To start off, I would like to preface that I have been reading through the entire thread deciding whether to purchase the Penrose for quite some time. Was initially worried due to the large amount of post having issues with popping/crackling, connectivity issues and whooshing sounds.
I hail from Singapore and these headsets just arrived today in a local retail store. Went down to demo the headset since I wasn't sure if the headset issues were valid.
To the untrained ear, these headset doesn't blow me away but definitely brings clarity to a whole new level, I could make out vocals clearly as well as various details from busy tracks that I couldn't before on my previous headset.
Initial impressions were connectivity and range on the Penrose is really bad; both on bluetooth & 2.4ghz. The signal breaks off at half the distance on what I get out off my previous headset (Razer Nari Ultimate). On bluetooth, some tracks has occasional audio skipping even when my phone is within arms reach. 2.4ghz range is roughly 5-6meters with direct line of sight, anything else and there will be popping/crackling and disconnections.
Within the 1-3 meter range for the 2.4ghz, I've encountered no popping/crackling whooshing disconnections, audio was perfectly normal and good. This works well enough in my use case as I only ever use this in my room.
I've also notice the 2.4ghz dongle is very very susceptible to interference from other usb devices, this was what initially caused popping and crackling for my Penrose when I initially plugged this in my PC to test out. My Razer usb dongle was still plugged next to my Penrose dongle and the popping/crackling was constant. This went away immediately after removing my Razer usb dongle. For reference I am using the usb3.0 input on the front of my PC case with the razer dongle right next to it.
Removing any usb dongle closeby removed the popping/crackling for me immediately and completely so if anyone is facing this issue, you may want to try this out.
Also these headsets came preloaded with the 0.1.5 firmware so no update was required on my end, not sure why.
To sum it up, I made the purchase not because this is the perfect product, there are compromises (range and connectivity for me) but this is the few headsets currently in the market that has both bluetooth and 2.4ghz connectivity.
The audio is by far the best i've heard from a gaming headset by a longshot, range and connectivity can use a lot of improvement but doesn't affect me when I'm sitting in front of my PC, on my sofa or lying on my bed. Track skipping on bluetooth can get annoying but does not happen frequent enough to distract me from the music.
All in all I would have expected much more from a product at this price but since this is the best offering in this category and I have been searching for quite some time, I settled on the Penrose and am enjoying them fully.