treble is for treble-heads, what Vega’s bass is to bass-heads. While I’m not a treble-head myself, I do like to dabble – this sparkle is addictive. I’d subjectively rate it 90 for its unique qualities, but I guess I don’t even have to explain it’s nowhere near accurate in tone.
One Response
Hidition have changed the tuning of the NT6-pro. They said it was around 2 years ago. I have just had my old NT6-pro (purchased in 2014) re-shelled. The sound is significantly different. The, at times, harsh treble has been smoothed slightly, the separation is further improved. They have implemented a slightly changed bore design which can be seen on the treble tube. The results are stunning. Even more holographic. Immense separation, but also a more natural tone to the sound. Bass is still fantastic and leaves other TOTL earphones sounding slow and muddy (Fit Ears, JH audio) IMO. The sound actually seemed pretty similar to the VE8 universal I tried- crystal clear, detailed, not harsh at all. But, the NT6-pro has more emotion. Still those amazing clear vocals from the original, but better tonality with guitar strings. It is worth knowing that the sound has evolved from this review above which is the old implementation of the NT6-pro (as far as I can see). Hidition don’t really publicise this. An awesome and incredible value set of CIEMs.