[H T T]

Serial in the house!

OOTB and first impressions: green tips made the lower mids congested. I switched to ePro Horns and issue solved. The first thought that comes to my mind is that the Serial is a much, much improved Starfield.

Stand out tunes for initial impressions:

Spoiler: Stand out tunes

edit 1: Came back after about an hour and gave a listen. The sub bass is becoming more noticeable but still not the visceral sub bass of the FAN. Coherent across the frequency range but treble extension is not as, well, extended as I would like. Soundstage sounds hugely wide but lacks height and depth. Instrument placement/imaging is comparable to the Legacy 5-about par for the price range. The Serial has very, very nice timbre. No glare or shoutiness. More note weight than the Harman-ish tuned IEMs I have. Both male and female vocals are strong. Fit is great. The Serial's shell is slightly larger than the Globe's.

 

[Acuno]

More note weight than the Harman-ish tuned IEMs I have.

Excellent, that was my main concern when I saw the FR graph.

 

[ehjie]

LOL
Anyway...

(Me)
Most probably next month, a production unit - like what you folks will be buying as my unit is being purchased by me.
If all will be good, the H50 will also be purchased. I skipped the H40 over the Orb last time...

 

[rawbine]

I been using epro ep00 very happy with it. Both green and blue stock tips also not bad. Stock cable definitely is very good pair up.

I’ll be be pairing SednaEarfit Light and Spiral Dot EP-FX9M-B next to see how it goes. Yeah stock ear-tips ain’t too shabby but the cable is ace!

 

[rawbine]

Serial in the house!

OOTB and first impressions: green tips made the lower mids congested. I switched to ePro Horns and issue solved. The first thought that comes to my mind is that the Serial is a much, much improved Starfield.

Stand out tunes for initial impressions:

Spoiler: Stand out tunes

edit 1: Came back after about an hour and gave a listen. The sub bass is becoming more noticeable but still not the visceral sub bass of the FAN. Coherent across the frequency range but treble extension is not as, well, extended as I would like. Soundstage sounds hugely wide but lacks height and depth. Instrument placement/imaging is comparable to the Legacy 5-about par for the price range. The Serial has very, very nice timbre. No glare or shoutiness. More note weight than the Harman-ish tuned IEMs I have. Both male and female vocals are strong. Fit is great. The Serial's shell is slightly larger than the Globe's.

Noice!

I’m glad to learn that our findings are fairly consistent, a relief whence unit variation isn’t an issue at least with our units. On peaks I’d detected some but that’s just me being sensitive to certain glare in the spectrum.

I’m also assuming there isn’t any driver’s flex from your unit?

 

[rawbine]

Question is, which or both?

 

[ehjie]

Question is, which or both?

 

[H T T]

Noice!

I’m glad to learn that our findings are fairly consistent, a relief whence unit variation isn’t an issue at least with our units. On peaks I’d detected some but that’s just me being sensitive to certain glare in the spectrum.

I’m also assuming there isn’t any driver’s flex from your unit?

That is reassuring about our common experience. At about what frequencies were you hearing peaks? I am very sensitive at 6 kHz. I have no driver flex.

I switched the Serial to my MacBook and FiiO Q3. I am noticing a very slight increase in the upper mids/lower treble vs. iPhone to L&P W1 (balanced) with the same songs. Not bad at all. It adds a bit more presence. Transients are snappier, apparently from the slightly added presence. Imaging is slightly better with the Q3 than the W1. Soundstage is still rather intimate.

Also, I am using balanced. I kinda wish I went single-ended with the cable. I am kinda souring to balanced except for a few IEMs. It seems to push the the mid bass compared to SE for some of my IEMs. The Serial's cable is very nice.

The Serial, so far, is not "perfect" but is quite entrancing. Vocals are absolutely wonderful. I can already tell I am glad I purchased the Serial.

 

[rawbine]

That is reassuring about our common experience. At about what frequencies were you hearing peaks? I am very sensitive at 6 kHz. I have no driver flex.

I switched the Serial to my MacBook and FiiO Q3. I am noticing a very slight increase in the upper mids/lower treble vs. iPhone to L&P W1 (balanced) with the same songs. Not bad at all. It adds a bit more presence. Transients are snappier, apparently from the slightly added presence. Imaging is slightly better with the Q3 than the W1. Soundstage is still rather intimate.

