Noble Audio Sultan

Preamble:
Imagine Aragon riding into the streets of Minas Tirith in all his splendor to be crowned as King of Gondor in the final scenes of the trilogy. The hyped (and expensive) Sultan dropped by Noble is both similar and not at the same time to that scene. Noble, known for their aesthetics in the industry with some of the best looking (and also most expensive) shells and their famous crown logo is Aragon in his splendor, the Sultan is a title of prestige for a leader likewise to King of Gondor. However unlike the King Elessar, the Noble Sultan falls short despite the spendor surrounding it. Arguably this analogy could also apply to the Khan after my time with it, but at least that demo'd well and only degraded in ranking after an extended period. The scene might be more suited to Noble's biggest hit, the K10U as Aragon.

Design + Testing and other things:
So good stuff first (hoping Noble doesn't read past this). The faceplates are gorgeous, beffitting it's status as a king like Khan. Lot of points to Noble for this. We're back to aluminum shells! Those feel solid and also look classy. One of the things I disliked about the Khan was the acrylic shell and nozzles, so going back to that with the pre Khan nozzles was an excellent decision. So it looks great, butttttttttttt. I didn't have an issue with weight during my demo, but would factor in for longer sessions I'd imagine. Nozzle wise, I do wish for a more form fitting shape despite Noble sticking by their guns. Nothing really major otherwise (for now). Listening off my 1A in low gain at 55 (General Hybrid volume)

Bass:
The inclusion of a larger DD for the bass on the Sultan was good choice coming from the Khan, bass becomes more prominent in comparison as a whole rather than feeling underwhelming. Subbass extension is par for the course but benefited most from the change. Midbass is similarly bloated and there ends up being too much slam and impact for me, there's a bit of bleed and the mids themselves contribute a bit to this so i'm not sure if this is just the DD's fault alone.The midbass is where it differs for me from the K10U, with it being more controlled even with the bass boosted signature, no bloat or bleed to be found.

Mids:
Onto the mids! My biggest issue with the Khan was not the forwardness of the mids, but how shrill they were. The Sultan in my expectations should fixed this. And Noble kinda did....by going too much in the other direction.....In this case the Sultan was more laidback, and took a step back compared to Khan without going into recessed territory. All good right? Well....no, the mids end up sounding thin as well. So laid back and thin, but at least it's not shrill? The K10U arguably has better mids than the Sultan for my preferences: slightly forward and clear, not thin or shrill. Combine with the midbass, this just becomes unbearable for me.

Treble:
A big concern with the peizo tweeter on the Khan was that it sounded wet and surprisingly Noble managed to fix that without further causing other issuers or mucking it up partially. Like all other estats I've heard so far the treble is smooth. Slightly better than Tia, and definitely preferable to the K10U by just a bit of difference in this region. A 1 for 3 isn't bad I guess considering the M3 and Tux 5 seem to be failed experiments in comparison.

Soundstage is good sized and generally didn't feel cramp or overly spacious. That said it doesn't emphasize or tone down the issues I have with it which is a win

Conclusion:
Y'all going to notice that I start off with mentioning the Khan, and ended up going K10U this, K10U that. The most interesting thing about the Sultan despite it being what I would consider a W shape, it gives off a very strong K10U vibe when considered as whole. It's almost like Noble knows that the K10U is still their best and they wanted to reproduce it with the current tech at a much higher price to recoup expected sales that didn't come through post K10U, but that's pure speculation. Getting back to the Sultan, it tries to be the 2020 K10U but ultimately falls short in comparison. Prestigious? Very. worth the price tag? Not when the K10U exists for 700 USD in a Drop brand new (even though it was overpriced when direct from Noble) and it even fails to meet the bar of the K10U. I would be less punishing on the Sultan had the price tag was Khan range or even lower, but for this price this becomes an unpardonable sin.

Having tried the entire Noble line at this point, the K10U still holds the title of undisputedly the best model they have ever produced. And still truly the King Aragon Tolkien wrote about and both appeared on screen. The Sultan is only a pale shade of the K10U with the visible glamour, but not much besides that.

Bonus Round: If you're up for a W signature where the bass and mids don't do the things I've pointed out, try the MEST. It's less than half the price and does way better. The Bone Conduction Driver (BCD) may or may not do anything, but the rest of the drivers give a better presentation than what the Sultan does.

