Penon Conductor

Penon Conductor: The Earbud That Redefines Expectations

Samuel Johnson once remarked, "Of all noises, I think music is the least disagreeable." If he were alive today, I suspect he’d feel the same about the Penon Conductor. Amidst the noise of everyday life, this earbud doesn’t just help you escape—it redefines the boundaries of what an earbud can achieve, delivering an auditory experience so profound it feels almost transformative.

As a seasoned audiophile and gear reviewer, I’ve tested countless earbuds, each with its charm and quirks. Yet, the Penon Conductor is, without a doubt, the most unique earbud I’ve ever had the pleasure of reviewing.
Note: The Penon Conductor was provided to me as a touring unit from Audiogeek, and I would like to express my appreciation for this opportunity to experience and review these impressive IEMs. Please note that sound perception can be subjective and can vary from person to person.

What Makes It Stand Out?

At first glance, the Conductor may look unassuming, but don’t let its simplicity fool you. Its true magic lies within—a Bone Conduction (BC) driver that takes bass reproduction to unprecedented levels. Traditionally, earbuds struggle with bass. It’s the Achilles’ heel of open designs: without the snug fit of IEMs or headphones, low-end frequencies tend to dissipate, leaving the listener craving more weight and depth.

The Conductor doesn’t just compensate—it obliterates that limitation. The BC driver doesn’t merely enhance the bass; it elevates it to a realm that feels almost impossible for an earbud. Imagine the tight, punchy resonance of a high-end subwoofer, but delivered seamlessly through a tiny form factor. Whether you’re listening to a throbbing bass line in EDM, the deep resonance of a cello in classical pieces, or the earthy thrum of a double bass in jazz, the Conductor ensures the low-end is full-bodied, articulate, and immersive.

Beyond the Bass: A Symphony of Detail

While the bass is undoubtedly the headline act, the Penon Conductor isn’t a one-trick pony. Its tuning strikes a delicate balance across the spectrum, offering:

• Mids that Sing: Vocals, whether husky or angelic, take center stage with stunning clarity. There’s a warmth that feels intimate, as though the singer is performing just for you.
• Highs that Sparkle: Treble frequencies shimmer without straying into harshness, making them perfect for extended listening sessions.
• Soundstage and Imaging: Despite its earbud form, the Conductor creates an expansive, almost headphone-like soundstage. Instruments are precisely placed, allowing you to close your eyes and feel the space of a live performance.

The Listening Experience

Testing the Conductor across genres was nothing short of revelatory:

• Jazz: The upright bass on Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue came alive with a resonance and texture that felt palpable. Every pluck of the strings was distinct, and the cymbals shimmered with delicate finesse.
• Pop and EDM: Dua Lipa’s Don’t Start Now showcased the earbud’s bass capabilities, delivering thumping lows that energized the track without overshadowing her velvety vocals.
• Classical: Yo-Yo Ma’s rendition of Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 revealed the Conductor’s ability to capture the rich overtones and dynamic subtleties of stringed instruments.

Why It’s a Game-Changer

The Penon Conductor isn’t just an earbud—it’s a statement. It challenges preconceived notions of what an earbud can do, particularly in the realm of bass reproduction. The Bone Conduction driver isn’t a gimmick; it’s a technological leap that addresses the perennial weak spot of earbuds.

But beyond the tech, what truly sets the Conductor apart is its musicality. It’s not about cold, clinical accuracy—it’s about emotion. The Conductor doesn’t just play your favorite tracks; it breathes life into them, making each note, each beat, each nuance resonate with you on a deeply personal level.

Penon an are an established company who are not afraid to try new and exciting things when in comes to earphones of all types.
With the Penon Conductor they have come up with a new concept the leap is including a Bone Conduction driver along with a single DD the result is so successful it almost creates a new category of earphone not and iem, not a flathead or a Headphone but a combination of the attributes of all three.