Also, I am using balanced. I kinda wish I went single-ended with the cable. I am kinda souring to balanced except for a few IEMs. It seems to push the the mid bass compared to SE for some of my IEMs. The Serial's cable is very nice.

The Serial, so far, is not "perfect" but is quite entrancing. Vocals are absolutely wonderful. I can already tell I am glad I purchased the Serial.

To be frank I’m not certain which exact upper frequency I’m sensitive to. Thus far all of my Penons has been kind to my ears including Serial. No flex here either which is super as I hated those crackling sound that often drives me nuts.

Interesting to hear the Q3 giving out better energy in the upper mid and onwards together with snappier transients. Pertaining balanced vs single-ended, I’ve also heard it’s preferable on certain IEMs, wider soundstage I’m told.

I threw on some Sednas earlier today, very solid sounding but depth still remained elusive.

And just moments ago with 50 hours in, I had the Spirals on (I’m using a size smaller), and I’m happy to report that the pairing is superb.

Soundstage is cast wider, height is pretty tall and depth, yes it’s deeper upon critical listening. My observation tells me that Serial’s soundstage is indeed rather wide and as such masking its actual depth which is reasonably deep.

At this stage I’m guesstimating the Serial could potentially synergize a little better with cables that have more silver content as I’m after the most spacious soundstage possible.

Yeah, vocals is definitely the center stage with the Serial, entrancing with its sweet timbre as you put it, intoxicating even. And since I predominantly listen to female vocals, I’d too call the Serial an early win.

 

[H T T]

To be frank I’m not certain which exact upper frequency I’m sensitive to. Thus far all of my Penons has been kind to my ears including Serial. No flex here either which is super as I hated those crackling sound that often drives me nuts.

Interesting to hear the Q3 giving out better energy in the upper mid and onwards together with snappier transients. Pertaining balanced vs single-ended, I’ve also heard it’s preferable on certain IEMs, wider soundstage I’m told.

I threw on some Sednas earlier today, very solid sounding but depth still remained elusive.

And just moments ago with 50 hours in, I had the Spirals on (I’m using a size smaller), and I’m happy to report that the pairing is superb.

Soundstage is cast wider, height is pretty tall and depth, yes it’s deeper upon critical listening. My observation tells me that Serial’s soundstage is indeed rather wide and as such masking its actual depth which is reasonably deep.

At this stage I’m guesstimating the Serial could potentially synergize a little better with cables that have more silver content as I’m after the most spacious soundstage possible.

Yeah, vocals is definitely the center stage with the Serial, entrancing with its sweet timbre as you put it, intoxicating even. And since I predominantly listen to female vocals, I’d too call the Serial an early win.

yeah, driver flex is so annoying to me as well. Balanced helps my FAN and Yume but does not help the 2021 Hana or Kato.

Thanks for the tips tip. I need to get some Spirals. I have many others but not any Spirals.

After a bit of burn (I am on something like 14hours) in I am going to do some cable rolling. Please tell me your results.

 

[Acuno]

Some thoughts after half a day listening to the Serial:

Recommended tips: As big of a bore with as small of a length as possible (Boost mid clarity, cut sub-bass). My testing: Spiral dots >> Sedna Light Short = Final E Clears
Sources tried: E1DA 9038D (better resolution, more powerful), Shanling M3X (less detail/resolution)

Bass: It's okay. On the softer side. Would prefer bit more impact. If you've heard a Penon DD IEM before you know what it's like. Tuned to have less presence on the Serial than something like the Globe.
Mids: Upper mids . Lower mids non-EQ . You can hear the dip in the lower mids, lacks ""clarity"" there. Midrange can sound a tad compressed at times.
Treble: Just a touch boosted compared to other Penon IEMs, but does not come off as bright. No sharpness or sibilance. I like it.

Stage width: Wider than average
Stage depth: Average (depends on the tips used)

Detail/resolution: Average. Struggles on complex passages, as do most IEMs at this price range.

Male vocals: Decent.
Female vocals: Excellent (hits that ~8db pinna sweet-spot, + DD timbre). The right amount of air, very natural.

Note weight: In the middle. Not too thick, not too thin.
Timbre: Pretty good

Main criticisms:
- Slightly soft notes + boosted sub-bass + lower mid dip makes lower mids suffer
- The stock tuning from 500Hz down. Recommend EQ'ing sub-bass down ~2db and lower mids up ~2db (see below).

