[buonassi]

I don't think anyone is putting down your efforts. And you certainly have a point about being able to do relative comparisons knowing your base line.

 

[dcguy73]

I don't think anyone is putting down your efforts. And you certainly have a point about being able to do relative comparisons knowing your base line.

I agree. I think that with new products like the Rai Penta, the issue is more that in the absence of reviews, user experiences, and places to demo the product, it is easy to hyperfocus on something like measurements as the sole basis to justify whether or not a product is "good enough" to be purchased, sight unseen.

 

[warriorpoet]

Major HiFi review up.

 

[HiFlight]

Major HiFi review up.

A really insightful and accurate review. I wish I could have described it as eloquently!

 

[dcguy73]

Got 'em! FedEx came by a half-hour ago. All I can say is...wow, compared to my Beyerdynamic Xelentos, these things are huge! I mean, they fit comfortably in my ears, but the Xelentos are single-driver, so they're really tiny. Now that I think about it, I haven't owned any multi-driver earphones before. So this is totally new to me. I'm going to hold off a bit before reporting sound impressions...

 

[warriorpoet]

Be

Got 'em! FedEx came by a half-hour ago. All I can say is...wow, compared to my Beyerdynamic Xelentos, these things are huge! I mean, they fit comfortably in my ears, but the Xelentos are single-driver, so they're really tiny. Now that I think about it, I haven't owned any multi-driver earphones before. So this is totally new to me. I'm going to hold off a bit before reporting sound impressions...

Happy to hear you finally received them!

 

[bden59]

these things are huge!

If you'll ever try Solaris or IER-Z1R, tell us what you think about their size and fit.

 

[buonassi]

All I can say is...wow, compared to my Beyerdynamic Xelentos, these things are huge!

These are actually on the small side for a 5 driver, maybe the smallest hybrid. Compare this to the JH Audio Sirens (original versions). Its half the size compared to those bulbs.

+++++++++++

OK, so I promised some immediate impressions - General, not final by any means (only have about 6 hours on them). Source is Plenue 2 low gain, spinfits CP100 mediums applied about halfway down the IEM nozzle (allowing for a little deeper insertion).

Bass
Bass level is near perfect for my taste - and actually a little bit more than I expected. There is a very even balance between sub bass and mid bass, so you get rumble AND punch in equal measures. You can feel it, the attack is fast, and the decay nice and moderate. The resolution is very good, better than Oriolus Mk2 bass-wise. That's the only hybrid I've really spent any time with. I'm still trying to assess if it's fast enough for prog double kick or metal blast beats. I'm leaning toward, 'yes'.

Mids
Both lower and upper mids have great presence. Upper mids are are just shy of being 'forward' - but I can't say that they are actually - just more than I'm currently used to. They are 'appropriately prominent', for a 'natural' tuning. I'd say the upper mids have it over the lower mids quantity-wise. Really natural match with my HRTF and excellent balance with the bass. I can't place the peak in the upper mids by simple listening (which is a good thing). This will be made evident after some controllable sine sweeps I can conjure up. Holding off on that for now. Resolution is outstanding here.

Treble
Despite my age (40), I'm lucky to still hear up to 16k in one ear and 14k in the other. The treble is where I'm still trying to adjust and am most sensitive. Don't be alarmed at this section, I think I'm an outlier here and almost every universal IEM I've tried gives me problems (oddly Jupiter, Andromeda and Solaris don't - probably the TAEC tech). I have very deep and straight canals that are pretty wide at the entry and progressively narrow toward the drum. HFs bounce around in there, it's physics, but for me it's a real PITA.