From reading the intro you can probably see that I'm in full hype mode! For this I offer no apology as the Conductor has me totally enamoured with its incredible holographic presentation I'd call it 3D but it's not its 4D because you can literally feel the music. The implementation of the Bone Conduction is thw most successful I have experienced in any format the earpiece vibrates in your ear giving a visceral aspect to the music drum strikes, guitar strums are felt as well as heard.

The Conductor is an unassuming looking earphone in red resin small in diameter but I'm quite thick in depth with a mmcx connection the cable is a colour coordinated average quality addition the drivers are 14.2 mm N55 Sapphire Diaphragm Dynamic Driver, a 11.2mm Bone Conduction Driver wih a screw to control the conduction vibration with included tiny screw driver.



This what Penon has to say about the Conductor
PENON Conductor 1 Bone Conduction Driver + 1 Dynamic Driver Hybrid Audiophile MMCX Earphone Earbud with BCD Knob
3D printed medical resin shell1x 14.2mm N55 Sapphire Diaphragm Dynamic driver 1x 11.2mm bone conduction driver A knob to adjust BCD energy

Features:

N55 NdFeB magnets have high BHmax, high Hcj and good temperature stability, which makes the N55 dynamic driver have higher sensitivity and better dynamic response in sound performance.

Technical advantages

High magnetic flux: The high magnetic flux provided by the N55 magnet helps to improve the magnetic field strength of the dynamic driver, thereby enhancing the expressiveness and penetration of the sound.Low distortion:
Excellent magnetic circuit design and material selection help to reduce the distortion of the sound during transmission, making the sound purer and more natural.Easy to drive:
The high sensitivity makes the N55 dynamic driver easier to be driven by the front-end device, and it can perform well even at lower power.
Bone conduction DriverAluminum alloy shell, high-performance NdFeB magnetic field, inner magnetic circuit design, enhance the strongest magnetic field lines.Equipped with spring steel vibrator, it has high elasticity and high sensitivity, and the sound is fuller and more powerful. A knob to adjust the energy of BCD
The energy of the bone conduction driver is adjustable, designed a switch knob to adjust its energy output. Five scales are provided as reference points for adjustment, and fine-tuning can be easily done using the included screwdriver tool.
Specification:
CONDUCTOR
Driver: 1 Bone Conduction Driver + 1 Dynamic DriverImpedance : 16ohmFrequency response range : 20-20kHzSensitivity : 117dBConnector: MMCXCable material: silver-plated OCCPlug: 3.5mm audio /4.4mm balanced Gold-platedCable length:1.2m

Package

PENON CONDUCTOR
Carry case
Foam Eartips
A pair of rubber rings (The diameter of the Conductor shell is about 15.5mm, which is suitable for smaller ears. If you have larger ears, you can use silicone rings to increase it to about 16.3mm)Please do not cover the vent hole when using the silicone ring, please check when you put on the silicone ring.
I'd just like to say upfront I believe we are all biased when giving our subjective thoughts about IEMs and earbuds be it a particular type of signature that works with our music library or how they look and feel in our ears. On the subject of ears everyone's ear anatomy is different and this effects fit and seal which in turn effects the perception of bass response so I recommend finding the right ear tips or foams that suit your ears to get the best of any earphone.



My review star ratings are linked to the price range of the iem eg a 5 star review of a $100 iem is not equal to one of a $500 iem.
I’m and audio enthusiast with a collection of over 200 iems, 30 different sources with a music collection that numbers over 100,000 tracks and 18 flathead buds I share my impressions as a way to share my enthusiasm for the hobby I approach from the premise of music first technology 2nd, what does this mean? For me the technicalities are not of prime importance but does the music move with this particular iem.

I’m a connoisseur of many different sound signatures. The only prerequisite is musicality I’m not a fan of analytical cold playback. My scale of success when it comes to evaluating earphones is; do I get goosebumps when they playback my favourite tunes. There are many good earphones but do they give me goosebumps? Unfortunately I have a draw full of just good earphones.



