[Bosk]

I've just compared the impressive new $269 Penon Renata to the Effect Audio Code 24 & Liquid Links Venom - you're invited to read my full review here.

 

[theintention]

https://penonaudio.com/penon-os849.html $99.90
https://penonaudio.com/penon-gs849.html $99.90
https://penonaudio.com/penon-gd849.html $99.90
https://penonaudio.com/Penon-OCC849.html $99.90

Penon OCC849 Single Crystal Copper HiFi Audiophile IEMs Cable
Type-4 Litz configuration

Description
6n single crystal copper silver-plated cable
8 strands, single strand is 49 cores, a total of 8 × 49.
The plug contains 68% copper
The solder joints is silver – contained tin
Carbon fiber metal splitter and CNC integrated slider
Cable length: 1.2M

The OS849, GS849, GD849 and new one the Penon OCC849. Where in early 2018 the first of the series the OS849 cable was released. As such it was 68% Crystal Copper and a 32% silver core. Versatile and thick, really there was nothing like it at the time that came with an IEM. 6N purity with 8% silver in the copper wire plating. 49 stands and 8X49 stands in total so that’s how they got the name. The original OS849 cable costs $99.90 and provides a grand service and noticeably different from this new OCC849 cable. Where the original OS849 becomes more airy into how it deals with sonics, not being weighted down by the 63% copper plug of this new OCC849. I mean really there is a use for both, have a darker IEM that you want to gain stage expansion really both the OCC849 and the original OS849 do that. The difference is the OCC849 is more heavy gaining lower midrange details and added heft. Still there is nothing at all wrong with what the original does. In fact it was amazing just how well rounded of a cable the original was, never coloring the sound, but moving forward to add definition and stage over most included cables. Later in my review I will go over more details about how these two cables are different. Yet there is a good feeling finding a cable Penon released in early 2018 that still performs grand arranging the details and stage to make any modern day IEM shine. Really it is almost like pure silver in how it adds energy, yet balanced to the fact that it is a copper/silver plated cable really in the end. That simply means we don’t have to worry about the OS849 ever getting too hot or bringing too much energy to out listening.


The GS849 and GD849:
These came after the OS849 and while still the build of the original OS849 brought new flavors of density due to the metallurgy make-up. The GS849 is a hybrid cable while still versatile it contains 18K Gold which adds density and thickness in comparison to the original OS849.

I used the Penon Volt today for testing as the volt is incredibly balanced, not too dark or too bright anyway. Yet it is revealing enough to easily show the character of each cable and how they are different. Now the best part about today was that there were never any fires to put out, or dullness to try and add clarity too. As such it was simply different flavors of good. Now that will not always be the case with other IEMs, but at least today it the Volt was always correct and even sounding, yet there was a specific character from each cable which in the end shined through!

In fact yesterday it was a little daunting to think I would compare all four cables and need to note how they performed, when in reality this write-up ended one of the easiest things to do. Like almost changing the EQ on your stereo and reporting in how each setting sounded.

The GS849 is still 18K gold plated OCC copper and the other half is silver plated OCC copper making 8 cores of 49 stands each thus 849. So it is simple in playback……..here we are offered a denser playback and owning slightly more weight than the original OS849, yet not the total warmth and copper sound of (maybe) the plug……….but whatever is doing it, the OCC849 is just a tad warmer despite the GS849 added note weight and density. Where to really get into this mess, the GS849 has a new and different midrange. A kind of beautiful imaged midrange, which showed a more vibrant color than the original OS849, yet still more airy and flying slightly higher, as not as grounded as the OCC849. Yet this may be my favorite cable of the bunch. I know you were thinking I was going to say this new OCC849 was best, and it may be with other IEMs…….but today with the Volt this takes the cake. And they really are all very different.

The GD849:
More 18K Gold! Coming out in September of 2020 it was a few years later than the original OS849. Here we are witnessing a cable with weight and authority, kind-of still vivid, but less on the vivid scale. Like the ISN GC4 there are very specific reasons you may want to included this cable, or if the ESTs in the Penon Volt are too hot for you……..which would make you a different outsider, but it could maybe happen…….then you may want to use the GD849 with the Volt. Because remember the Volt is so well rounded that none of the outcomes today were bad, just that each held a new and different tone slightly which could maybe go in order?


