[Mad Lust Envy]

Sure that’s fair. These headphones all have significantly different sound signatures and sound stages. I’m mainly just interested whether you or anyone else who has experience thought that wired headphones via Dualsense were up to snuff. I’m a bit skeptical of Sony’s cost cutting measures here given most gamers wouldn’t care about audio quality but if you think it sounds good compared to wireless (lossless) alternatives, that means a lot to me.

I actually got into this audio community over 6 years ago after being immensely disappointed with an Astro A50. I stumbled upon your gaming headphone thread, bought my first “nice” headphones in the FidelioX1 upon your recommendation, and the rest was history haha. Good to see your impressions and posts again, for gaming headsets no less. Full circle and all

I certainly don't put much value in controller headphone jacks, and though I'm fine using my beloved, modded PortaPros out of the controller jack, I certainly wouldn't use big headphones with it. I would instead use a UAC1 dac/amp like the Creative G6 instead which works on ps5, and attach headphones to that.

 

[waltzk]

I had to join and comment. I keep noticing how audeze picks and chooses which post to answer or reply to. I get that things happen and all, but how about some customer service. At this point, there are at least 3 discrepancies from what was recently stated. I just don’t see anything being done to address these issues. In the name of goodwill and good old fashioned customer service, what about finally actually using expedited shipping for the customers who got their order in by the 12th and should have already received their headsets by now? Everyone else got theirs yet there were some orders that were sent out that ordered after the 12th. Let’s see SOMETHING....anything. It won’t put you guys out of business and I’m sure it will be appreciated.

The microphone was designed in collaboration with Shure and the only limiting factor right now is the available bandwidth in wireless mode.

thanks for a second or third reply while I’m still waiting for audeze to address the shipping and logistics issues I quoted above and yet you’re still here doing what you can so thank you. Seemed to be a widespread issue that could just have been the quality of the mic itself. Can’t hurt to try.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Considering my experiences of using the mic wired through my Schiit Hel (as evident by my recording), I think the mic on the Penrose is one of the best mics I've heard from any headset to date.

It really is the wireless mode that is skewing the results unfavorably. Had it not been the ability to use it wired, many would think the mic was not very good, myself included.

 

[Krash2]

For anyone who is using their Penrose with a PS5, how does the sound quality compare to a decent wired headphone connected to the Dualsense 3.5mm output? I’m skeptical how good Sony’s audio compression is via Bluetooth and unsure of the quality of the Dualsense’s DAC. Does the Penrose over wireless dongle sound better than something like HD650, Focal Elear, Momentum 3.0 or Fidelio X2 directly connected to a Dualsense? Thanks!

I compared the Penrose wirelessly via PS5 vs Sennheiser HD599 SEs plugged into the DualSense. The Penrose absolutely spanks the 599s in this setup. After doing a handful of tests, I swapped the Penrose to my PC and compared them wirelessly vs the 599s plugged in via my Corsair dac/amp; the audio quality between the two is much more comparable in that comparison. I'm not sure what would cause the big gulf in quality from the DualSense, whether it's compression, amplification, or what, but there ya go, my anecdotal comparison.

 

[trellus]

Paraphrasing here:

"Audeze might decide to cripple the non-X in a firmware update so it doesn't work with PS5 despite being a generic audio device."

-MLE, fearmongering to less tech savvy consumers​

"I buy products for what I need now, not what I might need in the future"

-MLE, on why you should not buy the X based on immediate need.​

"Ignore the shortcomings of this product because Audeze might be able to fix them in future software/firmware updates."

-MLE, on why you should buy a subpar product regardless of immediate need.​

Anyone else catching a lick of irony?

I don’t see “fearmongering” so much as pragmatic caution. I am a software developer and I understand how these things work, but I pragmatically went with the simpler, officially supported solution since I’m using mine only with PC and Mac and the official Audeze spec does not list Mac as compatible with the Penrose X.

yes, I understand how it works and that it almost certainly works on Mac at the least, and probably PS5, for the same reasons (generic USB audio), but I don’t care to deal with any potential, however improbable, issues with Audeze CS if I need support with Audeze HQ on macOS - I know I was on safer ground just getting the model specifically “blessed” by Audeze for my platforms, and the bonus is that I am not unnecessarily inconvenienced with irrelevant issues, for example, Microsoft certification.

I I’ve been on Head-Fi long enough to have seen many, many posts from MLE, and your characterization lacks that context and is coming through a very dark filter.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I had to see what he wrote, and I like how he actually quoted things I never said. So now he's turned into an outright toxic liar.

