[doctorjuggles]

All I listen to is metal..maybe I have some more money in my mattress..lol

If you're anywhere NYC, @Audio46 will have it for you to audition I'm sure!

 

[Silverlinings]

If you're anywhere NYC, @Audio46 will have it for you to audition I'm sure!

I’m maybe a 45 min drive from them in NYC…

 

[Silverlinings]

Cross posting a review which can be found here....

This is a review I’ve been meaning to get to for several months now. Not because I wasn’t looking forward to it (far from it) but because, like with so many of us, real life managed to intervene and, before I knew it, I reached the end of the year and my “to-do” list was longer than a Guns n’ Roses rider.

However, the end of the year also brings with it some downtime and, away from work and with a short gap and some spare time between Christmas and New Year celebrations, my gain is your loss.

I write reviews infrequently, haphazardly and with a tone best described as “why did I read that?” Really solid stuff.

My own personal preferences and other caveats to be aware of are as follows:
• I prefer a warmer sound. For instance, the Legend X is still one of my favourite IEMs.
• Sibilance has no place in my ears and, if an IEM is prone to it, I will stop reviewing it – it’s a waste of my time and, more importantly, a stress on my own fuse which is short at the best of times. Sibilance is a quick way to switch me from “mild-mannered lothario” to the phrase “slaughtered thousands before turning the gun on himself” appearing on the news. I still like “air” and all that stuff, but I don’t like scratchy highs/mids.
• I honestly couldn’t tell you if an oboe is at 4Hz or 50kHz. I review like a small child who has recently grasped both grammar and sound. I don’t know what octave anything is in and, while I can tell if things are in key, you could hold a billion dollars (or a newly-released flagship IEM) right in front of me as reward and I couldn’t tell you what key it is. I like music, that’s about as much as I know about it.
• Like most people, as time has ravaged my body and mind, the sound of the screams has rendered my hearing useless above around 14.5kHz. For someone who has always preferred bass to treble, this is less traumatic than it might seem, but if you want to know if the weird sound at 19kHz on your latest drill-metal favourite is faithfully rendered, it’s probably best you hang out with bats and the such.
• While I should not have to say this – this stuff is all, quite obviously, in my opinion/experience.
• I get bored easily. This review will be….oooh look, a new email has come in…..

Righto – with that in mind, I’m going to start with the TL;DR.
This is, without question, the best IEM I’ve ever heard for metal and hard rock. More specifically, the higher the dynamics in the music, the more this seems to reward you.

If you’re still reading, I’m assuming you’d like more info, which I will reluctantly now provide. (I’ve had to delay stuffing my face with the next batch of Quality Streets to provide this, so just be aware you’re on a warning for stretching my patience here). Still, at least we're rid of those "TL;DR" losers - it's a lot less crowded in here, but somehow even more cosy eh?

Anyway.

Time to be less glib - it is absolutely not an exaggeration to describe this as the IEM which responds most to energy and dynamics that I’ve heard. It is the physical embodiment in the IEM world of the phrase “what you put it is what you get out.”
I mentioned metal in my TL;DR, but I’ll start with some electronic music to highlight a point. Playing something like “Distant Sun” by Sir Real, it is immediately evident that this is not just a one-genre pony – the dynamics shift and rumble, driving the music forward in a fantastic, rolling ball of aural energy – all stabbing synths, precise hi-hats and grumbling bass. It’s filth and the Kublai Khan is wallowing in it.
However, perhaps due to the comedown from this, if I switch to a more laid-back electronic landscape (in this instance, Christian Loffler’s “A Forest”) I’m greeted by the corollary to the aforementioned phrase – what is put in is a lulling, soft and gentle stroll through the keys and notes. It’s pleasant enough, good in fact. But coming from the excitement that this IEM creates when the chaos is turned up to 11, I am somewhat less enthused.
Everything is where it should be – it’s all perfectly serviceable and, when compared to lesser IEMs it stands out as good, but against other types of transducer that do “low-key” very well, it’s half a step short.
In essence, it’s a victim of my new expectations.

