[SteveKiwi]

I wouldn't call these not detailed. I'd call these not analytical.

That is a very accurate description

 

[Niyologist]

I wouldn't call these not detailed. I'd call these not analytical.

I totally agree with you.

 

[twiceboss]

i have my review unit with me currently for about 5 days? this set was like 4 out 10 for the first impression and it is quite 7.8 out of 10 currently. Really warm tuning will not give any "wow" impression but it grows instead. I have quite a lot of totl iems so bear with me. The bass department is one of the top in my list since im not a fan of boosted bass. The mids is so beautiful and vocal is just almost perfect. Soon I will drop a review for this. Easily for me if the highs extended crazy good with better technicalities like vx, kse etc, this could be my endgame.

tips: spiral dot is worse on this set. Get something like symbio w. The one with foam inside. It gives better highs extension and a proper imaging and separation.

Spoiler: this is like an upgrade CA Comet. Warm tuning without vocals being thicc

 

[twiceboss]

Is there anyone here had both ier m9 and rai penta with extended listening impressions? Would love to know how these two warm signature compare.

 

[angpsi]

For me they sucked

Everyone's ears are different though, perhaps try them with a variety of tips

I'll second that; albeit, not "sucked" but rather underwhelming nonetheless. The new JVC Spiral Dots ++ definitely worked wonders for my ears; only thing out of the stock tips that came close were the double flange.
Still, each ear canal is different and I think Meze was looking to cover this variety instead of catering for different sound profiles.

 

[PixelSquish]

I'll second that; albeit, not "sucked" but rather underwhelming nonetheless. The new JVC Spiral Dots ++ definitely worked wonders for my ears; only thing out of the stock tips that came close were the double flange.
Still, each ear canal is different and I think Meze was looking to cover this variety instead of catering for different sound profiles.

The Andromeda were like that for me. Very underwhelming

 

[cfranchi]

Audio is subjective, however what do you think of this Rai penta review :

https://crinacle.com/2019/08/24/cliffnotes-meze-rai-penta-empyrean/

The easiest and most straightforward way I can describe the Rai Penta is as follows: it is the Empyrean, but in IEM form.

Now depending on your opinion of the Empyrean, this description could be construed as a compliment. In my case however, my opinion on the Empyrean is rather low and I find it a rather lacklustre multi-kilobuck planar headphone. Here are the similarities that I heard:

• Wide-band boost of the midbass frequencies
• “Intimate” (read: shallow and 2-dimensional) imaging
• Smoothed out treble response
• Low dynamics, lacks energy and/or excitement

 

[RSC08]

Audio is subjective, however what do you think of this Rai penta review :

https://crinacle.com/2019/08/24/cliffnotes-meze-rai-penta-empyrean/

The easiest and most straightforward way I can describe the Rai Penta is as follows: it is the Empyrean, but in IEM form.

Now depending on your opinion of the Empyrean, this description could be construed as a compliment. In my case however, my opinion on the Empyrean is rather low and I find it a rather lacklustre multi-kilobuck planar headphone. Here are the similarities that I heard:

• Wide-band boost of the midbass frequencies
• “Intimate” (read: shallow and 2-dimensional) imaging
• Smoothed out treble response
• Low dynamics, lacks energy and/or excitement

I loved the build quality and the fit, their customer service was superb as well, but the Penta, for me, as Crinacle said was... "boring". And I also found them overly congested in certain genres, like indie rock for example.

 

[PixelSquish]

xxxz

Audio is subjective, however what do you think of this Rai penta review :

https://crinacle.com/2019/08/24/cliffnotes-meze-rai-penta-empyrean/

The easiest and most straightforward way I can describe the Rai Penta is as follows: it is the Empyrean, but in IEM form.

Now depending on your opinion of the Empyrean, this description could be construed as a compliment. In my case however, my opinion on the Empyrean is rather low and I find it a rather lacklustre multi-kilobuck planar headphone. Here are the similarities that I heard:

• Wide-band boost of the midbass frequencies
• “Intimate” (read: shallow and 2-dimensional) imaging
• Smoothed out treble response
• Low dynamics, lacks energy and/or excitement

Well considering he rates the Andromeda's as some of the best IEM's he's heard, and I thought they were kinda meh, and the Rai Penta's solved all the problems of the Andromeda. I'd have to disagree with his review. Which means I completely agree with your statement that audio is subjective

 

[twiceboss]

Audio is subjective, however what do you think of this Rai penta review :

https://crinacle.com/2019/08/24/cliffnotes-meze-rai-penta-empyrean/

The easiest and most straightforward way I can describe the Rai Penta is as follows: it is the Empyrean, but in IEM form.

