NOBLE AUDIO SULTAN -REVIEW

The Sultan—A Very Noble IEM!

John and Jim Moulton are the brothers behind the Noble Audio In-Ear-Monitors (IEMs) based in Texas. John, referred to as the “Wizard” is the design engineering who works his magic with the Noble Audio IEMs via various hybridizations models—Balanced Armature (BA), electrostatic, dynamic driver, etc. Some of the hybridized models have been very popular, while some have not been quite as popular. But so it goes for all companies with multiple product lines. Jim is the financial guy of the organization, the CFO so to speak and makes sure, I’m told, that the bottom line is always “in the black.”

The Noble Audio brothers produce several IEM lines—Prestige Universals,  the Wizard line, and its Custom line. The Prestige Universals “are crafted entirely from solid art mediums such as exotic wood and other aesthetically stimulating materials,” and they can be ordered in a Universal or a Custom fit. The Wizard line represent a truly one of a kind IEM, that once produced will never again be replicated or so says the Wizard of Noble Audio. And the Custom line is simply that, custom IEM’s molded specifically for a unique client fit.

This brings us to the subject of today’s review—the Noble Audio Sultan ($2900). The Sultan from a strictly aesthetic perspective is quite elegant, as it brings together both art and jewelry design.

REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start with how the headphones actually sound and not the process of physically “undressing” them and/or laying out their various parts, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as a  non-linear movie—Memento, Kill Bill, Arrival, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Terminator, Dark City, In the Shadow of the Moon, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning.

The Sound

The Noble Audio Sultan is, well, persnickety, in that it will play beautifully with some source/eartip combinations and quite poorly with others. In this the Noble Audio Sultan has red-lines. And one of those red-lines is being fitted with the improper eartip. This will result in short-term—one hour or so—listening fatigue. And based upon experience, in general, electrostatic drivers working the treble in IEMs can be very problematic. I’ve listened to a good number that have been configured in this way and have reviewed only a couple, as only a couple have made the cut. Our mandate is not to shred products, as our very subjective opinions should not be utilized as a destroyer of goods. If you can’t say something, anything, good about a product, then send it home. In the Sultan’s case it can sound quite good given the proper elements—a robust, driving source—Shanling M8,  the iBassoDX220 AMP1 MkII, and the Cayin N6II/A01—and foam tips.

Properly equipped—foam tips, good source—the Sultan will reach to the highest heights of treble extension, bring good resolution, clarity, and speed and the Sultan will not fatigue for several hours. Its bass extension, however, is adequate but not earth-shattering and its sub-bass reach is, well, not really there.  

The Noble Audio Sultan’s volumetric cube—its soundstage—is of a relatively good size. Its width, depth, and height are also good but not the in top echelon of its flagship brethren. The Noble Audio Sultan’s positioning, layering, and separation will not disappoint and for most music the Sultan will perform well.

The Noble Audio Sultan was reviewed in single-ended mode, with its stock cable, and the medium-sized, Spinfit eartips. It was partnered to the Shanling M8 and the iBasso DX220/AMP1 Mk II and the Cayin N6II/E01. 

BASS

As Eiji Oue’s The Firebird Suite (1919 version): VII Finale (Stravinsky, Reference Recordings) begins the Sultan provides for quite good transparency and resolution, as those things well known—macrodynamic cues, coughs, pages turned—heard over so many listening are easily perceived and experienced. And the the Sultan provides good bass across the track, but there is no rumble and no thunder from the sub-bass, which takes away a good bit of the drama across this track. Likewise on Massive Attack’s Angel (Mezzanine, Virgin Records) there is bass but no sub-bass or rumble, though there is very good inner detail across the track. 

Midrange

On Joan Shelly’s Wild Indifference (Joan Shelly, No Quarter) there is very good separation, good weight across the midrange and a very nice, rich, even tone/timbre.  Olafur Arnald’s Árbakkinn provides yet more of the same with the Sultan matched to iBasso’s DX220 AMP1 MkII. There is also very good clarity and speed and even good weight across the midrange. And the Sultan’s handling of microdynamics give good positioning clues for a more believable, out of the head, performance. 

