Hello everyone!

Today I’m going to write down my impressions about Noble Audio Kublai Khan.
Being a quadbrid in-ear monitors it features dynamic and bone conductions drivers for lows, balanced armatures for mids and piezo-electric super twitter for highs.
I’ve used N8ii, M17 and DX320 DAPs for the purpose of this review. Cayin RU6 served me as a dongle connected to my iPhone.
Liquid Links Venom 4.4mm cable was used as a primary one as I found cable upgrade to be absolutely necessary to get most of KK.
Oriolus Traillii was used as a main comparison product with both Venom and stock specially tuned 1960s cable.
All listening was done using Tidal. All players default software were used for reproduction of flacs and DSDs stored on a micro-sd card.
As for genres I listen to all of them but mostly to Western Rock, Pop, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal and Electronic music.
Kublai Khan was purchased using my own funds on an autumn sale in @MusicTeck for a discounted price.
I have no affiliation with any parties or manufactures mentioned above.
Everything written below are my own impressions of how I hear the things.
I’ll mainly focus on a sound and music reproduction quality except for the first section below as Kublais are really gorgeous IEMs.

Look and Feel

Yes, as I have stated above this are one of the most visually stunning pair of monitors that I ever listened to. The shells are lightweight enough but on the larger side of scale. I don’t have any problems with fit having a moderately sized ears. Shells resin material feels very comfy and pseudo custom shape of them helps here a lot. On the other hand KK longer and thicker nozzles caused some problems to me in terms of fit and comfort using some of the aftermarket tips.

Synergy Caveats
The hard truth is that Kublais are the most picky and tricky monitors that I’ve ever owned. It was a long journey for me to find optimal synergy between KK, cable, source and tips to sound best.
I’ve ended up using stock default wide black silicone tips as they give you both best separation and good BCD effect.
Medium-sized Spinfit CP155 and CP500 cast larger stage and boost BCD bass but alters mids and highs in a less pleasant way to my taste.
None of the Azlas either fitted or sounded well to me. JV Spiral Dots++ made sound too hazy and over-accentuated highs.
All smaller sized tips not always provided more comfortable seal but usually screw up stage perception or certain parts of FR.
Another thing you should note is that KK scale greatly with the source and generally won’t be against both additional power and current.
All the above mentioned DAPs drove them best on the highest gain setting possible.

Cables Synergy
Unfortunately stock cable is a mediocre at its best. Using default tips mids are reproduced clearly and engaging but lows are hazy while highs both sandy and compressed. Using it you might get around 60% of KK potential.
It does look good in terms of how it looks but its plasticity make it feel very cheap and inappropriate to the rest of the package.
Stock Traillii cable widens stage a bit and give snappier presentation of mids and treble, but bass and mid bass become much warmer, relaxed and even bloomy.
Venom stretches the width of the stage a bit more, provides additional clarity, improves separation and details retrieval. It also bring mids a bit more forward and adds overall body to the notes - all of the above tames upper frequencies a bit removing some harshness that you can get with sources that do not round or roll-off highs in this or the other way like N8ii.

Sound Impressions

General Profile
I would describe KK tuning as a J-shape one. In my opinion at the end of the day Kublais are slight treble-head IEMs. While you can generally tune it down to be more balanced in terms of signature I think you would enjoy them more If you want to specifically get additional details in the treble region.
You got a slight bass-boost mainly in a sub-bass region but it is not overemphasized. You will hear an engaging bass but only when it is called for. BCD add nice effect of feeling the bass physically and some depth transient with better textures.
Mids are recessed a bit and are very linear.
Highs are very forward, thick and meaty. You won’t hear them ethereal like on regular e-stat drivers, nor they are rolled-off by tuning.
Timbre-wise this result in a sort of natural and engaging sound from bass with very clear thin live-like mids topped with somewhat artificially overexposed details in highs.

Soundstage
One can describe Kublais soundstage as a sphere placed on wider basement.
Lower register drumming sounds are cast the widest while mids are stretched a bit narrower with highs being the narrowest and in your face.
The depth is good especially in bass due to BCD but the rest of the spectrum is less separated being more dense. Stage height is more on the average side.
Instruments placement is a bit hazy and not cutting-edge pinpoint.

