Audeze Penrose X and Penrose
Mar 11, 2021 at 12:05 PM Post #5,371 of 7,191
Im back after few months of normal use.

Here's my list of "really should be fixed" items.

1) battery life is really short...not a deal breaker, but not great.
2) mic monitoring should be adjustable...when I get in a game, with the game sound and team mate talk, I cant even tell mic monitoring is on. So, my wife still complains I am talking too loud. Needs the ability to adjust.
3) Bass is almost non-existent, which I never expected. I'll deal with it but its less than ideal.
 
Mar 11, 2021 at 4:17 PM Post #5,372 of 7,191
Been using my penrose since it was delivered in December and it’s died on me in less than three months, completely unresponsive and can’t be turned on or connected to pc. Given the price paid and the hype for this product this is a very disappointing outcome.
 
Mar 11, 2021 at 7:03 PM Post #5,373 of 7,191
Im back after few months of normal use.

Here's my list of "really should be fixed" items.

1) battery life is really short...not a deal breaker, but not great.
2) mic monitoring should be adjustable...when I get in a game, with the game sound and team mate talk, I cant even tell mic monitoring is on. So, my wife still complains I am talking too loud. Needs the ability to adjust.
3) Bass is almost non-existent, which I never expected. I'll deal with it but its less than ideal.


Bass is almost non-existent? eek! I've heard the Arctis Pro Wireless cans dont have the greatest bass either but ultimately have a more neutral profile and stronger soundstage. I'm coming from a pair of Beyer Dynamic DT770 Pro(250ohm)'s and they have wonderful bass once tweaked and paired with a good receiver. I give up, wireless 'Gamer' 2.4ghz technology just doesn't seem like it's quite there yet. I would of loved to of ditched the wire, but i guess i'll have to wait.

If anything, ditching my beyers coil wire and switching it with a straight cable would be a small upgrade. lol also have it attached to an extension cable, it's a bit of a mess, but again sounds phenomenal once set up.
 
Mar 11, 2021 at 7:08 PM Post #5,374 of 7,191
Been using my penrose since it was delivered in December and it’s died on me in less than three months, completely unresponsive and can’t be turned on or connected to pc. Given the price paid and the hype for this product this is a very disappointing outcome.
That sucks. Wonder if they improved the earcups or if the break like the mobius do. Everyone posting arctis pro break go with penrose but if search they have the same fault. They actually break at the top of the wishbone as well if it isn't the earcup hinge breaking. Just don't think the sales are the same so not as many posts as steelseries.
 
Mar 11, 2021 at 7:09 PM Post #5,375 of 7,191
Bass is almost non-existent? eek! I've heard the Arctis Pro Wireless cans dont have the greatest bass either but ultimately have a more neutral profile and stronger soundstage. I'm coming from a pair of Beyer Dynamic DT770 Pro(250ohm)'s and they have wonderful bass once tweaked and paired with a good receiver. I give up, wireless 'Gamer' 2.4ghz technology just doesn't seem like it's quite there yet. I would of loved to of ditched the wire, but i guess i'll have to wait.

If anything, ditching my beyers coil wire and switching it with a straight cable would be a small upgrade. lol also have it attached to an extension cable, it's a bit of a mess, but again sounds phenomenal once set up.
Have the arctis. Its decent bass. Not insanely head shaking but pretty good.
 
Mar 11, 2021 at 8:03 PM Post #5,376 of 7,191
Im back after few months of normal use.

Here's my list of "really should be fixed" items.

1) battery life is really short...not a deal breaker, but not great.
2) mic monitoring should be adjustable...when I get in a game, with the game sound and team mate talk, I cant even tell mic monitoring is on. So, my wife still complains I am talking too loud. Needs the ability to adjust.
3) Bass is almost non-existent, which I never expected. I'll deal with it but its less than ideal.
I noticed this too, is there a way to boost it from the EQ settings? Never used one before and haven't really messed around with it
 
Mar 11, 2021 at 8:10 PM Post #5,377 of 7,191
Been using my penrose since it was delivered in December and it’s died on me in less than three months, completely unresponsive and can’t be turned on or connected to pc. Given the price paid and the hype for this product this is a very disappointing outcome.
Not sure if this information will be useful to anyone watching this topic, but I'll share what happened to my first Penrose headset that up and died suddenly much like the guy I'm quoting above.

I received my headset roughly two weeks after they started shipping, and I was quite vocal about my thoughts on the mic quality on PC (Discord) like many were at the time. Unlike most however I knew someone with the Penrose and had the ability to test the mic quality back and forth. Needless to say my brother and I were not impressed.

Audeze reached out and sent us both the new firmware before it would release to the public, however after I updated the firmware with the headset plugged into a powered USB hub the headset became unresponsive. It was simply dead in the water. At the time Audeze suggested it was my USB hub to blame and that they'd be releasing a warning that pops up with the software to be careful about how you connect the headset to a PC (AKA just don't use a USB hub). Thankfully they were kind enough to replace my headset, but I'm not sure if anything really came out of that for everyone. I don't recall seeing a warning not to use a USB hub while connecting the headset to a PC after opening the software... but I could have missed it, or it could be part of the documentation that ships with new headsets. Bottom line the headsets may be sensitive, and if a USB connection isn't solid enough or the power being provided through the port isn't exactly what it should be the headset might just... die?

That USB hub has never given me trouble in the past, so I don't know what to think. I am however very paranoid now and will only directly connect the headset to a port on the front / back of my PC. I'm not risking a $400 CAD headset.
 
Mar 11, 2021 at 9:36 PM Post #5,378 of 7,191
Not sure if this information will be useful to anyone watching this topic, but I'll share what happened to my first Penrose headset that up and died suddenly much like the guy I'm quoting above.

