Short answer: the Noble Audio Sultan. Both are rated 3.6/5 for sound quality (#695 and #777 of 1369 in-ear headphones), and the Noble Audio Sultan costs $2,900 against $3,299 for the Elysian Acoustic Labs Annihilator, so with nothing between them on sound quality, price settles it.
What the Elysian Acoustic Labs Annihilator does well: A broadly balanced tuning with a preference score of 68 against the Harman target. The tradeoff: An uneven response, 2.1 dB standard deviation from target.
Why pick the Noble Audio Sultan: Bass extends on target to 20 Hz with about 2.6 dB of extra midbass in HypetheSonics’ measurement, giving a warm, full low end, and its 2.4 dB average deviation is fairly smooth. Watch for: A 7.4 dB dip near 3.2 kHz and a 3.4 dB shortfall across 3 to 6 kHz recess vocals and the attack of guitars and pianos.
Buy the Noble Audio Sultan. Both are rated the same for sound quality, and it costs $399 less than the Elysian Acoustic Labs Annihilator.
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A broadly balanced tuning with a preference score of 68 against the Harman target.
Bloom Audio $3,299.00 eBay
Bass extends on target to 20 Hz with about 2.6 dB of extra midbass in HypetheSonics’ measurement, giving a warm, full low end, and its 2.4 dB average deviation is fairly smooth.
Audio46 $2,900.00 eBayPrices on this page were last checked October 17, 2026 at 6:04 PM UTC. Product prices and availability are accurate as of that date/time and are subject to change; the price and availability shown on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
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Specifications Side By Side
| Elysian Acoustic Labs Annihilator | Noble Audio Sultan | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3,299.00 | $2,900.00 |
| Ranked | #777 of 1369 in In-Ear Headphones | #695 of 1369 in In-Ear Headphones |
| Form Factor | In-ear | In-ear |
| Back | Closed | Closed |
| Harman Preference Score | 68 (median of 11 squig.link measurements, calibrated to AutoEQ) | 69 (measured by HypetheSonics, via AutoEQ) |
| Deviation From Target | 2.13 dB standard deviation | 2.41 dB standard deviation |
| Tonal Tilt | -0.84 (negative is warmer, positive brighter) | -0.60 (negative is warmer, positive brighter) |
| Sub-bass Extension | Within 6 dB of target down to 20 Hz (+2.2 dB at 30 Hz) | Within 6 dB of target down to 20 Hz (+0.4 dB at 30 Hz) |
| Driver Type | Tribrid | Hybrid (1 dynamic + 4 balanced armature + 2 electrostatic) |
| Drivers | 7 drivers (1 dynamic driver + 4 balanced armatures + 2 electrostatic drivers) | 1 x 10mm dynamic + 4 x balanced armature + 2 x electrostatic |
| Frequency Response | 20Hz - 45kHz | - |
| Connection | Wired | Wired |
| Built-in Microphone | - | No |
Frequency Response Compared
Both headphones’ measurements overlaid on the Harman target. Above the target sounds louder in that range, below it quieter. Each curve is the median of several independent measurements, shifted so its 500 Hz to 2 kHz average sits at 0 dB, so only the tuning is compared.
Measurement data: the Elysian Acoustic Labs Annihilator from animagus, atechreviews, dchpgall, dl, elrics, jaytiss, precog, recode, soundignity, superreview and zerostresslevel; the Noble Audio Sultan from bloomaudio, elrics and hbb, all via squig.link.
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