Details Retrieval
You are going to hear a lot more details in highs than usual due to taken tuning approach with those piezo drivers.
Mids are not the most detailed ones while the amount of details is good for the asking price. You will never feel that you miss something when you are listening to KK.
BCD bass transients and texture will also add another dimension while I must admit that I don’t think they are absolutely necessary in music reproduction - rather being some alternative enjoyable flavor that you quickly get used to.

Comparing to Traillii
So how does 3800$ USD combo of KK + Venom stands again 5800$ Venom + The Bird?
When switching to Traillii first thing that I immediately notice is an increased resolution in mids. Dare I say it - by a degree . It’s like switching from 100nm microscope to a 10nm one. I hear much more details in vocals and string instruments. Mids feels both more thick and rich sounding. Micro-transients are purely taken on another level along with separation.
Second thing that comes to my mind is a much larger soundstage on Traillii. It feels like listening to some planar full-sized over-ear headphone.
Bass on the Bird is the best BA-implemented bass that I heard in my life. It is more than enough for me personally while I can easily understand if one would prefer DD + BCD textured version of Kublai Khan. It is more a matter of preference here.
Highs on Traillii take completely different approach than on KK which make the overall tuning more natural and relaxed - they are never harsh or sibilant while being the same detailed and preserving the sparkle where needed. They are just not overemphasized while being more airy and rounded.
One area where Kublai Khan performs better is its clarity which could be more appreciated while listening to Electronics genres of music for example.
Overall I would say that Traillii is a better all-rounder with superior technicalities. Bird’s tuning is more natural but also more relaxed.

Conclusion

I would say that overall Kublai Khan is a very interesting offering from Noble Audio playing in the mid-top tier segment.
It allows you to enjoy a refined sound signature with interesting implementation of bass and highs if you are able to find a good synergy to your taste.
I can recommend to try it if you are up mixing additional treble details into an overall balanced engaging and clear tuning.
Road to the proper setup could be tricky but worth it if you manage to find one.

Hello everybody!

Today I’ll be reviewing Cayin N8ii and comparing it with iBasso DX320 (using Amp 11.2s, 12, 13), Astell & Kern SP2000 and FiiO M17.
I’ll mostly focus on sound quality otherwise we all risk falling asleep.
Oriolus Traillii with stock specially tuned PW Audio 1960 cable and Rognir Planars (bass version, non-perforated pads) would be used to to describe my sound impressions. I’ll be mostly using Tidal official app to compare the DAPs.
I listen to all the genres of the music both well and poorly recorded but mostly to Western Electronics, Pop, Rock and Metal.
As a regular disclaimer - all equipment was bought using my own funds and I have zero affiliation with any of the manufacturers mentioned.

Let’s start!

Look & Feel


N8ii chassis look gorgeous. It’s big window in the middle of the left side of the DAP provides you a nice view on a pair of NuTubes which could nicely glow in the dark once you activate them. Volume knob with its engraving looks luxurious and classy - not overly shouty or tasteless. Aluminium black finish goes well with the rest of N8ii exterior.
Battery life is quite long and the only thing that mismatches a DAP of such price is it’s screen. It’s both small, having overly warm tonal balance and big sized pixels that could be easily seen with a naked eye. Touch screen also doesn’t often work as expected in nuances though they are not critical.
You can operate this DAP with one hand while it’s still a bit bulky and something like SP2K or DX320 would be still easier to use.

