Cable pair up.

I’m aware that some people are skeptical about cable’s contribution to the audio chain.  It’s not my intent to start an argument here.  Instead, I would like to share what I hear during my testing.  What makes sense is that a metal wire is a material with physical properties of resistivity, conductivity, and purity, acting as a filter between your source and earphones.  Variations of these physical properties could affect the conductivity of an analog signal, resulting in a sound change, from a subtle to a more noticeable level.  If the talk about cables upsets you, please skip this section.  Otherwise, enjoy these short impressions.

• w/PWA FT – to my surprise, the soundstage width became narrower, and I found upper mids more revealing and resolving.
• w/LL Venom – I hear a more holographic imaging, stronger sub-bass rumble, and crisper treble tonality.
• w/HanSound Quentin – I hear a more holographic imaging, stronger mid-bass, and crisper treble tonality.
• w/EA C24C – I hear a lot more forward mids, and more sparkle in treble.

While these cables enhanced the sound of the Emperor/Empress, with the King, I went back to the stock cable since I enjoyed its pair-up synergy with these IEMs.  Plus, I love using an L-shaped plug.

Source Pair up.

I used a stock cable and SpinFit W1 eartips in each pair-up below.  The King is relatively easy to drive, though I noticed I had to lower the volume on several DAPs by a few clicks.

L&P P6 Pro – The baseline tuning with a balanced sound sig, deeper sub-bass rumble, punchy, articulate mid-bass, fuller body, clear natural mids, and detailed, crisp treble.

Lotoo LPGT – the mids sound smoother, warmer, and more organic here.

Cayin N6iii w/E203 – I hear a deeper sub-bass rumble and more body in mids.  With the E203 card, I preferred the Class A setting, which gave me more clarity over Class AB.  I also tried Hyper mode, but it made the treble a bit too crisp for my preference.

A&K SP3000M – I hear a sound similar to that of P6 Pro. It is still balanced and natural, with a deep sub-bass rumble, punchy mid-bass, natural, clear mids, and detailed, crisp treble.

Shanling M8T – In this pair-up, I preferred a tube mode. Either ultra-linear or Triode was fine, giving the King a punchier bass, smoother, natural mids, and clear, detailed treble. Switching to solid-state Transistor mode made the sound colder and the treble harsher.

iBasso DX340 w/AMP16 – I also preferred a tube mode in this pair-up because the Class AB solid-state mode made the treble brighter, crisper, and more revealing. The sound had a more analog texture and smoothness with tubes, still resolving and detailed, but more natural.

Conclusion.

In their previous releases, such as VX and V14, qdc offered switches to fine-tune the sound based on crossover adjustments.  While it makes it convenient, there are some compromises in sound performance when dealing with switches.  The Emperor and Empress offered two similar yet uniquely fine-tuned options in separate IEMs.  Their latest Special Edition collab release with Musicteck, the King, offers yet another unique tuning option. It will appeal to a broader audience due to its balanced sound signature, clear natural tonality, more elevated bass, resolving forward mids, and clear, crisp treble.  What impressed me the most about the King was that all its fine-tuning adjustments relative to the Emperor, including fuller body and more natural resolving mids, were done without adding extra coloring to the sound.  Many audiophiles are looking for new IEMs that won’t overlap with what they already have, and King’s unique tuning would complement nicely any collection of “colored” monitors.