Now depending on your opinion of the Empyrean, this description could be construed as a compliment. In my case however, my opinion on the Empyrean is rather low and I find it a rather lacklustre multi-kilobuck planar headphone. Here are the similarities that I heard:

• Wide-band boost of the midbass frequencies
• “Intimate” (read: shallow and 2-dimensional) imaging
• Smoothed out treble response
• Low dynamics, lacks energy and/or excitement

i respect crin. But dont go 100% on his opinion only. Even i had some of similar ideas with him, there are some aren't. For example andromeda is not even S- in my list. Also, he sometimes doesn't have extended listening with iem that he didnt like at first few mins/hours. Penta doesn't really good for first impression tbh. I can see why he didnt like penta as much as other iem. Penta is just beautiful on me now after having an extended listening. The vocals and mids are just beautiful. I will be comparing penta with a lot of totl iems in my review including vx, m9, kse. I sometimes leaning toward Penta lately due to vinyl-like sound with airy vocals.

 

[twiceboss]

xxxz


Well considering he rates the Andromeda's as some of the best IEM's he's heard, and I thought they were kinda meh, and the Rai Penta's solved all the problems of the Andromeda. I'd have to disagree with his review. Which means I completely agree with your statement that audio is subjective

are u owning a Penta currently? Penta is growing on me and considering to get one as my main iem and probably will reduce my collection by the end of this year. I will be comparing m9 with penta too. Both extended listening so no bias on anything.

 

[PixelSquish]

are u owning a Penta currently? Penta is growing on me and considering to get one as my main iem and probably will reduce my collection by the end of this year. I will be comparing m9 with penta too. Both extended listening so no bias on anything.

I do own a set of Pentas now. And am thrilled. I tried the Andromeda, Dunu 4001 and the Penta and chose the Meze. The Andromeda were the worst IMO

 

[twiceboss]

I do own a set of Pentas now. And am thrilled. I tried the Andromeda, Dunu 4001 and the Penta and chose the Meze. The Andromeda were the worst IMO

the good thing about penta is not about its highs or detail retrieval etc. It is about clean sounding and the performance of the separation. It sounds almost like an airy earbuds but it is iem. The highs tbh can be improved for the next meze line up. For now, this is one of the best lush and clean mids ive ever had in my iems list.

 

[jackyzhu]

In the last year or two, i used Cin's ranking list as the mail source of reference when I wanted to buy new IEMS. Fortunately I bought RAI PENTA before seeing his comments on them, otherwise I would have missed such a great IEM.

When I first got RAI PENTA, I was mainly listening to CE-5. RAI PENTA didn't impress me at all on first listen. I actually was quite disappointed. However, I decided to give RAI PENTA some time because I know that for me it normally takes time to get familiar with IEMs new to me . I am glad I did. After listening to RAI PENTA for a few days, I switched back to CE-5 and then thought RAI PENTA was actually not that bad. After switching between CE-5 and RAI PENTA for a few days finally I didn't want to listen to CE-5 anymore.

Later I got IER Z1R. Z1R impressed me on the first few minutes, by its incredible soundstage, resolution, subbass, treble. I was thinking wow this is really good. And then I listened to it for a few days again like I did with RAI PENTA. It was still very good. I even was thinking selling RAI PE NTA. However, after switching between Z1R and RAI PENTA again, I started to feel I actually from my heart like RAI PENTA more, regardless of the price or technical performance. I like its smooth, balanced, natural, warm sound. It never sounds aggressive to me nor any part distracts me from the music. It's just such easy and joyful experience listening to RAI PENTA.

I understand people are different and like different types of music and soumd signature. So RAI PENTA may not (cannot) be for everyone. To me, RAI PENTA is just great.

 

[rantng]

In some ways, the Rai Penta reminds me of the UE 18+ Pro 2nd Gen, which also has a very natural and smooth signature. Unfortunately, I only had it for a short period fo time before selling it. The UE 18 came to me during a time when I thought resolution & soundstage were the be-all end-all of a TOTL IEM; that opinion has changed. My preferred signature is still slightly V-shaped, but these days I also appreciate a balanced sound. The Rai Penta doesn't offer the widest soundstage or most details, but it strikes a refined balance which makes for a very easy listen. I guess my tastes have matured in a way where I can appreciate not just technicality, but also musicality.