As anyone who knows me, they know all too well that I am a music lover, gadget geek, hard-core technology fan, and a lover of well-made high quality “stuff”. So when all of these things come together in a pretty perfect formation (or at least, they claim to) then I can’t resist taking whatever product it is for a spin to see if they live up to their word and satisfy me in ways inferior products can’t.

Over the last couple of week, I was tasked with reviewing the KAISER 10U Noble earphones, and as you’ll go on to read, these are earphones like no other.

Getting technical

Earphones… pretty generic, right? Well wrong actually… very, very wrong.

The KAISER 10U Noble earphones (also known as in-ear monitors (IEMs)) set the bar and cast themselves apart from the comparatively lackluster offerings by other companies that you’ll find at your local electronics stores.

They’re precision machined with solid aluminum casing and put together by hand (and look pretty darn striking, too); they also feature “10 balanced-armature drivers per earpiece” (while I’m not entirely sure of the technicalities I know that whatever this actually means, to you and me, it means that they sound simply amazing). They come with detachable cable with industry standard 2-pin
configuration, and are made in the USA.

The clarity of sounds that the KAISER 10U earphones deliver is like nothing like I’ve experienced before, all while providing for seriously deep bases and music that you can lose yourself within (even when actually in the loudest of public places with screaming babies, road works and everything in between).

I read up before they arrived and found that these were actually developed for on-stage performers (where the sound quality obviously has to be top notch to overcome the stage speakers). Having taken a trial run this really doesn’t surprise me.

The Packaging

The earphones come in a very cool looking Pelican crush-proof carrying case, you do not want to accidentally drop these earphones or step on them, the case provides the peace of mind. Inside the case you you’ll find the beautifully hand crafted KAISER 10U earphones and the standard collection of 12 ear tips, four types in three varying sizes and colors.

Also perfect for small ears…

The standard pack of 12 ear tips are great for the music lover that finds it hard to get the right ear fit, finally someone has overcome that super annoying issue of earbuds that fall out every ten seconds (yes, I admit, I have seriously, and rather oddly, small ears – totally at odds with my feet, I hasten to add).

Make no mistake, these are earphones for the avid music fan and for the discerning guy or girl who is particularly picky when it comes to the super sharp sounds that they listen to.

Talking price point

OK, let’s cut straight to the chase here, at $1,599 these headphones are far from the ‘cheap seats’ but I’ve made my case for them, and if my experience is to go by, the price tag is more than justified.

Noble Audio has also just released a new and very limited version of the Kaiser 10U, in Black & Rose Gold, this is to match the popularity of the rose gold finish on many of the high end luxury watches. These limited edition earphones are produced in Santa Barbara, California by Neal Feay Co, whose client include luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior, Marc Newson and Holly Hunt. The Black & Rose Gold K10U earphones are limited to 100 units and are priced at $1,850 for a set, Noble is currently taking pre-orders, with expected shipments before the end of March.

The Noble Brand at Face value: Customization, amazing precious metals and seriously intricate designs

The Noble brand is to headphones what the band Queen is to the Rock world and what Oasis is to the British Pop scene. They are the best of the best, the crème de la crème, and they take their products, and their customers, incredibly seriously.

I wanted to give this a mention as I love companies that stand out completely from the rest, and with the use of metals such as 24K gold nugget, exotic woods and seriously intricate custom designs this is certainly one such company.

These headphones are the stuff of a musician’s dream, or an audiophile’s imagination and a music lovers must have – I’m sold.

Check out Noble Audio’s KAISER 10U earphones for yourself.