Solid State Sound

Without any exaggeration I’m hearing an extremely detailed sound using Cayin N8ii with P+/AB modes activated. Every micro transient is there along with the tiniest of the details. I believe this is the first thing that would be brought into one’s attention once N8ii starts playing music.
Just this fact alone brings this DAP to the top TOTL level - I’m really amused straightaway by such technicalities.
You can hear a very clear and controlled sound reproduction.
The soundstage is not wide but its not too narrow using P+/AB modes while being a very deep one.
The timbre is neutral-cold to my taste and I perceive it like a very honest although it’s not the best allrounder - more on that later.
The separation is great: you get powerful and tight sub bass, strong but not overly brought into attention bass, clearly distinguishing mids and kind of even pronounced highs which help to keep the overall picture focused.
While the more time you listen to N8ii the more you understand that part of it’s soundstage depth and overall clarity is achieved by pushing back parts of the mids and mid bass. I do feel that there is too much of a good thing here as it influence vocals reproduction. They are a tad too distant and lack body by a very small fraction with male vocals suffering the most.
Also highs won’t be forgiving so if record has some piercing or hot passages you’ll definitely hear them.
Reducing P+ mode to a P one will pull out a noticeable amount of both dynamics and dynamic range also narrowing the stage. Switching from AB class amplification to pure A class flattens the stage depth, sound textures and transients further while also not widening the stage.
Oriolus Traillii are known to have great over-ear headphone like soundstage width but in P/A mode it becomes way too small. Everything including vocals become placed so close providing uncomfortable feelings for me.
As for Rognir while you can drive them to a satisfactory level using P+/AB I still feel that there is not enough power supplied to drive them to their full potential as they lack dynamics a bit. Switching to P/A will deliver you a real claustrophobic experience.
So in my opinion N8ii is suited to drive IEMs and some non-demanding dynamic headphones rather than planars.

Tubes Sound

Let me put it straightaway - tubes in Cayin N8ii is something that I’m puzzled with and let me explain why, but first of all let’s see what happens when you activate them.
So once those four green lights pop up you can hear that background becomes less black, soundstage depth flattens a bit, some parts of lower mids and highs become less apparent while other part of upper highs becomes more.
Also bass and sub bass soften a bit, overall sound becomes a tad smoother and receives those well known tubes textures flavor, while not that much of it. I can hear a little to almost none warmth injected and in terms of harmonics it reminds me setting a value of 20 on a Hiby RS6 harmonics controller.
In P/A modes N8ii becomes very hot, so I won’t be risking putting it into a pocket. Also in P/A depth flattens furthermore so in some tracks I get a very strange feeling that singer vocals are born right in the middle of my brain - like it’s me singing when I’m not actually singing.
I don’t enjoy it at all and that’s on Traillii! With Rognir this became even worse.
So why I’m puzzled with tubes if there are no issues for me with them in P+/AB?
The reason is that I can’t find a single track where I would prefer N8ii tubes over SS mode.
And balanced tubes are being one of the main part of the unique selling point of N8ii also justifying it’s price.
I know that some people like to apply tubes to old or badly recorded tracks or some just prefer tubes with their gear on N8ii but that’s just not my case. Such a surprise!
I do feel that if either tubes only add their flavor to sound textures or provide a more significantly different signature there is a higher chance that I would be using them.

Solid State Comparisons

SP2000

Despite being recently discounted SP2K still remains the top flagship DAP of Astell & Kern.
It’s soundstage is wider than Cayin’s N8ii while not having such big depth. SP2K tuning is on the neutral-warm side and I find it a more pleasant and natural allrounder. I would say that SP2K provides a true rich HiFi pleasant sound whatever it means.
You can hear that mids and mid bass are not recessed in any ways delivering you very rich sound in those areas including both male and female vocals. Also highs are never too hot or overly piercing unless you listen to some extreme recordings. Both DAPs have great bass and sub bass as well as dynamics and dynamic range.
In terms of details I’ll give a slight edge to N8ii as on some tracks you can hear micro transients and details better.
Noise floor is higher on SP2K though it can easily drive both IEMs and planars like Rognir or DCA Noire.

M17

FiiO flagship DAP is amazing on how it is able to combine top ESS chips detailed sound with musical smoothness and clarity.
Again it’s soundstage is much wider than N8ii and in DC mode it has spectacular and more natural depth.
In terms of tuning M17 is more flat one with a bit less sub bass and linear mids. It also does not accentuate any part of highs but you can also hear some sibilance as on N8ii sometimes if the recording is up to it.
As for details it’s a tie here while I do prefer N8ii textures reproduction over M17 smoothness. M17 is winner in DC mode in dynamics and it can also drive more hard IEMs and headphones obviously due to it.