Treble+

Again there is consistently good inner detail retrieval as rendered by the Sultan, across the Kronos Quartet’s Aaj Ki Raat—Tonight is the Night—(Kronos Caravan, Nonsuch). Here the soundstage is of good size, the dynamics lickety-split fast, and treble extension is very good as there are no associated nasties—sibilance, harshness, stridency. However, on Patricia Barber’s Modern Cool album, a brutal test track album for sibilance—the Sultan displayed some sibilance, but provided good transparency, air, and, again, only moderate bass.

The Wrappings and Accessories

The outer, brown containing box is, well, barely passable in terms of design aesthetic and levels below the actual design of its IEM, contained within. Perhaps the person designing the IEMs should have a go at the containing box. 

The saving grace of the Noble Audio Sultan’s packaging is the Nanuk 903 carrying case which rests inside the outer box. It is compact, built like a small, hard-plastic tank, and secures nicely, via no nonsense, side latches. Contained within the Nanuk 903

• 1—pair of Noble Audio Sultan IEMs

• 2—Noble Audio rubber bands, black

• 1—Magnetic, leather-like, magnetic-fastening, carry-case, black

• 1—Fabric travel pouch, black

• 1—Noble 8-core OCC copper cable 2-pin IEM termination and a choice, upon ordering of 3.5mm, 2.5mm, or 4.4mm termination

• A large assortment of foam and silicon tips (S/M/L)

Given the rather exceptional design of the Noble Audio Sultans the outer box is, decidedly, down-scale and most reminiscent of a shoe box. But again, the Nanuk 903 carrying case saves the day. 

Design—Look, Feel, and technology

The Noble Audio Sultans are themselves beautifully executed from an aesthetic and industrial design perspective. Precious jewels, amber baubles, with their machined aluminum bodies are rather striking and easily resemble jewelry. 

The Sultans, however, are large and will not neatly situate themselves in small to medium sized ears, though with the proper eartips the Sultans will sit securely within/upon one’s ears. Foam tips were used for the entirety of the review.

Coupled with their shiny, black-coated wire, with titanium colored barrels, and gold colored 3.5mm terminations, the Noble Audio Sultans are, indeed, striking from every angle and beautifully executed. 

The Specifications

Noble is quite stingy with the various specifications, as they were not immediately available on the Sultan’s web page. What we do have from the Sultan’s webpage and a bit of research are the following specifications:

• Driver Tech/Type (7 Driver, 3-Way):

• 1-10mm Dynamic Driver

• 4-Balanced Armature (BA)

• 2-Ultra High Frequency Electrostatic

• 1.2m, 8-core OCC copper cable with 2-pin termination

• Impedance: 35Ω (possibly or less)

Drivability

The Noble audio Sultan has, presumably, a low impedance (35Ω -Ohms), though its sensitivity seems to be state secret or, at least, a company secret. The Sultan played well with some devices—top level DAPs—and a few others, but not with a rather wide range of low powered dongles. 

Comparisons

The various IEMs were partnered to the iBasso DX220/AMP1 MkII. And it came down this time to three songs that would be utilized to differentiate the various IEMs. The comparisons were done using the following tracks/songs:

• Vilde Frang’s Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 35 (Britten Korngold, Warner Classics)

• Kandace Springs’ 6.68 (Indigo, Blue Note)

• Eiji Oue’s Firebird Suite V. Infernal Dance of King Kashchey (Stravinsky, Reference Recordings)

FiiO FD5 ($299)

At the asking price of $299 the FiiO FD5 is, without doubt, a competitor to many flagship products at nearly ten times its price. On Vilde’s Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 35 the FD5’s highs were extended free of grain and stridency and harshness. The same could not always be said for the Noble Sultan, which when pressed could be strident and congested, even with foam tips. Without the use of foam tips the Noble Sultan became fatiguing in relatively short order. Across the midrange the FD5 brought very good weight, transparency, and smoothness, that was very nicely engaging. The Sultan, however, brought very good transparency across the midrange, thought it did not have the weight, nor the natural tonality of the FD5. There was more of a Balanced Armature (BA) signature in the Sultan’s midrange. Finally, despite the Sultan’s 10mm dynamic driver it could not match the weight, nor the sub bass reach or rumble of the FD5.

