Noble Audio - Kaiser 10 (K10)

I mean yea of course that's not a hot take or anything, headphones or iems or even speakers can all sound better then one another within a similar price range. now will they definitively? Absolutely not but they have the possibility to and can. That said U say 1000$ iems are beating 1500$ headphones but u list a bunch of headphones that are nowhere near 1500$ as ur examples.....That seems a bit odd. I'd much rather listen to my he1000se if I'm looking for sound quality rather than my Kaiser 10 even if both sound good for example. Anyway I was a big iem fan in the early 2010s started with an old kilpsch model I forgot the name of that used to sell for 50$ at futureshop before moving on to the kilpsch x10. Then the Weston 3umx to the Weston 4 and then Shure 535. Then moved up to shit outside my local area and was popular on the headfi forums back then in the fitear 334 and aurisonics asg 2 (later updated to the 2.5 when sent in for repair one time) before finally settling on the Noble Kaiser 10. What I learned from that is iems can sound amazing and despite me thinking that sound quality was what I cared about most, what actually matters most is comfort and that's why nowadays I use the non insertion version of airpods 90% of the time instead of reaching for one.

I think around 300$ is the sweet spot. I have tea pros (349$), a noble k10u (1600$) and a campfire andromeda S (1059$) and the difference is just around 20-30%

Cheapest endgame to me would be tea pros (349$) they sound so good and that bass is 👌 I also have kilobucks from before like the Andromeda S (1049$) and noble k10ua (1600$) they are better in resolution and soundstage but not that big of a difference compared to the tea pros.

Noble K10s that the Wizard did fantastic colors with. https://preview.redd.it/rdaj1ehoidyf1.jpeg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9bd696e734a11a55b14821f428a6356d5be2020c

That totally tracks. I worked in the industry (64 Audio and Empire Ears) at the time when the K10 was released. I STRONGLY considered spending the cash for a set, but knew I'd have to get the Wizard colors (how could I not?!) I never pulled the trigger, but I loved how the midrange sounded on the K10s. I still might end up with a universal set, but until then, those the IEMs that got away hahaha.

I've had so many IEM that I can't remember all of them... If you have any questions do not hesitate Koss the Plug -> what are those bass UE SuperFi 5 pro -> balanced, more details Etymotic ER4p -> so fucking accurate Jays Q-Jays -> comfy Rocket R-50 -> 2 drivers that I really loved. The brand doesn't exist anymore... EarSonics SM3 -> okay that's what we are supposed to feel when listening to music. Sense of rythm. Westone W4 -> an idea of what high end iem should be EarSonics EM4 -> same as SM3 with a better accuracy and sense of stage/depth EarSonics EM6 -> PRaT, does music faster than the music itself. EarSonics EM32 -> second preferred iem ever. That bass. Those mids. Extended trebles with lot of harmonics. And that sense of rythm, foot tapping to the hell. Fischer Amps FA4 -> Westone 4 upgrade. Really good, still a recommendation. Custom Art Harmony 8 pro -> a good sounding iem. Beginning of the war of drivers. Custom Art Pro330v2 -> 3 drivers, 2 ways. Clean sound signature, a bit boring. Custom Art Music One -> Piotr's savoir faire. Incredibly musical single BA. EarSonics S-EM9 -> great tuning and capabilities. A bit off tonality. Not the best design (short nozzle). EarSonics EM10 -> probably my preferred iem ever. Excellent tuning, excellent stage, lot of details, resolution ok. Beautiful lifelike mids, especially women's voices and violin. Ultra exciting sound signature. Not an iem, but a music instrument itself. ACS Encore -> awful design but very big bold sound. Warm, delicate, easy to listen. Probably in my top 5 without hesitation. EarSonics EM64 -> guitar crunch. Spiral Ear SE5 Ultimate -> never fitted correctly, big regret. Vision Ears VE8 -> does everything well, nothing perfectly. Empire Ears Phantom -> fun, warm, but unrealistic tones. Custom Art Fibae Black -> best mono BA. Period. Custom Art Fibae 7 -> those mids! Noble Audio K10u -> one of the best IEM ever made. A legend. Great tuning, great technical capabilities. Not kept because of lacking musicality, involvement. Noble Audio Savant -> best 2 drivers ever. Loved to use them as a daily iem. Alambic Ears Jaws -> togo335 like. Fir M5 -> very high resolution but boring. EarSonics Stark -> underrated iem. Not as good as the EM10, but a really good intro in the EarSonics world. Custom Art Fibae 3x3 -> cool monitoring, ER4p upgrade. Custom Art Fibae 7 Unlimited -> how a fun iem must sound. Alambic Ears Mentawai -> big, tall, extended in all ways. EarSonics EM96 -> the neutrality without being boring. Full sound. Spiral Ear SE5 Nebula -> best all rounder ever. Incredible is an understatement. Bellos Audio X4 -> really good stage and tuning. Definitely not an upgrade.

I'm quite pleased with them. I started in iems in the wrong direction, the expensive ones. So far my history is shure se846, Noble k10, campfire Solaris, anole vx, empire ears legend x, and then Oriolus traillii. Then I wanted to get into headphones the same way, settled with the dunu sa6 mkii and fatfreq maestro mini for my iems. Found a good deal on tea pros, got em and it's what I listen to the most now. I do miss some lushness in the mids, but my music is better suited to v shape anyways, probably my ideal would be u shape (EDM, pop, hip hop) and I only got it because I heard it was good for gaming. It's so good at all of that, that I listen to it more than the Stax setup I bought. At retail price, I'd strongly consider it. At sale or good condition second hand, it's an instant buy for me