So I figure I would post my early impressions on the new NEO3 on here first. Believe me these are definitely discovery material. So here it is. It is a bit of a longer read but these imo are special at the price Penon will sell these things for. The RP will be toward the conclusion. Take a read.
ISN NEO3
NEO3 is the newest creation from ISN, a sister company of Penon. If you have never heard a ISN IEM before. A lot of what Penon does for their house sound shows up for ISN IEMs but the ISN IEM has its own flavor sort to say. Lets dig into the new NEO3 and why I consider this one significant for ISN.
Penon had some big success with their first 3DD IEM in the Penon serials. Recently that IEM has been updated in a new model as you all know in the new Quattros. Shortly on the heels of the Quattro which has been delayed a bit due to big demand. Will be launched officially very soon. We see a new ISN coming up with what is essentially another 3DD well 2DD+planar in the NEO3
The new NEO3 is technically a hybrid design using two types of drivers. A 5.8mm planar handling the highs, 6mm dynamic for mids, 6mm dynamic for the lows. All included in a very nice to look at, an all translucent orange resin finish. A first for me anyways but a cool colorway for this IEM. The physical size of the IEM is surprising considering it has 3 essentially 6mm drivers. All tucked away inside the resin shell nicely separated with each driver via sound tube to the nozzles. Overall in looks ,is a densely engineered presentation in a smaller/ medium size shell. These will fit most with no issue due to its smaller compact medium physical ergonomic shape.
Generally ISN IEMs are the more budget friendly version of the Penon sound but then they have their own sound angle vs Penon branded IEMs. Generally are more bass driven vs the more balanced and mids emphasized tunings for Penon IEMs. As pricing goes you will see Penon branded IEMs to be more premium in all things Penon but the ISN brand benefits from the know-how and in house tuning and development from Penon. ISN IEMs are much less about being highly technical but more about getting you into your music. We call it musicality. The great thing about musicality in IEMs is that you don’t need 10 premium drivers per side to achieve musicality. For me anyways, it is either it has it or it doesn't. A lot of IEMs benefit from such a tuning where vocals send shivers down your spine. You get a full impact of the bass emphasis and trebles shimmer in all the right places. This can be called musical. Not to be confused with the Broadway presentation of Phantom of the Opera.
This being said the NEO3 is a supreme example of this musical tuning angle.
Now here is what you all want to know. What is the NEO3 about. How do they sound? The good news on these is that they are definitely easier to drive. I would say it is similar to the Penon Serial and not the new Quattro. Which is a good thing. They have decent passive isolation as well as it is an all resin build. These utilize mostly dynamics for their sound. They do benefit from some power. But sounds dang good from even your phone.
I did burn them in for a good 50 hours before this impression so I got a good idea of what sound it is going for. To me these share some similarities in how the old classic ISN H40 was tuned. It is a colored sound meaning it's not anything overly neutral but most Penon made IEMs are not neutral. It seems to be a variation of a w shaped tuning angle where you get rich slightly forward mids. Sparkly treble and dedicated punchy bass dynamic handling the lows. Now if you’re wondering if a single 6mm dynamic will have enough grunt for a full bass end. I wouldn't worry so much about that. To this day I have yet to hear an ISN IEM minus one ISN H30 that does not have it in the bass department. In fact it is a part of the ISN tuning angle. The H30 was an outlier due to ISN trying their version of a neutral tuning on it. Otherwise the most recent line up of NEO branded IEMs are all bass driven. NEO3 is not as bassy as the NEO5. I will get that out of the way, it has a bit less mid bass and sub bas extension. Little known NEO1 is a bassy single dynamic set and is true to how these NEO IEMs are tuned. I would say the NEO3 and NEO1 share similar bass presentations. The good news is that the NEO3 still kicks like a mule that has been messed with too much.
Quattro next to the NEO3
Don't know about what you consider musical but bass has to be a part of that makeup for one of the most basic fundamental aspects of what musical is for an IEM. Music is not music without its rhythm, hence bass being such an integral part of what musical truly means. Some may describe it as a fun tuning. Fun to me is listening to your bassiest IEMs with bass boost on top of that. These are not that.
NEO3 makes sure you're getting proper bass emphasis but not overly emphasized from what I am hearing. I am not hearing any bass bleed but just know the NEO series of IEMs includes bass in the mix. You can say it is a more accurate full flavored depiction of bass or a moderate bass emphasis but to my surprise the single 6mm dynamic does a great job at handling the low end for a NEO branded IEM. Where the NEO3 will make a name for itself is not necessarily the bass which is very capable and digs deep when called upon. It will be its mids.
Mids to me sound slightly forward in the mix. Vocal tracks are what I tested the mids with and they sound marvelous. Both male and female vocals shine, has excellent vocal projection hence Imaging is superb. The plus and minuses of a slightly mid forward vocal projecting sound is that its sound stage can suffer a touch. In comparison, both the Serial and the Quattro both have wider stages but both of those IEMs mids are more closer to neutral than being slightly forward or are their mids recessed. However this is where the sound immersion really kicks into another level on the NEO3. Especially if you're into your vocal music, these are superb. As crazy as this may sound. These remind me of the tuning and tonal balancing of Penons own flagship, the Impacts. However these will not cost even at the price for a set of the ESTs alone used for the Impacts.
The 6mm mids dynamic handling the mid bands are focused to bring dynamism, accurate timbre, a lush full bodied flavor that ultimately surrounds with a fullness that feels a bit more intimate, definitely more immersive. A bit romantic even in presentation.
