[nepherte]

Just got my K10 Universals and they're as good as I remember from my audition at Canjam RMAF. I'm simply going to put it out there: I think they're even better than the CIEM.

 

[Watagump]

  Just got my K10 Universals and they're as good as I remember from my audition at Canjam RMAF. I'm simply going to put it out there: I think they're even better than the CIEM.

 
Here we go. 

 

[mscott58]

Just got my K10 Universals and they're as good as I remember from my audition at Canjam RMAF. I'm simply going to put it out there: I think they're even better than the CIEM.

Them's fighting words!

 

[x RELIC x]

Just got my K10 Universals and they're as good as I remember from my audition at Canjam RMAF. I'm simply going to put it out there: I think they're even better than the CIEM.

Here we go. 

Them's fighting words!

 

[nepherte]

And before any one wonders... I do have the CIEMs as well

 

[WCDchee]

And before any one wonders... I do have the CIEMs as well

I won't say which is better, but they definitely do sound different to my ears. And to quite a couple of guys out there who have had extensive experience with both. I have the customs and have spent some time with the aluminium and ABS plastic universals and to my ears they are all different. I was not as big a fan of the ABS plastic version. The customs compared to the aluminium universal have a somewhat bigger bass, thicker, richer and smoother sound, and more shelved top end.

Which is better? It's more a matter of personal preferences than anything

 

[Eugguy]

I received my K10u last night, new aluminum body. I have to say, I am not impressed at the moment. While they look nice, the shell is heavy and awkward side. I have probably close to a 50+ different tips collected over the years from various universal IEMS. I've had no luck with any of the tips but one so far. I've only managed to get one large mushroom style silicon tip to fit. The stem of the K10u creates such an awkward setting into your ear. You have to go up at least one size in ear tips to make sure the stem sits in the ear with success. I'm also not blown away with the sound, but was not expecting anything to glare out at me from the first place (as this is what most people say). I have only had the time to listen for about 2 hours, my overall impression (when I can get the K10u to stay in my ear) is warm with a slightly below average soundstage.  Mid presence is what I expected, highs sound warm. The overall sound is pleasurable and not threatening in any frequency range. Bass quantity is surprisingly small, but is sufficient enough for most genres. Quality is good. I honestly don't know if I made a mistake in adding this to my collection. It definitely does not sit at the top of my IEM collection. I may have to give it time obviously. The stock cable is nothing to be proud about either. I don't know why for $1600 a better cable cannot be included. Even Westone has a better quality stock cable, more memory cable and stability. The packaging was very impressive, that I will say. I'm going to give it another month or so, then I will decide if I will let this go, sadly. This was the one IEM I was looking forward to in 2015. 

 

[uzi2]

  I received my K10u last night, new aluminum body. I have to say, I am not impressed at the moment. While they look nice, the shell is heavy and awkward side. I have probably close to a 50+ different tips collected over the years from various universal IEMS. I've had no luck with any of the tips but one so far. I've only managed to get one large mushroom style silicon tip to fit. The stem of the K10u creates such an awkward setting into your ear. You have to go up at least one size in ear tips to make sure the stem sits in the ear with success. I'm also not blown away with the sound, but was not expecting anything to glare out at me from the first place (as this is what most people say). I have only had the time to listen for about 2 hours, my overall impression (when I can get the K10u to stay in my ear) is warm with a slightly below average soundstage.  Mid presence is what I expected, highs sound warm. The overall sound is pleasurable and not threatening in any frequency range. Bass quantity is surprisingly small, but is sufficient enough for most genres. Quality is good. I honestly don't know if I made a mistake in adding this to my collection. It definitely does not sit at the top of my IEM collection. I may have to give it time obviously. The stock cable is nothing to be proud about either. I don't know why for $1600 a better cable cannot be included. Even Westone has a better quality stock cable, more memory cable and stability. The packaging was very impressive, that I will say. I'm going to give it another month or so, then I will decide if I will let this go, sadly. This was the one IEM I was looking forward to in 2015. 

