Penon Impact

In 2016, Penon started its life from building in ear headphone cables. Shortly after, they expanded their product line to include Ear buds. I have the BS1 Official - it’s still working and sings well – thank you.

 The importance of flagship products in the audio industry is crucial for establishing credibility and trust with consumers. Their first flagship was the Volt - a super midrange, super hi-fi set that set a new standard for sound quality for the middle range frequency in a more modest and realistic asking price. This has been set to a Reference tune, thus delivering any music with great performance and musicality. This has been set to a Reference tune, thus delivering any music with great performance and musicality unmatched by other midrange In ear speakers on the market.

Unfortunately, I skipped their next flagship, the Legend. Those were tough times in the real world. I wish I hadn't missed out on it. According to the owners, that was one of the largest sound fields they ever heard coming from a pair of In ears.

 The latest flagship offering from Penon - The Impact. To be honest, coming from the first flagship and having several models to boot, I must say the Impact is a total departure from any Penon norm. The Impact delivers an unparalleled level of clarity, detail, and resolution that truly sets it alongside the best in the market.

The Bass
Cast from premium vented balance armature receivers, the Impact is powerful and controlled, providing a solid foundation for any genre of music.
It set the bass foundation on the virtual stage far and deep and with great accuracy.
There is good decay, extension, rumble and texture.
There can be times you are sound as if they're expensive micro mechanical dynamic drivers.

The Midrange
The Penon Hallmark provides a lush neutral and detailed presentation that brings out the natural timbre of instruments and vocals.
Compared to the Volts, Impact opted for accuracy and neutrality, with a sense of natural crispness over warmth and musicality coming from the Volts.
The Impacts don't have gender favouritism in the way they present the human voice. This is an equal opportunity listening experience for all genres and styles. The Impacts simply aim to faithfully reproduce the source material.

The lower Treble
Excellent energy, never tiring and never boring. Attack, decay, sustain and release Pace, rhythm and timing are all carefully calibrated to ensure a true replication of the original recording.

Upper treble
Excellent extension, never becoming harsh or sibilant.
It's a bright day everyday but never hurt the skin.


The 3d Effects
They're apparent but carefully scaled and tuned so as to not get in the way too much of the music - embellishments to great effect.


The Holographic Imaging.

On DAPs and dongles (not including the Elite) - decent scale of imaging to say the least. The imaging is impressive and there's an extra depth to the stage than usual.

The soundstage is wider than normal, encompassing the listener in a blanket of music.

From said type of sources, the width approaches shoulder edges. The Holographic Imaging provides a sense of space and dimensionality that truly immerses the listener in the music - regardless of the scale it renders - the experience is immersive - you'll get lost in the music once you're in the zone. The music will surround you and you will be in a state of trance.


Scalability

Using a portable amp, things drastically scale up in terms of sound quality and volume.
Background, the virtual staging remain clean, allowing you to focus solely on the music and the performance in front and around the listener. The immersive experience is truly unparalleled, only the very best can deliver such a level of audio excellence and the Impact is one of them.



Choice of Tips

Azla Sedna Grey stem - the rawness comes out, enhancing every detail of the sound.

Since the day I got the Orbs, this has been my go to for any Penon set. It never fails with its ability to bring out the best in my music. Bass is clear, bold, solid. Mids are raw and its as real as it gets. Highs are crisp and delicate.

Eletech Baroque - detailed mids, more low level details. Bass is tight. Treble is on a new level of clarity.

JVC Spiral Dots plus plus - The legend of ear tips. Well known for Mid range and treble clarity. Maybe too neutral to most.

Penon Liqueur Noir - enhanced mids and very clear treble.

Penon Liqueur Orange (the Tangerines) - The Best bass coming from the Impacts. Mid range is a toss up with the Baroque. Sometimes I can't hear any difference in this range, but I'd give the Tangerines 2 thumbs up compared to the rawness coming from the Azla greys. The highs are clean and crisp - but may not be enough for some. Overall, the Tangerines offer a balanced sound profile that is suitable for various genres of music.



Let's Roll a couple of Cables

The Gold Armour's specific use is for the amplified Impact. This is a detail head's best friend. Loads of low level and macro details to be had - across the frequency range.
The Renata offers virtual stage expansion. As the sleeve colour would suggest, the background is as pitch black as it can get. The neutral tuning remains true to the Impacts signature. It delivers a highly resolving sound with exceptional clarity and separation.


Only a set to compare

The U18T, one of our favorite In ears for true top shelf detail and resolution. The U18t shows itself to be a complete powerhouse, 4 low, 4 mid, 4 high, and 2 ultra high
The Impact renders a larger venue on all axes with a soundstage that is wide and deep.
Impact carries more note weight despite both bear some of the portable audio world's most natural and realistic sound quality.
Bass and mids goes to the Impact whilst treble, they split their way. U18t goes to the brighter sunnier side - without getting burned. The Impacts prefer the smoother silkier route. Both have crisp to deliver.

All of the above considered, The result is an audio experience that is true to the artist's intentions and allows listeners to fully immerse themselves in the music.
Impact is Penon's best and brightest so far. This is a G.O.A.T. In the making.

Enjoy your Music more. Thank you for reading.

Tested with Fiio K7 (favorite) and Zen Dac V2
Tri Clarion Eartips

The Impact just doesn’t do anything wrong, I don’t know what to complain about.

For my taste, the amount of bass is just right for an all-rounder.
I tend to be a basshead myself, but I still get my money’s worth here. (If I would have bought it )
But it shouldn’t be less for me.
In addition, the bass is nicely structured and very fast, metal really appeals, but so does every other genre that I have tested so far.
The Cadenza12 had a similar bass but I wanted more to balance out the sharper treble…but with the Impact that’s not necessary. Nothing stands out excessively - the sound appears natural and balanced.