*Chuckles* I'm in danger, this is probably the most scathing impressions I've given to an iem, but it performs well enough even with my nitpicking that it earns 4 stars which would be my standard for "worth considering if you got the funds"

Prelude and Disclaimers: I’ve purchased the Sultan at its 3100$ retail value. Noble were able to make some custom faceplates for me based on the blue pinecone Prestige Khan that was featured a while back but they said they’d only do that if I write a super positive review and pay them 200$ so everything below is a few thousand words of pure shilling

I’m joking, spare my life pls

I’m also kinda curious about what happens to Noble when they run out of different words for “King.” There’s only really so many, and with a new TOTL every 2 years or so you can see how we’re on a very limited timeline here. BUY NOBLE NOW THE COMPANY IS SLOWLY DISAPPEARING

Packaging, build quality, fit and 6 other ways you can meet the minimum word count for your dissertation

The Sultan comes in the new NANUK case, which is essentially like a chubby Pelican. I quite like it personally as I can put several IEMs in their cases in it and use it as a protective shell. Certainly pretty good value there as opposed to a more standard cardboard box that other companies opt for.

The stock cable is great, although I’m almost certain that the pins are out of spec. When I tried to reinsert it into the Sultan, I was met with greater resistance than the one that the Rebels put up in Star Wars, so I simply gave up. Been using it with the Eletech Plato and am soon going to be trying it out with a bunch of wires that @doctorjuggles is making for me

You also get a leather case and some other goodies, all in all a great assortment of accessories! The included tips are exclusively foam though, and I hate foam, so I went with some Acoustune tips of my own.

The build quality of the Sultan is superb – I really like that Noble decided to go back to the aluminum shells from the Katana/Encore era, but opted for the more ergonomic shape of the Khan. I’m really not a fan of acrylic universals once you surpass the 500$ price point (they just kinda feel cheap and lazy to me), and actually what tipped me over to blind purchase the Sultan was exactly that.

The fit… I mean this is realistically super individual and depends entirely on your ears, but I find it is quite comfortable – during some really long sessions it can get a little uncomfortable due to the “rails” on the inner part of the shell but my ears have been through worse (Sony IER Z1R I’m looking at you)



Sound – I imagine you’ve skipped all of the above (I don’t blame you I would too), so this is where the review begins!

Before we really get started here let’s address the elephant in the room – the treble extension. To me the Sultan is one of the airiest monitors I’ve tried to date. I have mad respect for the consistency and effort crinacle has put into this hobby, but I simply had a different experience here. I also ran some frequency sweeps and I can clearly hear the treble extension up to 17.5k or so (without pumping the volume up), which is also where my own natural limitation is.

Anyhow, with this out of the way, let us begin

The Sultan is what I’d call a gently W-shaped monitor. The bass sounds like a certain blend of a DD and a BA, where it has the punch and authority of a DD, but the shorter decay and speed of a BA. I love me some proper DD bass, but I really like that Noble decided to go with a low end that is more consistent with the midrange, and as a result achieved really good coherence across the spectrum.

The point about the Sultan that I find rather unique is that there is a certain “clash” between the instruments and vocals that results in a really pleasing presentation. The authoritative low end adds some warmth to instruments, giving them really good weight and texture, while the treble adds a sense of sparkle to them. The vocals, resting predominantly in the midrange, are a little thinner and clearer, so you end up with this really pleasant and euphonic mix of a more open and clear vocals, married to a warm and gooey instrumental performance.

In terms of forwardness I’d say they’re slightly more forward than the instruments, but nowhere near as dominant as they are on monitors with a properly elevated 2k region. I also find that they are quite linear, and male as well as female vocals sound quite tonally correct without any significant enhancements, which is a massive positive for me – full bias disclosure, I really dislike monitors with an overly forward upper midrange.

The treble of the Sultan has all the qualities I can really ask for – relatively flat lower treble which never sounds peaky, sibilant or generally painful, with very slow decay and insane extension and upper treble presence. This is further enhanced by the very dark background of the Sultan which gives the treble a lot of room to operate in. The treble of the Sultan does require a little source matching in my experience though, but a little later on that.

