Cowon Plenue 2 - Taking it a step further.

[JLW654]

Thanks.

I've just placed my order!

Have you received it yet??

 

[Gorf]

Have you received it yet??

Indeed I have, received it yesterday (yes, Sunday!). I spent the day charging it up & upgrading my music from Ogg to Flac. I only had enough time to listen to one album at the end of the day. Dead Club by Kino.

Listening with my SE535LTD in ears, the sound was smooth & balanced, perhaps a little too smooth. Switching on BBE created some more punch, which I liked. I then attached my Mojo, with an optical connection & was blown away. BBE needed to be off, as the regular flat response was full of solid punch with the Mojo. By that time, I only listened to a couple songs, but I am now packing for a short trip away & will get loads of listening time.

Let's see what airport security make of my kit!

 

[JLW654]

I am pleased that your first impressions are favourable, when you get to play there is no doubt that because it is so versatile, you will definitely find the settings that suit you personally. I love mine... have a great holiday and don't forget your charger..!!

 

[Blackberry Jack]

Hi guys.
Has anyone compared between the P2 and Plenue S in terms of sound quality? I got a great deal for both at my country(900$ more or less), the question is if Plenue S sounds better, then I would consider it a bettery buy in terms of quality/price.

 

[Gorf]

Would I be correct thinking that "Headphone mode" had no effect when using an optical cable to the DAC? Or maybe it detects automatically whether headphones or earphones are being used?

 

[JLW654]

Indeed I have, received it yesterday (yes, Sunday!). I spent the day charging it up & upgrading my music from Ogg to Flac. I only had enough time to listen to one album at the end of the day. Dead Club by Kino.

Listening with my SE535LTD in ears, the sound was smooth & balanced, perhaps a little too smooth. Switching on BBE created some more punch, which I liked. I then attached my Mojo, with an optical connection & was blown away. BBE needed to be off, as the regular flat response was full of solid punch with the Mojo. By that time, I only listened to a couple songs, but I am now packing for a short trip away & will get loads of listening time.

Let's see what airport security make of my kit!

Presume they didnt take it off you at security?? How are you getting on with it?

 

[Gorf]

Got it through security with no problems.

Quite a bit of listening done over the week. Despite your warning, I managed to leave all my charging cables behind. Phone, Plenue/Mojo the lot. My quick thinking wife at home sent them to my hotel by special delivery.

Mainly listened to Kino - Radio Voltaire & Lonely Robot - Please Come Home & The Big Dream. Also a couple listens to Frost - Falling Satellites, Kim Seviour - Recovery is Learning & Touchstone - Wintercoast.

To start with, kit wise, giving a couple unhurried minutes to insert them, the Shure SE535LTD did seem to give a nice consistent fit, with zero fiddling needed to get them right. The Plenue/Mojo kit was a little difficult to hold. Hard to put on a seat next to me & I seemed to keep accidentally pressing buttons on the side of the Plenue. When travelling, I had to keep the kit on my "lap", which was a touch inconvenient. At home, it's much easier as the kit sits nicely on a desk/table beside me.

For sound, I've been enjoying hearing new parts of music which I've not heard before. Vocal harmonies are nicely separated, sibilance is gone completely despite John Mitchell's occasional over enthusiastic mixing. Kim Seviour's voice is sublime, making the hairs on my neck stand up. Drums are easy to follow, but I need some more "thud" low down bass on the lower notes. Bass guitar likewise has some fair punch & easy to follow, but needs to be "felt" a little more. Deep base is there, it has some punch, but not quite powerful enough. Guitars are superb with a couple John Mitchell solos bringing tears to my eyes. For instance the title track from The Big Dream has a solo near the end which is emotional, yet simple.

Once home, I've been using my Shure SRH1840 open backs as they are more comfortable to wear. Base seems a little deeper, but they are a touch less punchy than the SE535LTD & so are slightly easier listening. The different volume levels are a pain to be honest.

Overall, the Plenue P2 mk II is superb with the Mojo. Detail & separation are very good. Punch with vocals, guitars is great, power & range is there with vocals, both male & female. Although to be fair, Kim Seviour has the voice & range of a goddess & spoils me. Drums are well defined, but I need some more punch & depth to the drum tone. I want to feel the drum being hit. Bass guitar is well defined, I need a touch more punch & depth to it.

I'll be delving into EQ or BBE next. I'm not really looking forward to that as I don't really know where to start. The moment I touch a setting, the volume drops, not sure why that would be.

Have you got any thoughts on your kit?

 

[Blackberry Jack]

What the point of having a high-quality DAP for portability if you still connect Mojo to it?

 

[Gorf]

It sounds much better with the Mojo, Jack. Night & Day better. You think I should ignore sound quality & just go with the bare DAP?