I want the earphone that I reach for without thinking because I instinctively know it will bring the thrill I’m seeking from my music.
The Conductor has a balanced slightly warm sound signature with excellent technicalities and very natural presentation while being free of any unnatural tone or timbre colouration, the bass is there with great texture and detail and enough quantity to satisfy my tastes. The standout quality is the holographic spacious staging with zero amount of distortion or congestion even with fast speed prog metal. This ability is very dependent on fit in the usual down fitting for flathead i was not able to get the exact position to get the best out of the Conductor it just kept moving out of position. After trying numerous cables I settled on a high quality SPC with earhooks.
Wearing the Conductor over ear by placing the Buds flush with my ear canal just resting not inserted rather like an over ear headphone the earhooks keeping the Buds on place. The true groundbreaking sound qualities of the Conductor are released.
Now I know there are those who don’t believe in burn in of earphones, all I’m going to say is, I burn in all my earphones the Conductor really opened and up and smoothed out at the 50 hour mark.



Disclaimer
Penon was kind enough me a sample of the Conductor. I am not affiliated with Penon and of course was not asked for any copy checking before publishing, they are seeing this the same time as you. All pictures taken be me or sourced from the Penon website . ALL opinions shared in this review are my subjective thoughts.

Make sure to research any earphone before you buy!

The Conductor is available from the Penon website,
see the non affiliated link below

https://penonaudio.com/PENON-CONDUCTOR.html

What do they sound like?
The Conductor have the Penon house sound smooth, musical with more midbass than subbass as is the case with most earbuds where the Conductor flips the game is the the way its cohesive signature incorporates midbass snap and attack with the rest of the frequencies. The mids are smooth at the forefront with a clarity and detail Ive not experinced even with in ear iems theyl have some brightness without sounding thin the upper mids have enough bite to give guitars a pleasing aggressive presence. The treble is crisp but not sibilant or fatiguing, cymbals sound natural with a nice decay placed right where they should be not artificially forward. They manage to have a very wide, tall and deep staging while being bassy enough to make drums and bass guitar sound natural. The impressive thing is these little wonders have an out of head layering that allows pinpoint allocation of instruments allowing for a far more realistic layering experience than I expected more akin to an expensive over ear headphone.



I want to really enjoy my music. Something that releases the full scope of what the artist created in the studio. The Conductor achieves that with cohesion ensuring to there’s no jarring transitions between the frequency range. The Conductor has a natural organic, anologue signature, its not thin though it has an very open detailed signature bass is textured, dynamic and layered. The mids are free of any colouration and don’t colour the vocals there is a little extra body to males vocals, female are realistic and sweet with a natural timbre. The vocals are front and centre with instruments placed exactly where they should be showing depth to the stage with natural wide holographic presentation . The Conductor's dynamic driver and Bone Conduction drivers sound very coherent no trace of uneven timbre just everything working together as one.
The mids are natural and organic, with just enough edge to add excitement to vocals and guitars causing me to be drawn into the music, Pianos and Guitars are given a really even treatment with good note weight sounding exactly as you would expect if you were in a concert hall.

The Transition from upper mids to lower treble is smooth as butter and sibilance free, even with songs that have sibilance bult into the recording.
The timbre and tactility of drums, strings, guitars and brass instruments is very natural all instruments find their own place. Vocals both male and female are reproduced authentically with emotion, every inflection, intonation is apparent as a singer climbs the scale to the crescendo it is presented well cutting through, if a voice has gravel you hear it vocals have a very pleasing weight coming across very natural the Conductor however is not forgiving of poorly produced music.

When I'm evaluating earphones I have a play list of roughly 100 songs of mixed genres. With the Conductor I was analysing the different frequency ranges listening to albums in their entirety just loosing myself in the music. I found they I worked across all the genres in my library with including Hip hop where the bass is sufficient enough for the big bass drops always soundin smooth, spacious and detailed .

Michael Bolton - When a man loves a woman
Sounded wonderfully full and clean with the crisp drums and full bodied of guitars Bolton's magical tenor vocals sounding full and sweet with no thinness the layering in this 80s classic AOR song was produced with expert precision full of atmospherics a really enjoyable listen

Alanis Morissette: You Oughta know
The angst ridden vocal is fabulous with just enough weight to draw you in slowly building with emotion the voal acrobatics are surrounded with the jagged instrumentation. The staging is brilliantly reproduced increasing the atmospherics greatly. The Conductor works incredibly well with studio and live recordings putting you front and centre in the room with the artist.