Nice, twisted spins on things I said, nowhere near in a similar context. But sure. Please keep on with this baseless agenda.

Making fake quotes and passing them off as real is really 2020 of him.

Anyone who follows the same thought process, please feel free to ignore me, for I can't help people with that low level of logic thought processes.

 

[undbecks85]

I’m loving the audio quality of the Penrose overall, but I think I may be experiencing the hiss noise that others reported as well.

On PS5, I t’s most noticeable while in the pause menu of a game like Spider-Man, where it’s completely silent. If I move between menu items, where there’s normally just a beeping sound, with the Penrose I also here a low “whooshing” sound along with the menu sounds. This is also noticeable in really quiet scenes with dialogue. I can hear the same whooshing sound when dialogue starts and ends.

I’m new to these types of headphones though. Am I hearing the noise floor, is it the sound drivers in the headphones “activating” or something when it’s silent and then a sound happens? I’ve tried this with flat EQ, side tone is off, happens on every USB port on the PS5, happens with 3D audio on or off, tried wireless and wired to the controller, and the PS5 audio output is at 100%. I’m wondering if anyone else is noticing this.

I tried with a different pair of headphones and I don’t hear those same whooshing sounds in the same sound situations as on the Penrose.

Other than this and the super loud “connected” lady that scares the hell out of me (can I please get an option to turn her voice down?) I’m very happy with the sound quality.

 

[Busterofwar]

Does the Penrose on PS5 suffer from low volume issues like other USB devices? The Pulse 3D for example was way too quiet for me and connecting my Fidelio X2's to the DualSense was almost as bad.

 

[KMann]

Other than this and the super loud “connected” lady that scares the hell out of me (can I please get an option to turn her voice down?) I’m very happy with the sound quality.

Yes we can. Reduce her volume level and also may be reduce the connected/disconnected to single or double beep after the first connection (the latter is not a promise but we will look into the feasibility) ...

 

[imac2much]

I compared the Penrose wirelessly via PS5 vs Sennheiser HD599 SEs plugged into the DualSense. The Penrose absolutely spanks the 599s in this setup. After doing a handful of tests, I swapped the Penrose to my PC and compared them wirelessly vs the 599s plugged in via my Corsair dac/amp; the audio quality between the two is much more comparable in that comparison. I'm not sure what would cause the big gulf in quality from the DualSense, whether it's compression, amplification, or what, but there ya go, my anecdotal comparison.

Thanks, that's very helpful. I tried a couple headphones out of the Dualsense and wasn't impressed. Good to know that the Penrose will be a significant upgrade. I assume even the Arctis 7p would be better than connecting some headphones to the Dualsense?

I certainly don't put much value in controller headphone jacks, and though I'm fine using my beloved, modded PortaPros out of the controller jack, I certainly wouldn't use big headphones with it. I would instead use a UAC1 dac/amp like the Creative G6 instead which works on ps5, and attach headphones to that.

Thanks again, so you connect the G6 directly to the PS5 and run the wires to where you sit? How does that work since the PS5 no longer has optical output? Or you mean you'd recommend using something similar to G6 but that actually supports PS5 (so I guess it can only be USB input instead of optical).

I'm still most likely going to keep my preorder, but I'm curious if the Arctis 7p might be better for my needs as it's more comfortable and user friendly. I don't need headphones for PC or audio since I already have those covered, I just want something solely for my console gaming (PS5 and Nintendo Switch). Both the Penrose and Arctis 7p fit those needs, and I'm aware that the Penrose will have significantly better audio quality than the Arctis, but wondering if the audio improvement will justify losing what seems to be improved comfort and user friendliness of the Arctis 7p.

 

[cobraR00]

I’m loving the audio quality of the Penrose overall, but I think I may be experiencing the hiss noise that others reported as well.

On PS5, I t’s most noticeable while in the pause menu of a game like Spider-Man, where it’s completely silent. If I move between menu items, where there’s normally just a beeping sound, with the Penrose I also here a low “whooshing” sound along with the menu sounds. This is also noticeable in really quiet scenes with dialogue. I can hear the same whooshing sound when dialogue starts and ends.

I’m new to these types of headphones though. Am I hearing the noise floor, is it the sound drivers in the headphones “activating” or something when it’s silent and then a sound happens? I’ve tried this with flat EQ, side tone is off, happens on every USB port on the PS5, happens with 3D audio on or off, tried wireless and wired to the controller, and the PS5 audio output is at 100%. I’m wondering if anyone else is noticing this.

