[chef8489]

  Could it be that blue is your favourite colour?

Gee how did you get that idea? I do love shades of blue and purple. Red not so much.

 

[Malevolent]

  I wonder if the standard gold-colored Noble Audio logo has changed recently. This is the most recent one and it seems mine is going to be the same:

 
The previous one was different:

 
Yeah. The newer gold leaf design looks a lot classier IMO.

 

[Malevolent]

   
Indeed. I can understand how you feel. ;D
 
The designs are so nice and I like to them all. It's the matter of time, I will choose one and I am not sure yet which one. ;P

 
Spend hours drooling over the designs found in the lookbook.
 
Spend $$$ purchasing a great IEM.
 
Spend years enjoying them.
 

 

[Dexter Morgan]

Yeah. The newer gold leaf design looks a lot classier IMO.

x 2

 

[Sorensiim]

  Spend years enjoying them.
 

As the most senior K10 owner on the planet (polishes brass stars on shoulders), I can vouch for this. Going on third year of daily K10 use and they still amaze me. I'm typing this from work, while listening to the album "The Race For Space" by Public Service Broadcasting. I'm tapping my feet and bopping my head, letting the rythm carry me while I explore all the little details spread out in the wonderful soundscape.
 
In about half an hour it'll be crunch time, so I'll probably pop on some Kvelertak or Opeth to propel me through coding and troubleshooting - I know the K10 will be more than happy to keep up with the absolutely amazing arrangements and excuisite drumming from Opeth. The furious speed and screamo vocals from Kvelertak? Without fretting over the sub-par mastering? Psh, bring it. 
 
In the afternoon, some of the trickier problems will usually float up from first and second level support so I might just switch to something light and simple, like Sumie or perhaps something complex, like Zbigniew Preisner's fantastic soundtrack to Kieslowski's Bleu will be just the ticket. 
 
No matter what music I need, I know that the K10 will handle it with ease and elegance. 

 

[TheOneInYellow]

  As the most senior K10 owner on the planet (polishes brass stars on shoulders), I can vouch for this. Going on third year of daily K10 use and they still amaze me. I'm typing this from work, while listening to the album "The Race For Space" by Public Service Broadcasting. I'm tapping my feet and bopping my head, letting the rythm carry me while I explore all the little details spread out in the wonderful soundscape.
 
In about half an hour it'll be crunch time, so I'll probably pop on some Kvelertak or Opeth to propel me through coding and troubleshooting - I know the K10 will be more than happy to keep up with the absolutely amazing arrangements and excuisite drumming from Opeth. The furious speed and screamo vocals from Kvelertak? Psh, bring it. 
 
In the afternoon, some of the trickier problems will usually float up from first and second level support so I might just switch to something light and simple, like Sumie or perhaps something complex, like Zbigniew Preisner's fantastic soundtrack to Kieslowski's Bleu will be just the ticket. 
 
No matter what music I need, I know that the K10 will handle it with ease and elegance. 

 
This will be me also, but when I get my Noble Audio Katana CIEM's!
 
Thank you for this really informative post, it's great to see and hear how people use their gear in daily activities ^^

 

[prismstorm]

  As the most senior K10 owner on the planet (polishes brass stars on shoulders), I can vouch for this. Going on third year of daily K10 use and they still amaze me. I'm typing this from work, while listening to the album "The Race For Space" by Public Service Broadcasting. I'm tapping my feet and bopping my head, letting the rythm carry me while I explore all the little details spread out in the wonderful soundscape.
 
In about half an hour it'll be crunch time, so I'll probably pop on some Kvelertak or Opeth to propel me through coding and troubleshooting - I know the K10 will be more than happy to keep up with the absolutely amazing arrangements and excuisite drumming from Opeth. The furious speed and screamo vocals from Kvelertak? Without fretting over the sub-par mastering? Psh, bring it. 
 
In the afternoon, some of the trickier problems will usually float up from first and second level support so I might just switch to something light and simple, like Sumie or perhaps something complex, like Zbigniew Preisner's fantastic soundtrack to Kieslowski's Bleu will be just the ticket. 
 
No matter what music I need, I know that the K10 will handle it with ease and elegance. 

 
So will you also be the world's first and most senior Katana owner and do comparisons?  

   
This will be me also, but when I get my Noble Audio Katana CIEM's!
 
Thank you for this really informative post, it's great to see and hear how people use their gear in daily activities ^^

 
Have you heard the Katana, and what made you choose it over the K10s? 

 

[Sorensiim]

   
So will you also be the world's first and most senior Katana owner and do comparisons?  
 
Have you heard the Katana, and what made you choose it over the K10s? 

