[davidmolliere]

Today I was lucky to receive a surprise item... with a xMas card... Penon new flaghsip Legend which is a 4 way 13BA drivers IEM and in custom form no less!

I must say they surprised me... some first impressions :

After a couple of hours on the Legend (all 3 switches on) and I must say I am positively impressed!
All impression are from M17 but I'll also clock some time with RS6 and report.

I was a bit puzzled and maybe disappointed at the all BA setup for a flagship these days (DD/BA/EST is a great combo - Volt is still to date into the top 5 listen of all my collection and it speaks volume given what it's in there ) Sure something like PHoNIX from Vision Ears does also feature a 13 BA array and gets rave impressions and reviews.

Anyway, I would have been so very wrong to miss out on the Legend... this is a flagship alright and true to the Penon house sound. It features one of the best midrange tuning I have had the pleasure to listen to : it's smooth, full bodied with a warm hue yet transparent and with excellent separation and technicalities. You get these beautiful even harmonics and overtones that make the Legend a very euphonic listen. Upper mids are easy on the ears and it won't be the IEM that will get your juice going with bite yet to me it has just what it takes to be excting and engaging. I bet your blood pressure lowers when you listen to the Legend It's also a lively and rich sound just in a buttery smooth manner with natural note decay.

Although sub bass extension is decent, Legend has a good foundation yet it doesn't exhibit a physical rumble. Bass has a mid bass focus and there is good slam infusing an excellent sense of rhythm. Speed is excellent as well, it's a nimble bass that can do with faster genres. I also find the legend bast to feature rich textures and realistic note attack and decay doing well here on wooden instruments such as the double bass on Jazz tracks.

Treble is refined and with a "romantic" twist : it has this longer decay of notes that linger a bit in the lower treble section and again it's never offensive despite having excellent energy and weight. Again Legend is euphonic with even harmonics and a richness to its lower treble that is quite engaging. It's a tactile treble with wetness for lack of a better word that feels very lifelike. The upper treble handled by the ultra high frequency knowles driver can't really match the 4EST array you find in most flaghsip these days in terms of sheer transient speed and detail retrieval but it features excellent extension and provides good air and resolution to the Legend delivered in a very natural way.

Stage is elliptical with very good width and good depth and height. It's not the stadium like stages some IEM boast but it's not closed in at all and the imaging is excellent which is important as Legend doesn't feature extreme separation but rather a very coherent and realistic image.

 

[normie610]

FiR Audio just unveiled their new line of IEMs. 'Certainly on the more premium side, $-per-driver-wise. Let's see how they stack up against the latest crop of flagships.

Will you be receiving them soon?

 

[Deezel177]

Will you be receiving them soon?

I’m fairly sure I’ll be getting at least one. We’ll see.

 

[normie610]

I’m fairly sure I’ll be getting at least one. We’ll see.

I sure hope it’s the Xe6

 

[davidmolliere]

Here is a cable upgrade which is not an audio cable that I didn't expect would make such a big difference...at 349$ well this one is money well spent for using FiiO M17 in desktop mode. I really was so so doubtful changing the power unit wouldn't do that much of a difference and I was so wrong the iPower Elite really lifted the M17 to new heights but now with the whole chain optimized it's even better! Pitch black background with the ANC of the Supanova and the dynamic range has reached elite levels... listening to Vision Ears EXT with the setup and my jaw is on the floor really...

 

[subguy812]

The latest from EarSonics. It is a Grace update called Grace Platinum. It is a 10 BA with a new shell, updated mids and new filtering.

 

[normie610]

Here is a cable upgrade which is not an audio cable that I didn't expect would make such a big difference...at 349$ well this one is money well spent for using FiiO M17 in desktop mode. I really was so so doubtful changing the power unit wouldn't do that much of a difference and I was so wrong the iPower Elite really lifted the M17 to new heights but now with the whole chain optimized it's even better! Pitch black background with the ANC of the Supanova and the dynamic range has reached elite levels... listening to Vision Ears EXT with the setup and my jaw is on the floor really...