I tried with a different pair of headphones and I don’t hear those same whooshing sounds in the same sound situations as on the Penrose.

Other than this and the super loud “connected” lady that scares the hell out of me (can I please get an option to turn her voice down?) I’m very happy with the sound quality.

I'm wondering if since they're lossless, that that is what is helping generate the phantom noises.

Could it be that when playing a compressed or narrow audio track that the phantom noise is from the headset playing what is outside of the tracks range?

Narrowed track bit depth or frequency response on a device capable of playing the full range could maybe produce imperfections?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Not that I should address this amount of stupidity, but I'll do so for the sake of not havinbg my name being dragged through the mud by conspiracy theorists.

"Audeze might decide to cripple the non-X in a firmware update so it doesn't work with PS5 despite being a generic audio device."
-MLE, fearmongering to less tech savvy consumers

Audeze told me (as well as on this thread) that just because it may work now, does not mean it will work in the future. Literally what was communicated with me. How am I fearmongering when that is literally was what stated by Auideze themselves? I'm merely stating what I told. And because of that, I rather err on the side of caution by saying you should buy the product for the console you're going to be using for the sake of being safe and officially supported. Not sure what else I need to say about this. If you want to read into that, I'm blushing at how much attention you're giving me. You want my number? I'm currently single.


"I buy products for what I need now, not what I might need in the future"
-MLE, on why you should not buy the X based on immediate need.

Not sure how "Hey, I buy products with the intent on selling them" is a 'necessity'. I don't buy products going into them like "Hey I definitely just bought these, and will sell them." Not sure of the logic behind that mentality. I buy products for what I need. Period. What you need, and what you want to sell in the future, are two very different reasons for getting something. I choose to think of my purchases for their actual use case, not how much I can sell them for later. Either way, the Penrose will sell to PS users, and the X will sell to Xbox users.



"Ignore the shortcomings of this product because Audeze might be able to fix them in future software/firmware updates."
-MLE, on why you should buy a subpar product regardless of immediate need.

Never said any of this. I didn't say ignore. Early life issues are usually fixed within weeks, so if you're making choices based on first day problems, perhaps don't buy anything ever. If you don't want to deal with release day teething pains, hey that's on you. But when these things get fixed weeks down the line, you're going to look very silly. Or rather, more than you do now.

 

[gorgeousmichael]

Same exact issue here. I can even hear it during quiet parts of songs. Its pretty damn bad honestly

I encountered the same issue as well when I first tried the headphone with some soft piano music ... the noise is kind of like a wind/shadow/echo after each note being played, especially obvious at the quiet part after each note ...

I tested using the wireless dongle alone on a Windows PC, and then tried Bluetooth connection alone with my iPhone, with the mic attached and detached, also mute/unmuted ... the same wind/shadow noise occurred for all these scenarios.

In the beginning I thought I got a defected unit but seems others are having similar issue after read this forum. Hope this is software related and firmware update can resolve it.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Thanks, that's very helpful. I tried a couple headphones out of the Dualsense and wasn't impressed. Good to know that the Penrose will be a significant upgrade. I assume even the Arctis 7p would be better than connecting some headphones to the Dualsense?


Thanks again, so you connect the G6 directly to the PS5 and run the wires to where you sit? How does that work since the PS5 no longer has optical output? Or you mean you'd recommend using something similar to G6 but that actually supports PS5 (so I guess it can only be USB input instead of optical).

I'm still most likely going to keep my preorder, but I'm curious if the Arctis 7p might be better for my needs as it's more comfortable and user friendly. I don't need headphones for PC or audio since I already have those covered, I just want something solely for my console gaming (PS5 and Nintendo Switch). Both the Penrose and Arctis 7p fit those needs, and I'm aware that the Penrose will have significantly better audio quality than the Arctis, but wondering if the audio improvement will justify losing what seems to be improved comfort and user friendliness of the Arctis 7p.

The G6 works through USB and the PS5 picks it up as both a sound device and microphone device.

 

[undbecks85]

Does the Penrose on PS5 suffer from low volume issues like other USB devices? The Pulse 3D for example was way too quiet for me and connecting my Fidelio X2's to the DualSense was almost as bad.

I haven’t had any low volume issues at all. They can get very loud both through wireless or plugged in directly to the controller.