Steely Dan's – Black Cow,
One of the best produced albums in my opinion was played with a breathtaking expertise at this price range, drums, keyboards, vocals , hi-hats and cymbals were natural with excellent decay space and staging with good height, depth and width enabling me to pick out instruments in the mix, this song felt open and airy with the layering of the instruments in a class above any earbud or iem I've listened to at this price level.

Peter Gabriel- Solsbury hill the way the Conductor played back thus song was a real goosebumps moment Gabriel's vocals were wonderfully separated allowing me to fully appreciate his fabulous voice the strum of the guitars separated from the complex percussion the individual parts of the song floating in the mix separate but together in a cohesive whole. The Conductor manages to keep production in control sounding dynamic and immersiive avoiding any congestion, impressive.

Earth Wind and Fire – Fantasy
This Funky masterpiece with its magnificent horns funky bass lines and outstanding vocals is played with effortless ease the holographic staging really drawing me into the music. This description from Wikipedia perfectly sums up the experience of listening with the Conductor"Voices and a light touch of strings suddenly appear over a choppy, propulsive track, swell and swoop, only to disappear at the snap of a finger and pop up moments later for an exciting, powerful finale. White also utilizes an odd instrumental mix that gives equal emphasis to percussion (except the bass drum, which is usually played down), bass, rhythm guitars and stabbing, staccato horn bursts. The result is light but substantial" simply a stunning track played back with impressive skill and finesse.

The Conductor is quite easy to drive earbud I had no issues using them with my , Daps, Dongles in getting loud enough, the dynamics and open sound was present with all sources the texture and layering they are capable of was available for all to some degree.

They sounded good with all sources. This is an iem that doesn’t need a powerful source but it does scale impressively.
I'm not a fan of analytical sounding IEMs that force details into your ears like a photograph with HDR and sharpening set at max a decidedly digital representation. I'm more Vinyl on a turntable, Leica manual focus, sumptuous colours on kodak colour gold film, kinda guy, where if you look really close all the details are there but it's the whole image you appreciate rather than just how sharp it is.

Sources used:
Onix XM5 Overture
Shaning M6 Ultra
Shanling H5
Cayin N3 Ultra
KAEI TAP1 with Burson v7 OP AMPs

My Favourite source was without doubt the Onix Xm5 Overture with the KAEI TAP1 with this set up the Conductor was in my opinion without doubt the highest performing flat head earphone in my collection even outperforming some of my more expensive iems with its unique talents.

Comparison

This is quite difficult as the Conductor is multiple levels above all the earbuds in my collection.

LRay Aurora
The Aurora is far more bass dominant with elevated sub bass and midbass
This is the only frequency range that has more quantity but the quality of the bass is superior on the Conductor everything else is left in the dust with the levels of distortion free detail and staging is levels above the Aurora.

Shozy Cygnus
The Cygnus is way less detailed, with inferior texture and timbre the bass while being equal in quantity is lacking in quality. Its almost comical how much the Conductor is superior in every aspect.

I used the included doughnut foams placed over the earpiece for comfort this did not effecting the clarity and detail resolution. While my preference was for a cable with ear hooks I did experience good results while cable rolling with the following cables
Penon OCC849 (penonaudio.com)
Penon OCC849 Single Crystal Copper HiFi Audiophile IEMs Cable
Type-4 Litz configuration
Description
6n single crystal copper cable
8 strands, single strand is 49 cores, a total of 8 × 49.
The plug contains 68% copper
The solder joints is silver – contained tin
Carbon fiber metal splitter and CNC integrated slider
Cable length: 1.2M

Penon OS849 (penonaudio.com)

Penon OS849 Single Crystal Copper Silver-plated HiFi Audiophile IEMs Cable
Type-4 Litz configuration
Description
6n single crystal copper silver-plated cable
Contained 8% silver, the thickness is 10μm,
8 strands, single strand is 49 cores, a total of 8 × 49.
The plug contains 68% copper
The solder joints is silver –contained tin
Carbon fiber metal splitter and CNC integrated slider
Sound field is very big and very natural
Cable length: 1.2M


Conclusion
The Penon Conductor has been a revelation to me while on the surface an earbud with its natural anologue holographic playback it sounds more like a high quality headphone, if and it's a decent sized if you can find a good fit and I can't emphasise enough over ear is the best way to experience it's charms. It's an absolute recommendation from me!