I don't find them heavy. They sit nicely in my ears. Being a shallow fit, the tip choice is more difficult. I found the medium reds to work well, but settled on the large foamies for maximum comfort. I think the lack of bass you are experiencing must be associated with the fit as these go way deep.
I agree with you fully on the cable. I found it very noisy and i hate memory wire as I am sure all spectacle wearers do. Linum Bax is excellent with the K10.

 

[fiascogarcia]

  I received my K10u last night, new aluminum body. I have to say, I am not impressed at the moment. While they look nice, the shell is heavy and awkward side. I have probably close to a 50+ different tips collected over the years from various universal IEMS. I've had no luck with any of the tips but one so far. I've only managed to get one large mushroom style silicon tip to fit. The stem of the K10u creates such an awkward setting into your ear. You have to go up at least one size in ear tips to make sure the stem sits in the ear with success. I'm also not blown away with the sound, but was not expecting anything to glare out at me from the first place (as this is what most people say). I have only had the time to listen for about 2 hours, my overall impression (when I can get the K10u to stay in my ear) is warm with a slightly below average soundstage.  Mid presence is what I expected, highs sound warm. The overall sound is pleasurable and not threatening in any frequency range. Bass quantity is surprisingly small, but is sufficient enough for most genres. Quality is good. I honestly don't know if I made a mistake in adding this to my collection. It definitely does not sit at the top of my IEM collection. I may have to give it time obviously. The stock cable is nothing to be proud about either. I don't know why for $1600 a better cable cannot be included. Even Westone has a better quality stock cable, more memory cable and stability. The packaging was very impressive, that I will say. I'm going to give it another month or so, then I will decide if I will let this go, sadly. This was the one IEM I was looking forward to in 2015. 

Dang, that's a disappointment!  Sounds like maybe they're just too large for your ears.  I have huge ears and canals so everything fits me, but larger multi-driver iems are hit and miss for others I'm sure.  And of course the sound is going to suffer without a good fit.  Upside, I guess, is that they're universal and re-sellable!  Good luck!

 

[longbowbbs]

  I received my K10u last night, new aluminum body. I have to say, I am not impressed at the moment. While they look nice, the shell is heavy and awkward side. I have probably close to a 50+ different tips collected over the years from various universal IEMS. I've had no luck with any of the tips but one so far. I've only managed to get one large mushroom style silicon tip to fit. The stem of the K10u creates such an awkward setting into your ear. You have to go up at least one size in ear tips to make sure the stem sits in the ear with success. I'm also not blown away with the sound, but was not expecting anything to glare out at me from the first place (as this is what most people say). I have only had the time to listen for about 2 hours, my overall impression (when I can get the K10u to stay in my ear) is warm with a slightly below average soundstage.  Mid presence is what I expected, highs sound warm. The overall sound is pleasurable and not threatening in any frequency range. Bass quantity is surprisingly small, but is sufficient enough for most genres. Quality is good. I honestly don't know if I made a mistake in adding this to my collection. It definitely does not sit at the top of my IEM collection. I may have to give it time obviously. The stock cable is nothing to be proud about either. I don't know why for $1600 a better cable cannot be included. Even Westone has a better quality stock cable, more memory cable and stability. The packaging was very impressive, that I will say. I'm going to give it another month or so, then I will decide if I will let this go, sadly. This was the one IEM I was looking forward to in 2015. 

I have never been a big universal fan. The fit is never quite right for me. I love the CIEM K10's and my Toxic Cable Silver Widow SW22 cables. No microphonics and a perfect fit. Good luck with things.

