The new Penon OCC849 and family
Redcarmoose Labs May 21st, 2024
Penon is on a new OCC kick. Where they just released a new ISN T-OCC cable, and it WAS a success. Yet this time they went back, way back to (modify) one of the early cable builds……the 849 series. Yep, coming out in late 2017 the first in the series was the Penon OS849 premium aftermarket cable. When I heard they were sending me this OS849 in a 2Pin with 4.4mm fixed plug I was excited, yet I wasn’t 5 feet off the ground. You see, to be honest I’m a tad jaded due to boxes coming every week…… and I mean these are only cables no doubt. Surely this 2017 invention has probably been surpassed by the sands of time, right?
Wrong:
I mean I actually got four cables in this box.
https://penonaudio.com/penon-os849.html $99.90
https://penonaudio.com/penon-gs849.html $99.90
https://penonaudio.com/penon-gd849.html $99.90
https://penonaudio.com/Penon-OCC849.html $99.90
And to make this simple I will describe what the 849 series is. That each of these different sounding cables all belong to the 849 series due to their structure.
In late 2017 the first of the series, the OS849 cable was released. As such it was 68% Crystal Copper and a 32% silver core. Versatile and thick, really there was nothing like it at the time that came with an IEM. 6N purity with 8% silver in the copper wire plating. 49 stands and 8X49 stands in total so that’s how they got the name.
The original OS849 cable costs $99.90 and provides a grand service becoming in the end noticeably different from this new OCC849 cable. Where the original OS849 creates a more airy demeanor with how it deals with sonics, not being weighed down by the 68% copper plug of this new OCC849.
So the OCC849 has a 68% solid copper plug.
Per Dsnuts
- Silver for its highest transparency and stage enhancing.
- Gold for that rich tone and depth.
- Palladium for that remarkable imaging and detail.
- Copper for body and warmth.
I’m just going to say that due to the existence of the invention of modular cable plugs I have tested a few, and yes the make-up of the plug itself makes a huge difference. Where typically modular solid copper plugs weigh 7 grams compared to the regular gold plated plug weighting only 4 grams.
Darkness?
Nope not darkness, the new OCC849 brings a clarity to the table too, a thicker meatier clarity!
Maybe you have an IEM that you want to gain stage expansion, really both the OCC849 and the original OS849 do that, but the OCC849 will bring-in a density…….an added slight note weight!
See? 
The original OS849 in action:
The difference is the OCC849 is more heavy gaining lower midrange details and added heft, not as airy depending on your IEM. Still there is nothing at all wrong with what the original does……unless you don’t want what the original does? In fact I was amazed at just how well rounded of a cable the original OS849 cable was (with the Volt)............... never coloring the sound, but moving forward to add definition and stage over most included cables……remember this was 2017……late 2017. Penon has based the company success on making and selling aftermarket IEM cables, and this OS849 goes to show their expertise at cables in general. Only later did Penon branch out into IEM production, so at their heart Penon is a cable provider.
The real amazing thing here is I have spent years getting to know the Penon House sound.........and of these 4 cables in the review, 3 of them are the ultimate trademark for exhibiting that Penon Sound. The GD849 exhibits a special needs cable, one that will glorify a particular IEM sound, yet typically the GD849 is used on only a brighter IEM, to smooth out the edges so to speak.
OCC849 v OS849:
Later I will go over more details about how these two cables are different. Yet there is a good feeling finding a cable Penon released in late 2017 that still performs a grand OS849 tone, arranging the details and stage to make any modern day IEM shine. Yep, you can order the OS849 today and it is still very much a deal as it was when it came out. Really the OS849 is almost like pure silver in how it adds energy, yet balanced to the fact that it is a copper/silver plated cable really in the end. That simply means we don’t have to worry about the OS849 ever getting too hot or bringing too much energy to our listening, like normally pure silver will do!
The GS849 and the GD849:
Introducing the GS849 and the GD849. These two cables are slightly different once again from the original OS849 and our new OCC849. How? Well first of all the GD849 looks different. Same design structure but they use GOLD!
The GD849:
More 18K Gold! Coming out in September of 2020 it was a few years later than the original OS849. Here we are witnessing a cable with weight and authority, kind-of still vivid, but less on the vivid scale. Like the ISN GC4 there are very specific reasons you may want to included this cable, or if the ESTs in the Penon Volt are too hot for you……..which would make you a different outsider, but it could maybe happen…….then you may want to use the GD849 with the Volt. Because remember the Volt is so well rounded that none of the outcomes today were bad, just that each held a new and different tone slightly which could maybe go in order? So today I will match the GD849 with a brighter IEM, the 7Hz Aurora which due to its 6mm Planar treble driver has a tinge of upper intensity. We are using the rich tone and depth of gold to add weight and density to the Aurora.