On the technical side, I think the most distinctive quality of the Sultan is how black the background is. That creates an outstanding sense of space and even though the soundstage size doesn’t quite match that of the Thummim, it ends up coming across a little like that. The Sultan is also decently detailed and very resolving. It has one some level followed into the footsteps of the Khan, which I also found to be very technical but who’s tonality was too weird even for me.



Source matching

I found that the Sultan is quite reliant on a source that balances it well. I had great results with the LPGT, and pretty good ones with the AK SR25, out of the AKA adapter. The Sultan is a little sensitive for the Hugo 2 so there’s noticeable hiss, but it tends to be drowned out by the music quite easily. The brighter tonality of the Hugo 2 does not make the Sultan sibilant at any moment and was overall a good match if you don’t mind the hiss. That being said, it kind of eats into the super dark soundstage I mentioned which is a bit… meh

It is important to state here that the AK SR25, paired with the DD HiFi adapter (the 2.5 to 4.4) one, made the Sultan very sibilant, bright and unpleasant, so I can definitely imagine there would be other poor pairings for it out there. Let me know if you’re interested in any specific ones for me to track down and update you on.

For any comparison requests please ping me in my thread (can be found in my sig), as there are simply too many to cover

Noble Audio Sultan: The Delectable Dancer



1 10 MM dynamic driver
4 Knowles BA drivers
2 Electrostatic Super Tweeters (ESTAT)

The shell is a bespoke CNC aluminum body with a hand finished faceplate.
Impedance is less than 35 Ohms
Stock cable is the Noble Audio 8 Core OCC Copper Cable
$2900



Welcome to my mind! I have had a delectable dancer in my noggin. We have spent many, many hours together. She dances always alone and can dance any type of dance the song requires. I have fallen in love with her moves. So graceful but also can slam hard when the song requires. IMHO the perfect imaginary friend!

I was introduced to the Sultan when it was only a thought and prototype of Dr. John Moulton, the artistic scientist behind Noble Audio. It still did not have a name. His brother Jim runs the business side of Noble Audio. 10 months ago, I contacted John to let him know I had a mild issue pop up with one of my Noble IEMs. Rather than take apart the beautiful artwork of his wife he suggested I try an IEM that was mainly an idea with a prototype that he was still working on perfecting to how he wanted it to sound.

I agreed to his offer and ended up purchasing the Sultan at a reduced price instead of having the other IEM looked at. I think he did it so that his wife was not mad at him about taking apart her beautiful artwork. He did not want “ruined art” and I think he did not want to be in the doghouse. He never asked for a review of the Sultan and I never said I would review it as part of the deal. I am reviewing this IEM for two reasons: 1. Every X number of months I get the desire for this pleasurable cognitive masturbatory task. 2. This IEM is very worthy of a review. I only review IEMs and Headphones I love. It is too arduous of a process not to love the product.

Through concrete words, through metaphors, through analogies and through comparisons my goal of this review is to give you a very good idea of what the Sultan sounds like. At the end of the review if you have a woman or man delectably dancing in your head then I have achieved more than my main goal. We may both see each other at the State Hospital!



I did ask John some questions about this IEM once I had all my comparisons done and all my notes done. He said that getting the Sultan from idea to final product was a 2-year adventure. He wanted something with excellent solid build quality, outstanding sound and incorporate ESTAT drivers which is a huge challenge in and of itself. He waited on incorporating ESTATS in Noble IEMs until they sounded right to him. The Dynamic Driver is the same as the Khan but housed in a different bass module. Why mess too much with a good thing. This is the most thought out product inside and out that Noble Audio has ever produced.


PACKAGING

They come in a padded Sultan box that is inside of the regular external mailing packaging. Inside the padded Sultan box is a Nanuk 903 Noble case. I have never seen this type of case with an IEM. Larger versions are used for Audeze and ZMF Headphones. I included a picture below of how the Nanuk case compares in size with the Pelican 1010. The 1010 is standard for a lot of people for transporting an IEM and cable. Inside the Nanuk case is a small leather case for transporting the Sultan. I would get the foam precut insert for the Nanuk case and customize it to carry the Sultan with cable in the Noble leather case and my DAP. Everything would be extremely well protected. An appropriate number of tips are included. I am one that has had to sell numerous IEMs just because I could not get a good fit and/or a good seal. These are easily one of the most comfortable IEMs I have experienced. They are also light and feel so well built and seem extremely durable. They are solid!!