I have tip rolled to the point of sore ears and no tips seemed to work off the bat. Most tips were downright sibilant in the lower treble, others bearable. But no matter what I tried, I could hear a resonant peak anywhere between 4 and 7 khz (best guess). Round foams, both off brand and genuine comply reduced the peak but also robbed the air above 10khz. Spiral dots (v1) gave great bass, but upper mids/lower treble peaked and yielded sibilance. Final type E didn't work for me either, nor did Mee Audio, Sony, Meze stock tips, and dozens of other various brands, etc. I finally returned to spinfit cp100 medium 4mm bore. Still a little hot in the sibilance region, but not to the point I couldn't adjust. Also, these tips seemed to allow the upper treble to lift a bit (maybe a horn effect? dunno). Regardless, I'm letting my brain acclimate (and drivers get worked in) before any real determination.

I can hear the upper treble sort of. It reminds me of JH Angie. It's there, just not prominent like Andromeda or Solaris. It sounds especially low after following these lower treble resonances I'm getting. Sometimes it really comes through, albeit nice and gently.

Other Technicalities
Overall resolution is excellent, bass, mids, treble. No doubt things are perfectly in phase. Proof you don't need a neutral bright tuning for outstanding resolution. Clarity is also very good because of the midrange tuning.

Imaging is top tier and I'd expect no less for a kilobuck IEM with fancy phase tech. Coherence between drivers is right up there with solaris (from what I recall), but I can't do a side-by-side. Things don't get out of whack if you want to use an asymmetrical reconstruction filter on your dac (min phase etc). But I still thought the bass sounded best with a linear phase filter. You won't feel the need to switch to a minimum phase filter for more attack as this IEM already has great transients.

Stage isn't as narrow as I thought it would be. To me it sounds very good considering the weighty mids. Stage will vary based on genre and weighting across the frequency spectrum.

Comfort = the most comfortable universal I've owned, without a doubt, and by a decent margin.

+++++++

Later I'll update on my brain burn in and let the IEMs play overnight just for good measure. If I can pick out anything interesting with sine sweeps (user controllable AU plugin) I'll be sure and let you know.

 

[DavidS11]

These are actually on the small side for a 5 driver, maybe the smallest hybrid. Compare this to the JH Audio Sirens (original versions). Its half the size compared to those bulbs.

+++++++++++

OK, so I promised some immediate impressions - General, not final by any means (only have about 6 hours on them). Source is Plenue 2 low gain, spinfits CP100 mediums applied about halfway down the IEM nozzle (allowing for a little deeper insertion).

Bass
Bass level is near perfect for my taste - and actually a little bit more than I expected. There is a very even balance between sub bass and mid bass, so you get rumble AND punch in equal measures. You can feel it, the attack is fast, and the decay nice and moderate. The resolution is very good, better than Oriolus Mk2 bass-wise. That's the only hybrid I've really spent any time with. I'm still trying to assess if it's fast enough for prog double kick or metal blast beats. I'm leaning toward, 'yes'.

Mids
Both lower and upper mids have great presence. Upper mids are are just shy of being 'forward' - but I can't say that they are actually - just more than I'm currently used to. They are 'appropriately prominent', for a 'natural' tuning. I'd say the upper mids have it over the lower mids quantity-wise. Really natural match with my HRTF and excellent balance with the bass. I can't place the peak in the upper mids by simple listening (which is a good thing). This will be made evident after some controllable sine sweeps I can conjure up. Holding off on that for now. Resolution is outstanding here.

Treble
Despite my age (40), I'm lucky to still hear up to 16k in one ear and 14k in the other. The treble is where I'm still trying to adjust and am most sensitive. Don't be alarmed at this section, I think I'm an outlier here and almost every universal IEM I've tried gives me problems (oddly Jupiter, Andromeda and Solaris don't - probably the TAEC tech). I have very deep and straight canals that are pretty wide at the entry and progressively narrow toward the drum. HFs bounce around in there, it's physics, but for me it's a real PITA.

