Massdrop Noble K10 on sale Friday

I have been torturing myself trying to decide on an IEM and was going in the direction of a 64audio tia fourte only because there always seemed to be that small step better ... I started looking (looking being the operative word so reading reviews and comments here) at the new encore and katana but concluded I might not like them as I really like reference quality sound - neutral and then a few others in this range and then the next category seemed to be the zeus xr adels or tia fourte (there were a couple of others but this is where i focused). When I was thinking about a 1k difference in price, while not reasonable, perhaps once to get better sound but at 2k difference in order to improve over this massdrop noble k10 https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-noble-kaiser-10-universal-iems?mode=guest_open, I'm thinking of going for the k10 with the 40$ balanced cable option and putting the rest of the money back in my pocket. I travel too much and am upgrading my iems for that purpose/use case.

 

As a watch enthusiast, one thing i have learned: never *settle*. It works out to be more expensive in the long run.

If you like the sound of the K10s, by all means get it. But if your heart is set on the Tia Fourte, and you are buying the K10s just to save money, chances are good that at some later point you will regret not getting the one you really wanted.

My general philosophy in life these days is - figure out what you REALLY want. And if it is a realistic option, get that. Save a bit longer if you have to.

 

Boy I hear you. I was originally thinking of UE18 or U18 Tzar but didn't want customs and the tia fourte's weren't much more. There seems to be universal agreement that the Tia Fourte's are superior but not necessarily night and day vs some other IEM's, incrementally better. I was very interested in the k10's but not the encores or katana's after reading reviews. You're probably right, buying the k10 will lead to another purchase. Hopefully they'll tweak the new technology with the fourte's and make it better and cheaper in the future. Its the journey right? My brother will like my hand me downs on this!

 

@Lou Casadonte

The tia's aren't that great for the price, actually. There are issues with the treble, for example.

It's hardly a universally agreed thing that the tia is spectacular. I understand that there is a fanboy thing where people are either 110% into something or they hate it, but I think the tia is very good, but with some issues that get in the way of its price/value ratio. The tzar is worse.

I'm not saying you should buy a Kaiser, but I would consider it and some other high end iems rather than buying a tia because it's the "best" without having a balanced take on it. At least consider the tia's strengths and weaknesses like you would any iem.

P.S. here's my tia review: http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...ars-tia-fourte-or-not-bad-for-the-price.4921/

 

I'm not sure if the K10's would fit what you're looking for then. Have you heard them before? The Katanas are closer to neutral than the K10s are imo. If you're really looking for a more reference or neutral sound, the Campfire Audio Andromedas would fit the bill better.

 

The guy says he likes neutral sound but is looking at k10, tia fourte and tzar, none of which have a neutral sound.

That means: @Lou Casadonte, before you make any further posts, read this:
http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...audio-gear-words-of-wisdom-from-sun-tzu.2366/

 

@kunlin. Thanks for linking to your review and also for the sun tzu wisdom. I had not read that yet. Unfortunately I do not have access to try which is what makes things frustrating. Reading and researching yields different opinions of course and many thought there was sibiliance in some of the IEM's we are talking about. I was also looking the andro's but thought they might wind up too bright. I ruled out the vega and then started considering the UE18 but did not want to go custom. While you pointed out up front that the fourte's had a lot of treble you also indicated they were among the best IEM's you ever heard (not a value for the money). Any other recommendations?

 

Well, the k10 is rich, warm and not sibilant, yet with present treble.

Andro may be too bright, for long listening they tend to be for me.

UERR is a non-fatiguing reference sound and may be the best choice of all for you, but they are ciems.

 

So you're not opposed to the UERR, @Kunlun ? I know they don't get as much love as the UERM around here...

 

Not at all. People were mad that they didn't sound like their beloved uerm, but they are excellent as they are for being well extended, no weird BA treble peaks

 

I've been hearing all this talk about the Prophile 8's. Might look into those as well.

 

Andros sound varies a lot depending on output impedance of the device your using, and tip rolling makes a big difference too. As for the UERR vs UERMs, most people just wanted a straight up improvement without significant changes to the FR. We didn't get that unfortunately, but a lot of UERM owners have just moved onto the Andros.

My advice is to hold off on any purchase until you get to hear some of these IEMs. Try to attend local or regional meets, and eventually participate in loaners when they come up.

 

The first question is - do you really want a neutral signature? I think a lot of people starting out assume they do, but they closer they get to neutral the more they miss the embellishment that tilted signatures can provide with the genres of music they listen to.

If so, K10 are not for you. They do some things well (mainly cohesion between drivers) but they are warm and syrupy - like beer goggle for your ears.

Unless you have money to burn and like the dopamine response you get from clicking ‘buy’, don’t order something that doesn’t fit the brief just because it’s on sale. You will end up spending more money in the long run. If you aren’t able to audition IEMs I would just slow down and do some further reading. There is a wealth of experience here.

After a few false starts (UERR then Andromeda) I have settled on Prophile 8 as my ‘reference’ IEM.

 

After some discussion on HF and elsewhere, the John Moulton confirmed that the Massdrop k10 will have the same internals and tuning as all other universal k10s (not the encore).

 

Measurements: https://clarityfidelity.blogspot.com/2016/08/noble-audio-kaiser-10-universal-new-ver.html

Impedance dips to around 14 Ohm at around 10KHz, which means it'll draw less voltage there than anywhere else on its FR, which explains the 10KHz dip. It also means that a typical 2 Ohm output amplifier will slightly overdampen the 10 Khz region, resulting in slower-than-normal decay of those frequencies.

Whether that produces desirable SQ or not... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Turns out I'm actually in need of a pair of something for traveling at minimum, so I joined the drop for the K10's. Does anyone have any recommendations on tips? I plan to try out fit with the 11+ included tips and explore Comply foam tips if nothing works out, but I'd appreciate recommendations from this community.

 

Massdrop x Noble K10U has been extended with an additional 140 units. The extension drop is here: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-noble-kaiser-10-universal-iems