With the EQ above, these sound pretty great. Like a mini-Legend with better timbre (can't compete on resolution/staging/separation though). I see what they were going for with the relaxed-Harman tuning but I think it would be a more competent IEM if it was more midrange-focused. There's already so many V-shaped IEMs out there in this price range. Anyways, I much prefer these to something like a Blessing 2 or Aladdin.

 

[Ace Bee]

Some thoughts after half a day listening to the Serial:

Recommended tips: As big of a bore with as small of a length as possible (Boost mid clarity, cut sub-bass). My testing: Spiral dots >> Sedna Light Short = Final E Clears
Sources tried: E1DA 9038D (better resolution, more powerful), Shanling M3X (less detail/resolution)

Bass: It's okay. On the softer side. Would prefer bit more impact. If you've heard a Penon DD IEM before you know what it's like. Tuned to have less presence on the Serial than something like the Globe.
Mids: Upper mids . Lower mids non-EQ . You can hear the dip in the lower mids, lacks ""clarity"" there. Midrange can sound a tad compressed at times.
Treble: Just a touch boosted compared to other Penon IEMs, but does not come off as bright. No sharpness or sibilance. I like it.

Stage width: Wider than average
Stage depth: Average (depends on the tips used)

Detail/resolution: Average. Struggles on complex passages, as do most IEMs at this price range.

Male vocals: Decent.
Female vocals: Excellent (hits that ~8db pinna sweet-spot, + DD timbre). The right amount of air, very natural.

Note weight: In the middle. Not too thick, not too thin.
Timbre: Pretty good

Main criticisms:
- Slightly soft notes + boosted sub-bass + lower mid dip makes lower mids suffer
- The stock tuning from 500Hz down. Recommend EQ'ing sub-bass down ~2db and lower mids up ~2db (see below).


With the EQ above, these sound pretty great. Like a mini-Legend with better timbre (can't compete on resolution/staging/separation though). I see what they were going for with the relaxed-Harman tuning but I think it would be a more competent IEM if it was more midrange-focused. There's already so many V-shaped IEMs out there in this price range. Anyways, I much prefer these to something like a Blessing 2 or Aladdin.

Can you indicate in what ways it's better than Aladdin?

 

[Acuno]

Can you indicate in what ways it's better than Aladdin?

• 5-6khz dip makes it easier to listen to for longer periods of time (subjective)
• Much better timbre, Aladdin upper mids sounded metallic to me (probably due to Knowles BA + 5-6khz presence)
• Aladdin depth was dead flat to my ears, this isn't
• Slightly better detail at the cost of lower mids clarity (at least without EQ)
• All DD set just sounds more coherent overall than the hybrid

It wouldn't be a revolutionary upgrade, but I do think it is a reasonably better set than the Aladdins.

Edit: comparison done from memory

 

[ehjie]

There's still the up coming single dynamic

To be frank I’m not certain which exact upper frequency I’m sensitive to. Thus far all of my Penons has been kind to my ears including Serial. No flex here either which is super as I hated those crackling sound that often drives me nuts.

Interesting to hear the Q3 giving out better energy in the upper mid and onwards together with snappier transients. Pertaining balanced vs single-ended, I’ve also heard it’s preferable on certain IEMs, wider soundstage I’m told.

I threw on some Sednas earlier today, very solid sounding but depth still remained elusive.

And just moments ago with 50 hours in, I had the Spirals on (I’m using a size smaller), and I’m happy to report that the pairing is superb.

Soundstage is cast wider, height is pretty tall and depth, yes it’s deeper upon critical listening. My observation tells me that Serial’s soundstage is indeed rather wide and as such masking its actual depth which is reasonably deep.

At this stage I’m guesstimating the Serial could potentially synergize a little better with cables that have more silver content as I’m after the most spacious soundstage possible.

Yeah, vocals is definitely the center stage with the Serial, entrancing with its sweet timbre as you put it, intoxicating even. And since I predominantly listen to female vocals, I’d too call the Serial an early win.

Have you paired it with your Flow?

 

[rawbine]

There's still the up coming single dynamic


Have you paired it with your Flow?

Not yet, the Mix and ePro’s are next.