The PENON official thread

[ehjie]

What's the difference between the Orb and the Globe? For a company that has only a few IEMs out there, these two seem to be doing a lot of the exact same things--one or two BAs, DD for bass, 250-350 price point, etc. Is the Globe just a slightly better/improved/more mature Orb or something?

Each release is unique, not repeating. Tuning of each pair is also unique
Sphere, 1 BA receiver. Neutral a little warm. a single BA tuning done right. Fantastic bass for a BA! very good controlled but extended, sparkly treble.
This remarkable pair can play EDM and classics equally well - for a BA!
Orb, 1 dd, 1BA receiver. Excellent Bass, warm engaging mids, smooth treble. The most analogue sounding in this list. Some might say the treble here too smooth.
For me, best in jazz, classic rock, vocals
Fan, 1 dd - Basshead iem. slight con, needs power to sing
Globe, 1 dd, 2 BA receivers. The most energetic pair in this list on top of Fan & Sphere. Scaling of imaging is slightly larger than Orb. Treble better than Orb.
This pair does all genre
Commonality : Excellent warm engaging mids, including the Fan - even the most recessed, to a certain degree, very good mids.
Tuned for long listening sessions
In a nutshell, The Globe is an improvement over the Orbs:
1. level of engagement, more energetic
2. Treble
3. more technical
4. a little more stage depth
There are some strengths unique on the Orbs. I love the Orbs since I had them from day 1. Still do. This goes to the Fan & Spheres, too. For me, the Globes
simply have another kind of presentation...

 

[arar]

Thanks for the comparison, @ehjie ! By "most energetic", do you mean that the Globe has the most upper mids and treble presence? I'm a big ol' Laid Back And Smooth Sound Enjoyer so I'm wondering if the Orb would actually be more my cup of tea.

 

[Acuno]

Thanks for the comparison, @ehjie ! By "most energetic", do you mean that the Globe has the most upper mids and treble presence? I'm a big ol' Laid Back And Smooth Sound Enjoyer so I'm wondering if the Orb would actually be more my cup of tea.

I like my upper mids and the Globe is too relaxed there for me. Very modest pinna gain. Treble is very smooth.

 

[ian91]

Thanks for the comparison, @ehjie ! By "most energetic", do you mean that the Globe has the most upper mids and treble presence? I'm a big ol' Laid Back And Smooth Sound Enjoyer so I'm wondering if the Orb would actually be more my cup of tea.

I don't for one second consider the Globes treble to be piercing or their upper mids to be shouty. Correct me if I'm wrong @ehjie, but what I think he's saying is that, on a spectrum, when comparing to the Orb, the Globe is more energetic up there and the Orb is simply very laid back.

 

[biostik]

The Orb might be your new friend.
There's no doubt the bass (mid bass without bass bleed) and warm engaging mids here are excellent with smooth treble - especially if your treble sensitive.
This could be the pair for you.



I upgraded the tips to Final type E frosted (bottom row) to retrieve the most mids detail
I could gain.


The orbs are tuned for very long listening sessions, they are comfortable and isolate very well, I sometimes use them for commute - noise out, music In.

https://penonaudio.com/penon-orb.html

Thanks for your advice. I forgot to mention that I indeed also use the IEMs to commute with the Fiio BTR3k. Especially while commuting you can use the extra bass. I will look into the orbs and how they compare with the H40.

 

[KickAssChewGum]

I should be receiving the Legend on Thursday and will post quick 1st impressions at the weekend if so, with a longer, more in-depth review a couple of weeks later.

 

[arar]

I like my upper mids and the Globe is too relaxed there for me. Very modest pinna gain. Treble is very smooth.

You been happy with the Globes otherwise, out of curiosity?

 

[Acuno]

You been happy with the Globes otherwise, out of curiosity?

I updated my impressions here about a week ago after more critical listening. I don't think it's perfect. But I just keep coming back to it. It has a musicality to it that every other IEMs I've tried cant reproduce. Something like the Aladdin sounds totally cold and sterile after listening to the Globe.

The staging really grew on me after I listened to it more. It not the widest but the positional imaging and depth are great imo (but I can only compare to what I've heard, no TOTLs). Plus there's just something so smooth about Sonion BAs.

I would like a bit more upper mid presence, detail, and treble extension. And then it would be really close to perfect. It looks like the Volt has all of that, and I'm hunting for a used one. Overall its a very cohesive presentation. A lot of other IEMs in this range sound like the manufacturers just stuck a bunch of good, technical drivers in a shell and left it at that (ex B2 Dusk) and forgot to make them SOUND good.