PRICE

Is it worth $2900? In comparison to current IEM prices, yes, it is. I have owned 39 IEMs in the past 2 ½ years. The Sultan runs circles around the $1000-1400 IEMs I currently own and have owned (The IEMs I have in the $1000- $1400 price range sound excellent and that is already a higher price than anyone needs to pay. But when you compare $1000-$1400 IEMs directly with the Sultan the difference is easy to discern). The Sultan beats out the $1700-$2200 IEMs I own and have owned. There are classics in all price ranges but this is simply another level and sadly enough is worthy of the price. None of it is justifiable. The price of the sound quality of an IEM like this is high.


DRIVABILITY

The Sultans are very easy to drive and sound good directly out of my computer and out of my phone. But due to the DD and probably also the ESTAT they do respond well to increased power. They are like a flower that opens up more with added power. The dancing inside my head becomes even more distinct.


FREQUENCY RANGES

I am going to spend less time talking about each frequency and more time talking about the overall sound signature and comparisons. This IEM can best be figured out through understanding of its overall signature and through comparisons.

The whole of this IEM is greater than each individual part.

Bass

The first thing to note on the bass is the rumble of the sub bass. Not overwhelming but more elevated than flat. The mid bass comes next. I like that this IEM works well with all types of music. The bass on the Sultan does not bleed into the mids. It is what I would consider an ideal sub bass and mid bass. Enough to have fun with but never get overwhelmed by.

Mid range

I need my mid-range! I need it bad. A dancer is only as good as their core. The core of the Sultan is as good as any other. A sultry tight mid-section with this one. The instruments and vocals are divine. The Sultan mid-range is slightly forward and has a slight thick tint to them. Not V shaped, not U shaped. The mid-range is also where the timbre shines and it sure does with these.

Treble

I am so glad that Noble Audio waited on implementing ESTATs for the treble. The treble is also slightly forward but not sibilant unless you are using a cold silver cable. Excellent texture and integrated well with the mid-range. Well done Noble Audio! It has the best treble I have experienced. If the treble is off then you might as well send the IEM to the North Pole with other unwanted toys!




SOUND SIGNATURE

Let’s look at the whole body of the dancer. When a dancer knows what they are doing you see the body as one. All movements smoothly align. It looks effortless and you can focus on the overall beauty rather than individual parts or focus on the individual parts. A delectable dancer!

I have had IEMs that had a great mid-section or great lower section or were well structured up top. But when each part was not great or even if each part was great and it is not all well integrated, you eventually stop inserting them. They end up not getting the attention they need because they either lack certain parts or each part is a separate entity and is not integrated well together.

The Sultan does not have that problem. The strength of the Sultan is how well everything is integrated. This integration happens in a fun musical way. The sound of the Sultan is enveloping. They are extremely euphonic. These provide the most enjoyable “all around the head” experience that I have ever had. The soundstage is wide in all directions. They are extremely detailed and musical. They are though not warm IEMs that you can put in your ears and ignore.

Here is an example of how vivid the Sultin is: last night I was listening to the song “Lull” by Radiohead which I have listened to many times before. At about 11 seconds into the song there are three chime sounds from what sounds to be a Triangle and then three times again at different times in the song. The Sultan is so vivid that it scared me the first time at 11 seconds. I have not heard those three chimes in such a vivid way before. It was special. It woke up the dancer in my head!

It may sound weird but each note has a little halo around it. The notes are not dry. Every note and every instrument are there in detail. Everything is elevated a little bit but nothing is elevated more than anything else.

The Sultan is a very confident dancer. The Sultan is so alive that before you insert another IEM you have to eat a bland cracker as a palate cleanser and taking a shower helps.

It is not a specialist like a lot of IEMs. It literally can perform any dance number you would like.

As I have already stated the sound envelopes your head. It is 3-dimensional holographic sound. You can pick any instrument you want or just the vocals and focus on it and it comes alive. It is like a portrait mode in your head if you want and any instrument can be the focus. Or just go into landscape mode and let it all come to you.

The Sultan can play the slow modal Jazz that requires proper timbre like The Bill Evans Trio. It can also play the super-fast stuff like Husker Dü that requires super quick responses. Nothing gets slushy. The Sultan dances every dance.


CABLES

The Sultan is a cable chameleon.

