jwilliamhurst
Headphoneus Supremus
Penon Impact Impressions
Cross post from the Penon thread
The Penon Impact is a wonderfully tuned iem, with wonderful texture, resolution and breadth of stage. I would say these traits are its stand out qualities. It is a very easy transducer to like and even fall in love with. As a previous Traillii owner and spending quite a lot of time with The Bird, I can say that Penon has a big win on its hand for timbre and listenability. The musical tuning works with just about any music you throw at it, however it does excel with Vocals and more laid back music. This is where I found myself really gelling with Impact much like Traillii in this regard.
Since selling the Traillii a few months ago, I have come to realize I have a tendency to prefer BA or Piezo Treble tunings in favor of EST, and while the Impact has 2 Ba for the lower treble, the upper treble has 4 est. Dont get me wrong, I enjoy the occasional shimmer and sparkle however, the treble comes off a little dry, where I would like a bit more wetness, grip and texture. There is plenty of air in the upper registers to create a nice sense of space and separation/resolution. Overall a nice treble range with great clarity and detail.
The mid-range is forward and Vocals are exceptional, with great texture, timbre and clarity. I mean really wonderful vocal performance across the board with Male and Female alike. The only issue I hear in the mid range is a lack of depth of stage. This lack can create some smearing in very busy passages i.e. Metal and Large Jazz ensembles and Symphony Orchestra. Instrument timbre is natural and life like, I have not heard any instrument that did not sound full and authentic or lacking with Impact. I am not sensing much BA plasticky timbre if at all which is a huge plus. I really enjoy the midrange with Jazz trio, singer songwriter, blues, ambient electronic, solo instrument, chamber and modern classical and R&B.
The bass is very balanced and has enough mid bass to give the entire FR some nice warmth, without any muddiness or smearing into the mids. It is nicely textured and delineated with a full sub rumble and some serious mid bass punch. There is actually some(aka a little bit) air moving with these BA’s. However I would not mistake them for DD, they are very much BA in speed and quickness of decay. This speed and quick decay creates a very nice layered bass response. I still miss my DD bass!
Technicalities are def at TOTL levels. Wonderful breadth of stage with a good amount of height, my only qualm is the depth of stage. Resolution and imaging is very well done. While more laid back than say U12T or Diva, the Impact is not a slouch and has very natural transient transitions. It is not a detail monster and will not shove them in your face, although they are all there and can be heard, it’s just not the focus. The Macro dynamic swings are more vivid than the micro dynamic swings, much like Trailii here but with better resolution. My main gripe again, is the lack of depth in the Mid range as it is pushed forward and in doing so congests the mid range instruments when things get busy creating a more flat 2D feeling. SO be warned if you listen to energetic or complex music.
Overall, Impact is a very naturally engaging monitor. It isnt going to jump out and bite you with excitement as this is not the purpose IMO. These remind me of my TGX buds in timbre and staging, with more detail/clarity. Impact is very similar to Traillii and yet different but both going after the same type of sound. I do wonder if Penon is a little late to the party though as used Trailli’s go for $3000 these days and Impact at $2500 may be a tough sell. BUT what sets impact apart from Traillii is the closer mid range. I do not have Traillii on hand to compare vocals but The Impact vocals are up there with some of the best I have ever heard. Big Question is, would I purchase this iem? While I like this tuning and find it very well done, I have moved past this sound, big reason I sold my Traillii. I’m just finding myself a little bored with this type of tuning. However if I found one used at a great price it would be a no brainer to add to the collection.
Considering the cable, I am not the biggest fan, as it tangles and has pretty bad microphonics. I am not a fan of the modular plug system either, if Impact had a better cable I would be willing to pay more as I am not a cable seeker. I do believe cables make a difference, but I do prefer to stick to stock cables for the most part especially in the upper echelons of the hobby. I only used the stock cable for these impressions.
Fit is great, very comfortable and iems are not too big or small. They are made very well of high quality. I used large Oriolus wide bore stock tips.
And as with everything in this Hobby...YMMV
Thank you to Penon and @Dsnuts for the Demo and I look forward to checking out more Penon iem’s in the future.