Switching across to the KR5 to ensure I’m not being unfair, I hear a touch more detail, it’s a more enveloping sound and, where the KK lays out the info for me to go searching, the KR5 offers it up on a plate – “can I interest you in a tiny, muffled sound in the background which you’ve never heard in this song before, sir?”
“Don’t mind if I do, actually, thank you.”

But to continue down this route is to ignore the point of the KK.
I already have IEMs that do calm and relaxed. If you listen to laid-back jazz, deep house, chillout or any genre where you don’t have time for the IEM to pull you out of your current focus and wrench you into the world it creates, then the KK is good, but there are probably better options.

However, if you have ever wondered where rock bands find the energy to get on stage 2 hours late, tear the roof off a venue, display questionable morals and then pass out in their own vomit, I present to you the distillation of this ethos – the Noble Kublai Khan.
It does not want to take you on a second date. It wants you to have a first date you will remember for the rest of your life and then it wants to never call you again.
But fortunately, if you own it, you can force it to!
And luckily, like our plucky guitar heroes, it got so wasted last night that it doesn’t even remember you went on a date together, so it will treat you to the same high-octane adventure you had on the previous occasion.
What more could you want?

One oddity for which I struggled to find a place for this to sit naturally within, what we can all agree, is a rather stellar piece of writing, surrounds the performance of the KK with spoken word (stand-up comedy, podcasts etc.) There's a very, very strange "ringing" and hollow sound. The KK is not alone and it's been present on many IEMs I've tried with haptic bass feedback, so it's a tech issue more than a Noble issue.

Anyway.....I ignored this and listened to more music.
I found myself rifling through all of my old favourite metal albums, some of which I have heard just a few weeks previously, some of which I have forgotten. But I knew what I was looking for. Wall of sound energy. Throw it at the KK and watch it come back at you with fury of knuckle-duster encased fists – it is remarkable how much it can bring a tired, old, forgotten track to life. Coal Chamber’s “Loco” is crisper and harder than I’ve ever heard it. Dez Fafara is here, in the room with me….angry. I must have eaten his last yoghurt.
Marilyn Manson whisper-shouts into my ear, turning the Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams” into a darkened nightmare and it’s glorious. The cacophony of drums, bass, guitar and reverb pulses – it’s the same feeling I get when I’m at a gig that’s almost too loud – where the joints and rivets shake with pressure – the building doesn’t seem to know how to deal with the noise and everything feels more exciting – will everything remain standing? I don’t know, but I’m enjoying it while it’s happening!

Again and again, I listen to old favourites with new ears. Megadeth’s “Good Mourning / Black Friday” sounds like it’s straining at a dog leash – the dog is far stronger than the owner is used to, pulling at him and leading him down a dark alley….then the breakdown happens and all hell breaks loose. The dog is free of the leash, gambolling along the alley, terrifying passers-by with teeth bared.
Metallica’s “Am I Evil?” does the same – early calm and then half-way through the gears change and the engine flexes its muscle. A Prius changes into a Mustang 4 minutes or so into the song and it’s off into the distance while all we can do is stand around smelling the burnt rubber. The guitar solos towards the back end of the song add a touch of understanding of how delicate the KK can sometimes be – while all around are losing their minds, strolling straight down the middle with alacrity and aplomb rolls Kirk Hammett – the KK doesn’t put a foot wrong and it’s like I’m hearing it for the first time again.

It can become a cliché to say things like “rediscovering my collection” and I’m usually as bored by the phrase as the next person. But I honestly cannot think of another way to describe it.
And while I normally cannot be bothered with stuff like technical performance, soundstage comparisons and note-weight and tone, even if I was the type of person who was able to articulate that information, I think with the KK I wouldn’t have bothered anyway. To do so is to miss the spirit of delightful anarchy of the KK itself.

I am fortunate to have a large choice of IEMs and sometimes it can be difficult to choose one.

More fortunately still, though, I now have a much easier choice when I know the music contains energy. Like the recent breakthrough in fusion technology, somehow Noble have discovered the secret to extracting more energy than is initially introduced and it’s now the reactor for a vast chunk of my record collection.