The stock is totally fine and is all you need. It is a very good stock cable. I am very glad that manufacturers are including usable cables with the purchase. It is a very good copper cable and compliments the Sultan well. With a silver cable the notes were tighter and there was more separation. The more silver the more forward it became. With copper the sound became warmer. The Sultan does respond well to cables. If you have not gone down the cable rabbit hole then stick with the stock cable. It is too late for me. My audio friends call me Alice.


COMPARISONS

I have posted some of these comparisons on the Noble audio thread. I cleaned them up a bit and added to them where appropriate based on my current understanding of the Sultan. I am comparing them with IEMs I own. These are all IEMs I love and enjoy very much. They each do different things well.


Sultan and the Noble Khan ($2399)

The Khan and Sultan Dynamic Driver may be the same but they have a different bass module. The Khan also has 4 BAs for the mids (implemented very differently than with the Sultan). The treble in the Khan is 1 10mm Piezo Electric driver.

Pick-up basketball: There is always that guy that is fun to have around. He is a little out of control. He is a little unpredictable. He wants to win. Annoying as hell to play against. Usually ends up on the winning side. That is Khan.

Then there is the Roger Federer type of pick-up basketball player that is super cool, super present, and always scores when needed. He always gets his points, gets his assists and even gets a fair number of rebounds. He is present and a little forward but always smooth. That is Sultan.

The Khan can be polarizing. Some love it and others do not love it. I do love it. Would I spend all night with it? No, I do not have the Khan stamina for that. But joy is to be had with Khan just not all-nighters.

I did not think I would be saying this but when I compare the Sultan and Khan directly they have a similar quantity of treble. I find the quality of the Sultan treble to be easier to listen to over time. The difference is that in overall presentation the Sultan has treble that is present and accounted for and it also has vocals and mid-range instruments present and accounted for. On top of that Sultan also has a little more rumble down under than Khan does. It therefore all fits together well with the Sultan. The Khan has treble that can be too much for some. The reason in my opinion is that the mids of the Khan are slightly recessed and are not thick. That then accentuates the treble and accentuates as well the excellent tight mid and sub bass of the Khan. That is why we all have preferences in what appeals to us in the dance moves in our head.

Here is a deeper look at the bass of the Sultan and the Khan.

Let’s start with Glory Box by John Martyn: A very simple analogy is that for this song the Sultan does to the Khan what Legend X does to the Sultan. The Sultan has such a deeper bass on that song compared to the Khan. They both do the song well but very different. The Sultan does the treble, vocals, and bass equally and impactful. The Sultan does it in an enveloping holographic way. The Khan has a more exact BA type of bass. The vocals are a little behind the bass and treble with the Khan.

Take the song Teardrops by Avishai Cohen (not the Israeli born piano player but the Israeli born trumpet player with the same name) and Big Vicious. The song starts with just kick drum and cymbals. The Sultan and Khan are almost indistinguishable. The Khan bass is quicker though. Super quick decay. The Sultan has a slower decay and slightly more pronounced sub bass. Then when the guitar and then trumpet start the difference is more prevalent due to the more forward thicker mids of the Sultan.

And finally Get Lucky by Daft Punk. Bass is minimally more impactful with Sultan. Khan is as I stated above slightly quicker. They both do that song so well. Once again, the difference is more forward and thicker mids that come out with the Sultan. The Khan is more intimate overall. Sultan has a bigger stage. The timbre is different. Thin and intimate for the Khan and thicker and larger for the Sultan.

And finally the first 16 seconds of Dreams by Fleetwood Mac is all cymbals and bass. Again, both IEMs sound great. The difference is so obvious with quicker tighter very present bass and treble on the Khan and slower, deeper and more layered bass and treble on the Sultan. Intimate vs. grandiose in a nutshell.


Sultan and Noble Katana ($1850)





Katana: a long, single-edged sword used by Japanese Samurai.

The Katana consists of 9 BA drivers.

I have spent many hours with my venerable Katanas and they do cut through the music with precision. They are super exact and detailed. The Katana shell I have is the Wizard/Joy Collaboration. The sound is the same as the regular Katana.

The Sultan signature is more enveloping with a wider soundstage. The Sultan is maybe only one row more forward than the Katana but the Katana comes across as a little brighter.