DX320 Amp 11.2s

There is a drama saga ongoing with DX320 stock amp due to firmware updates changing sound. As I can see most people prefer original sound with more tight and deep sub bass with more engaging mids and without artificial extreme layering and strangely accentuated highs. Upcoming newest software should solve those issues but let’s see.
Timbre-wise Amp 11.2s is unique as it gives you a special liquid sound. Something in the middle between solid state, R2R and typical tube signature.
Soundstage is significantly wider than on N8ii with good but not so big depth - it varies depending on the firmware also.
As for details and dynamics I think it’s a tie here and more a matter of preference of how things are being reproduced. If you want crystal clarity and tightness then go for N8ii. If you want that unique liquid sound - DX320 Amp 11.2s is all yours.
DX320 can drive both IEMS and not demanding planars but in case of Rognir I’ll still prefer M17 and SP2K rather than Amp 11.2s due to better synergy in clarity.

DX320 Amp 12

This was an unexpected pairing that surprised me positively as originally I bought Amp 12 just to test its true line out. It turned out to be a very good math to listen to IEMs and headphones even without further modding. Amp 12 does not have such a total black background as N8ii or Amp 11.2s but has a tuning reminding me of SP2K. Of course Amp 12 and SP2K differ in details with Amp12 having a bit more focus on mid bass and less micro contrasts applied on the frequency range but still it is a very pleasant natural sounding a bit warm and pleasant amp module.
Stage again is not that deep but much wider than on Cayin’s creation and it can drive both my IEMs and planars.
In terms of details and dynamics it’s again a tie in my opinion while you have to apply some burn-in into Amp 12 as out of the box it could sound a little bit diffused.
In my opinion Amp 12 is a better all rounder than N8ii if we are talking about solid state amplification.

Tubes Comparisons

DX320 Amp 13

Amp 13 supply two different tubes flavors through it’s left and right phones outputs respectively. Left PO is a crystal clear one with great separation and very light, euphonic sound. Sub bass is great and tight, but part of mid bass and lower highs are recessed in order to achieve such signature.
Right PO is a more balanced one with a hybrid-like sound without drastic dips or accentuations except for some part of the mids brought very forward. Sometimes this results in instruments playing just around you and not in front of you. So you might get a feeling that you are on the stage rather than sitting among spectators.
Sub bass on right PO is a bit less strong than on left one and is comparable with Cayin’s by it’s quantity with tubes turned on.
Nothing is overly smoothed on both POs, you can start hearing any smoothness only starting from mids and below. And it’s very delicate.
Both POs are very detailed and doesn’t fall behind N8ii while left PO will put out some some portion of details out due to being very airy and vocal centric in mids.
Soundstage is much wider with Amp 13 and with good depth - which is comparable to N8ii in tubes mode this time.
Which tube flavor to chose between Amp 13 options and N8ii is a pure matter of preference here as they all differ significantly between each other.
I enjoy Amp 13 left PO most.

Conclusion

Cayin N8ii is a great DAP to use with IEMs or non-demanding headphones with top class solid state amplification. It will suit you well if you value soundstage depth over its width and don’t mind a neutral-cold timbre with a tad pushed back vocals.
If you are looking for a tube flavor I encourage you to be both cautious and brave If it is possible go and have a listen to different DAPs including iBasso DX320 with Amp 13 along with tubes implementation on N8ii which also sound quite unique.
If by any chance Cayin release say N7 without tubes and overheating but with the same solid state section I feel that I would be eager to exchange my N8ii for it.

Hi everyone!


Today I’ll be reviewing iBasso DX320 DAP mostly focusing on the Amp 13 card while I’ll say some words about the stock amp.
I’ll be using Oriolus Traillii and Rognir Planars (bass version, non-perforated pads) together with DX320 to describe my sound impressions.
As for competition FiiO M17 and good old Astell & Kern SP2000 would be used in comparison.
I’ll be mostly using Tidal official app to compare the DAPs.
All equipment was bought using my own funds and I have zero affiliation with any of the manufacturers listed.
I listen to all the genres of the music both well and poorly recorded but mostly to Western Electronics, Pop, Rock and Metal.

