And a holiday card!!!! That’s awesomeone day I’ll purchase something from penon, sadly I spent my wad on source gear this year.
These sound fantastic! These also really seem to love power, which is great.
The PENON official thread
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rattlingblanketwoman
100+ Head-Fier
I’m all over the place. I thought I’d decided eventually in favor of the Aladdin. But listening tonight is making me reconsider. I’m getting a better grasp of what they do differently:
Bass/sub bass : Aladdin puts this at a pretty central “height”, behind everything so that as it comes though it is very immersive but also a little diffused. The Serial gives a slightly more signed edge to it, and puts it *under* whatever else is happening. This can sometimes feel less “open”, and a little compartmentslised, but it also makes things less dreamy and drifty.
Vocals: Serial has the best of what Penon brings to many of their tunings - mids that are full bodied and smooth. At times, I raise things a volume tick overall just to bring them a little more forward. That’s just preference, and not too strong of one that my mind woul wouldn’t adjust in a week. The Aladdin is beautiful for vocals, giving an angelic lift. It is a trade off though, something more weighty and physical vs something that floats and glows. Once more — I appreciate them both here. Example: Hana, in her self titled album.
Treble: I feel the Aladdin extends well, but always at levels that don’t threaten. You get a long spectrum of shimmer, and I have always been impressed at the detail in cymbal reproduction, you can here the atoms bounce around in the metal. However this long reaching but never too intense (in a tasteful way) can become a bit of a “wash” and a lot to process when things get crowded or cacophonous for example at the end of UNKLE’s No Where To Run / Bandits. The Serial is potentially a little too dark here, and this song ending demonstrated it well when switching - the Serial describes the cymbals in a understated way level and also rolls of earlier. If I hadn’t heard them back to back, this level of inclusion may well be perfectly acceptable for the overall mix, but in direct comparison, a fair bit seemed lost to the early dark.
Timbre: This is the one area where the Serial is definitely on top, and is mattering to me far more than I would have imagined. The Aladdin has great timbre. I wouldn’t say it sounds unnatural at all. But the contrast of the two shows just how some instruments should sound. I was listening to the album A Musical Banquet by Jordi Savall and Hesperion XX while I did some art work. And here’s the thing. I listen to very little baroque/classical overall. But this sitting made me realize I would listen to a lot more, and really start to get into it and be engaged with it with this timbre accuracy. This was the one thing this evening which is hugely swaying me. In comparison the horns on the Aladdin are missing their lower grunty body, and the strings start their sounds too softly. I don’t mean to sound like a classical connoisseur, but that’s the whole point, it sounded so much richer and better than I’m used to even with my utterly layman’s ears. I want to seek out more of a certain genre because of these earphones.
That’s all for now, my wife’s waiting for me. But a hugely competitive earphone at this price, I’m not sure if the 3DT with its caveats can stand up to the well rounded package this is, for most listeners.
I’m out of time to sell things we’ll be going to England in a couple of days to be with family, so I’ll have a longer chance to compare things before letting anything go.
Edit: because it’s always crucial to sound signature, just thought I’d add: using stock tips on the Aladdin, using some stubby double flange tips on the Serial - they add virtually no nozzle length while sealing all around, a bit like cut-down foams.
Wish I could have a set with a slider between the profiles/technicalities of both these sets. Different but both so good.
Bass/sub bass : Aladdin puts this at a pretty central “height”, behind everything so that as it comes though it is very immersive but also a little diffused. The Serial gives a slightly more signed edge to it, and puts it *under* whatever else is happening. This can sometimes feel less “open”, and a little compartmentslised, but it also makes things less dreamy and drifty.
Vocals: Serial has the best of what Penon brings to many of their tunings - mids that are full bodied and smooth. At times, I raise things a volume tick overall just to bring them a little more forward. That’s just preference, and not too strong of one that my mind woul wouldn’t adjust in a week. The Aladdin is beautiful for vocals, giving an angelic lift. It is a trade off though, something more weighty and physical vs something that floats and glows. Once more — I appreciate them both here. Example: Hana, in her self titled album.
Treble: I feel the Aladdin extends well, but always at levels that don’t threaten. You get a long spectrum of shimmer, and I have always been impressed at the detail in cymbal reproduction, you can here the atoms bounce around in the metal. However this long reaching but never too intense (in a tasteful way) can become a bit of a “wash” and a lot to process when things get crowded or cacophonous for example at the end of UNKLE’s No Where To Run / Bandits. The Serial is potentially a little too dark here, and this song ending demonstrated it well when switching - the Serial describes the cymbals in a understated way level and also rolls of earlier. If I hadn’t heard them back to back, this level of inclusion may well be perfectly acceptable for the overall mix, but in direct comparison, a fair bit seemed lost to the early dark.
Timbre: This is the one area where the Serial is definitely on top, and is mattering to me far more than I would have imagined. The Aladdin has great timbre. I wouldn’t say it sounds unnatural at all. But the contrast of the two shows just how some instruments should sound. I was listening to the album A Musical Banquet by Jordi Savall and Hesperion XX while I did some art work. And here’s the thing. I listen to very little baroque/classical overall. But this sitting made me realize I would listen to a lot more, and really start to get into it and be engaged with it with this timbre accuracy. This was the one thing this evening which is hugely swaying me. In comparison the horns on the Aladdin are missing their lower grunty body, and the strings start their sounds too softly. I don’t mean to sound like a classical connoisseur, but that’s the whole point, it sounded so much richer and better than I’m used to even with my utterly layman’s ears. I want to seek out more of a certain genre because of these earphones.
That’s all for now, my wife’s waiting for me. But a hugely competitive earphone at this price, I’m not sure if the 3DT with its caveats can stand up to the well rounded package this is, for most listeners.
I’m out of time to sell things we’ll be going to England in a couple of days to be with family, so I’ll have a longer chance to compare things before letting anything go.
Edit: because it’s always crucial to sound signature, just thought I’d add: using stock tips on the Aladdin, using some stubby double flange tips on the Serial - they add virtually no nozzle length while sealing all around, a bit like cut-down foams.
Wish I could have a set with a slider between the profiles/technicalities of both these sets. Different but both so good.
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I think the Serial is more sophisticated than the 3DT... I just got the Yulong DA1 dac/amp with seperate power conditioner (total $4K) today on tour, and I have my PWAudio Monile50s cable ($1K); so with all that performance coming into the serial, you would expect it's limitations to be revealed, alas, the Serial is rising to the occasion beautifully...Not even burned in yet and they sound fantastic!
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arar
100+ Head-Fier
6 Days from China to Brooklyn...
Aww, the hand-written Christmas card is great lol
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Finally joined the Serial club, ordered this morning - can't wait 
I finally understand what an "analogue tonality" is...great texture too.