Introduction

Penon is an online audio store, established in 2013 and has been working ever since to sell audio products at an affordable price.

Along with their online store, they also created their own audio brand in 2018 under the same name. Penon has always been known for making great sounding iem at various price ranges, configuration as well as playing with a lot of different yet still good sounding tuning

Not just iem, but they also make earbuds as well. Penon have been making a few earbuds in the past like the Penon PAC, or the Penon BS1. And now, in 2024, the Conductor is the latest earbuds from Penon, featuring a 14.2 mm N55 Sapphire Diaphragm Dynamic Driver, along with an 11.2mm Bone Conduction Driver AND a knob to control the BCD energy.



The Conductor is selling for 199$, which is their most expensive earbuds to date. You can buy the Conductor here on Penon website: https://penonaudio.com/PENON-CONDUCTOR

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Penon and AudioGeek for providing the touring unit of this iem to Vietnam. Everything I said in this review is my subjective opinion only.

Packaging

The package for the Conductor is nearly identical to many other Penon iems/earbuds packages in the past. Open up the box, you’d see a carrying case inside. Inside it would be nearly all you’d need to enjoy the Conductor. They include: a 4.4mm 8 cores cable, 2 pairs of silicone O-rings, many pairs of donut foam in different color but same density and a turning screw





Design/Build quality/Comfort

The Conductor has a proprietary design shell from Penon, which is very different to the widely available MX500. I’ll let the pictures do the talking here.



Example of MX500 shells:



The shells are made out of a clear red, medical grade resin. It houses the 14.2mm dynamic driver up front and a BCD in the back, which is visible through the clear shells.


At the bottom of the housing, you’d see the tuning screw for the BCD. According to the guiding paper, the more you turn the screw counter-clockwise, the stronger the effect of the BCD and vice versa.

For comfort/fit, it’s a bit of a mixed bag for me. It’s a comfortable earbud overall, but it doesn’t sit tightly on my ear like with the MX500 or the Qian39 shell. This is purely due to the design of the housing. With the lack of a housing stem, the Conductor is more suitable to wear over-ear like an iem.

The included cable is an 8 cores MMCX cable in 4.4mm termination. It's a decent quality cable, not too stiff but not too soft either.


Sound impression

Source: Poco F3+UAPP, Dell laptop + Foobar 2000

Dac/Amp: Chord Mojo, Ibasso DC07 Pro, EPZ TP50, Cayin RU7

Cable: Stock

Foam: Stock

Driveability: The Conductor has an impedance of 16 ohms and sensitivity of 117db, so it’s not a too hard to drive earbuds overall. I can drive the earbuds comfortably with my Ibasso DC07 Pro dongle or the Chord Mojo 1 dac/amp. However, in classic earbuds fashion, I do believe it would benefit with stronger, higher quality sources.

Tonality: Warm-ish

Bass:

Let’s start with the bass. The Conductor has a neutral-ish amount of bass boost, having more mid bass than subbass. The subbass of the Conductor isn’t very boosted either, as I spot a steep roll off before 110hz. Despite not being too loose or flabby when listening to the subbass drop of “Why So Serious” and “Chameleon”, the subbass doesn’t have a lot of depth and air volume to them. The midbass boost amounts to around 3-4db from my estimation. The bass texture and tech is decent overall, above average in the earbuds world. Kicks and drums have a natural attack and decay, not feeling sluggish in quick drumming sessions, though they don’t pack THAT much weight behind them. Bass head won’t be satisfied with the bass here I'm afraid.

