Noble Audio Sultan Review

Noble Audio Sultan

Build Quality and Ergonomics:

Noble has always prided themselves with having excellent and unique designs. Their customs are certainly among the best designed ones I ever saw, and their full metal shell Katana and Kaiser Encore are nothing short of superb. The Khan however, I was not a fan of build quality wise. It didn’t speak flagship level to me. Now, with the Sultan Noble is back at the very top of the game.

The Sultan features a triple color design. The top and bottom parts are made of CNC’d aluminum. The bottom is black and the top silver. But that’s not the unique part about it. Unlike any other universal IEM I ever held, it’s the first to embody an acrylic face plate.

The standard Sultan comes with a gold design face plate, while there is a blue color scheme available in the Hong Kong market.

Sultan’s body is extremely well made in my opinion. I can’t spot a single flaw on the face plate, the closing or any scratch marks on the metal. The only thing I noticed, is a very small gap between top and bottom aluminum parts. You can’t really see it, but when I move my finger across the border, there’s a definite gap. Still, the Sultan looks very robust, and I am sure it can take a beating. Although I wouldn’t recommend that.

Noble Audio Sultan

The Sultan’s size is a bit bigger than your average IEM, and they will stick out of your ears quite a bit. The size however is justified, when you take into account that there’s a ten mm dynamic, four balanced armatures and two electet drivers including a voltage transformer in there. And then there’s the tubing, 2-pin sockets and the crossover. So all in all, enough material that needs space.

On the face plate you’ll see a small hole, this is the pressure relief for the dynamic driver. Don’t put anything in there. On the nozzle you’ll find a wax screen protector. Some people don’t like seeing that, I personally prefer it over the regular tube-outlets, as I find them easier to clean.

I am really glad, that Noble returned to using aluminum housings again. The Sultan might just be the best made universal IEM I ever held in hands. The build quality is simply outstanding and sets a new bar for all other manufacturers in my opinion.

I never had any fit or comfort issues with my Sultan. People who have smaller ears, might want to watch out though. The shells are quite big, and the Sultan is heavier than other IEMs. One thing the Sultan could do better in my opinion is isolation. It is a vented design, and therefore sound does come in easier as a fully closed monitor.

Sound:

As always, the most important factor about an audio product should be its sound. I have a quite personal relationship with Noble’s products. My first high end CIEM was the K10 back in 2015. Since then my collection of Noble Audio In Ears has grown constantly.

At this point, I have spent almost three months with the Sultan, putting it through it’s paces. Impressions were gathered using the Lotoo PAW Gold Touch, PAW 6000, Astell&Kern SP2000, the Chord Hugo2 and Hugo TT2, as well as the Cowon Plenue L. I’ve exclusively used the supplied foam tips.

In a short summary, I’d call the Noble Sultan a well balanced monitor with exemplary low-end extension, lightly forward mids and a clear top section. It features very good resolution and texture, but absolutely shines in terms of depth and layering. While it doesn’t create the widest stages out there, it still reaches good measures. The Sultan is a nicely enjoyable monitor, that does many things right, but might miss out on a unique character for some.

Noble Audio Sultan

Let’s dig deeper.

The Sultan has one of the deepest sub-bass extensions I heard in an IEM yet. It might not reach as low as the Empire hybrids, but still goes very low with good drive. Sultan’s bass has good body, weight and texture. It delivers authority where it’s needed while still offering a natural and organic sound. On DJ Shadows ‘The Mountain Will Fall’ the Sultan shows it’s immense capabilities to go really low. When the sub-bass kicks in, the Sultan knows how to properly handle and deliver it.

The Prodigy’s signature track ‘Smack my Bitch Up’ on their album ‘The Fat of the Land’ also has a very unique bass and drum line. Both of which are handled very well by the Sultan. The bass has grunt, thunder and good speed. It’s fast, precise and well controlled. I wouldn’t call the Noble Sultan a bass-head’s IEM though. For that it misses out in quantity. It certainly delivers in quality though.

The mid-range of Noble’s new flagship is slightly pushed back in the lower mids, while the center mids take a bump up and are presented more forward. The lower mid-range does have nice weight, which gives deep male vocals a full and dense sound. Female vocals can sound a bit dull and laid-back at times. For example, I am a big fan of Björk’s voice, in her Atom Dance track she does sound a bit more held back than I know her. Although the track overall is reproduced very well, especially in terms of technical performance, it’s Björk’s vocals that don’t sound right to me.

Noble Audio Sultan

The Sultan’s biggest strength to me is in its stage depth and layering. It manages to display all instruments very carefully by placing them with good distinction. Sultan’s sound-stage might not spread the widest or tallest, but in depth, it’s one of the best performers so far. The new Noble flagship has a great sense of space and separates instruments very well. The background is quite dark, but not pitch black. With that in mind, it could do better in terms of contrast between instruments and background.

Sultan has good resolution and rendering. It creates a finely nuanced picture. But one thing has to be mentioned here, the Sultan really asks for high quality masters. If the tracks aren’t produced properly, it will show with the Sultan. On the other hand, if you have files that are simply sublime, you’ll enjoy the hell out of those with the Noble. Recently I have re-discovered Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Downward Spiral’ (in DSD) and especially the track ‘Closer’ is one of the songs the Sultan really shines on. It captures every nuance and keeps its control, even when the song gets very busy and messy closer to the end of it.

Treble is a region, where I am a bit conflicted. Although the Sultan’s top segment has a clean and clear sound, it might be too forward for people with lower treble tolerance. The Sultan has good extension into the highest registers of treble. Some cymbal crashes and lower treble hits can become slightly forward. One thing I am happy to say though, is that the Sultan does not sound sibilant. I did not get any sharpness with the Sultan on critical tracks.

Noble Audio Sultan

Scalability:

The Sultan certainly sounds wonderful out of all my used products and even my smartphone. But I think there’s a great tendency for it towards the SP2000. The A&K DAP really plays well into the strengths of the Sultan and enhances these even further. The superb layering is something the AK really takes to a level up. Plus the rich top-end really matches well with the clean treble of the Sultan in my opinion.

With my OnePlus 5t phone I did not notice any interference issues or hissing. Which is definitely welcome. But the sound of course didn’t do the Noble justice. The Sultan is best used with audiophile equipment that meets its status. It sounds really good with my Chord Mojo, where you get a fast and precise sound, but it really shows its potentials when you bring out the big guns.

DAC/Amps like the Chord Hugo2, the Woo Audio WA11 or DAPs like the SP2000 and Lotoo PAW Gold Touch really show how much the Noble can scale. You’ll gain in texture, resolution, separation and stage dimensions as well as control and contrast. On top, you can alter the sound of the Sultan more towards your own preference using the sources as coloring options.

Select comparisons can be found after the jump.

4.6/5 - (85 votes)
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A daytime code monkey with a passion for audio and his kids, Linus tends to look at gear with a technical approach, trying to understand why certain things sound the way they do. When there is no music around, Linus goes the extra mile and annoys the hell out of his colleagues with low level beatboxing.

1 Comment

  • Reply August 26, 2020

    Steve

    I you were to pick one which one would you buy, Odin or Sultan?

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