The GS849 is still 18K gold plated OCC copper and the other half is silver plated OCC copper making 8 cores of 49 stands each thus 849. So it is simple in playback……..here we are offered a denser playback and owning slightly more weight than the original OS849, yet not the total warmth and copper sound of (maybe) the plug……….but whatever is doing it, the OCC849 is just a tad warmer despite the GS849 added note weight and density. Where to really get into this mess, the GS849 has a new and different midrange. A kind of beautifully imaged midrange, which shows a more vibrant color than the original OS849, yet still more airy and flying slightly higher, as not as grounded as the OCC849. Yet this may be my favorite cable of the bunch. I know you were thinking I was going to say this new OCC849 was best, and it may be with other IEMs…….but today with the Volt this takes the cake. And they really are all very different.
If you are wondering about how cables sound they simply add to the mix. Meaning it is like cooking. Say you had a dish that was too bland……..that may mean you need to add something to add pizzaz to what you are eating. So (in opposite) imagine the Aurora as being already sightly too hot mostly in the upper treble area. We are simply adding the performance of gold to kind-of smooth out the Aurora. Now the GD849 was slightly too sleepy for the Penon (Past TOTL) Volt. Where the Volt does have EST drivers, but really the focus of the Volt is a smooth and detailed, separated and big midrange.
In comes the GS849:
HA, this is kinda an introduction to the whole review, and I have saved the best part for near the end of the introduction. Yep, Gold and Silver adding some weight over the OS849……only as mentioned before………..the GS849 is the cat’s meow with the Penon Volt!
GS849:
You see this stuff is really not that complicated, if scheduled right. I have been listening to all these cables……..the OC849, the OCC849, the GD894 and the GS849 for a week. Sure I made ideas as to performance early on, but the real test here is if the character remains true to form. True to form with multiple listening on multiple days…….that is the only way cable testing makes any real sense. So I drink some coffee or tea then try out the cables, then put down some notes and rinse and repeat. After a week of this nonsense it is time to write a review. Though at times I will also break the rules and throw in a few more tests. In this review I will also compare the SIMGOT AUDIO LC7 modular cable and the permanent 4.4mm HiSenior White Whale cable. As such I need to compare the Penon Cables with two other makers just to add extra cable personalities. So in the photograph they are………..
Top Row:
Left to right:
1) The OS849 in 4.4mm
2) The OCC849 in 4.4mm
3) The White Whale in 4.4mm
Second Row:
Left to right:
The GD849 in 4.4mm
The GS849 in 4.4mm
And finally the SIMGOT AUDIO LC7 in modular 4.4mm plug
Really in so many ways each cable has some size similarity, though the odd two out would be the White Whale and the LC7 due to not having a braiding like the Penon do.
GS849:
Where the original OS849 made a name for itself in offering a stage much bigger than what came with the cable your IEM left the IEM factory with. And still maybe in some applications this airiness the OC849 puts out 24/7 will be preferred. See, the thing is stage drama from both the OS849 and GS849 comes color free. Yep, there are cables out there that perform miracles with a stage though like the Penon VOCAL cable there is also a side-effect of color added. We don’t encounter any of those shenanigans with the OS849 or the GS849. What they did to enhance the OS was add to the note weight, and there is this wonderful stage imaging creation with the Volt. The bass finds itself in a nice zone and nothing is ever out-of-whack. Yet it is this midrange…..the midrange the Volt already was performing super well…….just taken up again another impossible notch. And when you consider the price of these cables…….that is where the total value is found. While yes, these are roughly $40 more than the LC7 or White Whale, yet after you compare sound profiles you really don’t care about saving that chump change!
GD849:
You see cables are just like employees. Yep, while maybe you have them work, they don’t become valuable until you find the correct job for them to perform. And the GD849 was kind-a like that for me. Meaning with an even, complete and correct player like the Volt no correction was needed. And crazy as it sounds we are also going to roll in the OCC849 and attempt to understand how its personality could be used. Why? Because we are now folding into play the 7Hz Aurora. You see, the Aurora made the perfect match for the GD849. Why? The Volt was too smooth with the GD849…….making the vocals not contrasty enough. But along with that the stage on the Volt with the GD849 in place was less big than with the other OCC849, OS849 and GS849. So what this means is we are trying to achieve balance. Where the odd-man-out the GD849 has a role in life, yet you just need to find that role…….because once found…..yep, it is solid gold. Let me put it this way……..OK……..if you have the 7Hz Aurora just buy the GD849…it is that simple. Why? Any heat or stridency found is gone, the GD849 even helps any off timbre to become gone.
In the Cable World we call this Ultimate Synergy. Look, I could go on and on……describing just how the 7Hz Aurora and GS849 sound together, yet we have a lot of ground to cover today………..the GD849 and 7Hz Aurora were meant to be together.
