Has anybody heard both the Hidition and Kaiser 10 and could tell me how they are different?
I am also a bit unsure on whether the non-pro or pro NT6 would suit me better, because I’ve read conflicting things about the pro. The general consensus seems to be that the enhanced bass and treble makes it sound lively, but a couple of people have said the midrange is a bit recessed. If that’s the case, maybe I am better off with the non-pro because I’ve owned earphones before with a recessed midrange and the vocals sounded faraway.
Its a bit of an unfair comparison for me as I am comparing my custom NT6pro to a demo universal K10, but I had the Noble lineup with a Hugo for a week to make the comparison. Don't have the non-pro to compare, but I consider it a lower version as a 4 way crossover compared to the pro 5 way. However, this is just my opinion as are the notes below, YMMV.
Notes:
- Signature: The pro is on the cold side while the k10 is on the warm side with always on bass.Both focus on the mids with significant bass slam. The pro has unmatched transparency and detail while the k10 has outstanding detail for a warm signature. The k10 bass emphasis is on the mid bass while the pro emphasis is on the sub bass. Overall, the pro has more bass slam and quality, but the k10 is more generally fun across genres.
- Fun: The pro is as good as the music it is fed, while the k10 makes everything sound good. In exchange, the pro scales much higher fed better sources such as the Ygg/Rok stack. Conversely, the k10 scales down better making the iPhone sound better than the pro. So if you are pairing with low end sources, go with the k10, if pairing with a high end desktop, the new AK lineup, or Paw Gold, go with the pro.
- Sound Stage: Both the k10 and pro have an excellent full sized sound stage. However, the pro is more transparent pulling the instruments apart with space while the k10 takes in the music more as a whole.
- Texturing: As a warm signature, the K10 has excellent texturing, however, the pro has transparency that provides deeper views into the texturing for better timbre. Both provide a thick note with excellent voice production.
In the end, while I loved the k10, I could not justify the purchase as I was happy with my pro and would likely chose it out of the two for my daily listening. This was an interesting conclusion for me as I typically like warmer signatures better.
BTW, to answer your question, the pro does not have recessed mids. The bass and the treble overlay the mids for huge amounts of detail vs. the typical shimmer and fart cannon signature that the v shape implies hearing all three parts separately. This gives the mids center stage with thick notes from the detailed bass, and smoothly etched - in a good detailed way - from the extended highs. Rather than a v shape, the pro is better explained as having extended highs and lows providing greater strength throughout the extended frequency range. The typical HP has strength in the middle with the highs and lows trailing off - the pro is strong from sub to high level frequencies. The absence of the typical mid bass hump in the pro balances the sub and mid bass performance so you can hear the whole bass range with none being covered up. I find this unique.
Bottom line is that you will be delighted with either in a vacuum, they are both outstanding at this level so you cannot make a wrong choice. Only when you listen side by side can you pick a preference based on your priorities. My preference can very well be just the custom vs a universal demo.
