Will the Mist live up to it’s $472 premium pricetag?

Pros:

Feels heavy and good quality

Very soft and coils around your hands

Beautiful craftmanship

Warm sound with emphasis on the mids, vocals

Big 3d soundstage

Premium all round

Cons:

Have to use included chin slider

NMD Audio Mist cable review

I am an audiophile from sunny South Africa. I was always curious about NMD Audio cables and really appreciate the opportunity to audition the Mist. The Mist was sent to me in return for my honest review. I receive no money whatsoever from this review. The NMD rep is a really amazing guy and one of the friendliest guys I have met on my review journey so far. The package took 1 week to arrive with DHL and I really got good service. I always joke when I say NMD is the BMW and Effect Audio is the Mercedes of in-ear monitor cables. If my English sounds broken, please forgive me. Us Afrikaners sound like that.

Unboxing

NMD send their cable in the coolest black premium case. It resembles aluminum DJ flight cases and really gives the impression of quality expected inside. The accessories and inside reflects like an expensive gift of jewelry. The Mist in my opinion is packaged better than a lot of in-ear monitors. Inside the flight case you will also find a really nice soft satin drawstring pouch and another little black portable metal carry case. I was really impressed by this and kudos to the person at NMD who is in charge of packaging.  

Specs

Material: Rare-Earth Copper Alloy (Confidential Proportion), Single-Crystal Copper Shielding Layer

Accessories Material: Custom Silver Anodized Accessories

Connector: Gold-Plated OFC / Silver-Plated OFC

Termination: 10u Gold-Plated OFC

Strands: 4 strands, each strand conductor 20.5 AWG

Structure: Coaxial Litz Type 2 with Shielding Layer

Length: 1.2 m

Connectivity

My Mist review unit came with 4.4mm balanced and 2 pin connectors and lots of option available on the website like 2.5mm, 3,5mm and 4.mm as well as other connectors like mmcx. NMD basically with their option cater to all your connection needs. With the connectors being good quality, you can feel them go in nice and stiff. I know that sounds a bit funny so sorry for that description guys. I connected the Mist to all my Daps and phones for listening tests. With reviewing cables one has to tread carefully as you have two sides in a cables debate to satisfy and one of the oldest rivalries in audio which is if cables make a difference. For a long time, I was of the opinion just like Peter Walker from Quad electronics that the best cables are the ones that conduct electricity and I could never pick up any difference in sound in my home audio stereo setups. Until I started to pursue and review headphones, in-ear monitors and earbuds and I started to listen critically I noticed the difference different cables make. Also just note on the other side of the coin are the guys who believes a fuse makes a difference. I am not that type of audiophile.

Look & Build

The look and feel of the Mist are definitely premium and when in your hand it coils softly which usually happens with hand braided cables but I did not research if the Mist is indeed hand braided. I am really glad NMD went for all metal connectors on the Mist as I believe plastic connectors does not belong on a premium cable the connectors are really well-made metal affairs. With Gold plated OFC connectors, I do feel that attention to detail is being given to give you a wonderful premium product. The fit for me was really nice but do keep in mind this is a heavy cable and to keep in your ears you have to use the chin slider to keep them in. I did list this as a con not so much for me as I know the tradeoff for heavy vs fit. but for guys who might find it uncomfortable or who do not like chin sliders.

Sound

NMD Markets the Mist as warm sounding premium cable that enhances the mids and vocals but not so much as to still have sparkly highs. For my first listening impressions I used my BQEYZ Wind in- ears with Penon Liqueur Orange tips connected to my Astel & Kern AK240 mkii and went straight to my Tidal- Favorite Albums and started with Leonard Cohen- Songs from the road album. First song Lover, Lover Lover and I don’t know if I am just drawn to strings and if the Mist just enhanced the string instruments but the first thing, I noticed was the warm and thick sounding bass guitar. I also believe the Penon Orange tips did also play a part and the bone conduction driver in the BQEYZ Wind. Also, another weird thing I noticed also before the vocals I was trying to focus on as Leonard’s voice is after all the main attractions is a very big PRAT factor kicked in and I noticed myself foot tapping within 20 seconds. Just for research purposes I switched back to the original BQEYZ Wind cable and the Mist is warmer sounding and when I praised the Wind’s vocals in my review on them, I know standing ovation the vocals with the Mist cable connected

As a vocal and mids lover, sometimes bass head lover the mist really appealed to me as I hooked the Mist up to the BQEYZ Cloud as the cloud is tuned for vocals. Just before I hooked them up to the Cloud, I played Andrea Bocelli and Ed Sheldon- Perfect symphony as I always like the bass line and if you do not have a good bass response the song can get a bit fatiguing and too much. The warmth really took the sharpness out together with BQEYZ Wind’s magic I loved the sound so much I listened to it twice as it a beautiful song. With the cloud hooked up there is male voice I wanted hear and the singer is from my country by the name Ruhan du Toit and the song is the story. With the Divinus wide bore velvet tips I also fitted it was the cleanest sounding sound I have heard in a long time. Absolutely no background noise coupled to the EPZ TP35 dongle and Hiby M300. It has to do with the good shielding on the mist cable which really blocks out any unwanted static noises that I have heard on some cables. I also have to admit that I also enjoyed listening to the Cloud more than the Wind as after spending two weeks with this pairing of BQEYZ Cloud and Mist cable.

There are five songs in my Tidal audiophile playlist that I am going to list here as the Mist cable was made for these songs in my opinion. The layers of details and soundstage the Cloud dug out through the mist was amazing and I am fully hooked on this sound. There is a much better sense of soundstage and where objects are in 3d vs the stock Cloud cable.

Lights of Barcelona- Marc Vailee Trio

Come with me- Miriam Alter

Guimaraes: Tilobita- Uaki

Comme un tange- Vincent Belanger

Hadouk Trio- Soft landing

The sound of this cable appeals to most of my favorite genres and I do feel it enhances my listening experience

The Cloud also tamed the warmth a bit and that really let the highs shine too. To be totally honest nothing sounds fatiguing, out of place or unreal. So, with the right pairing you have a lot of options with the Mist cable as tips and in-ears can help you dial in your perfect sound for your taste.

Sound wise there is nothing to fault here and I would have given it a perfect score but nothing in life is perfect.

Conclusion

The Mist is priced at $479 and if you have to ask me if I think the cable is worth its asking price? I would answer with something that I learned in my years in sales and marketing and that is “anything is worth something to someone. However, I am not trying to market this cable to you as I receive no commission for this review and I am not telling you to bankrupt yourself or let your people go hungry to get these. These are targeted at a higher income bracket individual who appreciate quality and who’s favorite genre is definitely not Pop or Electronic dance music. Discerning audiophiles who appreciate good craftmanship and sounds like Blue Note Jazz and Single malt Whiskey will really enjoy this cable in my opinion. Well done on a really premium cable NMD Audio