The OCC849 and 7Hz Aurora:
Using my WM1A and the OCC849 cable with my regular wide-bore tips was and is heaven. Sure this review is supposed to be about the OCC849. And it is……..except I needed the previous set-up (explained) to understand what we were doing. Therefore to comprehend (all this) in a simple logical fashion………I needed to go through all the above so you could fully comprehend what the OCC849 is. First off, it is brighter than the ISN CS02, it is brighter than the Penon Renata…………but……It owns more lower weight than the Penon OS849 and GS849. So what that means for you Aurora owners out there is more (OCC849) brightness than the GD849……….simple. But in my book the GD849 is the safe bet, to where if you really want all the detail and the treble contained with the Aurora, then the OCC849 could maybe work? I say this because the stage is both connected to frequency and technicalities. Yep, that means that while the GD849 makes the Aurora more smooth, we get a decrease in stage due to that smoothness. If I had the Aurora I would simply get both cables, only because they are a deal and you will eventually (if you don’t know) have use for either cable that you don’t want to use with the Aurora. This single paragraph may be the most important in the review?
The HiSenior White Whale:
HA, sounds like HI Senior! Hello. Time waits for no audiophile! Anyways you would think that with the age joke here that the HiSenior cable would add the upper treble, to kind-of compensate for anyone older than 18 years old…….and their subsequent frequency loss? When in fact the Whale gets points for all that wire put is adding stage, but being slightly lesser in high-treble details. Where probably the very best compliment I could give the Whale is the fact that it is very well rounded. Yet with the Penon Volt it didn’t offer the total endearing air of the OC849. And this smoothness up-top went ahead and found a surprising place in use with the Aurora? Where in the end it turns out to be darker treble wise than even the OCC849? HA! Side-by-sides are funny, because if you do them right, they can tell new tales. Now I actually knew this about the Whale from before with different treble centric IEMs that as such those IEMs would go to delineate the Whale character and personality as far as treble goes.
The SIMGOT LC7:
Of course after my Aurora and Whale surprise, you have to already know which IEM I’m going to try. Really the LC7 has the fuller midrange and can actually move forward to be used with the Aurora, though let me warn you……the LC7 has the frequency of the OCC849 in use with the Aurora, only it does not have the staging. So we get more of a boost to treble than the Whale, and for most practical purposes like the OCC849, only missing that large stage the OCC (and the whole 849 line) have as their trademark! With the Volt sure that amount of wire adds thickness of stage……..but here we don’t get the added lower thickness of the OCC849, nor the smoothness of the OC849, yet we do become enamored with the basic well-roundedness taking place. I mean that was probably the most shocking thing in this review, that I thought of the OC849 as being the most airy, when keeping everything the same, there was a tinge of upper LC7 treble glare that the OC849 put to sleep. Where in my mid centric WM1A playback the LC7 could have a slight bite with the Volt, to where the OC849 showcased a smoother yet totally detailed treble and midrange. Where (who knows) but I’m starting to hear this provocative midrange imaging in the original OCC849, now that quality of midrange has been improved with the GS849, but both cables are 100% winners in my book. Sure though a $99.90 cable against the LC7 at $69.99…….once again your chump change buys you the world. Lol So finally lets rotate in once more the OCC849 OK!
The OCC849:
With the Volt here is found once more added girth and density. Penon is exploring what a copper plug will do. Yet still……this is not the same town the Renada lives in, nor the T-OCC or the ISN CS02 lives, nope. We are investigating a higher level of contrasts. Does this more contrast make the cable better? Remember it is both contrasts and lower midrange thrusters, as such this is not found with the OS849. Is it just from the plug being 68% solid copper? That will not be answered as the plug does not come off. But this slightly warmer idea is in no way dark. I mean if you were at a Head-Fi show and simply put the OCC849 on (some unsuspecting guy) the listener would say, wow there is contrast. Of course this is all depending on your IEM as to how smoothly the contrast goes down.
Where if they had the Aurora going and had just listened to the GD849 and made a love connection, well you know how those love connections go. To where normally the OCC849 is never too contrasty or bright, yet it is brighter than the Renada. Yes, more bright than the CS02 and brighter than the T-OCC…..yet I knew all this right when I did my first impressions. It just takes a week to where you keep getting the same impressions, and then you feel you’re not guessing at this, and can give a factual review statement.
The above photograph goes far into relaying the fluid ergonomics of the OCC849. That really all of the Penon 849 family go far as to promote ease of use. Not too heavy or too low-weight. The 2Pins are all solid metal as is the CNC chin-cinch, and plugs.....each embellished with carbon fiber coating for resistance to fingerprints. The actual weave is a work of art, being the perfect balance of tightness and form, always staying in place, while keeping that effective Litz Configuration alive! If by chance you don’t use the chin-cinch, due to inner circumference it stays right in place, never needing to be fooled with.