I have tip rolled to the point of sore ears and no tips seemed to work off the bat. Most tips were downright sibilant in the lower treble, others bearable. But no matter what I tried, I could hear a resonant peak anywhere between 4 and 7 khz (best guess). Round foams, both off brand and genuine comply reduced the peak but also robbed the air above 10khz. Spiral dots (v1) gave great bass, but upper mids/lower treble peaked and yielded sibilance. Final type E didn't work for me either, nor did Mee Audio, Sony, Meze stock tips, and dozens of other various brands, etc. I finally returned to spinfit cp100 medium 4mm bore. Still a little hot in the sibilance region, but not to the point I couldn't adjust. Also, these tips seemed to allow the upper treble to lift a bit (maybe a horn effect? dunno). Regardless, I'm letting my brain acclimate (and drivers get worked in) before any real determination.

I can hear the upper treble sort of. It reminds me of JH Angie. It's there, just not prominent like Andromeda or Solaris. It sounds especially low after following these lower treble resonances I'm getting. Sometimes it really comes through, albeit nice and gently.

Other Technicalities
Overall resolution is excellent, bass, mids, treble. No doubt things are perfectly in phase. Proof you don't need a neutral bright tuning for outstanding resolution. Clarity is also very good because of the midrange tuning.

Imaging is top tier and I'd expect no less for a kilobuck IEM with fancy phase tech. Coherence between drivers is right up there with solaris (from what I recall), but I can't do a side-by-side. Things don't get out of whack if you want to use an asymmetrical reconstruction filter on your dac (min phase etc). But I still thought the bass sounded best with a linear phase filter. You won't feel the need to switch to a minimum phase filter for more attack as this IEM already has great transients.

Stage isn't as narrow as I thought it would be. To me it sounds very good considering the weighty mids. Stage will vary based on genre and weighting across the frequency spectrum.

Comfort = the most comfortable universal I've owned, without a doubt, and by a decent margin.

+++++++

Later I'll update on my brain burn in and let the IEMs play overnight just for good measure. If I can pick out anything interesting with sine sweeps (user controllable AU plugin) I'll be sure and let you know.

Thanks for the quick impressions and hope to hear more findings..

A bit concern about the sibilance and tips issue you had. Can you elaborate more on the issue? Actually the cp100 has a smaller bore size and should enhance bass and treble slightly. So I’m quite surprised it works for you better than the other tips with lesser sibilance (I’m assuming the stock tips and other tips you have tried are larger than the smaller 3.8mm bore size for the cp100)

 

[buonassi]

Thanks for the quick impressions and hope to hear more findings..

A bit concern about the sibilance and tips issue you had. Can you elaborate more on the issue? Actually the cp100 has a smaller bore size and should enhance bass and treble slightly. So I’m quite surprised it works for you better than the other tips with lesser sibilance (I’m assuming the stock tips and other tips you have tried are larger than the smaller 3.8mm bore size for the cp100)

There are many types of stock tips: narrow bore, wide bore double flange shallow, wide bore double flange deep fit, foam (seems to be comply). The standard S M L stock tips have an opening just a tad smaller than the CP100.

As I mentioned, I'm really an outlier. Resonances bother me more than most people, probably because I've spoiled myself with PEQ (taming peaks and boosting nulls) since I started this hobby. Also, the metal music I listen to can get harsh quickly with lots of cymbal work, so I have to be judicious with EQ. I'd have to think the overwhelming majority of users won't have a problem - especially with other genres of music. And now that I've EQd for equal loudness above the midrange, I no longer have a problem.

Seriously, we're talking 3-4 db here and there, a non issue for most folks. Below is my initial attempt to linearize the treble AS PERCEIVED BY ME using CP100 spinfits medium, halfway down nozzle!!! This most likely will not work for anyone else because we all have different volume of air and distance between tip of IEM and eardrum:


As you can see (lower treble) 4.3, 6.2 and 7.8k were bugging me, so I had to notch that out a bit. Similarly, there were a few areas in the upper treble that nulled out and I boosted them slightly. I can confirm that this IEM plays very nicely up to 14k, without any EQ boosting. It's definitely there. Actually there's even another blip at around 16k I could pick up faintly, but that's reaching the limit of my hearing. So worry not about the extension!

Again I'd like to state that no one should have hesitation in buying these. They are NOT "sibilant". 3-4 db is not a big spike. Most IEMS, especially dynamic driver type are far worse! Sorry if I alarmed anyone.

