[Mad Lust Envy]

How comfortable and breathable are the Penrose? Can you wear them for long gaming sessions without your ears getting very warm?

That's one thing you'll have to concede. They're closed back and with faux leather, so your ears will get hot. Nature of the design.

 

[Naedtrax]

So, I tried a set of mobius earlier today for the first time and tested it with a few games. The soundstage seems verrry narrow when compared to a set of pc38x and 58x when they're in stereo mode. I hope they improve this on the Penrose, but given its the same driver setup.. Is that even possible?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

So, I tried a set of mobius earlier today for the first time and tested it with a few games. The soundstage seems verrry narrow when compared to a set of pc38x and 58x when they're in stereo mode. I hope they improve this on the Penrose, but given its the same driver setup.. Is that even possible?

Well there's factors you need to consider.

The Mobius is closed back, the pc38X and 58X are both open backed. Closed vs open, is already a drastic difference in soundstaging. The Penrose will not change this. This is why people often mention this like " X headphone is good...for a closed back headphone". There's very few closed backs that will throw out convincingly large soundstages. Just a limitation of a closed back design. You have to factor these limitations and adjust expectations accordingly. What closed backs do better is the being able to more easily portray bass impact, due to an enclosed space where the energy is reflected back to your ears. That, and of course, better isolation.

 

[jriggin]

So, in that case, what is the benefit of a Penrose over something like a Fidelio X3 + ModMic other than cables? I'm assuming it will be inferior from a sound quality perspective. I'm speaking from a gaming perspective.

 

[amoeba1126]

So, in that case, what is the benefit of a Penrose over something like a Fidelio X3 + ModMic other than cables? I'm assuming it will be inferior from a sound quality perspective. I'm speaking from a gaming perspective.

Wireless, lack of need for separate amp and dac

 

[amoeba1126]

That's one thing you'll have to concede. They're closed back and with faux leather, so your ears will get hot. Nature of the design.

And this is why a lot of us were asking if Audeze planned to re-introduce the gel pads.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

And this is why a lot of us were asking if Audeze planned to re-introduce the gel pads.

I have the gel pads, and I didn't feel a difference in terms of heat. Minute if any. There's still no where for the heat to go unless you air it out. The difference is on how the pads mold on your head. They may be a little better for glasses users. So I'd say its a comfort thing more than a temperature thing. I like the stock pads well enough, so I didn't feel a pressing need to permanently swap to the cryo pads.

 

[amoeba1126]

I have the gel pads, and I didn't feel a difference in terms of heat. Minute if any. There's still no where for the heat to go unless you air it out.

Well that's good to know. Velour pads will probably help more, but then you get increased noise floor.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I think the next best thing is leather pads with a cloth fabric/velour on the surface that touches the skin. Many companbies are doing that, and I'm hoping Audeze follows suit at some point.

 

[amoeba1126]

I think the next best thing is leather pads with a cloth fabric/velour on the surface that touches the skin. Many companbies are doing that, and I'm hoping Audeze follows suit at some point.

Same here, maybe Dekoni will join in on the pad fun if Audeze doesn't.

 

[jriggin]

Wireless, lack of need for separate amp and dac

I get that, but gaming is going to be better with open design, right? The soundstage will be much bigger. Closed is going to be narrow and hard to pinpoint the location of the sound so I'm assuming the extent of what makes it a gamer headset is the MIC.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I get that, but gaming is going to be better with open design, right? The soundstage will be much bigger. Closed is going to be narrow and hard to pinpoint the location of the sound so I'm assuming the extent of what makes it a gamer headset is the MIC.

Well I think all stereo gaming is narrow and hard to discern, that's why I use virtual surround, which turns any headphone into a very open sounding headphone. PS5 will use their own virtual surround, Xbox is using Dolby Atmos, and PC has many options like Waves NX, Redscape Audio, ATmos, DTS X, etc.

Been using the Penrose with Waves NX, and it sounds as open as I'd ever need it to be. If you're gaming in virtual surround, there's very little reason to worry about inherent soundstage, to be honest. It benefits all headphones, even IEMs.

 

[GiullianSN]

I get that, but gaming is going to be better with open design, right? The soundstage will be much bigger. Closed is going to be narrow and hard to pinpoint the location of the sound so I'm assuming the extent of what makes it a gamer headset is the MIC.

I think the DSP will be a big impact in this case. Depends a lot on the game sound and Sony/MS codecs. When using an analog input the open/closed headphone will be of a bigger difference.

 

[jriggin]

Well I think all stereo gaming is narrow and hard to discern, that's why I use virtual surround, which turns any headphone into a very open sounding headphone. PS5 will use their own virtual surround, Xbox is using Dolby Atmos, and PC has many options like Waves NX, Redscape Audio, ATmos, DTS X, etc.

Been using the Penrose with Waves NX, and it sounds as open as I'd ever need it to be. If you're gaming in virtual surround, there's very little reason to worry about inherent soundstage, to be honest. It benefits all headphones, even IEMs.

I'll have to give Waves NX a shot when I get the Penrose X. I may transition my Fidelio X3 to my record player if the Audeze is good enough.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Waves NX is what the Mobius uses internally as well. The software is only $10 and well worth it if you wanna use it for any headphone on PC. Better than Dolby Atmos PC version, Windows Sonic, or DTS Headphone X, IMHO.

There's Redscape Audio that costs $100 which I'm looking into, and it may actually be worth that. It's the only software with working room size adjustment, which is absolutely essential, and the demo was very promising. It's costly, but if you cosnidering how much some of us have spent for dacs that have virtual surround, $100 seems much easier to swallow, considering it will work with any dac/amp.