NOVA ONE
A closed-back reference headphone with a 40mm beryllium-coated driver, flat to ±1.5dB, and eleven user-replaceable parts.
- 312g
- Mass
- 38h
- ANC on
- 11
- Parts
The position
A sealed headphone is a disposable headphone
Almost every reference headphone on the market is ultrasonically welded shut. A driver failure at year four is not a repair, it is a replacement, and the cup goes to landfill with the driver.
The NOVA ONE is held together by six M2 torx screws per cup. Eleven parts — pads, headband, cable, grille, driver module — are separate SKUs that fit every generation we have made and will keep fitting.
There is an acoustic cost. A screwed cup leaks roughly 0.4dB more at 40Hz than a welded one. We compensate for it in the rear chamber and we publish the figure, because the alternative is pretending the trade does not exist.
Exploded view
Eleven parts, six layers
Static teardown — 3D disabled for reduced motion or low power
- 01Earcup shellMachined 6082 aluminium, 1.4mm wall
- 02Acoustic grilleEtched stainless, 41% open area
- 03Driver40mm beryllium-coated dome
- 04Rear chamberTuned 4.2cc volume, damped
- 05DSP boardDual-core, 96kHz internal path
- 06Ear padProtein leather over memory foam
Every layer is a separately purchasable part
Measured, not claimed
Every unit ships with its own sweep, not a marketing curve.
Specification
Flat, within a stated envelope
Deviation per band on a production unit, with the measurement conditions published alongside.
Deviation by band
Worst-case deviation from the target curve in each band, measured on a production unit. Every headphone ships with its own certificate rather than a marketing figure.
- Sub20 – 60Hz
- ±1.4dB
- Low60 – 250Hz
- ±0.8dB
- Mid250Hz – 2kHz
- ±0.5dB
- Upper2 – 6kHz
- ±1.1dB
- Treble6 – 20kHz
- ±1.5dB
Full sweep data available on request
The range
Four headphones
One tuning across three of them. The fourth departs from it deliberately, and says so.
All products →
| Specification | N2NOVA TWO | N1NOVA ONE | N1LNOVA ONE Lite | NSNOVA STUDIO | NFNOVA FIELD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | 44mm beryllium | 40mm beryllium | 40mm beryllium | 45mm planar | 33mm polymer |
| Frequency response | 12Hz – 24kHz ±1.5dB | 20Hz – 20kHz ±1.5dB | 20Hz – 20kHz ±1.5dB | 8Hz – 42kHz ±2dB | 25Hz – 20kHz, shelved |
| Mass | 372g | 312g | 244g | 398g | 168g |
| Battery | Passive | 38h ANC | 22h ANC | Wired only | 30h ANC |
| ANC | None — open back | −42dB | −38dB | None | −26dB |
| Codecs | Wired only | LDAC, aptX Adaptive | LDAC, aptX Adaptive | Analogue | aptX Adaptive |
| Price | EUR 649 | EUR 749 | EUR 499 | EUR 899 | EUR 329 |
| View | View | View | View | View |
Accessories
Every wear part, sold separately
Pads, cables and monitors. The bayonet pad mount has not changed since 2021 and will not.
All accessories →
Owners
From the field
- N2
The midband is gone in the best way
Nothing between the mix and me. I check everything on the N2 first now, then confirm on the closed pair.
- NT
Nothing to charge
I have thrown this in a bag for a year and it has never once needed anything from me.
- ND
The certificate is not a gimmick
I measured mine independently and got 0.06%, inside what the card claimed. Nobody else in this bracket will put a number on it.
Catalogue average 4.7 / 5 across 24 reviews