MMR GAE BOLG ($1199)

The MMR GaeBolg brought a transparency and resolution to Vilde’s Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 35 that opened a window on the performance and that brought great resolution and was also beautifully engaging.  The GaeBolg’s treble performance was not rolled off, nor was it harsh or strident. As noted above the Sultan’s treble could at times be harsh and could become a wee bit congested depending on the music. On Kandace Springs 6.68 the MMR GaeBolg was transparent, it unveiled excellent tone/timbre, and provided for a weighty lower midrange foundation, that was very addictive. The Sultan could not match the GaeBolg’s naturalness, its transparent rendering of the midrange, nor the ethereal nature of Kandace’s voice on this track. The GaeBolg and the Sultan were, however, closely matched with regard to bass weight and their inability, relative to the FD5, to find the sub-bass region as required by Eiji Oue’s V. Infernal Dance of King Kashchey. 

OBRAVO EAMT-2C ($3000)

There are few IEMs, save for the EAMT-2C’s big brother the oBravo RA-C-CU, that can match the EAMT-2C's transparent, musical rendering, natural tone/timbre across any part of the frequency spectrum. From Vilde Frang’s Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 35 to Kandace Spring’s 6.68 to Eiji Oue’s V. Infernal Dance of King Kashchey the EAMT-2C was stellar and without peer. Its natural tone/timbre, its texture, and its beautifully extended and detailed treble set the benchmark for this comparison. Across all three tracks its soundstage was both deep and wide and its positioning solid. Kandace’s voice was natural of a beautifully delicious tonality and ethereal. It was as if these tracks were rendered closer to their analog tapes, than any other IEM dare. And there was rumble and a taunt, deep bass, as if the EAMT-2C had grabbed the sub-bass by the collar, looked into its eye and said, “I am here.” Only the FD5, in terms of bass/sub-bass reach, could even be said to be on the same continent.

VISION EARS ERLKÖNIG ($4500)

The ERLKÖNIG, relative to the Noble Sultan, was more engaging, open, transparent, with exceptionally extended highs, that were never harsh or strident or sibilant. The ERLKÖNIG treble was incredibly natural, alive, and sweetly engaging. The organic nature of the ERLKÖNIG’s tone/timbre were hard to ignore, as was its transient response, its resolution, its beauty. Kandace’s voice on 68 was sublime, holographic, natural (a word that appears very often across this comparison of the ERLKÖNIG and throughout its review (coming soon)). And while both its treble and its midrange were superb, the ERLKÖNIG bass reach did not lend itself to sub-bass visits, nor was there the weight or rumble that was present in the FiiO FD5.

Compatibility (Synergy)

The Noble Sultan and the iBasso DX220 worked well together in extending the Sultan’s bass reach, but their alliance could not facilitate sub-bass reach, that was compelling. The Shanling M8 proved a very good match for the Sultan, given the M5’s taunt bass and treble extension which proved very synergistic. It was, however, interesting that the Cayin N6II/E01 proved not to be a very good match for the Noble Sultan, which is very rare, given the Cayin’s renown musicality, which encroaches on the analog. And dongles did not appear to work well with the Sultan, at all. 

Conclusion

The Noble Audio Sultan wears a beautiful aesthetic that speaks to a luxury good or, in this case, a flagship IEM. It is, however, very particular with regard to the type of eartips it is paired with and I highly recommend foam (and foam are rarely my first choice) and a stellar source. Properly mated it will provide for wonderfully satisfying music with very good treble extension and good thought not great bass/sub bass reach. 

First, let me say that my quite recent discovery of electrostatic headphones—STAX SR-009S, STAX SR-L700MkII, Dan Clark VOCE, SR-007A—has been, in a way, life changing. I fear that most having never heard electrostatic “earspeakers”/headphones have no idea of what they’re missing! No idea. Though you’ll need to have a good electrostatic amp to pair them with—STAX SRM 700T, LTA Z10e. That said, electrostatic drivers in IEMs do not, in general, work very well and are not comparable at all to their headphone implementations (or loud speakers). And this is my experience, my opinion, and point of view.

The Noble Sultan is a quite good IEM that must be carefully treated and looked after for its every need and should those needs not be met—fatigue will quickly set in and it will not be nearly as engaging as it can be. 

Pros: Transparency. Treble extension. Transient speed. Midrange.

Cons: Sub-bass. Sibilant/fatiguing without foam tips.

The System(s)

1.

iBasso DX220 AMP1 MkII

2.

Shanling M8

THE MUSIC

The Company

NOBLE AUDIO

NOBLE AUDIO SULAN ($2900)

NOBLE AUDIO

109 Hwy. 110 S.

Whitehouse, TX 75791

www.nobleaudio.com