 

[Hi-Fi'er]

It sounds much better with the Mojo, Jack. Night & Day better. You think I should ignore sound quality & just go with the bare DAP?

I think the point BlackberryJack was trying to make is why would anyone want to spend $1,000.00 on a DAP (or any DAP) to only use it as a UI/storage to route the music to another DAC? Regardless the reason, for example a Cowon P1 that has the exact same features and UI only costs $399.00?

 

[Blackberry Jack]

I think the point BlackberryJack was trying to make is why would anyone want to spend $1,000.00 on a DAP (or any DAP) to only use it as a UI/storage to route the music to another DAC? Regardless the reason, for example a Cowon P1 that has the exact same features and UI only costs $399.00?

Exactly my point, thanks.
And why would anyone even buy a DAP to use it with Mojo, when you can just plug it into a smartphone? In either way the signal wil be processed the same by Mojo...

 

[BruceBanner]

It sounds much better with the Mojo, Jack. Night & Day better. You think I should ignore sound quality & just go with the bare DAP?

I think you should sell the Cowon and get a far FAR cheaper DAP and pair with the Mojo. What you've done is insane, however I am just jealous of your life that you can even afford such things. You don't deserve them!

 

[jmills8]

One can tweak the Cowon to match the bar soap shape mojo.

 

[AeroSatan]

It sounds much better with the Mojo, Jack. Night & Day better. You think I should ignore sound quality & just go with the bare DAP?

I guess you then prefer the MOJO DAC to the Plenue's one. Whats on earth do you need a Plenue 2 mkII just to use it as a transport is completely beyond me. Why not just use your smart phone for transport? Things like these makes us audiophiles seem cooky at best. Let me go get a top of the line Audio player and use it as a flash drive

 

[JLW654]

Got it through security with no problems.

Quite a bit of listening done over the week. Despite your warning, I managed to leave all my charging cables behind. Phone, Plenue/Mojo the lot. My quick thinking wife at home sent them to my hotel by special delivery.

Mainly listened to Kino - Radio Voltaire & Lonely Robot - Please Come Home & The Big Dream. Also a couple listens to Frost - Falling Satellites, Kim Seviour - Recovery is Learning & Touchstone - Wintercoast.

To start with, kit wise, giving a couple unhurried minutes to insert them, the Shure SE535LTD did seem to give a nice consistent fit, with zero fiddling needed to get them right. The Plenue/Mojo kit was a little difficult to hold. Hard to put on a seat next to me & I seemed to keep accidentally pressing buttons on the side of the Plenue. When travelling, I had to keep the kit on my "lap", which was a touch inconvenient. At home, it's much easier as the kit sits nicely on a desk/table beside me.

For sound, I've been enjoying hearing new parts of music which I've not heard before. Vocal harmonies are nicely separated, sibilance is gone completely despite John Mitchell's occasional over enthusiastic mixing. Kim Seviour's voice is sublime, making the hairs on my neck stand up. Drums are easy to follow, but I need some more "thud" low down bass on the lower notes. Bass guitar likewise has some fair punch & easy to follow, but needs to be "felt" a little more. Deep base is there, it has some punch, but not quite powerful enough. Guitars are superb with a couple John Mitchell solos bringing tears to my eyes. For instance the title track from The Big Dream has a solo near the end which is emotional, yet simple.

Once home, I've been using my Shure SRH1840 open backs as they are more comfortable to wear. Base seems a little deeper, but they are a touch less punchy than the SE535LTD & so are slightly easier listening. The different volume levels are a pain to be honest.

Overall, the Plenue P2 mk II is superb with the Mojo. Detail & separation are very good. Punch with vocals, guitars is great, power & range is there with vocals, both male & female. Although to be fair, Kim Seviour has the voice & range of a goddess & spoils me. Drums are well defined, but I need some more punch & depth to the drum tone. I want to feel the drum being hit. Bass guitar is well defined, I need a touch more punch & depth to it.

I'll be delving into EQ or BBE next. I'm not really looking forward to that as I don't really know where to start. The moment I touch a setting, the volume drops, not sure why that would be.

Have you got any thoughts on your kit?

I am using mine with Shure se846 in ears and I did previously try the 535ltd myself but I didn't like them and sold them. The 846 are a massive step up to me and superb with the plenue without using my Mojo. As to the volume differences, when you listen at "normal" setting switching to any equaliser setting boosts the volume by varying degrees depending on the profile you choose. I don't use volume equalising, dont seem to need to. With the eq profiles you get an instant comparison to the sounds making it really easy to compare. I seem to prefer the "rock" equaliser for 90% of my music.
I wouldnt take too much notice of the others on the trhread "knocking" you using the mojo with the plenue, I like to experiment too and that to me is totally about what makes this hobby so interesting! Have wires...will play....
I love Shure and have the SRH540 closed back but prefer the 846 in ears.....have fun.