Mids don't have the Holography of lets say multi kilobuck IEMs with 4 drivers doing the mids or anything like that but what is presented is a natural rich slightly forward projecting sound that allows one to close their eyes and absolutely enjoy music in its purest form. If the timbral or tonality is skewed, has too much in the upper mids or not much in the lower mids then you can kiss this aspect goodbye but the mids just sounds sooo right. Atmospheric and engrossing the mids presentation of the NEO3 is the real trump card on the NEO3 presentation.
Note weight has been talked about when it comes to IEM sound in reviews and here we are getting it in spades. Penon and ISN IEMs don’t have this issue. There is nothing thin about the sound on the NEO3. Actually the opposite you are getting a heavy dose of mids that don’t overstay their welcome in any parts of its sound. Don't know if the rich tonal character or the slightly forward mids projection that is a win for the NEO3 a bit of both aspects as music sounds full bored, full bodied and has good separation imaging and details for your music to come full and correct.
To be immersed in your music is the reason why we use our earphones is it not? That is the best way to describe what the NEO3 is doing here. NEO3 also has something rare that not too many IEM manufacturers have done. Is the use for a Planar driver for the highs in conjunction of dynamic drivers handling the rest of the sound.
If you ever owned a Planar based IEM. Treble is not an issue with a Planar IEMs. I have yet to hear a Planar IEM that can’t articulate the treble aspects of its tuning. Bass and mids for Planar IEMs can be a hit or miss. I suppose based on how they are tuned the trebles can be a bit much as well but Trebles for a planar is actually a strong suit of the Planar IEM driver.
It was brilliant on ISNs part to use a 5.8mm micro planar for the highs. The crisp sparkly treble on the NEO3 enhances just how musical the sound is. Treble is clean with a transient quality that is more closer to a treble BA for treble presentation than a dynamic. Presents with a speedy snappy agility, tightness and sparkle that all comes into play with the NEO3 trebles. There was a slight disjointment from the treble presentation out of the box but I no longer feel that way after about 50 hours
of burn-in and listening. Burn in is highly recommended.
Technicalities.
Higher end multi BA sets will be more technical. Some dynamic IEMs can be more technical. But how's about trading in a bit of that technical quality for musicality and realism? This to me is a nice trade off because you can have the most detailed technical sound on the planet but how does that translate to music immersion? NEO3 has a certain “ feels right” quality to the sound. There is no other way to describe it.
NEO3 has a clean sparkly treble end to compliment the full bored sound it's going for. This to me is the perfect type of treble in both presence and ability for the type of presentation the NEO3 is going for.
NEO1 had a bit too much trebles, which was mitigated with an included tuning filter. Sounds fine after the nozzle filter change and is more of the classic V shaped tuning for the NEO sound. NEO5 has a balanced L shaped tuning where trebles are a 2ndary to the bass bringing a warm dynamic ISN sound. NEO3 to my ears sounds the most balanced out of the 3. It shows in its tonal character that it has a balanced tuning. Not warm and certainly nothing cold in tone. Somewhere right smack in the middle. Which means it has one of the most natural tonal characters for a NEO IEM.
Its stage is moderately wide but somehow more spacious sounding if not just bigger than it should be coming from these smedium shells. I find myself taking them out of my ears and inspecting them due to the sheer sound authority from these things.. Its imaging is quite good if not amazing at times, sound separation and macro details are above average here for dynamic presentations at its price. The benefit of a different drivers taking over for the highs. mids and the bass. Everything in the sound presentation seems to have equal breath, equal footing on the sound. Micro details level is also quite good here especially for its treble region. It is not going to be leaving you with that not so fresh feeling like you're missing some layers or details to your music let me put it that way. Other IEMs does technical better but these usually are missing out on the full bored sound the NEO3 represents and that is the best aspect of the NEO3. Its the type of IEM you plug into your ears to hear your music in full glory.
Overall
Here we go again. I never saw this one coming but now I can understand why the NEO1 had such a quick launch that mostly went under the radar. It was because these guys have been working on the NEO3. Out of all the ISN IEMs and there has been some really good ones. ISN H40, EST50, ISN H50, ISN NEO5, if you are curious about the ISN sound. THIS is the one to go with. Not only due to its very cool unique hybrid design but because I feel these are exactly what an ISN IEM should sound like. If you're a dynamic fan you owe it to yourself to get a set. This set I am willing to bet you will be surprised what your hard-earned money will get you nowadays. Penon now has 3 multi dynamic IEMs under their belt and this experience making these have come full circle for the NEO3. Ultimately it comes down to how these IEMs are tuned and how they sound. These sound imo fantastic and to my surprise. They will be retailing for $199! This puts the NEO3 in a very unique spotlight. No BA based hybrid quite sounds like these, no single dynamic or planar IEM sounds quite like these.
I am gonna predict as much a demand as there are for the Penon Quattros. These will take off to an even greater demand. Sure they are not exactly a Quattro or a Serial light. But what they are is musical immersion in its purest form having an entirely different ISN sound to them.
Penon has not let me know when they will have these for sale but this could be another reason why the Quattro release has been delayed a bit. Same factory is frantically making a grip of these things. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up from me. These are worth owning in your collection and I don't care just how expensive your current IEMs are. These I am willing to bet will surprise you.
but credit where credit dues, the tuning was excellent, and resolution was fair for the price. Newer DD IEM I have tried are either more expensive, tuned not as good, or merely at the same technical performance level, thus I question the progress of this particular kind of IEMs.
If I manage to contain myself, lol
