Hey there ya'll new here, but I just got my pair pf PMV PP's yesterday and have been listening and comparing them to my other stuff, so just wanted to chime in and provide my initial thoughts and impressions.
So, to get the easy stuff out of the way, let's talk about the build and presentation:
*No frills plastic and cardboard packaging
*Solid build on the PMV PP's themselves, and I like the matte blue finish
*Can be a bit fatiguing after long listening depending on your ear shape; slightly chunky (*Note: I've recently discovered, if you rotate the things 180 degrees upside down, with the plugs pointing down like AirPod stems, you'll look ridiculous but will be WAY more comfortable)
*Decent assortment of tips including a pair of soft foam type and a pair of dual-flange silicone
*Nice little square zipper case. Not pocketable, but not too big either.
*Haven't used the cable, but it's decent enough if you don't already have one. Single ended 3.5mm plug with 8-core braid with a metal/CB fiber split and flush .78mm 2-pin connectors. Might re-terminate with a balanced plug just for fun if I get bored.
Now that the easy stuff is out of the way, let's talk a little bit about my impressions on how they sound:
One thing to consider is, I'm a bit of a planar whore, so I've already got a tiny little assortment of other planar driven goodies in my collection for comparison. For reference, my DD workhorse amp/dac for listening to just about everything I use these days is a Centrance HiFiM8 ver. 1 and I'm using a balanced DUNU cable for connecting to the PP's on med gain and lowest output resistance with zero other boosts.
The foam tips came preinstalled and fit just fine for my ears, giving a decent seal and noise isolation. They're not earplugs, but do a good job of blocking out the external environment.
The first and biggest impression the PP's gave me though was MOTHER OF GOD: THE BASS!!! Now let's be clear, I have the iSine20 and the i4, and the PP's give those two a run for the money on just bass alone (and just to be super *crystal* clear, by NO MEANS am I saying the PP's compete with the latter or the former in all regards generally speaking; they don't) but the bass. My goodness, the bass... It's just so BIG, warm, cozy and inviting; a sonic comforter you can wrap around yourself to make a happy comfy bass burrito. When I was listening to Camille Saint-Saëns organ concerto in C. minor (BBC Proms version on YT), the subsonic representation was clean, quick, and with a presence that had me feeling like I was in Albert Hall myself. You know that special feeling you get when a BIG organ hits those really _LOW_ registers in person? The PMV PP's come pretty damn close to replicating that. Impressive!
Out from that massive bass, the mids roll in with what sounds like a tiny tone dip towards the end of the upper mids, keeping things nice and cozy without too much harshness on some vocals. This does seem to push certain instruments and vocals a little "further away" inside my head than I hear on my other IEM's, but that seems to help with the soundstage, which BTW is pretty damn good compared to my other closed-back planar IEM (we'll come back to that). That said, because of that little dip at the end of the mids, some of the timbre characteristics in that range can be a little harder to pick up. For instance, listening to The Forge (Blue Man Group, Three), the impact of the hammer dulcimer sounds a little more recessed than I hear on some other IEM's. Overall the detail is decent enough, but sometimes the upper mids sound like they're just taking a back seat next to everything else going on.
Speaking of which, there's a lot going on. Why do I say this? Because after that upper mid dip, the highs rise. Sorta. I mean, they're not exactly what I'd consider bright either. I have the Tin P1's, and those are bleeding-earballs BRIGHT. It's weird, because my LCD i4's are DARK and yet to an extent, the PP's sound EVEN DARKER! (Owing in some part to my comments on the midrange maybe?) Yet... in spite of all that, they're very detailed and there's a certain sparkle that comes out from all of the darkness. Oh, and that sparkle? It's WIDE. Like REALLY WIDE. See, here's the thing... The only other closed-back planar IEM's I have to compare apple's to apples, are my P1's. Now make no mistake, I love my P1's. I have to switch over to high gain and practically max my volume to drive them, but with how detailed they are, totally worth it. Except, the P1's lacked the kind of soundstage I was expecting from a planar, and of course, they're BRIGHT. *Not the case with the PMV PP.* The highs that the PP's express are light and tingly, richly coloured and detailed, and have a short decay with minimal sibilance, giving rise to a well contrasted and wide sonic canvas that brings all that lovely BASS to life without sounding too artificial or muddied. Shadows of the City (Hybrid, Soundsystem 01) demonstrates this effect very nicely. If the the brightness of the Tin P1's are like getting someone's headlights in your face at night, the PMV PP's are like sitting in the illuminating glow of a bonfire instead; it's really enjoyable.
Apart from the BASS, the soundstage was my other biggest initial impression. WAY wider than I was expecting from another closed-back. The soundstage of the PP's are absolutely exceptional for their class and price.
So yeah, to sum up I guess you could say the PMV PP's are kinda like the polar opposite of what the Tin P1's are:
Bass-heads rejoice! They've got dark, thick and detailed BASS, with width and soundstage to spread it all out, and just enough brightness and warmth to make it all nice and cozy without blinding your earballs.
Definitely pleased with the purchase, and worth the wait from Linsoul.
