[keanex]

 
The Good: Excellent build quality; Excellent accessory bundle; MMCX Removable cables; Treble extension; Midrange resolution.
The Okay: Comfort; Bass quality and presence; Treble resolution; Soundstage.
The Bad: Sibilance highlighting.
Tonal Balance: Warm leaning despite lacking bass presence.
Style: Over-Ear/Worn Down IEM
Cost: $200
 

Reviewing Process

The Pinnacle P1, now forth referred to as the P1, have been my primary IEM for a month now. Primarily used during school hours plugged into an iBasso DX80, but they’ve also received desktop play through the FiiO E17k and the Matrix M-Stage HPA-3U. I’ve tested them with a variety of genres and spent a good amount of time with them, enough to feel comfortable sharing my opinions with you.
 
With that said a review will always be subjective and your experience may vary from mine. Personal experience trumps any review, so demo when you can!
 
Thanks to MeeAudio for the review sample.
 

Build & Fit

Build
Astonishingly durable feeling in absolutely every aspect. The housing is constructed of hefty feeling zinc-alloy and finely machined with a brushed look. The housing connects to the cables via MMCX connectors that are easy to insert and remove with replacement cables available at a very fair price through MeeAudio’s website; $30-$50. The P1 comes with a copper stranded cable with a remote/mic attached and a thicker silver stranded cable that’s got the feel of a thick rope chain. The cables feel hugely durable, I’d wager they’d be $100+ from a boutique cable maker. Both of the included cables terminate with 3.5mm plugs at a right angle.
 
Fit
I’ve worn the IEMs over-ear only, I’m not a fan of worn-down IEMs and quite frankly I see no benefit to doing so. All in all I’ve used the P1 with their single flanged, double flanged, and tri-flanged tips. My preference was for the double flanged though that was a personal preference thing with comfort and isolation. With that said, I don’t find any of the provided tips to be comfortable. I get mild discomfort within an hour or so of use without it ever growing past mild discomfort when worn for longer durations. The P1 do seal well and sit securely in my ear. The P1 are pretty picky about fit though, you’re going to need to ensure a good seal and proper positioning in order to achieve the best sound.
 

Sound Quality

Bass
The P1 extends nicely down to 20hz, though exhibiting a pretty noticeable rainbow effect when using the Bass Shaker Test which indicates a preference towards the midbass over the sub-bass. Unfortunately the bass is somewhat shy, taking a backseat to the midrange and treble when push comes to shove. The bass has some bloat, and a nearing generic texture to it, a few steps away from being one-note but not nearly as detailed as the bass on the Vibro Labs Aria, for instance.
 
Midbass bloats a little bit, sub-bass has a bit of a loose sound to it, but overall the bass is done decently for the price considering the strengths in the midrange and treble. A little bass boost goes a long way with the P1, but be careful as the bass could spill into the beautiful midrange.
 
Mids & Highs
The midrange has a warm tone to it, and does so cleanly with good resolution, in-fact classic rock guitars sound phenomenal on it. Seriously, put these in your ears and listen to David Bowie’s Moonage Daydream. Male vocals and lower ranged female vocals also sound fantastic, I love focusing on the vocals of Lana Del Rey and Bright Eyes with the P1. I find myself often engaged into the midrange, it’s very pleasant and laid-back without sounding dull. Oddly though sibilance isn’t shy with the P1. I find that the P1 picks out sibilance whenever it can, but rather than razor blade brightness it sounds as if the driver is clipping.
 
The treble is extended nicely, I never have to focus on listening to hear the various cymbals or brass instruments. If they’re meant to be prominent the P1 allows them to be prominent. It’s not entirely smooth up top, there seems to be a few dips up there, but nothing that sounds alarming to my ears. Treble resolution is just okay though, instruments tend to sound a bit splashy up here, though in a non-fatiguing way. I’m never convinced that I’m hearing a real crash cymbal, for instance.
 
Soundstage
There’s decent left/right width, good enough for an IEM, with similar thoughts in terms of depth. Instrument separation is a bit above average though, with a decent sense of space, rarely sounding congested, like a small music venue with a good sound engineer. Somewhat of a cozy presentation, but not congested. Imaging is also just okay, I get a good left, right, and center imaging, though they tend to bleed into each other, focusing moreso towards the center.
 

Conclusion

The MeeAudio Pinnacle has been in development for years and they’ve put a lot of love and hard work into it - it shows. The packaging is elegant, the accessory spread is fantastic, and the IEMs feel very high quality. All of that wouldn’t matter if they didn’t sound good though, and they sound pretty damn good. When I first put them in my ears they reminded me of the big brother of the A151p, but better in dang near every way. The laid-back tone makes it non-fatiguing for long listening sessions if you can get a comfortable fit, and the midrange is phenomenal in a few aspects. They’re not without fault, but that can be said with every headphone.
 
These get a definite buy from me, unless you listen to a lot of bass focused music. The included cables are enough to make the purchase worth it if you don’t end up liking the sound. MeeAudio has made this IEM well worth every penny you’re going to spend on these.

 

[BETEP 9]

What tips would you recon for them? I get pain after an hour with stock tips.