Short answer: the Noble Audio Sultan. Both are rated 3.6/5 for sound quality (#695 and #774 of 1291 in-ear headphones), and the Noble Audio Sultan costs $2,900 against $3,099 for the Kinera Imperial Loki, so with nothing between them on sound quality, price settles it.
The case for the Kinera Imperial Loki: A twelve driver flagship with a dynamic driver, six balanced armatures, four electrostatic tweeters and a bone conduction driver. Watch for: Treble sits about 2.7 dB below target, a dark, relaxed balance.
The case for 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. The tradeoff: 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 $199 less than the Kinera Imperial Loki.
Still deciding? The full Headphones rankings cover every ranked option.
A twelve driver flagship with a dynamic driver, six balanced armatures, four electrostatic tweeters and a bone conduction driver.
Kinera official store $3,099.00 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 16, 2026 at 5:46 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
| Kinera Imperial Loki | Noble Audio Sultan | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3,099.00 | $2,900.00 |
| Ranked | #774 of 1291 in In-Ear Headphones | #695 of 1291 in In-Ear Headphones |
| Form Factor | In-ear | In-ear |
| Back | Closed | Closed |
| Connection | Wired | Wired |
| Driver Type | Quadbrid | Hybrid (1 dynamic + 4 balanced armature + 2 electrostatic) |
| Drivers | 1 x dynamic + 6 x balanced armature + 4 x electrostatic + 1 x bone conduction | 1 x 10mm dynamic + 4 x balanced armature + 2 x electrostatic |
| Impedance | 12 ohms | - |
| Sensitivity | 107 dB @ 1kHz | - |
| Harman Preference Score | 68 (median of 4 squig.link measurements, calibrated to AutoEQ) | 69 (measured by HypetheSonics, via AutoEQ) |
| Deviation From Target | 2.09 dB standard deviation | 2.41 dB standard deviation |
| Tonal Tilt | -0.64 (negative is warmer, positive brighter) | -0.60 (negative is warmer, positive brighter) |
| Sub-bass Extension | Within 6 dB of target down to 20 Hz (+2.4 dB at 30 Hz) | Within 6 dB of target down to 20 Hz (+0.4 dB at 30 Hz) |
| 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 Kinera Imperial Loki from mmagtech, silicagel, soundignity and tonedeafmonk; the Noble Audio Sultan from bloomaudio, elrics and hbb, all via squig.link.
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