I received my headset roughly two weeks after they started shipping, and I was quite vocal about my thoughts on the mic quality on PC (Discord) like many were at the time. Unlike most however I knew someone with the Penrose and had the ability to test the mic quality back and forth. Needless to say my brother and I were not impressed.

Audeze reached out and sent us both the new firmware before it would release to the public, however after I updated the firmware with the headset plugged into a powered USB hub the headset became unresponsive. It was simply dead in the water. At the time Audeze suggested it was my USB hub to blame and that they'd be releasing a warning that pops up with the software to be careful about how you connect the headset to a PC (AKA just don't use a USB hub). Thankfully they were kind enough to replace my headset, but I'm not sure if anything really came out of that for everyone. I don't recall seeing a warning not to use a USB hub while connecting the headset to a PC after opening the software... but I could have missed it, or it could be part of the documentation that ships with new headsets. Bottom line the headsets may be sensitive, and if a USB connection isn't solid enough or the power being provided through the port isn't exactly what it should be the headset might just... die?

That USB hub has never given me trouble in the past, so I don't know what to think. I am however very paranoid now and will only directly connect the headset to a port on the front / back of my PC. I'm not risking a $400 CAD headset.
I'm no electronics expert/engineer, but I fail to see how a USB hub is going to kill a pair of headphones. At the time these headphones started coming out, a lot of people (maybe even Audeze reps, idk I'm not searching through this thread) were recommending using USB hubs or extenders to get the dongle away from the PC tower itself. Something about lowering interference and improving connection quality. I've been using an OLD 2.0 powered-USB hub for months with my Penrose, and they work just fine. I wouldn't be paranoid about using one. As of now, Audeze hasn't provided any public warnings about using them, and if my headphones suddenly break, I expect them to honor their warranty.
 
Mar 11, 2021 at 11:21 PM Post #5,379 of 7,191
I received my Penrose X yesterday. I'm returning it today.

Pros:
- good fit and finish for $300
- good swivel & tilt of headcups - better than significantly more expensive headsets
- good microphone experience (wifi connection to Xbox Series X, friends say my in game voice quality is better than my prior modmic 3.5mm)
- sound quality has better than average detail retrieval and instrument separation in this price range

Cons:
- noticable noise floor (white noise) in the background as soon as unit powers on
- heavier than most gaming headsets
- tight fit / pressure from ear cups
- air tight seal between cup and head is just waiting to cause damage to planar membranes
- poor passive isolation. maybe the worst of any closed back headphone I've tried
- no active noise cancelation (I knew this before buying) but this is more of an issue since the passive isolation is so poor
- clunky volume management between 2+ sources. I could not get my gaming sound & chat volumes (connected via wifi) to balance without stopping and making a bluetooth connection to my Android phone app and resorting to Audeze's pitifully simple app. Add a blutooth music or Discord chat and it gets really unmanageable.
- volume steps are absurdly large. each tweak of the physical volume wheel is around 3 db. So its often too quiet or too loud.
- volume level at 10% is about the max I can tolerate. Which means I have two or three wheel clicks of usable range
- obviously flawed frequency response. (Probably the deal killer). To the trained ear, music sounds warbly and uneven, no matter if bluetooth or wifi.
- laughlibly weak bass for a planar / Audeze. Basically nothing under 30hz in some of the sound demos I use for other headphones and speakers.

I'll keep my Sony WH1000-XM3 for gaming for now.

I'll be skipping the Penrose as well, doesn't sound like they'll meet my standards, at all. Have you tried the Arctis Pro Wireless, if so what are your thoughts?
I'm sticking to my wired pair of Beyer Dynamic DT770 Pro(250ohm) with my eArc Receiver. They Sound absolutely fantastic and surprisingly sound more open back than closed. Sure, I Hate the wire, but again there just seems like too many compromises with the majority of these wireless 2.4ghz headphones.

I'd only consider the Arctis Pro Wireless at this point, but i know good and well that the wired version of the Pro's sounds a lot better, so why even bother? It's not worth axing the wire for a noticeable step down in audio quality. Right now i'm looking into replacing the standard coil wire with a straight wire for my Beyers, and then i'm done :p
 
Mar 11, 2021 at 11:41 PM Post #5,380 of 7,191
I’ve used a couple of Arctis products (9X and 7P), and while they have their positives, the Penrose just blows them out of the water from a sound quality perspective. I know the Penrose has its quirks right now, but I’ve generally been really enjoying my set and have a really tough time reverting back to other offerings in the gaming headset arena.

I’m also not understanding the claims of there being no bass. Bass seems plenty hefty to me, and although the default profile it ships with is pretty neutral, the EQ customizations let you toy with that as desired (warm’s certainly a bassier preset).
 
Mar 12, 2021 at 12:33 AM Post #5,381 of 7,191
No issues with bass either using the warm preset. This is one of the bassiest headphones/headsets I’ve heard.
 
Mar 12, 2021 at 3:30 AM Post #5,383 of 7,191
No issues with bass either using the warm preset. This is one of the bassiest headphones/headsets I’ve heard.
Yes it is. My understanding is some people just like the distorted bass sound and make a comparison with that experience they have using dynamic headsets. Bass is punchy and sweet maybe the best so far on a headset I’ve heard - talking about Mobius tho
 
Mar 12, 2021 at 5:02 AM Post #5,384 of 7,191
Just a heads up to anyone who ordered the Mobius Gel Pads from Analogue Seduction, is a scam. They don’t have any in stock and claim to be getting some in from Audeze even though the item has been discontinued. I’ve tried extensively to cancel my order and they refuse to grant me a refund.
 

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