 

[ehjie]

Thanks for the comparison, @ehjie ! By "most energetic", do you mean that the Globe has the most upper mids and treble presence? I'm a big ol' Laid Back And Smooth Sound Enjoyer so I'm wondering if the Orb would actually be more my cup of tea.

You're welcome. Yes, that's correct. The Globes has that energy in that region. But please note, they're not hot in the upper treble, rather controlled, but extended.
The Orbs may be your cup of tea, indeed.
How about sharing a couple of your test tracks? Let's try to listen to them...

 

[KutuzovGambit]

I updated my impressions here about a week ago after more critical listening. I don't think it's perfect. But I just keep coming back to it. It has a musicality to it that every other IEMs I've tried cant reproduce. Something like the Aladdin sounds totally cold and sterile after listening to the Globe.

The staging really grew on me after I listened to it more. It not the widest but the positional imaging and depth are great imo (but I can only compare to what I've heard, no TOTLs). Plus there's just something so smooth about Sonion BAs.

I would like a bit more upper mid presence, detail, and treble extension. And then it would be really close to perfect. It looks like the Volt has all of that, and I'm hunting for a used one. Overall its a very cohesive presentation. A lot of other IEMs in this range sound like the manufacturers just stuck a bunch of good, technical drivers in a shell and left it at that (ex B2 Dusk) and forgot to make them SOUND good.

I think the Volt could be endgame for you.

 

[Acuno]

I think the Volt could be endgame for you.

Not going to lie, that Legend graph @ian91 posted looks quite tempting. That mid-bass bump

 

[ian91]

Not going to lie, that Legend graph @ian91 posted looks quite tempting. That mid-bass bump

Nice little hump that isn't it...

I wonder what will happen to that when you flick one of those switches...? Only time will tell.

 

[ehjie]

I don't for one second consider the Globes treble to be piercing or their upper mids to be shouty. Correct me if I'm wrong @ehjie, but what I think he's saying is that, on a spectrum, when comparing to the Orb, the Globe is more energetic up there and the Orb is simply very laid back.

You're correct, @ian91 . ALL of Penon's in ears are never Hot up top. Globes are energetic, this is a fact. But upper treble is very controlled, but extended.
And yes also, compared to the Globe, the Orb is laid back to a certain degree, but never boring. The mids are very engaging, full bodied warmth, I always have the impression that they are smoother compared to the Globe. It gets me focused on my music, but in a relaxing way. The day I got my pair, they never departed my ears until the 8th hour (there were breaks of course, @ 2 hour intervals).
Just for the record, the Orbs play EDM, I'd immediately sell them if they don't - The chemical Brothers, is an imperative in my staple, this is non negotiable.
But now, we got the Globe, the Orbs can play where the pair plays best, ambient, smooth jazz, classic rock, post rock, vocals...

 

[rawbine]

Each release is unique, not repeating. Tuning of each pair is also unique
Sphere, 1 BA receiver. Neutral a little warm. a single BA tuning done right. Fantastic bass for a BA! very good controlled but extended, sparkly treble.
This remarkable pair can play EDM and classics equally well - for a BA!
Orb, 1 dd, 1BA receiver. Excellent Bass, warm engaging mids, smooth treble. The most analogue sounding in this list. Some might say the treble here too smooth.
For me, best in jazz, classic rock, vocals
Fan, 1 dd - Basshead iem. slight con, needs power to sing
Globe, 1 dd, 2 BA receivers. The most energetic pair in this list on top of Fan & Sphere. Scaling of imaging is slightly larger than Orb. Treble better than Orb.
This pair does all genre
Commonality : Excellent warm engaging mids, including the Fan - even the most recessed, to a certain degree, very good mids.
Tuned for long listening sessions
In a nutshell, The Globe is an improvement over the Orbs:
1. level of engagement, more energetic
2. Treble
3. more technical
4. a little more stage depth
There are some strengths unique on the Orbs. I love the Orbs since I had them from day 1. Still do. This goes to the Fan & Spheres, too. For me, the Globes
simply have another kind of presentation...

Agree on all fronts with @ehjie here. Globe can be a tad bright if you are used to dark’ish signature.

 

[ehjie]

Thanks for your advice. I forgot to mention that I indeed also use the IEMs to commute with the Fiio BTR3k. Especially while commuting you can use the extra bass. I will look into the orbs and how they compare with the H40.

You're welcome.
Maybe I won't argue the H40 has the better bass. Reading from last year, there was even a mod to really pump up the Bass and at the same time take out a little bass bleed.
The Orb may have the entire mids as its ace card.
As for the treble, this will entirely depend on how you want them presented. H40 has a little more energy compared to the smooth, relaxing Orb...