Conclusion:
The OCC849 is a looker isn’t she. HA…….I just tagged that she part on at the last minute, truly I don’t know what the heck that means? Except as I was looking at her though-out the week the copper looked more slightly rose colored, and I like that. Who knows, visually the OCC849 is the exact same size as the older sisters…….Oh great now I’m calling them all females? Anyway I’m just having fun as much of the review was critical listening and very dry to possibly read……..of course still of value if you by chance are into cables and their affect on sound replay.
The sisters all weigh differently too.
OC849 in 4.4mm is 47 grams
GD849 in 4.4mm is 51 grams
GS849 in 4.4mm is 52 grams
And
OCC849 in 4.4mm is 54 grams
Anyhow, there is my take on the four cables. Each has a specific use and personality, just like sisters do at times, well all the time. Really three of the cables went with the Penon Volt to make it better than most cables and truly special at just $99.90. Of course the GD849 is a special use cable, yet when it was in place with that special IEM, there was a way that it all came together. I mean that’s just the thing. That these cables are a sonic value far outweighing their humble asking price. Sure maybe more expensive cables sound better at times, but that was my whole surprise, that this OC849 was ultimately big staged and had very special mids. It had a tightness in the lower midrange and a firmness in the bass, and it was airy yet smooth in the treble. I wanted to hear it first as it was the genesis for the whole line. Along the way they added the GS849 as a way to add make-up, you know a kind-of once-over to the original OC849 sound, yet kept the price the exact same. Penon released the GD849 in September of 2020……a few years after the OC849. And finally now we meet the OCC849 which goes to another level adding more meat to the OC849 sound. Yes, it is still airy but holding more girth and weight around the midsection. Remember with the Penon Volt none of the three cables were bad, simply another way to intercept the signal coming in from your IEM and DAP. Sure there could be that member that realizes the smoothness yet airiness that the original OC849 does all day long and would stay happy with that. Then there is me who once I got a taste of the GS849 there was no going back with the Volt. That midrange imaging was both more heavy than the original OS849, but was still fully inviting and never harsh or strident. Yet of course the GS849 doesn’t have that 68% copper plug, and it maybe does something same as the modular solid copper plug. Still the revelation here is that the OCC849 cable is brighter than the HiSenor White Whale! That the LC7 has the frequency of the OCC849, but not near the staging. SO see what we learned today is that by direct side-by-side comparisons truth in replay can be found. That each cable is different and holds special properties for those who own them…….showcasing specific tonal properties in union with specific IEMs. Probably the coolest thing I learned today is that Penon was working their midrange magic in cables and IEMs in the past. That to really send this review home……there is a specific tone that somehow Penon are working with. A tone that the White Whale didn’t own, a tone that the LC7 didn’t quite have. Now to be fair the LC7 is a great cable, yet just for the price difference here you get more with the 849 line-up. And that difference will be even more profound once you figure out which of the four cables suits your needs the very best. I have done all I can to describe this character to you, and I can only focus on so many IEMs in a review (like this one) as there were a lot of different cables to look at. 
What was truly enlightening here today was the differences in sound quality from Pink Floyd Animals in use with the hip dac 3 DAC/Amplifier. That no matter which cable I used the sound quality was only so good, whereas changing to any modern 2024 recording, the dynamics and stage provided simply offered better sound, unarguably better sound. So not only is it important to match your cables to the IEM, but match the file quality and production values………to obtain a modern baseline to judge everything in the signal chain. In this regard it really starts with the recording, then is decoded and amplified by the DAP, or DAC/Amplifier…..to then be transferred to the headphones via the cable. When you suspect something is off, each component in the signal chain plays a part and can adversely challenge your fidelity in the end. In truth cables are in many ways better purchases than IEMs or even sources. That a cable can withstand the test of time, and finds uses many years later simply due to its performance. That sure Penon is exploring new cable construction methods which allow a broader sonic palate into which we can experience our music, yet that is not to say a cable that came out at the end of 2017 is any less of a cable as the cables that are invented in 2024. That price only means so much, that really the most important thing is to discover a company that is playing your song, a company that is offering sonic value………..bang for the buck, in turn creating listening experiences which become memorable.
$99.90
https://penonaudio.com/Penon-OCC849.html
Disclaimer:
I want to thank Penon Audio for the love and the Penon OCC849, OS849, GD849 and GS849 cable review samples.
Disclaimer:
These are one person's ideas and concepts, your results may vary.
Equipment Used:
Sony WM1A Walkman DAP MrWalkman Firmware 4.4mm balanced
HiBy R3 II DAP 4.4mm balanced
ifi GO bar Dongle in 4.4mm balanced
ifi hip dac 3 Dac/Amplifier 4.4mm balanced