Volt uses:

1. GS849
2. OS849 tied to 3. OCC849

And finally last the GD849

Your results may very depending on IEM in use, DAP, ear-tips and personal preference.

Cheers!

The Penon OCC849:

The OS849:

The GS849:


And finally the GD849 with all of its bling:

Thank-you for reading!

Any opinions on these cables in comparison to other brands like Effect?

@Dsnuts

 

[Redcarmoose]

Any opinions on these cables in comparison to other brands like Effect?

@Dsnuts

That is a good question for him. In my review I will attempt to compare them to stuff like the White Whale and SIMGOT LC7.

 

[Dsnuts]

Any opinions on these cables in comparison to other brands like Effect?

@Dsnuts

Effect Audio only uses materials that are a level above what Penon likes to use in the OCC Crystal copper variant. Equivalent Effect Audio cables gets you less material and if you do get similar material thickness as the Penon cables. The 8 wire variants, it ends up being double the price. You can get 3 of the Penon cables listed for the same cost of a single Cadmus 8w for example..

Value is clearly not on the side of the Effect Audio cable but at the same time, they are not overly charging for their proprietary conx and termx tech with the deliberate use of UP-OCC which is pretty much the highest level of coppers you can get in the industry. Cema Electro acousti on Aliexpress uses very similar UP-OCC with similar pricing as Effect Audio, maybe slightly cheaper vs their 8 wire variant but just through my own experience with real UP-OCC ( yes there are budget cables that claim to use UP-OCC but I highly doubt its real as these cables usually goes for a fragment of what EA or Electro Acousti sells thiers for) is that they are more resolving vs any other copper variant. provides a superior blacker background for better imaging and detail among copper-based cables. Adding silver on top of this gives you the different types that these companies charge accordingly.

If you have one or two IEMs you enjoy and would like a higher end cable to bring the best in said IEMs then it make sense to get one higher end cable to match with them. But if you own more than a few IEMs. It makes more sense to have a variety of cables. The 3 cables that makes a lot of sense for Penon is their OCC849, OS849, and GS849. Cus you get 3 outstanding cables for the price of one 8w The GD849 as nice as a gold plated OCC cable, looks nice but is the one that you will need a very specific type of tuning to match up with. Neutral bright so its a very niche type cable.

Just my opinion but you are actually better off trying 3 different types of Penon crystal copper-based cables OS-Series just for the fact that you never know which one of the 3 will synergize better with whatever IEM you own.

 

[theintention]

Effect Audio only uses materials that are a level above what Penon likes to use in the OCC Crystal copper variant. Equivalent Effect Audio cables gets you less material and if you do get similar material thickness as the Penon cables. The 8 wire variants, it ends up being double the price. You can get 3 of the Penon cables listed for the same cost of a single Cadmus 8w for example..

Value is clearly not on the side of the Effect Audio cable but at the same time, they are not overly charging for their proprietary conx and termx tech with the deliberate use of UP-OCC which is pretty much the highest level of coppers you can get in the industry. Cema Electro acousti on Aliexpress uses very similar UP-OCC with similar pricing as Effect Audio, maybe slightly cheaper vs their 8 wire variant but just through my own experience with real UP-OCC ( yes there are budget cables that claim to use UP-OCC but I highly doubt its real as these cables usually goes for a fragment of what EA or Electro Acousti sells thiers for) is that they are more resolving vs any other copper variant. provides a superior blacker background for better imaging and detail among copper-based cables. Adding silver on top of this gives you the different types that these companies charge accordingly.

If you have one or two IEMs you enjoy and would like a higher end cable to bring the best in said IEMs then it make sense to get one higher end cable to match with them. But if you own more than a few IEMs. It makes more sense to have a variety of cables. The 3 cables that makes a lot of sense for Penon is their OCC849, OS849, and GS849. Cus you get 3 outstanding cables for the price of one 8w The GD849 as nice as a gold plated OCC cable looks is the one that you will need a very specific type of tuning to match up with. Neutral bright so its a very niche type cable.

