Noble Audio's new budget-ish IEMs are the closest thing to affordable luxury audio

Noble Audio is a brand known for high-end personal audio gear, with in-ear monitors (IEMs) making up the largest share of its highly revered product catalog. Despite its positioning as an ultra-luxury audio brand, what truly brought it its crowning glory was its lowest-priced (but not low-end by any means) IEMs, called Knight, which are Noble Audio’s highest-selling model ever. Driven by this success, the company is now launching another accessible pair, called Vanguard, along with a slightly luxe option, Iris.

Noble Audio Vanguard IEMs

The new Vanguard IEMs follow a similar three-driver architecture to the Knight. The setup includes a 10mm Polyether Ketone (PEK) dynamic driver for the sub-bass and bass frequencies. Meanwhile, two balanced armatures per ear handle mids, highs, and ultra-highs.

Noble Audio says the arrangement allows for “natural bass, extended treble, and fine detail.” The outer housing for the IEMs is made of aluminum for a lightweight fit.

Just as it did with the Knight, the brand wants to appeal to the masses with the Vanguard. It is, therefore, ensuring that anyone looking to get these as their first pair of IEMs can start rocking them immediately, and with any device. In addition to 4.4mm balanced cables with silver-plated OFC connectors and a gold-plated plug, the Vanguard also comes with a 4.4mm-to-USB-C adapter that lets you connect to phones and laptops and play without a DAC in between.

This is also possible with a high power sensitivity of 112dB/mW and a low 23Ω impedance.

The brand says all IEMs are hand-assembled and matched to ensure balanced, consistent performance across both channels.

Noble Audio Iris

In addition to Vanguard, Noble Audio has also released a second, more premium model: Iris. It comes with a single 10.2mm polyether ether ketone (PEEK) dynamic driver with three layers of PU (polyurethane) forming a composite diaphragm. This is backed by dual neodymium magnets.

These drivers are housed inside a custom blue Micarta shell, inside which triple cavities are carved for greater tuning control. Although the shell is CNC-ed, Noble Audio says each shell features a tiny flower that makes the IEMs feel exquisite and high-end.

All of these ingredients combined are claimed to deliver high-precision output across the Iris’s wide 10Hz-40kHz frequency response. In addition, the Iris offers a 34Ω impedance and 113dB ± 3dB sensitivity.

It gets similar PU-jacketed 8-core cables with 3.5mm and 4.4mm plugs, but no USB-C in the box.

Price and availability

The Noble Audio Vanguard IEMs are priced at $325 (£299 / €349), whereas the Iris will be available for $699 (£649 / €749).

Both of these pairs can be ordered through Noble Audio’s online store and select retailers worldwide starting today, i.e., July 7.