All that I've mentioned above is with the BCD turned OFF. What would happen if I turned it ON all the way then? The effect of the BCD is mostly in the midbass region. The BCD feels more like a “bass resonance driver”, where the whole shell would shake in conjunction to the bass rhythm. The BCD vibration peaks at 250hz - meaning the shell vibrates the most at this frequency. The BCD does not change the tuning of the earbuds, or make the DD sounds smaller whatsoever.

What does that mean for music playback? It means that other than the physical vibration brought by the driver’s movement to the eardrums, now you can even feel the playback on your tragus and anti-tragus as well. With tracks like “Playing God” - Polyphia, now suddenly the drummer starts to have more presence, more immersive, each kick and hits are easier to feel and track.

Or with the track “Million Dollar Baby” - Tommy Richman, the main beat from 0:13 onwards, those midbass thumps are near 250hz, so it shakes the whole shells by a lot, providing a very fun listening experience.

That’s why I like to use the Conductor with the BCD turn on to the max most of the time. Granted, the fit, and by extension, the area of contact that the Conductor has against your outer ears will affect how much you can actually feel the BCD.

Mids

The Conductor is a very mid-centric earbud. The midrange sits pretty much forward in the mix. There’s just a little bit of bass bleed into the lower midrange, which gives it a bit of warmth. For the upper midrange, it’s not heavily boosted either, nor is it peaky, so you won’t hear any shoutiness and harshness coming from the Conductor.

Male vocals are decent, having a good amount of warmth and weighty feeling to them without sounding too husky. Female vocals sound fine, having enough ear gain to pop out of the mix but lacks just a bit of liveliness to them. I think there’d be some people, including myself who would wish for a bit more brightness or some energy added to the uppermids region, so female vocals can pop out some more.

Hence, the use of donut foam for the Conductor is quite logical I think. Had you used a full thick foam like Heigi foam, the vocals would’ve been too laid back and/or muffled.

Instruments have a relatively natural timbre overall. There’s nothing too odd or off sounding that I’ve discovered. Note weight however, is a bit on a lighter side. Violin and viola sounds smooth with no abrasive texture to them. Trombone and horn sounds natural in tone and resonance, but lacking a bit of meat. Piano sounds evenly spread out and a bit on a mellow side.

Treble

The Conductor has a nice treble extension. It feels relatively smooth and balance with good amount of air and shimmering here. There’s a dip in the 8-9khz region, then it raise back up at 10khz, then have a natural treble roll off. The lower and mid treble have similar energy relative to the upper midrange. All of which translate to a very metallic-and-sibilant free playbacks. Cymbals and hi-hats, although having good presence and snappy brilliance, do have a softer bite to them, not being heavily pronounced. It certainly leans more towards being musical rather than being highly analytical and hi-res. Trebleheads would definitely wish for more energy here.

Technicalities

The Conductor has a very holographic soundstage overall, with around equal width, height and depth. It has a decent sized stage, with a good “out of head” feeling to them. The BCD adds some sort of immersiveness to some tracks as well. The imaging, separation and layering is above average.

I feel like there’s still room left for improvements here to make it truly worthy of being a “flagship” earbud, like a bit more open stage, sharper separation, more detail retrieval, etc…. But Penon didn’t claim this as their flagship ( I did) and for what it has in its caliber, I think the Conductor has a very well rounded technical performance.

Comparison

1/ TGXears Serratus

These two earbuds are selling at the same price on Penon website at 199$. The Serratus is one of the first earbuds from TGX and it’s a very popular model in the earbuds world. The Serratus houses a 300ohm driver with blue LCP diaphragm. The Serratus is harder to drive than the Conductor.

During this comparison, I use the stock donut foam for the Conductor and thin full foam for the Serratus.

Sound wise, the Serratus has a U-shaped tonality

The Serratus is way more boosted and extended in the subbass. The Serratus’s subbass has more tactility and physicality, and feels more elastic as well. Granted, the Serratus has one of the best subbass for an earbud out there, so not many can keep up with it here. The midbass on the other hand, the Conductor wins when it has the BCD turned on as it sounds more fun and has a bit more texture. The added sensation given by the BCD gives the Conductor an edge in midbass department.