Cross post from the Penon thread
The Penon Impact is a wonderfully tuned iem, with wonderful texture, resolution and breadth of stage. I would say these traits are its stand out qualities. It is a very easy transducer to like and even fall in love with. As a previous Traillii owner and spending quite a lot of time with The Bird, I can say that Penon has a big win on its hand for timbre and listenability. The musical tuning works with just about any music you throw at it, however it does excel with Vocals and more laid back music. This is where I found myself really gelling with Impact much like Traillii in this regard.
Since selling the Traillii a few months ago, I have come to realize I have a tendency to prefer BA or Piezo Treble tunings in favor of EST, and while the Impact has 2 Ba for the lower treble, the upper treble has 4 est. Dont get me wrong, I enjoy the occasional shimmer and sparkle however, the treble comes off a little dry, where I would like a bit more wetness, grip and texture. There is plenty of air in the upper registers to create a nice sense of space and separation/resolution. Overall a nice treble range with great clarity and detail.
The mid-range is forward and Vocals are exceptional, with great texture, timbre and clarity. I mean really wonderful vocal performance across the board with Male and Female alike. The only issue I hear in the mid range is a lack of depth of stage. This lack can create some smearing in very busy passages i.e. Metal and Large Jazz ensembles and Symphony Orchestra. Instrument timbre is natural and life like, I have not heard any instrument that did not sound full and authentic or lacking with Impact. I am not sensing much BA plasticky timbre if at all which is a huge plus. I really enjoy the midrange with Jazz trio, singer songwriter, blues, ambient electronic, solo instrument, chamber and modern classical and R&B.
The bass is very balanced and has enough mid bass to give the entire FR some nice warmth, without any muddiness or smearing into the mids. It is nicely textured and delineated with a full sub rumble and some serious mid bass punch. There is actually some(aka a little bit) air moving with these BA’s. However I would not mistake them for DD, they are very much BA in speed and quickness of decay. This speed and quick decay creates a very nice layered bass response. I still miss my DD bass!
Technicalities are def at TOTL levels. Wonderful breadth of stage with a good amount of height, my only qualm is the depth of stage. Resolution and imaging is very well done. While more laid back than say U12T or Diva, the Impact is not a slouch and has very natural transient transitions. It is not a detail monster and will not shove them in your face, although they are all there and can be heard, it’s just not the focus. The Macro dynamic swings are more vivid than the micro dynamic swings, much like Trailii here but with better resolution. My main gripe again, is the lack of depth in the Mid range as it is pushed forward and in doing so congests the mid range instruments when things get busy creating a more flat 2D feeling. SO be warned if you listen to energetic or complex music.
Overall, Impact is a very naturally engaging monitor. It isnt going to jump out and bite you with excitement as this is not the purpose IMO. These remind me of my TGX buds in timbre and staging, with more detail/clarity. Impact is very similar to Traillii and yet different but both going after the same type of sound. I do wonder if Penon is a little late to the party though as used Trailli’s go for $3000 these days and Impact at $2500 may be a tough sell. BUT what sets impact apart from Traillii is the closer mid range. I do not have Traillii on hand to compare vocals but The Impact vocals are up there with some of the best I have ever heard. Big Question is, would I purchase this iem? While I like this tuning and find it very well done, I have moved past this sound, big reason I sold my Traillii. I’m just finding myself a little bored with this type of tuning. However if I found one used at a great price it would be a no brainer to add to the collection.
Considering the cable, I am not the biggest fan, as it tangles and has pretty bad microphonics. I am not a fan of the modular plug system either, if Impact had a better cable I would be willing to pay more as I am not a cable seeker. I do believe cables make a difference, but I do prefer to stick to stock cables for the most part especially in the upper echelons of the hobby. I only used the stock cable for these impressions.
Fit is great, very comfortable and iems are not too big or small. They are made very well of high quality. I used large Oriolus wide bore stock tips.
And as with everything in this Hobby...YMMV
Thank you to Penon and @Dsnuts for the Demo and I look forward to checking out more Penon iem’s in the future.
Last edited:
courtesy of 
great joy right 