Might as well go to full size headphones since basically you now have a desktop setup

 

[davidmolliere]

Might as well go to full size headphones since basically you now have a desktop setup

Yeah well that crossed my mind, I have had my sights on the Empyrean for a while...

 

[fuhransahis]

Yeah well that crossed my mind, I have had my sights on the Empyrean for a while...

Have you had a chance to try out the Empy?

From what I think I've gathered of your impressions overall I think you may actually be underwhelmed by it. I think it's biggest strengths are comfort, looks, and smooth yet unremarkable tuning.

I'd suggest looking into ZMF offerings for a similar yet more realized range of tunings - Verite Closed mirrors its tuning the closest while besting it in every sonic category with better bass slam and extension, improved imaging and details, more extended yet non-fatiguing treble, and ZMF mids take the cake. Auteur would be more a more neutral variation of that with slightly less bass slam (yet still awesome) and slightly more pronounced mids/vocals. Imaging and staging not quite there with VC yet still better than Empy, to me.

I think my fanboyism is showing but hey, is what it is lol.

I recall you also are a low-volume listener which also might make Empy less suitable.

I owned Auteur, then Empy for a while, then VC for reference as usual IMHO, YMMV yada yada

 

[Fishflood]

Those with iPhones, give the beats fit pro a go with spatial audio enabled. Best TWS by a landslide for me.

This has been my experience as well. Just totally satisfying listening. I have to say that I never pick up my wired IEMs or even my Oppo PM1s anymore. Just no reason. The Beats love Tidal (sounds way better than Spotify, even with bluetooth) and also Audirvana on my Mac.

 

[Sound Eq]

Here is a cable upgrade which is not an audio cable that I didn't expect would make such a big difference...at 349$ well this one is money well spent for using FiiO M17 in desktop mode. I really was so so doubtful changing the power unit wouldn't do that much of a difference and I was so wrong the iPower Elite really lifted the M17 to new heights but now with the whole chain optimized it's even better! Pitch black background with the ANC of the Supanova and the dynamic range has reached elite levels... listening to Vision Ears EXT with the setup and my jaw is on the floor really...

curious if the M17 is better than sp2000 in regular mode with iems, as for my headphones I have a way better set up than any transportable, I am looking to buy a new dap and just wonder what to get after I sold sp2000

 

[davidmolliere]

curious if the M17 is better than sp2000 in regular mode with iems, as for my headphones I have a way better set up than any transportable, I am looking to buy a new dap and just wonder what to get after I sold sp2000

If you come from the SP2000 like AK4499 house sound and want transportable without needing desktop mode, DX300 Max is probably a good choice but it's only secondhand units. Shanling M9 is another option but if it's anything like M8 then it's more colored than SP2K.

M17 compelling case is for guys like me who don't have a sedentary setup (yet) and want the all in one package, don't use their DAP on the go but at home or semi sedentary use. Not that it's not a great option, it's just that it's less obvious of a choice when you go to these uber sized DAPs offerings. Plus it's a different brand of sound compared to SP2K (from my brief times auditioning it).

 

[riverground]

Dual DD + Single BA…

And those Damascus faceplates tho…

449USD

Not really a flagship but dang

 

[Sound Eq]

If you come from the SP2000 like AK4499 house sound and want transportable without needing desktop mode, DX300 Max is probably a good choice but it's only secondhand units. Shanling M9 is another option but if it's anything like M8 then it's more colored than SP2K.

M17 compelling case is for guys like me who don't have a sedentary setup (yet) and want the all in one package, don't use their DAP on the go but at home or semi sedentary use. Not that it's not a great option, it's just that it's less obvious of a choice when you go to these uber sized DAPs offerings. Plus it's a different brand of sound compared to SP2K (from my brief times auditioning it).

thanks, I can see myself using a big dap at home or in the office and use it as a dap but not connected to electricity

so would it be in the same league as sp2000 if used without being connected to electricity

 

[bigbeans]

Put down an order for Custom Fusangs...so now I'm selling my Fabled Sound at a breakthrough price!