Stock Amp 11 MKIIs

Important thing to tell right away is that firmware updates do change sound reproduction significantly.
With original firmware the sound is something in the middle between solid state, R2R and tube flavors.
It is well detailed but has liquid transients and a tad thick notes resulting in a little smoothness across the frequency range and a good amount of body.
Soundstage is holographic and instruments placement is quite precise.
As for the sound signature it has a moderate mid bass emphasis along with a bit hot highs, and manages to sound somewhat dark from mids down to bottom.
Bass and sub bass are going deep but a bit not so well controlled as on SP2K/M17.
My only concern would go to a bit more forward than I prefer upper highs range but that is it.
If you like described type of sound you can consider it as a side grade to SP2K.

Unfortunately newer firmware sound much worse for me - I can hear too much artificially layered sound with even more forward lower highs, it’s not coherent and a bit “dead” for me in some regions which puts it behind all the competition. Bass and sub bass suffer from a noticeable dip and are way too soft. Lower highs are too laidback, upper highs are further annoyingly forward.

I hope that in future firmware iBasso will introduce timbres switch to choose from original and new one.

Amp 13

And that’s the whole different story!
This amp have two 3.5mm single mini-jacks that have different sound output and power.
Few great things to mention - despite being single-ended they are no sloughs and I’ll be comparing them with balanced connections on M17 and SP2K!
Also in terms of technicalities it worth to say that DX320 is not compromising micro details on both POs on Amp 13 due to overly smoothing them.
That’s really cool!

This amp adds more smoothness and tubes texture the lower you go in the frequency range - that does mean that you still get crispness and edges where needed, just they are not that laser sharp starting from midrange down to bass (compared to any typical good solid state amp).
Soundstage wise DX323 is being a tad wider than SP2K, while M17 in DC mode is still producing the most wide and deep sound.

As for the cons - Amp 13 is picking noises from it’s own DX320 WiFi components which is a clear issue during streaming sessions. For the first few seconds when new song is being buffered or any other data synced you’ll hear a muted but noticeable noise. I don’t know if this could be properly addressed in future software updates.
Also Amp 13 does not have LO function on both its output which is somewhat sad.

Amp 13 Left PO

That one is currently my favorite one!
It has the least power but the most euphonic and lush sound. Some of you might call it a hall sound.
It is very clean and clear - tight and strong sub bass and bass, rich mids but with a huge lower mids dip along with less pronounced lower highs dip.
Those dips make overall sound a bit on the brighter and lighter side while also laying back music in those regions - so tuning wise details could be perceived as compromised there.

As for SP2K I can say that AK’s creation is more neutral and reference tuned compared to Left PO on Amp 13. It doesn’t have any drastic dips, but it also lacks that lush and euphonic sound. It brings you more edgy textures and pure SS timbre instead.
Same goes for the comparison with M17 here.

Amp 13 Right PO

It does actually sound like some sort of hybrid mode - coherent and not an artificial one like on SP2KT.
Tuning wise it is neutral and more reference without big dips that could be observed on Left PO.
Sub bass is a bit less strong and upper mids are very forward.
Those forwardness result in putting you right on the stage rather than keeping you on the seating rows. While it makes sound more engaging I personally don’t appreciate it as it screws expected instruments placement for me in some songs.
Tube flavor is much more delicate here but still helps to deliver more rich textures.

In terms of technicalities I’ll put Right PO on par with other DAPs. Both SP2K and M17 have stronger and tighter sub bass with more grainy edges in highs - while DX323 will deliver more textures in bass and a tad more holographic sound thanks to NuTube.
M17 in DC mode will still hold its crown in layering, dynamics, micro transients and details - while all of this is much more noticeable with over-ear headphones rather than IEMs.
I was really surprised that without DC mode M17 additional power was not able to grant it superiority on DX323 Right PO. It’s a bit surprising keeping in mind those DAPs size/weight difference.

Conclusion

DX320 is definitely a bit controversial DAP due to noticeable sound signature changes on stock amp after software updates and Amp 13 picking noises from DAP’s own WiFi, but in the end of the day the most important question is do you enjoy it or not?

As for me - I really do!

I love that lush euphonic portable tube sound through Amp 13 Left PO and I can always switch to the Right one in case I need to do some critical listening session.
And for it’s price it’s a steal.

For now DX320 won’t be able to substitute my other SS amplified DAPs but that is why I have them all to be able to choose from.

Hope that iBasso future updates would improve situation with the stock amp sound signature and WiFi issues with Amp 13.

To further music enjoyment!