Just my opinion but you are actually better off trying 3 different types of Penon crystal copper-based cables OS-Series just for the fact that you never know which one of the 3 will synergize better with whatever IEM you own.

Dope thanks. Picked up the newest release this morning, good to know where it stands with the competition.

 

[Dsnuts]

Penons OCC is a higher grade of copper vs the NiceHCKs and the Xinhs of the world but it's not exactly UPOCC that Effect Audio uses. But this being said, it gets damn close and has its own flavoring. UPOCC with silver ends up being a brighter treble enhancing cable than you would imagine. So sometimes a bit less resolving OCC with silver actually sounds a bit smoother for trebles and ultimately sounds more balanced.

This is what I meant by the OCC cables having its own flavor. Penons OCC variants seems to give greater note weight while the UPOCC by sheer nature of its resolve gives the best stage for coppers but sounds a touch thinner in note weight vs a thicker OCC cable.

It is the UPOCC that ends up matching well for IEMs that need better technicalities. If your IEMs base sound has good foundational technicalities like stage, imaging, sound separation and detail. It is the OCC variant that enhances an IEM like that better. Again having a variety of cable types is much like having a variety of IEM tips. You never know which one will add a synergistic component to an IEM sound profile. And sometimes having the most resolving cable is not necessarily the obvious best thing for a sound.

Take Fiios Monocrystalline silver plated cables they threw in for the old FD5 for example. That cable made the FD5 sound more analytical than it should be including enhancing the trebles for the IEM. The issue with that is, it already has plenty of treble for its base tuning. So it made much more sense to use a less resolving copper variant to enhance its note weight and not have any extra influence for its trebles. Which ends up making the FD5 sound much better imo. This is a case of a manufacturer just including the most resolving cable in a package and calling it good. Unfortunately, it worked against the actual sound of the FD5.

 

[Redcarmoose]

https://penonaudio.com/penon-gs849.html
Here the GS849 aftermarket cable is in action with the ifi hip DACs 3 and Penon Volt.........my favorite IEM combo here today!

 

[Redcarmoose]

More hip dac 3 fun!

Here is the Penon GD849 special use cable........in use with the 7Hz Aurora! Meaning it has uses, though less uses than regular cables, yet when those uses are found it becomes valuable, where the Volt is middle-rounded and well-rounded showing a centered midrange personality......that goes with a wide variety of cables. Here we have the GD849 triming the treble and fixing the 6mm Planar Aurora timbre to bring about a level closer to perfection in playback response.

 

[Redcarmoose]

I humbly present to you another, yes another cable review! The OCC849 cable from Penon Audio!
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/pe...diophile-iem-cable.27241/reviews#review-33965

 

[Elim Garak]

Hi!
I am in pursuit of high quality copper cable for AurAudio Neon Pro.

I am considering this two cables:

CEMA Osprey 2024

or

GuCraftsman 6N Copper

Does anybody have experience with these cables and which one would you reccomend?

 

[droid23]

Certainly not mid price, rather low price... but definitely not the typical low-end:
The new DUNU Lyre Mini 240-Strand High-Purity OCC Earphone Cable with Q-Lock Mini

 

[drspeter]

Penons OCC is a higher grade of copper vs the NiceHCKs and the Xinhs of the world but it's not exactly UPOCC that Effect Audio uses. But this being said, it gets damn close and has its own flavoring. UPOCC with silver ends up being a brighter treble enhancing cable than you would imagine. So sometimes a bit less resolving OCC with silver actually sounds a bit smoother for trebles and ultimately sounds more balanced.

This is what I meant by the OCC cables having its own flavor. Penons OCC variants seems to give greater note weight while the UPOCC by sheer nature of its resolve gives the best stage for coppers but sounds a touch thinner in note weight vs a thicker OCC cable.