Midrange wise, it feels more recessed on the Serratus. It feels cleaner, thinner than the Conductor. It has a better sense of transparency and openness to them. Orchestra music sounds supreme with the Serratus. The Conductor has a warmer, more colored midrange, Instruments are honestly a coin toss between the two. Personally, I like piano and some string instruments more on the Serratus, while I enjoy trumpet, trombone and many other brass instruments more on the Conductor. It all boils down to personal taste here.

The vocals on the Serratus are drier and less lush than the Conductor. Male vocals are better on the Conductor, while female vocals are clearer, less muffled on the Serratus. The Serratus is a bit more sibilant than the Conductor.

Treble wise, the Serratus has more energy up top, so although cymbals and hi-hats have more shimmering and sizzling, it can feel more fatiguing over a long period of time. There seems to be some sort of mid treble peak, around 8khz in the Serratus as well. The Conductor on the other hand sounds more forgiving and smoother.

Technicalities wise, the Serratus has a much wider stage, with similar height and less depth. The stage of the Serratus is like a flat 4K TV to me. The Serratus also has more details and shaper layering. The Conductor has a more 3D but also more intimate stage.

2/ TGXears Totem

The Totem is selling for 299$ on tgxear.com, so it’s 100$ more expensive than the Conductor.

The Totem has a 600 ohm Beryllium driver. So unsurprisingly, the Totem is way way harder to drive and needs a lot of power to reach its full potential. The Totem has a custom stainless steel bell shell. Fit wise, I enjoy the fit of the Totem more.

Soundwise, these 2 actually have a really similar sound profile. With the BCD turn off, I consider the Conductor to be like a mini Totem. I use both thick donut foam on the 2 buds (the stock foam on the Conductor)

Let’s start with the bass. The Totem has a bit higher subbass extension AND midbass. So drums and kicks have a bit more authority and presence. It’s not by a lot, probably by 2-3db by my estimation. The subbass extension factor could also be due to the fit as well. The bass of the Totem are a bit more textured, tighter when appropriately amped. When turning the BCD back ON, the gap between the midbass performance is now shrunken, but I'd still give it a slight edge for the Totem as I have bias towards Berylium DD’s texture.

For the midrange, both earbuds have a very sweet and warm-ish midrange. The upper midrange are very similar to each other, as both are not very heavily boosted, meaning those female vocals are not sounding shouty at all. Male vocals have a bit of warmth to them on both sets. It’s seriously very similar between the 2. If i have to go into the nooks and crannies, I’d say the Totem has a more “ethereal” feeling, in how it presents the vocals, more “emotional”.

Treble wise, again, both are similar in terms of extension. On the Totem, I spot an audibly sharp dip at 9khz, while the dip in the Conductor sounds more continuous. Cymbals and hi hats have a bit more bite, more micro nuances on the Totem. They’re detailed, but don’t feel forced at all.

Technicalities wise, the Totem wins. When fully amped, the Totem has a bit wider, more open soundstage. The Conductor is not bad by any means, the Totem is just a step better in the soundstage. With Yosi Horikawa’s Swashers and Bubbles, I noticed another jump in the layering, separation and microdynamics. Technicalities is where the Totem and the Conductor having the widest gap imho.


Here's a close up picture, to see the 3 different types of shells of 3 different earbuds.

Conclusion

The Conductor is a very nice earbud overall, not just from Penon, but also in general. With the price tags of 200$, it is a hefty price in the earbuds realm. However, I do believe the Conductor does pack some special sauce to justify its price tag.

If you’re someone who’s looking for one of a kind earbuds (due to the BCD), one with a warm, mid centric, smooth and immersive playback with holographic soundstage, I’d highly recommend the Conductor. However, if you’re looking for some bass heavy earbuds, with more impact and depth, more richness in the midrange and more crisp treble, I’m afraid the Conductor is not that earbud.

That’s it for my review and thank you for reading.