This year has seen quite a few IEMs going for the Harman target when it comes to tonality and frequency response. This means the frequency response of the IEMs broadly follows the latest in-ear Harman target from 2019, which itself is a slightly updated/smoothened version of an older one that came about without as much diligence as the over-ear target was. I am not the only one who thinks the Harman in-ear target isn't great and I only bring this up in this review because Truthear has clearly been going for the Harman target multiple times already in its short existence. So while the tonality of the NOVA isn't appealing to me personally, I do see why others may like it. Thankfully, there's a lot more to like beyond just the overall tuning and this is where the NOVA wins a recommendation to keep up with Truthear's extremely impressive 100% record.

The NOVA is Truthear's best release to date and it also happens to be the most expensive one at nearly twice as much as the HEXA which released before. Purely by numbers, the NOVA has "just" one more balanced armature driver compared to the HEXA and yet the sound presentation could not be more different. The HEXA is far more neutral/universally appealing and yet I'd probably get the NOVA because it actually feels like it's offering more than what it costs. The HEXA was fine for $80 but you could immediately tell the treble was uneven, potentially fatiguing, and certainly not smooth or particularly resolving. Seeing as how the higher frequencies are the hardest to get right—there are IEMs which cost multiple thousands of dollars that do a terrible job here—I am amazed at how good the NOVA sounds here. If you are a fan of orchestral music, especially with strings and piano keys, the NOVA is easily worth the price of admission. It bests several more expensive sets here, and that's not the only place it punches above its weight either.

While the bass is a lot, thankfully Truthear does some justice by offering good quality sub-bass at least. I would suggest adding in a tiny bass shelf from 300 Hz down to help fill out the bass tuck in the mid-bass to take advantage of a nice driver implementation, which also helps address the lower mids coming off slightly lean by comparison. The end result is a bassy and slammy set which is quite dynamic and detailed. It's a fun set that reminds me now of far more expensive IEMs, especially those going for a more U-shaped sound, without breaking the wallet. Truthear has also gone for an attractive shell and cable albeit I would have liked the pre-formed ear hooks to have less of a memory wire feel if I had to nitpick. The Truthear NOVA is quite possibly the go-to for a Harman-tuned IEM now, especially for $150, but now I want to see the company move away from this tuning and try different things. Harman itself finally seems to be doing the same anyway!