[ezekiel77]

Red/silver was more striking to me, but nonetheless congrats on the updates. K10 mids are awesome as they are, and the new models will continue to do well.

 

[Eugguy]

   
I have yet to work a show where someone didn't like the K10, they are not for everyone, what is? Like John said, maybe another flavor, you could be a Katana guy.

I should say rather, I liked it, did not love it...(yet) Some of the IEMs in my collection have taken a while for me to appreciate their SS. (JH Roxanne being one of them. The K10 definitely bests the Roxanne.) The K10 is very respected in my collection, just not getting the use I thought it would. However, I shouldn't write off the future generations of Noble products. I will try other products in the future.
 
Thank you John and Staff. You were very helpful, nice and personable when there was an issue with my new K10 when I picked it up at last years black friday sale. 

 

[Watagump]

 
I should say rather, I liked it, did not love it...(yet) Some of the IEMs in my collection have taken a while for me to appreciate their SS. (JH Roxanne being one of them. The K10 definitely bests the Roxanne.) The K10 is very respected in my collection, just not getting the use I thought it would. However, I shouldn't write off the future generations of Noble products. I will try other products in the future.
 
Thank you John and Staff. You were very helpful, nice and personable when there was an issue with my new K10 when I picked it up at last years black friday sale. 

 
Fair enough, if the stars align I hope to be at CanJam NY, if so, come on by the Noble booth, try the whole line. If I am not there, well stop by anyhow, assuming you are there lol.

 

[FullCircle]

 
I should say rather, I liked it, did not love it...(yet) Some of the IEMs in my collection have taken a while for me to appreciate their SS. (JH Roxanne being one of them. The K10 definitely bests the Roxanne.) The K10 is very respected in my collection, just not getting the use I thought it would. However, I shouldn't write off the future generations of Noble products. I will try other products in the future.
 
Thank you John and Staff. You were very helpful, nice and personable when there was an issue with my new K10 when I picked it up at last years black friday sale. 

 
 
 

 

[raypin]

Mm....looking forward to reading impressions and omaprisons. Subbed.

 

[FullCircle]

Mm....looking forward to reading impressions and omaprisons. Subbed.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/684787/noble-audio-the-wizard-returns/22905#post_12963585
 
 
 
Chodi
 
I have both the K10U and the new Kaiser Encore universal. Many have asked for this difference so here I post my impressions. I must say that the K10U is a masterpiece in itself and it has maintained a level of performance which has been reviewed over and over as one of the best (if not the best) overall iem's. John has worked to perfect what is already a world standard for perfection. The K10E is more of an evolution of the K10U than a completely new product. There are differences that will be obvious but I do want to emphasize that the two products are related in sonic performance however the K10E (Kaiser Encore) has two qualities that will be immediately evident. On the K10E the midrange has been improved clarity and tonal balance to blend seamlessly with the bass and treble in a more refined way than the K10U. This allows for an added tonal honestly in the midrange that to my ears is a breakthrough in overall performance for an iem. The sonic character of the original K10U is maintained but the midrange has added clarity and presence. The fantastic quality of the K10 bass is still present but it now blends more seamlessly with the mids creating a harmonic integrity that is a  perceptible level above the original K10. 
 
The second obvious difference with the K10U and the Encore is the sound stage. While the K10 was certainly one of the best at producing the impression of a real sound stage the K10 Kaiser Encore takes that to a new level. The out of head experience is unmatched in any iem that I have owned or heard. We have all heard and read about the difficulty in producing a sound stage that is believable with an in ear monitor so I won't go into the limitations. The difference in the ability to produce a believable sound stage for any iem is a real challenge compared to traditional full size headphones. There are anatomical reasons why it is such a challenge to produce a coherent out of head experience with any in ear monitor. Clever designers have managed to accomplish this to varying degree. The Kaiser Encore in my opinion sets a new standard in this department. The out of head sound stage image is breathtaking. There is no other way to describe it. The K10U was excellent in this regard by comparison to existing iem standards. The Kaiser Encore create it's own standard on a new level. If you are like me and consider sound stage presentation important than the Kaiser Encore is your iem. 
 