The treble of the Sultan is a little more pronounced and thicker than the Katana. The same applies to the mids. The Sultan is a little more thick. Not rounder and warmer but more thick and textured which therefore IMHO gives off a feeling of more warmth than the Katana.. The bass on the Sultan involves mid and sub bass and therefore more pronounced overall than the Katana. The sub bass of the Katana is more pronounced. I do not hear much mid bass with the Katana. The imaging of both is phenomenal! The Sultan imaging is wider and taller, less intimate than the Katana. The Sultan is more musical. The Katana is more analytical.


Noble Sultan and Empire Ears Legend X ($2300)

Legend X (LX) has 2 DDs and 5 BAs and 412 crossovers (ok only 10).

A little over two years ago a bit after the start of my IEM obsession, I purchased the Legend X. I ended up selling it about a month later. Looking back, I now know I let it go due to my lack of IEM maturity. I was younger and more innocent and lacked experience.

I was like a 15 year old trying to data a mature 20 year old. Just not ready! About two month ago, I was looking for a mature IEM that was an anomaly and nothing like anything else. My mind went back to that mature 20-year-old. I was two years older and 39 IEMs more experienced. The Legend X fills the fun, dark, heavy, complex, mature IEM slot that was missing in my life.

And then the Noble Sultan showed up at my door. Well hello Sultry Sultan! Both are complex and mature in a different way. The Sultan wants your attention and keeps it. Both are chameleons and can display their strengths in different ways depending on the song. The Sultan is a wonderful slightly forward W shaped, well layered IEM. To me the LX is an L shaped IEM. Bass gets the most attention (depending on the song), then the mids and then treble. The mids of the LX are the reason I will keep them. I need mids. I do not like scooped out. I also need vocals that are not hanging way back there. Both IEMs shine with vocals just in different ways.

What is wonderful IMHO is that I could have just these two IEMs and be content. Well maybe not. I would need to throw in a smooth mellow warm IEM for those retirement moments!

The LX has a softer treble and is further back in the presentation. LX has thicker male vocals. Sultan has more intimate vocals. Sultan female vocals have a better timbre than LX. With the LX, the female voices are not being allowed to be at their best due to the darker emphasis with the LX.

LX has rounder notes. LX is warmer. LX has mildly thicker bass on songs that are not bass heavy (that says a lot about the quality of the bass of the Sultan). The Sultan bass is no slouch. It is a combination of visceral sub bass and mid bass on top of that. LX has more sub bass classic subwoofer sound.

The LX turns the Fleetwood Mac song Dreams into a mellow and darker song with some nice sub bass thrown in. With the Sultan it is a super layered song with all parts mildly forward and asking for your attention.

The song Agbada Bougou from Tony Allen and Hugh Masekela consists off strictly bass, drums, and Flugelhorn. The Sultan emphasizes the cymbals with an amazing sub and mid bass. LX presents the song as darker with a sub bass emphasis and a fuller Flugelhorn and then cymbals are emphasized last. They take a wonderful song and make it sound great in two different ways.

Now take a bass heavy song like Lose Yourself To Dance from Daft Punk. LX presents scary scary goose bump inducing sub bass. It reminded me of being in my brothers Chevrolet Chevette many years ago with sub woofers that took up the whole back seat and part of the trunk. I was literally 15 at the time and very scared of driving in that sub woofer laden vehicle. It was white with light blue racing stripes along each side. It does not get better than that.

The Sultan presents the Daft Punk song in a more balanced fashion and more forward. The bass is still visceral and can be literally felt just not Chevrolet Chevette subwoofer felt. The vocals shine more on this song with the Sultan as well as everything else.

The LX is a classic and IMHO the Sultan will be a classic. That statement alone says a lot about the quality of sound coming from the Sultan. What is nice is that they both are amazing IEMs. They can both be in someone’s collection and coexist because they do not overlap much other than both bring joy but in different ways. I try not to keep them in the same drawer for storage. Personality conflicts and egos get in the way!