Well I won't be the first but I sure hope the stars (and credit cards) will one day align in a way that allows me to own the Katana as well and compare the two at length!

 

[TheOneInYellow]

 
Have you heard the Katana, and what made you choose it over the K10s? 

 
Yes, I heard it at CanJam London 2016, both K10 and Katana universals.
 
In truth, the K10 is closer to my musical preferences regarding visceral impact, but I could not deny that the Katana had truly effortless sonic tapestry of music, where no one region of the audio spectrum stood out prominently. The bass of the Katana was amorphous (BIG POSITIVE) and I could sink into the music easier than K10.
 
All my testing was done with Comply foam tips. Source was an Onkyo DP-X1 in low gain, balanced Active Control Ground mode (lossless music, locally stored on one of my MicroSDXC cards). Cable used was a Double Helix Cables Symbiote Fusion 8-Wire balanced cable with 2.5mm Eidolic jack termination.
Bear in mind, this was at an audio show event.
 
Nevertheless, I am now getting Noble Audio Katana custom's/CIEM's!!!
 
I will be posting my show reports and more pics to EnjoytheMusic.com over the next few days.
 
^^

 

Spoiler: K10 vs Katana Universals

 

 

 

(P.S. I apologies for the poor quality pics; the lighting at the show was too much for my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus phone, even in Pro mode and settings adjusted...).

 

[TheOneInYellow]

  Well I won't be the first but I sure hope the stars (and credit cards) will one day align in a way that allows me to own the Katana as well and compare the two at length!

 
Man I think we all would LOVE to hear your input, I know I do, so, SELL THOSE ORGANS!!!
 
I'll give you a hug or thirty two if you do? <3

 

[Virtu Fortuna]

Hey guys.
 
In a short time I'll post a review on Savanna at Headfonia. (next week maybe)
 
For now, I should say the new classic line is a nice improvement over the olders. Sound is also great even though I've never tried the former Noble 4. I'm not sure if there's any sound improvements over the old one. Can anyone confirm this?
 
I would like to review the Katana as well, but let's see if I could get 'em.

 

[prismstorm]

   
Yes, I heard it at CanJam London 2016, both K10 and Katana universals.
 
In truth, the K10 is closer to my musical preferences regarding visceral impact, but I could not deny that the Katana had truly effortless sonic tapestry of music, where no one region of the audio spectrum stood out prominently. The bass of the Katana was amorphous (BIG POSITIVE) and I could sink into the music easier than K10.
 
All my testing was done with Comply foam tips. Source was an Onkyo DP-X1 in low gain, balanced Active Control Ground mode (lossless music, locally stored on one of my MicroSDXC cards). Cable used was a Double Helix Cables Symbiote Fusion 8-Wire balanced cable with 2.5mm Eidolic jack termination.
Bear in mind, this was at an audio show event.
 
Nevertheless, I am now getting Noble Audio Katana custom's/CIEM's!!!
 
I will be posting my show reports and more pics to EnjoytheMusic.com over the next few days.
 
^^

 

Spoiler: K10 vs Katana Universals

 

 

 

(P.S. I apologies for the poor quality pics; the lighting at the show was too much for my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus phone, even in Pro mode and settings adjusted...).

Interesting how you stated that it is easier to get into the music with Katana since K10 has always been lauded as very versatile and 'water' and amorphous. From descriptions the Katana sounds to be 'less musical' and more 'reference and hi-fi'. So is 'effortless sonic tapestry' = flat, no standout frequency? 

 

[BigAund]

  Hey guys.
 
In a short time I'll post a review on Savanna at Headfonia. (next week maybe)
 
For now, I should say the new classic line is a nice improvement over the olders. Sound is also great even though I've never tried the former Noble 4. I'm not sure if there's any sound improvements over the old one. Can anyone confirm this?
 
I would like to review the Katana as well, but let's see if I could get 'em.

Look forward to reading that - I ordered Savanna at Canjam last week! 

 

[Virtu Fortuna]

  Look forward to reading that - I ordered Savanna at Canjam last week! 

Good choice. I think Savanna has one of the best price/performance ratios I've heard. 

 

[TheOneInYellow]

  Interesting how you stated that it is easier to get into the music with Katana since K10 has always been lauded as very versatile and 'water' and amorphous. From descriptions the Katana sounds to be 'less musical' and more 'reference and hi-fi'. So is 'effortless sonic tapestry' = flat, no standout frequency? 

 
Hmm, good question.
 
I should preface that we all hear differently, and what sonics mean to someone is based on their individuality, but I am more than confidant that you are aware of this.
 
I will write more info in my EnjoytheMusic.com report, but I'll explain a bit here.
 
