Compared to Ice Lab Prismatica (Review link)
Both IEMs are priced similarly as well as sharing the fact that both only use BA drivers. Nautilus uses 7BA and Prismatica uses 5BA. While Prismatica uses 2 fewer drivers than Nautilus – as I’ve always said, driver counts don’t mean better performances. Alongside, Prismatica and Nautilus also desire a very different sound signature that shares little similarities. To speak about the overall sound signature difference, Prismatica has a warmer, bassier, and more W-shaped sound that highlights the fullness of the sound whereas Nautilus desires a brighter, more flat, and airier sound, tilting a lot more to the reference style.
The “back tone” or the background tone of Primatica has a pitch-black color that gives a solemn nuance whereas Nautilus is a clean-white color for the background that aids towards the vastness and airiness I’ve been mentioning about. Prismatica shows superior soundstage, especially for bringing out a very spatial and clean image. On the other hand, Nautilus does a better job revealing the treble texture and technicality, along with the ultra-highs being slightly better as well.
As explained so far, as well as mentioned in the beginning, although these IEMs barely share any similarity, there’s one thing that they have in common – both Prismatica and Nautilus are IEMs that sound absolutely great for their price. Those who are treble-shy would be a wise choice to go for Prismatica while Nautilus would be an answer for those looking for a reference sound that also gives breezy airiness and solid dynamics.
Compared to Noble Audio Katana
Listening to Nautilus instantly reminded me of Noble Audio Katana, one of my all-time favorite, reference, and full-BA IEM. While Katana’s retail price is basically double that of Nautilus, the years of differences in their release date (2017 for the latest version of Katana) would make it a reasonable comparison. These two actually desire a similar sound signature but still with some differences. The vocals are slightly recessed, though doesn’t necessarily feel veiled to my ears but only more comfortable to listen to – nevertheless, the vocals are slightly less extruded outwards like Nautilus does.
Another difference is that Katana has a dark background while Nautilus has a bright background. The texture crisps are slightly more refined and clearer in resolution for Nautilus, though Katana takes a higher ground in the meatiness of the bass with better bass presence and ultra-low establishment. The bass colors are thicker and also in its body, and I like the bass response of Katana more than Nautilus’.
However, the sibilance area (where the upper-mids and trebles meet) is more seamlessly done with Nautilus while Katana shows a slight hiss, so I’d give a higher score to Nautilus for the upper-mids. While both IEMs provide generous airiness, Katana adequately controlled the upper-frequencies reverbs and overall sonic response more “reference”, whereas Nautilus highlights more upper-frequencies reverbs to linger, providing a longer aftertaste for the upper-frequency airiness.
Verdicts: Prologue to a Powerful Brand Declaring Its Debut to the Global Competition
Back in the day, Campfire Audio Andromeda was a sensation to the audiophile market, not only for the sound performance but also its mystique charming sonic feeling it gave through a finely tuned only-BA setup. It’s no surprise that Andromeda was the home run for the Campfire brand itself to explode in popularity. While their future releases and successor of Andromeda (Campfire Audio Ara) were fabulous, and mostly also superior in overall performance, the follow-up products weren’t exactly up to the Andromeda-lover’s “taste of sound”, from what I’ve felt and seen.
King Melody Nautilus is a flagship-tier IEM that sparks the strong impression I first heard of Andromeda for the first time many years ago – Apart from its performance that still punches above its premium price, Nautilus keeps things unique/charming in sound characteristics all while being neutral, being a perfect choice for those who enjoy the tacky, resolution-aggressive “BA sound” but only that of which is extremely cohesive and smooth to listen to. To me, this feels like a perfect upgrade and a successor of Andromeda which Campfire Audio didn’t quite tackle ideally as the original Andromeda fandom did.
That aside, Nautilus’ full-BA bass which sounds like a dynamic driver was also inspiring, showing how natural King Melody has tuned and utilized the woofers. If you’re a fan of full-BA IEMs and are looking for a very well-balanced IEM with a hard-to-go-wrong performance and sound signature, make sure to consider the Nautilus. Otherwise, keep an eye on King Melody in general, as I see great potential for this brand to grow fast in the global market.