Sultan and AAW Canary ($2200)

Both have a similar driver make-up. Sultan has a 10 mm DD, 4 BA and 2 ESTAT. Canary has an Isobaric dual diaphragm 6 mm DD, 4 BA and 2 ESTAT

They have a similar driver make-up but wow are they different. The Canary is defined by warmth across the spectrum and takes a Mack Truck to drive it. The Sultan is defined by vividness across the spectrum. They both have an excellent soundstage. Width and depth are exceptional. The bass on both is very enjoyable. Canary is more of a thump vs thump and rumble with the Sultan. The vocals of the Canary are warmer and darker. The Sultan vocals are alive and more forward. The timbre on both is excellent IMHO. Along with warmth vs. vividness another huge difference is in the treble. With the Canary the treble takes the back seat to the mids and bass. The Canary need to ride in a newer truck with a backseat so the treble can sit back there. With the Sultan the treble is right up in the front seat with the mids and bass. You need a late model pickup truck if you are going to take the Sultan out on a date. The mids, treble, and bass need to sit up front with the Sultan and that manual shifter better not get in the way!


Sultan and Dunu Luna ($1,700)

Dunu Luna is the IEM that I cannot ever put the “u’ or “a” in the right spot when spelling it. In the picture above the Sultan looks like Andre the Giant but the Luna really is the one that is disproportionately small. The Sultan is a standard “gold nugget” IEM shape and size.

Two different set ups with these. Luna is 1 DD (Beryllium rolled foil diaphragm) and Sultan is tri-level hybrid. What I like about a very good DD IEM is the obvious coherency it can provide. For me most DD implementations tend to be specialists in bass or they tend to be too boring and/or not detailed enough. The Luna is detailed. It is smooth and it is musical. Kudos to Dunu for that. The Luna is sitting in the middle of the concert hall. Arms are above him with his hands resting on the back of his head. In a very relaxed confident way. I am here enjoying myself. Whether you enjoy me or not is up to you. I pull the Luna out of the IEM drawer when I want to listen to jazz and get that coherent timbrelicous vibe going on.

I wanted to compare Sultan to Luna because the Sultan has the rare ability for a hybrid to also be coherent. A lot of hybrids do not have that ability. Each technology in the IEM is separate and ruins the fun. I listen to certain hybrids and get bothered for example with how the DD bass missed the boat bleeding into the BA mids or how the new treble technology is a separate entity that brings too much or too little attention to itself. The Sultan is coherent. It is forward W shaped coherent. I hear the DD and I like you. I hear the BA mids and I like you. I hear the ESTAT treble and I like you.


Sultan and UM Mason V3 (PRICE $2,700)





The UM Mason V3 consists of 16 BA drivers.

If the Sultan is going to justify its price then it has to compete with the Unique Melody Mason V3. The UM Mason V3 is one of the best IEMs I have ever spent an extended time with. It is a master in detail with warmth and clarity and an overall layering that keeps peeling away the longer you listen to it.

I was able to compare them using the same type of cable since I have a 2 pin and UM connector cable of the PW Audio Loki +. This cable is an 8 wire 70% silver, 30% copper alloy.

The first thing I notice is that the notes are thicker on Sultan all the way around. The Mason V3 is in the center of the auditorium. The sultan is ½ way up from center.

The treble on the Sultan is more forward. The Sultan has more sub bass presence. Mid range is thicker and up front on the Sultan. The Mason V3 mids are more prevalent than its bass and treble. Both have amazing detail and both have a great combo of warmth and clarity.

Mason V3 is smoother across the frequencies with a slight focus on the mids. Sultan is W across the frequencies and also more 3D in soundstage. Sultan is more musical fun and loves caffeine. Mason V3 is a smooth cigar smoker but likes to also be on the periphery of the fun.


THE ABOVE IEMS AT A PARTY

The Sultan loves being the life of the party and usually gets in an argument with the Legend X. The Mason V3 throws in great one liners with perfect timing. The Luna and Canary are more in back and like to talk crap about the others. The Katana is the high-strung one walking around telling everyone how special he is. The Khan is outside the auditorium ready to jump them as they walk outside. Khan does not play nice but he does know how to get the dirty upper hand.



FINAL THOUGHTS

A Delectable dance. Each song is like a beautiful dance in my head. I can picture the dancer’s movements to the music depending on the genre of the music. It is a joy! The image of the dancer is vivid. Sometimes it is ballet, sometimes the Tango, sometimes Bachata, sometime Hip Hop. The Sultan goes in my ears, I get to pick the music, the music picks the dancer, and I follow her in my imagination. That is what the Sultan does for me! Now back to the State Hospital in my brother’s white Chevrolet Chevette with blue racing stripes!