How do think this would fair with current prog metal? (Dream Theater, Haken, Evergrey, Etc.) I currently own the UM Mest MK2 (which I really like) and the newly acquired Thieaudio Prestige.

 

[doctorjuggles]

How do think this would fair with current prog metal? (Dream Theater, Haken, Evergrey, Etc.)

Sorry - never listened to a minute of prog metal in my life that I'm aware of so I don't think I'd be much use to you here but maybe someone else can chip in

 

[Silverlinings]

Sorry - never listened to a minute of prog metal in my life that I'm aware of so I don't think I'd be much use to you here but maybe someone else can chip in

Ok, but you mentioned Metallica, etc. in your review. That's close enough lol.

 

[Silverlinings]

As you can tell by my signature now..Kublai Khan is incoming..let the games begin..

 

[jwilliamhurst]

As you can tell by my signature now..Kublai Khan is incoming..let the games begin..

Stoked for you! Let us know what you think once you get it.

 

[Silverlinings]

Stoked for you! Let us know what you think once you get it.

I definitely will.....

 

[Silverlinings]

Sorry - never listened to a minute of prog metal in my life that I'm aware of so I don't think I'd be much use to you here but maybe someone else can chip in

Now that you persuaded me to buy the KK from your review, I heard someone builds really great cables around here. I wonder who that could be?

 

[gazzington]

I'm thinking of getting a new iem. I like genres from classical to edm and metal to even jazz. Which would be best out of the noble line? Sultan or kublai khan?

 

[drftr]

I'm thinking of getting a new iem. I like genres from classical to edm and metal to even jazz. Which would be best out of the noble line? Sultan or kublai khan?

Sultan if you prefer a warmer and less coloured sound. It's my one-does-it-all. KK is tighter in the bass, extends a little further, is the more technical of the 2, but mids are more coloured which I found less preferable for classical. Both are fantastic but I consider Sultan the better allrounder for the genres you mention.

drftr

 

[SLC1966]

Sultan if you prefer a warmer and less coloured sound. It's my one-does-it-all. KK is tighter in the bass, extends a little further, is the more technical of the 2, but mids are more coloured which I found less preferable for classical. Both are fantastic but I consider Sultan the better allrounder for the genres you mention.

drftr

+1. I agree fully with your assessment.

You articulated the differences well.

 

[drftr]

@gazzington Seeing your comment on @Wyville's classical music thread I noticed that you're in possession of both a Sony and a Hifiman DAP, and I want to share this short write-up after your Sultan-related question that I did on the Watercooler a few weeks ago. The very few and minor quibbles that I have with Sultan can easily be resolved and in my opinion makes them unbeatable for classical, jazz, pop, metal, you name it, given that you listen with ears, heart, and soul, instead of searching for technical perfection only. On my journey I had already compared them to more than a handful much more expensive competitors (sometimes more than double the price), but the following experience made that I have totally given up on the idea of trying to upgrade even further and that I will focus on synergy within my chain instead. Do notice that the cable is an important departure from the stock cable too though to get the complete picture.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...ge-all-welcome.957426/page-2979#post-17322617

drftr

 

[Blueshound24]

I have been looking forward to the Mystique to be released, and have been told it would be in January. I don't suppose you have an ETA for those?
Thank you.

 

[jwbrent]

I’ve been burning in my newly purchased Viking Ragnar and I’m up to ~120 hours, but given what I’m hearing, I’m going to put even more time on it.

I was surprised by the bass performance given the double 10mm drivers, this set in no way is a basshead’s wet dream. It is a very neutral bass with some sub-bass and, to my ears, perhaps less mid-bass. I’m using final E-tips which have been my go to tips for a few years now, but I may have to experiment with others if the extra hours don’t open up the bass as I like it.

I have no troubles with the mids and trebles that some have reported, part of the reason likely is I have a Lotoo dap with its famous golden tone in the upper registers.

Just my two cents as of now, I’ll report back when I get some more time and try other tips.

One thing, the build quality on my set is top notch, without a doubt.