[Sebastien Chiu]

Ooh.​

 

[FullCircle]

 

[Tidal user]

Hi guys, im looking for either models (Massdrop x empire ear zeus vs noble kaiser) however not sure whats the differences between both?

Appreciate those with experience on both and share insight and advice about them which has stonger bass, better mids, non sibilance high etc?

I have survey and for amount of $ i get TOTL instead of andromeda, ier m9 etc.

Thanks in advance.

 

[SLC1966]

A new King is in town! I mean Sultan:

 

[SLC1966]

I know Andrew at Bloom Audio has the Sultan's in stock. I am not sure on anyone else. I wanted to post a couple informative pictures today.

The Nanuk case is large but could also be set up to carry a few IEMs or your source and IEMs. I wanted to show it compared to a standard 1010 case. Your audio gear will be super safe in this case. I would buy Nanuk foam with the precut squares and set up the inside exactly how I want it. The small leather pouch is perfect for just the IEMs and the cable. And the cable BTW is a real cable. It is much larger than the standard flimsy cables that comes with a lot of IEMs. It is light enough though to use for everyday use.




I also wanted to show the size of the Sultans compared to a known entity the Legend X. The fit for me is excellent. I have about 9 different sets up tips I work my way through to hopefully get a good seal. A lot of IEMs are hopeless for me in the seal department. My first ones the Spiral Dots ++ went in a slid out. My second standard tips the regular Spiral Dots went in and stayed and are super comfy for me. The Legend X took until about my 5th set of standard tips to get a seal. The Azla Sedna Lights.

 

[gnahra]

I know Andrew at Bloom Audio has the Sultan's in stock. I am not sure on anyone else. I wanted to post a couple informative pictures today.

The Nanuk case is large but could also be set up to carry a few IEMs or your source and IEMs. I wanted to show it compared to a standard 1010 case. Your audio gear will be super safe in this case. I would buy Nanuk foam with the precut squares and set up the inside exactly how I want it. The small leather pouch is perfect for just the IEMs and the cable. And the cable BTW is a real cable. It is much larger than the standard flimsy cables that comes with a lot of IEMs. It is light enough though to use for everyday use.




I also wanted to show the size of the Sultans compared to a known entity the Legend X. The fit for me is excellent. I have about 9 different sets up tips I work my way through to hopefully get a good seal. A lot of IEMs are hopeless for me in the seal department. My first ones the Spiral Dots ++ went in a slid out. My second standard tips the regular Spiral Dots went in and stayed and are super comfy for me. The Legend X took until about my 5th set of standard tips to get a seal. The Azla Sedna Lights.

great pics and initial thoughts, thank you. beautiful IEM. case is huge!
will be curious to hear your impressions vs the LX in particular (as it looks like that's the only IEM we share in common)

 

[SLC1966]

I will spend 100s of hours with these over the next couple weeks and take a lot of notes and make in depth comparisons to other IEMs I have. I will then spend a good chunk of a day putting it all together for a review that will hopefully be fun to read (for my enjoyment and hopefully yours and never ribbed) and be informative for you. I get the desire to review something about every 6 months. And here I am at that point again!

Over the last 2 1/2 years, I have owned 40 IEMs. With the Sultan after the initial listen, my wife looked at me and said "that is the first time I have heard you say 'wow these are good' after an initial listen". My initial take on these is yep, these are the real deal!!

 

[toaster]

With the Sultan after the initial listen, my wife looked at me and said "that is the first time I have heard you say 'wow these are good' after an initial listen. My initial take on these is yep, these are the real deal!!

WOoooOoOOOOooOOOO!

Looking forward to your...and your wife's : ) ... further impressions on these.

 

[choisan]

i am interested to know where is the new sultan made? US or China?

 

[FullCircle]

i am interested to know where is the new sultan made? US or China?

Parts are aquired all over the world.
(Germany, Thailand, China, USA, Canada)

That is not considered an exhaustive list, but it is asummary, as our supliers get their raw supplies from areas that we are not very clear on. (Example, the laquer used is from a German supplier, but where the raw goods come from and where they are refined is not information that I am privy to)

Final assembly of the Sultan is performed in the USA.

 

[choisan]

thanks for the info, pretty understood that parts will be coming all over the world. i am very happy that Sultan is made/assembled in US, how about the other models? Many friends of mine saying that some are assembled in China

 

[SLC1966]

A couple thoughts about the Sultans: These IEMs will not be polarizing. I think some of the early implementations of the EST drivers missed the boat. The treble on the Sultan does not miss the boat. It is present and accounted for and so far seems very well integrated with everything else. Thank goodness. I was about to give up on IEMs with EST drivers. I can say that the mids do not lag behind anything else. Nothing is off with the vocals and the instruments in the mid range. They are not thin. The bass? All I can say for now is that the bass is really special There is an extended rumble going on that I am really enjoying. I have a long ways to go before I get a grasp on the bass of these.

A new IEM to me is like a new tennis racket. When you first pick it up you can tell if it is good or not that is for sure. You can pick out its glowing attributes even though the racket still owns you. But slowly over time you get to know everything the racket can do for you and cannot do for you and that is when you own the racket! Right now I can say these IEMs are extremely good! It still owns me but over time I will own it!

Later tonight when all is quiet I will sneak my Khan out of its lair and have a Zoolander treble off with Sultan! Um Gottes willen!

 

[FullCircle]

thanks for the info, pretty understood that parts will be coming all over the world. i am very happy that Sultan is made/assembled in US, how about the other models? Many friends of mine saying that some are assembled in China

Partial assembly can be done in certain areas of the world and that is a common practice. (Even in the IEM industry)

For example: Knowles offers a pre-wired driver/internal kit. What this means is, if say a company had a multi BA internal design, Knowles offers a service in which the internal drivers are wired together to customized specifications.

That pre-wireing service is done in China.

So in theory, one company could order drivers from Knowles & the drivers would be built in one country, shipped to China for the wireing service (partial assembly) then the drivers are shipped to their prospective owners.

The Knowles GQ series driver is a good example of a pre-wired kit type driver set up that would require partial assembly service in China.

At the end of the day, I would wager every manufacturer in this industry will have some relationship with China to varying degrees.

 

[SLC1966]

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.

Well 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.

Treble: I did not think I would be saying this but when I compared them directly they have a similar quantity of treble. The timbre may be different but I need more time with Sultan to talk about that. 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 body shape of others.

 

[Sunstealer]

I've been struggling to find synergy with my Tux5 and DX228EX - the stock copper cable is a little too boomy and brittle sounding and a copper/SPC hybrid I made was exacerbated the mid recession. When I reviewed them I noted that the sound was cooled and sharpened with a silver plated cable. I have just received a Moon Audio Silver Dragon V1 which has absolutely energised the Tux5 for me. The mids have opened up (like a veil has been lifted), the treble and detailing has awakened, the bass kick is still there but not as overbearing as before. I'm now feeling more comfortable sonically with the Tux5. Cheers!