It is the UPOCC that ends up matching well for IEMs that need better technicalities. If your IEMs base sound has good foundational technicalities like stage, imaging, sound separation and detail. It is the OCC variant that enhances an IEM like that better. Again having a variety of cable types is much like having a variety of IEM tips. You never know which one will add a synergistic component to an IEM sound profile. And sometimes having the most resolving cable is not necessarily the obvious best thing for a sound.

Take Fiios Monocrystalline silver plated cables they threw in for the old FD5 for example. That cable made the FD5 sound more analytical than it should be including enhancing the trebles for the IEM. The issue with that is, it already has plenty of treble for its base tuning. So it made much more sense to use a less resolving copper variant to enhance its note weight and not have any extra influence for its trebles. Which ends up making the FD5 sound much better imo. This is a case of a manufacturer just including the most resolving cable in a package and calling it good. Unfortunately, it worked against the actual sound of the FD5.

It seems that using the term like UPOCC 6N or 7N became really common for IEM cables at every price bracket. It is rather much creditable that the seller provide their materials' analysis result and saying that they use 5N sterling silver than many other sellers claiming their product as 7N silver with no proof. How does Penon / Effect Audio provide convincing evidence that they are indeed using higher grade material than NiceHCK or Xinhs?

 

[Dsnuts]

It would be so ideal if folks provided a certificate of authenticity or some type of evidence on purity, but truth is no one is providing a metallurgy evidence of purity from any cable. And this is the reason why cable makers can say their cable is outsourced from a rock on Mars. No one will disprove it. The only one I found was from NiceHCK when they provided a 99.9% pure silver rating from an independent lab in China with a certificate that supposedly proves that. . I am basing my statements on actual use cases on IEMs. Some cables just resolve better than others. I happened to do cable reviews and I know it is not scientific but there is a clear difference in the Effect Audio copper cables and your garden variety of AliExpress copper cables that claim to be 7n 6n or whatever purity they claim it is. Which led me to post that statement about the copper cables these guys use.

I also happen to know Penon Audio quite well and I have never seen them be deceitful about any product they have ever made in their history of selling IEMs and cables. I did a lot of reviews for their cables and once again what these guys make is a clear leap in performance vs your garden variety of Aliexpress cables.

I have a few cables that are supposedly UPOCC from Aliexpress I have bought over the years and I even asked the sales rep from KBEAR if their UPOCC is actually UPOCC and I wish I can find the statement from them when I reached out to them but it was something along of. Yes it is.

Nope I don't think so. This particular UPOCC cable they sent for review was nowhere close to the Ares S by Effect Audio or any of the Electro Acousti UPOCC I happen to own. I am willing to bet that KBEAR rep didn't know what she was actually talking about. Once you have used higher end cables. There is a reason why those things cost so much. Though I have to admit, summit fi cables are just ridiculous in pricing no matter what the cable is made of.

I doubt any manufacturer will be willing to sell a real sourced UPOCC at the $30-$50 prices some of these vendors are selling them for. Truth is, on the express everything is the wild west. They can claim it has palladium plated in gold drenched in sap oil then dunked in pure silver. There is no way of actually knowing the truth on any of it. But I do know what I hear from these cables so the proof for me at least is in just how they perform with my most resolving IEMs in my ears. It tells me what I need to know.

 

[drspeter]

It would be so ideal if folks provided a certificate of authenticity or some type of evidence on purity, but truth is no one is providing a metallurgy evidence of purity from any cable. And this is the reason why cable makers can say their cable is outsourced from a rock on Mars. No one will disprove it. The only one I found was from NiceHCK when they provided a 99.9% pure silver rating from an independent lab in China with a certificate that supposedly proves that. . I am basing my statements on actual use cases on IEMs. Some cables just resolve better than others. I happened to do cable reviews and I know it is not scientific but there is a clear difference in the Effect Audio copper cables and your garden variety of AliExpress copper cables that claim to be 7n 6n or whatever purity they claim it is. Which led me to post that statement about the copper cables these guys use.

I also happen to know Penon Audio quite well and I have never seen them be deceitful about any product they have ever made in their history of selling IEMs and cables. I did a lot of reviews for their cables and once again what these guys make is a clear leap in performance vs your garden variety of Aliexpress cables.

