Nostalgia Audio Pumpkin Knight Review: No Tricks, Only Treats!
Nostalgia Audio has been quite active with its custom cable lineup lately, ranging from its more accessible offerings to serious flagship cables such as Guinevere (Review link) and Lord of Logres. This time, however, we’re looking at something much more playful and affordable. Meet the Pumpkin Knight – Nostalgia Audio’s latest entry-level upgrade cable dressed up with a full Halloween theme.
Priced at $165, Pumpkin Knight sits toward the entry side of Nostalgia Audio’s current cable lineup. Though rather than simply changing the colors of an existing cable for the season, Nostalgia built Pumpkin Knight with a full-on Halloween concept – from the black-and-orange hardware, themed engravings, packaging, and even the special cable tie! Pumpkin Knight is a 22AWG, 2-wire cable using three different types of high-purity copper for its inner conductors, paired with a separate copper and silver-plated copper shielding layer. Let’s talk about the specialties of the Pumpkin Knight upgrade cable, and test them out by matching with different IEMs and cables!
Packaging / Accessories
Nostalgia went unusually hard on the packaging for an entry-level cable. Pumpkin Knight comes in a dedicated Halloween-themed box illustrated by Hong Kong artist Cissy (IG @imnotszerious). The artwork combines her graffiti-like illustration style with darker colors to match the whole Pumpkin Knight concept, rather than simply putting the regular Nostalgia box in orange.
The theme continues once opening the box. Pumpkin Knight includes a Batman-inspired leather cable tie, a dedicated storage pouch, and a sticker along with the cable itself. It’s not a large accessory set by any means, though I think that’s appropriate for a cable at this price. More importantly, everything feels like it belongs to the same product concept instead of having some random generic accessories thrown in.
What’s in the Box
- Nostalgia Audio Pumpkin Knight cable
- Bat-wing leather cable tie
- Dedicated storage pouch
- Pumpkin Knight sticker
- Special-edition illustrated packaging
Cable Design / Hardware
As any Halloween-themed product should, the black-and-orange hardware is how this cable is designed. Pumpkin Knight uses matte-black and vivid orange metal parts, matching the whole jack-o’-lantern theme. Silver rims are added to the metal hardware, adding to the premium look. The Y-split and plug housings are made from high-strength aluminum with a dual-color anodized finish, while Pumpkin Knight graphics are engraved onto the hardware.
One of the interesting little gimmicks of this cable is the rotating Y-split. Featured earlier on Nostalgia Unicorn and Eddie Prestige, the orange Y-split part can be spun around. Not something that affects the sound or functionality but a little fun element added to it. The cable itself stays mostly black, though the outer jacket reveals a subtle dark-silver pattern underneath depending on how the light catches it. Nostalgia uses its black SoftFlex PVC jacket here, designed around flexibility and lower microphonics for portable use. The 2-wire braid also keeps the cable physically simpler than some of the thick 4-wire flagship cables we’re used to seeing. I’ll leave the actual handling impressions for the final review once I’ve spent enough time carrying it around. Visually, the black cable color matches nicely with any IEMs, as well as in sound.
Specifications:
- Conductor gauge: 22AWG
- Cable diameter: 1.8mm
- Cable length: 120cm
- Braiding: 2-wire braid
- Structure: Shielded Litz Type 2
- Inner conductors: 5N OFC + 5N LCOFC + 6N OCC pure copper
- Shielding: Silver-plated 5N LCOFC copper + 5N LCOFC copper
- Outer jacket: Obsidian Black SoftFlex PVC
- IEM connectors: 0.78mm 2pin / MMCX / Pentaconn Ear options
- Source termination: 4.4mm balanced
- Hardware: Anodized aluminum
- Retail price: HK$1,280
Pumpkin Knight – How’s the Overall Sound?
Pumpkin Knight is a well-balanced cable that seamlessly adds more bass presence, primarily cleaner, thicker, and fuller low-end body. Many cables, especially budget-friendly cables, lack the technical tuning and capabilities to bring out more potential from the IEMs without altering the sound signature. For copper cables, it’s common to find cables that pleasingly boost the bass; however, while doing so, they generally make the sub-bass more bloated and loose, while upper frequencies get warmer and smoothed out. If you’re intentionally wanting to bring such changes, then it’s no problem – as cable-rolling all comes down to personal needs and tastes. But if you want to like the overall way your IEMs sound but just want to add a bit more clarity, extension, and depth, then that’s where Pumpkin Knight will come in very useful.
Pumpkin brings in quite a significant upgrade in multiple aspects: the bass tone, tonal depth, body, low-end extension, and overall density. Pumpkin Knight brings punchier and meatier bass that goes deep more resolutely and cleanly. You can feel the sturdy and well-established low-end grounds and drum kicks. Mids keep their shine and original timbre; vocals and trebles are smoother but not smoothed out in detail, and only gain a touch of lush creaminess. Overall soundstage gets a lot more immersive – larger, deeper, more holographic. An audible boost in separation can be heard too. Different notes and instruments separate better while keeping their consistency.
Next Page: Sound Impressions / How does Pumpkin Knight Sound?