The mids are absolutely amazing, rich and natural.
Female voices literally jump out at you, but never to the point that it seems unnatural.
I don’t find it to be as pronounced in male voices.
Instruments simply sound natural and absolutely enjoyable.
Impact does not try to impress with artificially overdone treble.
The treble just sounds effortless and absolutely fatigue-free, yet still very detailed and airy.

Airy is a good keyword as there is so much space between the sound layers that it is a pleasure to follow the individual instruments.
The sound layering and positioning are top notch, it’s really fun and gives the impact a bit of an analytical touch, although in my opinion it’s absolutely not an analytical Earphone but a very musical one with analytical skills.

The stage is large and at least on the same level as other TOTL IEMs I have heard so far.

Everything sounds very clear and effortless, nothing is annoying.

Tonally for me it’s an A+ and nothing less than that in terms of technical skills.

I am impressed!

This is my first review on Headfi. English is not my mother tongue and I don't usually need to speak English, so I got help from google translator. The reviewers above me have already included many facts and excellent photos. So I don't have to repeat this.
Many thanks to Penon Audio, who provided us with the Impact for a round trip in Germany.
If you don't have time, jump straight to the conclusion.

General (about me and my musical preferences)
I heard the Penon Impact via DAP (A&K SP2000T) and the desktop setup (Violectric DAC V850 + KHV V280). The feed takes place via A&K App or foobar2000. He played balanced and unbalanced convincingly at both sources.
On the V850 I chose the "Best" sampling rate for resampling and on the DAP I usually chose OP Amp or 50% Hybrid as the amp settings. The SP200T has an additional tube section, which can be added to the OP amp in 5 different stages. My favorite filter on the A&K is the Hybrid Filter. It has a slightly W-shaped signature.



Unboxing
As with almost all Penon headphones, the packaging is minimalistic and does not use any (foam) material that is harmful to our planet. A chic hard case will be missed by some. I keep my IE with small mesh bags in an IE (collective) box. I don't really miss that. The clear housing gives a glimpse into the inner workings of the handset. The color of the faceplates matches the cable very well. All in all, I like the noble, unobtrusive understatement very much. The included eartips have a set of spiral dots in addition to tips I don't know.
Feel
Since the cable is not filigree, I exchanged it for a Tripowin Petrichor. The housing is not necessarily small, but it is still compact in view of the built-in 10BA and 4 EST drivers. The straight sound exit tubes suit my ear anatomy. I miss the defined seat for the tips a little, which was still available on my Serial and Fan2. I had to experiment a bit with different eartips to find the best seal. My favorites were Dunu Spring Tips, Softears Liquid Silicone and the gray green Penon Tips. The differences in sound are subtle.

How does the impact sound?
In the BASS, the name says it all. The bass is sometimes reminiscent of a dynamic driver in its power, but has the structure and precision known from BA drivers. A superbly musical yet precise combination as the bass remains fast and clean despite its physicality. He doesn't bleed in the mids. For me it has enough rumble in the sub-bass that it doesn't drown out the mid and high frequencies.
The MIDDLES are simply fantastic, always staying clear with good separation and at the same time musical. Not a trace of annoying guitar riffs that sound thin. On the contrary, electric guitars sound rousing. You can almost follow how the musician plays the individual strings of his instrument. Voices are clear and clean. Fortunately, they are not too far in front of the instruments.
In the HEIGHTS, the Impact stays true to its line. There is no showmanship here either. They are airy and detailed with beautiful details. Despite this, Penon has managed not to make them sound sharp or overemphasized. This means that there is no fatigue during long listening sessions.
The STAGE has a large spatial extent in both directions. Due to the excellent separation, the instruments can be localized very well in the room. Which also benefits the details mentioned.

A few personal notes on the EARTIPS used:
Softears liquid silicon enhances the bass, adds some root and takes a bit of energy out of the highs, which can be beneficial for some recordings, although I'm almost a bit addicted to the Impact's lofty highs. The Softears are a bit more reserved in the highs than the Dunu Springs Tips, which expand the impact nicely upwards and in the presence. But depending on the music, it can also become too much. From the Penon range, the gray-green (stronger base tone, less treble) and gray-orange tips (mids back) are my favourites.

Conclusion
Do you know that feeling when you don't want to stop at night and you're still thinking about a song? That's what happened to me with the Impact. You can really crank up the Impact when your favorite songs are playing. Even at high levels, it doesn't get on your nerves with excessive showmanship. Penon has stayed true to its house sound. But it is also suitable as a "quiet listener" due to its balanced tuning.
So the Impact for me is an excellent IE with absolute all-rounder qualities. I have only experienced this in this quality once before, with the Thieaudio V16 Divinity. However, since I did not have this at hand to compare, I refrain from comparisons.
The drivers are fast, which makes the Impact play very dynamically. The tuning is stirring for rock and metal listeners. He also cuts a very good figure in other genres. The BA Bass is powerful, musical and clean. Still, the Impact isn't IE for bassheads. The mids also remain absolutely suitable for a long time without swallowing up details. Due to the typical Penon sink around 6kHz, there are no sibilants. The highs are detailed and present, but remain musically round. His exciting calmness makes him an excellent IE for me. He dispenses with showmanship over the entire frequency range. That's why I think it takes a "listening time" until it fully ignites.
If you can live with the spartan packaging, which I think is contemporary, you get an excellently tuned listener that manages a successful balancing act between analysis and musicality.