First up, I have dreamed about owning a K10 ever since its release, especially due to its near universal acclaim. I am aware that there are those who like the new Empire Ears Zeus and Campfire Audio Andromeda over K10, but almost everything you said about the description of the K10 is what I have been lusting over.
 
This next bit is a super succinct description of my audio gear to give you a taste of how I define and liken my gear, to give you a small insight of my tastes (won't include DAC's or amps because that'll be too long):
In my search for a personal nirvana of headphone gear and equipment, I absolutely love gear that sounds and is voiced like a single-source, but also a cohesion of frequencies.
This is something that is evident in (and possibly reinforced from) my choice of favourite speakers, the John Blue AudioArt JB3, with its 3" driver and super smaller tweeter whizzer cone embedded in main driver, and huge double magnet. My speakers are not truly technical but purely musical, with blooming but not too bloated bass and excellent near-field imaging, fantastic for almost any genre of music but predominately vocal work, acoustic instruments, jazz, classical, some electronica like Daft Punk and Disclosure (rather than Deadmau5 and Noisia). Mid's are probably it's best quality, but more with guitars; just enough bite and sweetness. However, I do not use my speakers for critical listening but for multitasking, gaming, films and TV, etc. Music is very infrequent. Also, this speaker is not as good at cohesion but excellent as a single-point source/voice.
Now, my Audeze EL-8 Titanium headphones (2016 drivers, and internally driver-wise the exact same as 2016 EL-8 CB) was the very first headphone that gave me that feeling of 'cohesion of frequencies' and 'single-voice' like quality, whilst having complete authority and thwack of sonics (lower mids, bass, and breathless treble). There is an almost monitor like quality to the EL-8 Ti, but packs in a tremendous amount of detail and resolution, something my older AKG K 712 (and even older AKG K 701) headphones do, but the EL-8 Ti is much clearer and grain less in its sonic prowess.
Sometimes this gets too much, and I switch over to my Meze Headphones 99 Classics Walnut Silver headphones; that headphone has comfy bass that smothers you over accuracy, and a midrange of sweetness with grip. It is a great way to cleanse and change up my sonic palate between my EL-8 Ti and JB3 speakers.
(Please note, I use both my Audeze EL-8 Ti and Meze 99 Classics with 2x DHC Elite Molecule 22 pure silver balanced cables, with one having Audeze Zync connectors for the EL-8 series, and the other is modular but with extra long 3.5mm earcup jacks. Both cables are terminated in 2.5mm Eidolic super slim, strong, jacks).
 
So, when I heard the K10, I was floored. Absolutely stunned.
It was like I was getting my JB3 speakers, EL-8 Ti, and the 'sweet, grippy mids' of 99 Classics, all in one IEM. INSANE I TELL YOU!
I also had a visceral impact of music too, something I love from my EL-8 Ti.
 
Yet the Katana was not far off from my above description, but had a different change up. It was like having my JB3 speakers, EL-8 Ti (but less impact and thwack), and comfy bass like my 99 Classics (but with far greater detail and accuracy), yet less sweet mids of 99 Classics, together.
 
For me, effortless sonic tapestry = no standout frequency, but not flat.
How? Well, flat frequency is a mathematical, measurable, theoretical line.
But, a piece of gear that does not have a standout frequency does not have to be flat, no, such gear has the confidence to display music without sounding flat; music that you can just walk through in your mind, float away with, giving you everything at once but not letting any singular part of the music pull or sway you.
I really find this hard to describe, because when I critically listen to music for enjoyment, I start writing worlds in my head, so the brilliance, vibrancy, etherealism, and realism of those worlds is reliant on what gear I am using.
 
Thus, Katana is better at transporting me to my musical nirvana without distracting me over one sonic quality over another; it just presents music in one cohesive, single voice.
I do not consider the Katana flat, as that would be closer to the Etymotic ER series, or Ultimate Ears UERM, or even Noble Savant.
I find it engaging in that it somehow, simultaneously, does not emphasise any sonic trait yet still presents a massive musical presence beyond your mind. Effortless is the closest descriptor I can think of at this moment.
 
Had the Katana not existed, the K10 would have been the ultimate IEM for me, and it is still amongst the best IEM’s/CIEM’s on the planet.
The Katana, to my ears, is superior in only that ability to be more amorphous.
 
For some users, the K10 with its better visceral impact (mainly, but not excluded to, on mid-bass) is a better quality to have than to lose, but the Katana swaps that for a more natural sound (to me), and I liked it.
To be honest, I wish I could have had a switch to go between the two on a single IEM ha ha ha!!!
 
 
...
 
 
Oh no, I wrote too much, oops.... :/

[Edit: slightly edited post for easier reasoning, and embedded two links regarding my JB3 speakers].