Noble Audio - the Wizard returns!

[FullCircle]

I'm pretty bad at clicking but here you go!




A heartfelt thanks to @twister6 for suggesting these foam tips for my peak issue! It's super smooth now.

All aluminum housing
Built to last

 

[iFi audio]

All aluminum housing
Built to last

Do you know how much it impacts weight by any chance? I wonder whether this is any sensible versus acrylic housing.

 

[FullCircle]

Do you know how much it impacts weight by any chance? I wonder whether this is any sensible versus acrylic housing.

Aluminum, probably not much.

The stainless steel damascus face plates would have more impact than the aluminum housings.

That said, brass housings are by far the heaviest we have ever used.

 

[Beh0lder]

Is there a physics related reason why you used acrylic for the KK instead of the usual metal shell?

 

[FullCircle]

Is there a physics related reason why you used acrylic for the KK instead of the usual metal shell?

It was mostly a price point situation
We wanted the Kublai Khan price to be near the Ghengis Khan.

 

[Skullar]

Yeh the price of KK i think is relatively ok for what it is. Its got solid competitive technicalities of TOTL iems. One just needs to like its tuning.

And i did like it with with warmer source.
If i was in market for an iem of that price. It would be one the of top candidates.
But the days of splashing the big buck are gone for me.

 

[fejnomit]

Yes the KKs play very nicely with the iBasso DX300 and its warmish yet detailed signature. Technicalities on the KK are superb - they have spoiled many of my other IEMs for me. You get you used that insane depth and air brought about their unique use of the bone conduction drivers combined with wonderful treble extension and everything else sounds so flat and clogged. I just got rid of a lot of more mid-centric stuff in order to buy them after auditioning - not just to be able to afford them (!) but because the others just didn't excite me anymore after listening to the KKs for a long period.

 

[Lemondante]

KK is truly TOTL performance, and the price bracket it fits just makes me thrill. Excellent job!

 

[snowy8171]

Will Def need to try the KK. Wonder how they compare to the Indigo. Same price bracket

 

[Damz87]

Will Def need to try the KK. Wonder how they compare to the Indigo. Same price bracket

I’ll be publishing a review shortly that’ll have comparisons between Indigo and KK, but I can tell you now that I think they trade blows for technical performance in most regards to my ears. However, where KK has an advantage over Indigo is the soundstage. KK’s sounds considerably larger to my ears. Midrange detail retrieval and resolution i’d also give to KK although the difference isn’t so drastic there.

 

[Skullar]

I’ll be publishing a review shortly that’ll have comparisons between Indigo and KK, but I can tell you now that I think they trade blows for technical performance in most regards to my ears. However, where KK has an advantage over Indigo is the soundstage. KK’s sounds considerably larger to my ears. Midrange detail retrieval and resolution i’d also give to KK although the difference isn’t so drastic there.

Curious to hear your comparison, as you have them back to back.
It did feel like Khan to sounded more expansive. What im curious about is how imaging plays out, given that Indigo is silly good in that regard.

 

[Damz87]

Curious to hear your comparison, as you have them back to back.
It did feel like Khan to sounded more expansive. What im curious about is how imaging plays out, given that Indigo is silly good in that regard.

Yeah lol, Indigo still takes the cake for imaging IMHO. To my ears KK’s imaging sounds a little more hazy (not as pinpoint) when I compare the two. But like you said, Indigo imaging is silly good and basically all IEM’s I’ve tried sound inferior for imaging if I compare them against Indigo

 

[simaab]

How does your 424 compare to the Headamp GSX mini in the background?

The 424 is warmer and deeeper. Gsx mini sounds super refined and clean to my hearing.

 

[armstrj2]

I've just published my thoughts on Kublai Khan if anyone is interested in taking a read: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/noble-audio-kublai-khan.25955/reviews

 

[fejnomit]

I've just published my thoughts on Kublai Khan if anyone is interested in taking a read: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/noble-audio-kublai-khan.25955/reviews

Great write up - thank you! I agree very much with your findings. And in particular the section on cable rolling. It's often the case that listeners want to try to "tame" a certain section of an IEM's FR and I have certainly tried this many times in the past with many different sets and cables. BUT ultimately my new revelation (which I am sure many have had before me) is that a cable which supports rather than contradicts the strengths of an IEM is far better in the long run, even if it means not "taming" something like a periodic high-mid or low-treble peak. The piezo treble on the KKs is one such example - that treble is what undergirds the openness and sense of space and imaging and detail on the KKs and I don't think you would ever want to try to bottleneck that in any way. But I like your recommendation of the Cardas Light as it seems to let that top-end be free while also perhaps warming the mid-range and mid-bass a bit to balance everything out a bit more. Also, as compared to the Indigo (which my KKs replaced): yes the Indigos' imaging abilities are a notch above (and, as stated, perhaps the best there is) but the clarity of the mid-range and the way the bone conduction "breathes" into your body (different from Indigo and Evo) on the KK, combined with the true-to-life timbre of the treble, put the KKs quite a bit above the Indigos for me.