Will the new K10E retire my K10U the answer is that in most cases yes it will. If you own the K10U you can take heart that you own one of the best iem's ever produced. The K10E is an incremental improvement on an already outstanding product.

 

[glassmonkey]

Machine-tooled UIEM could've been a few dollars cheaper than custom-made CIEM...

I imagine the base price for the CIEM is the SLAs, which don't take that much more work to do than the universals--I would imagine, only the Noble dudes can tell us for sure.

 

[cocolinho]

  Expensive yes but not outrageous overprice, some manufacturer are alreading asking 2K-3K for there flagship (64 Audio, Sony) 

which is completely crazy if you ask me. Look at what Ken did with Andromeda or Piotr with H8.2 . TOTL products for 1K/1,2K , not more

 

[HiFiChris]

 

Machine-tooled UIEM could've been a few dollars cheaper than custom-made CIEM...

I imagine the base price for the CIEM is the SLAs, which don't take that much more work to do than the universals--I would imagine, only the Noble dudes can tell us for sure.

 

 

Am I missing something, is the SLA option gone from the site? Also, black text is almost impossible to read on the site at times, you probably know this already.

Hi Wata,

I just got off the phone with Brannan pointing out the issue of the washed out areas.

SLA is no longer an option, as there wasnt enought interest in the option to keep it viable. The large majority of custom orders were/are for hand made custom products

 

 

[FullCircle]

  which is completely crazy if you ask me. Look at what Ken did with Andromeda or Piotr with H8.2 . TOTL products for 1K/1,2K , not more

 
 
There are examples all over the map, Andromeda, 5 driver universal, at 1,099 or the Noble Dulce Bass 5 driver at 699.
 
Or the 2 driver Hum for 1400 USD, ER4p One driver for 350 USD, or the SE846, 4 driver at 1300 (initially).  

 

[cocolinho]

   
 
There are examples all over the map, Andromeda, 5 driver universal, at 1,099 or the Noble Dulce Bass 5 driver at 699.
 
Or the 2 driver Hum for 1400 USD, ER4p One driver for 350 USD, or the SE846, 4 driver at 1300 (initially).  

I've never talked about number or drivers, actually I don't care. Just "looking" at the sound. Otherwise we can talk about the Savant or new Sage with 2 drivers for USD599, but I don't, again it is not fair I think

 

[FullCircle]

  I've never talked about number or drivers, actually I don't care. Just "looking" at the sound. Otherwise we can talk about the Savant or new Sage with 2 drivers for USD599, but I don't, again it is not fair I think

 
 
 
 

  which is completely crazy if you ask me. Look at what Ken did with Andromeda or Piotr with H8.2 . TOTL products for 1K/1,2K , not more

 
 
 
So, it would be better to claim the Sage as Noble's TOTL product and charge 1K, and not offer anything above the Sage?
 
 
That would be an interesting business maneuver......
 
 

 

[cocolinho]

Reading your 2 last comments , it is pretty difficult to understand your way of thinking but hey no problem.
 
I was just expressing my opinion about the pricing of new TOTL introduced in the market recently. I don't understand how "you" (not you but manufacturers in general) can ask more than 1,5K for TOTL IEMs, to me that's crazy. I can maybe understand if we are talking about very limited production, hand-made IEM , pretty exclusive such as Fitear.
My point is that some companies can make TOTL product for much less than 1,5K which compete with everything else existing.
 
Luckily for us, there are still some new products launched with a strong value proposition such as IT03 or Primacy
 
Good luck with these 2 new products.

 

[Edric Li]

I don't like cheap-looking colors on audio products in general. 

 

[Edric Li]

 
The K10 is very respected in my collection, just not getting the use I thought it would. 

 
May I ask which is your go-to IEM in your awesome collection?