Today's update:

I tried a few more tips I found and got lucky! Symbio Mandarin wides sounded pretty good without EQ, not comfy for me though. Campfire Marshmallow (smooth foam) tips are the winner and sounded the most linear to me. These CA tips just work with my ears and I could listen without EQ to a very well balanced non 'etched' sound. But comfort reasons sent me back to spinfits.

The bass is fast enough for Metal - I was on the fence last night. Maybe after 8 more hours of playtime overnight they centered a bit?

The more I listen, the more I realize lower midrange is very balanced with the upper midrange. The bass and mids are just perfect for me.

Regarding burn in - I have no idea if it's brain or driver burn in, but they sound a little more aligned today. Not much, because even out of the box they sounded good to me.

Resolution - continues to impress. These take you further into the recording than, say the Sony IER-M7 (which I still think is awesome BTW). Micro detail resolves better on the penta, despite a gentler upper treble.

 

[dcguy73]

Thanks for the quick impressions and hope to hear more findings..

A bit concern about the sibilance and tips issue you had. Can you elaborate more on the issue? Actually the cp100 has a smaller bore size and should enhance bass and treble slightly. So I’m quite surprised it works for you better than the other tips with lesser sibilance (I’m assuming the stock tips and other tips you have tried are larger than the smaller 3.8mm bore size for the cp100)

Thanks for the suggestion about the CP100! I thought I had bought SpinFits that were too small, but they do fit onto the RP's bores with a little effort, and they sound great!

 

[geffo]

I finally pulled the trigger on these from Audio 46 last night after lurking on this forum for a while. They should arrive next week. I currently have the Fiio M11 and have a Chord Mojo on the way as well. I have a decent collection of lossless files and subscribe to Tidal Master Quality. Any thoughts on the M11 or Chord Mojo paired with these? I think these should be a great travel companion and for at home use. Next week can't come soon enough!

 

[buonassi]

i owned the mojo for a while, and kinda regret selling it. It has great weight in the bass and is a nice warm tonality, with good crisp treble way up top. I'd have to think the mojo would pair well, and get the dynamic driver thumpin. However, it's powerful and im curious if you hear any hiss with it. Please let us know @geffo

DX150 w/ amp 7, Cowon Plenue 2, LGv30, ipad air = no hiss at all with penta.

edit: my favorite pairing for Penta so far is DX150 w/ amp 7. There's just something about this amp that feels weighty (decayed bass in a good way), yet has nice energetic non fatiguing sparkle. The Plenue 2 is better all around, but tonality is a bit 'metallic' with some IEMs, too much lower treble crunch sometimes.

 

[DavidS11]

I love the cp100. Best fit and sound for me so far. The cp100’s smaller bore size is perfect for a more focused, energetic sound. Cp145 is also good for a more airy and open sound. The larger bore provide a bit more sound dispersion.

For the Symbio tips, try without the form insert. Sound and fit better for me.

Back to the RAI, I think I’m gonna to pull the trigger too. Been holding for awhile now. I can’t listen before buying coz there’s no demo unit here. So, going to take a leap of faith this time, based on Meze name reputation and whatever limited information I can gather so far..

 

[geffo]

Back to the RAI, I think I’m gonna to pull the trigger too. Been holding for awhile now. I can’t listen before buying coz there’s no demo unit here. So, going to take a leap of faith this time, based on Meze name reputation and whatever limited information I can gather so far..

I believe that Meze directly has a 30 day return policy, as long as you keep everything in good shape. In the US the other distributors I've researched have a similar policy so worst case scenario, if you bought directly or from someone else with good customer service, you could treat it like a 30 day audition if you aren't happy. Audio 46 in NY told me they haven't had any returns yet as everyone has been happy with the sound. They also said they're publishing a review tomorrow I believe.

Absolute worst case, resale value on these is high and will sell in minutes at minimal loss. Would be a fairly inexpensive lesson learned.