I have a few cables that are supposedly UPOCC from Aliexpress I have bought over the years and I even asked the sales rep from KBEAR if their UPOCC is actually UPOCC and I wish I can find the statement from them when I reached out to them but it was something along of. Yes it is.

Nope I don't think so. This particular UPOCC cable they sent for review was nowhere close to the Ares S by Effect Audio or any of the Electro Acousti UPOCC I happen to own. I am willing to bet that KBEAR rep didn't know what she was actually talking about. Once you have used higher end cables. There is a reason why those things cost so much. Though I have to admit, summit fi cables are just ridiculous in pricing no matter what the cable is made of.

I doubt any manufacturer will be willing to sell a real sourced UPOCC at the $30-$50 prices some of these vendors are selling them for. Truth is, on the express everything is the wild west. They can claim it has palladium plated in gold drenched in sap oil then dunked in pure silver. There is no way of actually knowing the truth on any of it. But I do know what I hear from these cables so the proof for me at least is in just how they perform with my most resolving IEMs in my ears. It tells me what I need to know.

great point. In the end I need to experience by myself and hear the difference to discern whether the cable is worth the asking price.
If you don't mind, can you share some more of your experience in this regard? What is the general benefit of using more materials, for example 20awg vs 26awg with the same exact material? If I read correctly between the impressions and reviews, thicker cables (low awg value) seem to increase the perception of space, like increasing the stage size. Is it correct or you have felt otherwise? I am interested in Penon Space or ISN T-OCC cable for that reason as they come with more usage of the materials. thanks for your input.

 

[Dsnuts]

great point. In the end I need to experience by myself and hear the difference to discern whether the cable is worth the asking price.
If you don't mind, can you share some more of your experience in this regard? What is the general benefit of using more materials, for example 20awg vs 26awg with the same exact material? If I read correctly between the impressions and reviews, thicker cables (low awg value) seem to increase the perception of space, like increasing the stage size. Is it correct or you have felt otherwise? I am interested in Penon Space or ISN T-OCC cable for that reason as they come with more usage of the materials. thanks for your input.

It is fairly consistent. I did a review of NiceHCKs 4 core pure silver cable vs their 8 cored version. More material means, usually double the cost. As per sound performance it seems to be that there is simply more material that has an influence on how you would percieve its sound performance. Its not exactly double the stage percetion and double the depth perception. I would say its more like 5-15% extra depending on the level of cable your dealing with. ARES S is a 4 wired UPOCC vs the ARES 8w. There is a definitely noticeable expansion of stage, greater note weight of sound and depth of sound as a result. Even them cheaper pure NiceHCK silver cables, did something similar with greater expansion of stage and better depth.

The only issue with thicker 8 cored variants of cables is that some are just too thick and heavy. A cable should not be so unweldly that you can't have freedom of movement or are so heavy that they are relagated for just home use. Which kinda defeats the purpose of an IEM use case scenario. There are 2-4 core cable variants that use so much material that it is impossible to make an 8 wired version. These are more like an 8-16 cored cable but designed to only use 2-4cores.

Take Effect Audios Code 23 for example. That cable is a thick 2 cored 16.5AWG cable. So thick the cable is a bit too stiff. Reason why they made a revision of it called the Code 24C. Which uses much less material but comes fairly close to the performance of the Code 23. So in the end it really comes down to material, geometry of said material, hardware used like plugs and connectors which leads to the overall sound enhancing performance of the given cable.

Generally if a lighter 4 cored cable is a nicely resolving solid quality cable. Its a good bet that doubling the same material in an 8 cored version will give you better performance. Again not exactly double the performance but it will increase the best aspects of that material. However this is highly dependend on the quality. Less qualtiy and its difficult to tell from a 4 core to an 8 core.

The outlier is if you use a highly resolving 4 cored UPOCC cable- this will be better performing than lets say some random 8cored or 16 cored version of a cable from aliexpress that claim to be 7n crystal copper. I own penty of 8 cored and even a few 16 cored copper cables that can't touch the resolving ability of the ARES S in 4 cores.