 

[Buddhahacker]

  I received my K10u last night, new aluminum body. I have to say, I am not impressed at the moment. While they look nice, the shell is heavy and awkward side. I have probably close to a 50+ different tips collected over the years from various universal IEMS. I've had no luck with any of the tips but one so far. I've only managed to get one large mushroom style silicon tip to fit. The stem of the K10u creates such an awkward setting into your ear. You have to go up at least one size in ear tips to make sure the stem sits in the ear with success. I'm also not blown away with the sound, but was not expecting anything to glare out at me from the first place (as this is what most people say). I have only had the time to listen for about 2 hours, my overall impression (when I can get the K10u to stay in my ear) is warm with a slightly below average soundstage.  Mid presence is what I expected, highs sound warm. The overall sound is pleasurable and not threatening in any frequency range. Bass quantity is surprisingly small, but is sufficient enough for most genres. Quality is good. I honestly don't know if I made a mistake in adding this to my collection. It definitely does not sit at the top of my IEM collection. I may have to give it time obviously. The stock cable is nothing to be proud about either. I don't know why for $1600 a better cable cannot be included. Even Westone has a better quality stock cable, more memory cable and stability. The packaging was very impressive, that I will say. I'm going to give it another month or so, then I will decide if I will let this go, sadly. This was the one IEM I was looking forward to in 2015. 

Interesting.  I received mine about two weeks ago and I find them to be a bit heavy in the bass and lower mids so your comment that the bass is lacking is surprising. For comfort, I found the K10Us to be one of the most comfortable IEMs I have tried. My Klipsch x10 is probably the most comfortable but they are also a single BA vs. 10 drivers.  Likely the awkwardness of the IEM in your ear is impacting the seal which of course impacts the bass.  I've had other IEMs which I just couldn't get to fit right in my ear. Cables are cables. Some find certain cables to be superior to others but for me after trying various cables from Moon Audio and Ted I have only found one that seems to be superior (I expect to get flamed on this comment). Surprisingly, I found that the K10 cable doesn't get tangled as easily as my other cables so I am sticking with it for now.  Good luck. The good news is that the resale market for these is strong.

 

[coachhouse]

Wow ! I just checked out your inventory and you own most every iem that has ever tweaked my interest and the K10U was at the top of my next purchase list . Universals are at least 75% a fit issue and if they don't seal properly it doesn't matter what tech is applied the sound will escape you. You obviously are an experienced Universal user and I'm curious as to if you've tried any triple flange silicon tips ? I find them to insert deep and secure which should alleviate some of the weight issue the problem is finding them with a large enough bore for the 10U  Please keep us posted ! Good luck like others have said resell shouldn't be a problem if you decide to unload them       

 

[Chodi]

Your problem brought back memories of an experience I had with a universal in the same price range. I bought it new and could not get a good seal no matter what I tried. I own many tips and other iem's as you do and was totally frustrated by not being able to get them to fit right. I must have gone through twenty different tips over two weeks including double and triple flange trying to get them to seal properly. I was convinced the miserable sound I was hearing from them was a result of a bad seal. Poor bass and bad soundstage.
 
End of the story, I was ready to put them back in the box then I decided to take the cable provided off and put on another cable I had laying around. Bam! All the tips worked and the sound was glorious. The cable from the manufacturer was defective. I got music from both channels so I never suspected the cable. Your problem may be different but as an experienced user who was fooled into thinking it was a seal problem I just thought I would share the story.
 
I have the new version of the K10U and it fits very comfortably in my ears. It also sounds fabulous. I agree with one poster here that it is a little on the warm side of neutral but I love them. It is more the LCD 2 type sound than the HD800. That is fine with me. I own enough iem's that are on the bright side of neutral.

 

[Eugguy]

 
I don't find them heavy. They sit nicely in my ears. Being a shallow fit, the tip choice is more difficult. I found the medium reds to work well, but settled on the large foamies for maximum comfort. I think the lack of bass you are experiencing must be associated with the fit as these go way deep.
I agree with you fully on the cable. I found it very noisy and i hate memory wire as I am sure all spectacle wearers do. Linum Bax is excellent with the K10.

The body is very well built. It is a shallow fit, that is for sure. I am more comfortable with a secure fit. I have been using universals for a while now, and feel it may have been a better choice to go the custom route with this particular model. When I am able to have the fit sit right, there is bass, but it is still not presented in the way I am used to, compared with my other IEMS I frequent. 

 

[coachhouse]

Great point ! The exact same happened to me I had forgotten ! Disappointment was all in the defective cable it happens to the best manufactures and they will stand behind a replacement cable 100% at least I am 100% certain Noble does