[KutuzovGambit]

The moonlight has definitely piqued my interest. Looking at the graph it seems like it might be a little too light on bass for me. Someone on hifiguides described it as an OG tea with est treble. Which does sound interesting. Tea 2 w/ est treble would be

I got it in this afternoon, hasn't burned in but it sound excellent straight out of box. Very balanced. I find it to have plenty of bass for my taste but I'm not a basshead and prefer natural, balanced signatures.

 

[KutuzovGambit]

I've published my Penon Serial review. Outstanding triple dynamic, very mature evolution of Penon's house sound, highly recommended!

 

[cqtek]

Penon Totem Type-C DAC Adapter 2.5mm Balanced 32Bit/384kHz.

What a bold idea! Putting the best cable on a simple DAC, but with a proven and great sound performance.

 

[arar]

Copy-pasted question from the Xenns/Mangird thread:

Anyone got any comparisons of the Mangird Tea 2 and the Penon Orb? Looking for a pair of warmer IEMs with good, full-bodied and intimate sound, especially male vocals, and these two are my current top picks but of course I can't audition them and I can only afford one (and even that later in the summer, not right now). Curious to hear how they stack up against each other in the aforementioned categories in particular.

 

[rattlingblanketwoman]

Copy-pasted question from the Xenns/Mangird thread:

Anyone got any comparisons of the Mangird Tea 2 and the Penon Orb? Looking for a pair of warmer IEMs with good, full-bodied and intimate sound, especially male vocals, and these two are my current top picks but of course I can't audition them and I can only afford one (and even that later in the summer, not right now). Curious to hear how they stack up against each other in the aforementioned categories in particular.

I haven’t heard the Mangird Tea 2, but I know it is a much more all-rounder tuning than the Orb, from graphs and many reviews.

I have tried the Orb, and personally think the Orb is terrible, but its fans will describe it as a deliberate tuning choice, “lush, rich, analogue”. I’m all for dark tunings, especially “analogue”, but the Orb takes it too far in my opinion, while also having bass that sounds a little bouncy and clownish from its mid bass emphasis.

I want to say that both people like me who think the Orb is badly tuned, and people who love the Orb, would agree that Tea 2 is more of an all-rounder.

So if you’ve got the budget for just one EDC, the Tea 2 sounds like a better fit. It’s also a better value, the new price of the Orb is ridiculous compared to what else you can get for that amount. The Orb only makes sense as an unusual piece at the going used price (around $150) IMO. From technicalities to tuning to build costs (2 drivers) it can’t justify the new price in my mind and it’s tragic people would drop that much on it considering how incredibly well valued IEMs of the past year have been.

If you can have 3+ IEMs that all focus on something different, maybe the Orb could be justified as part of that ensemble. Even then, at its new price as opposed to used? A very hard sell.

My 2 cents, there will be some very different feedback to this one.

 

[ToneDeafMonk]

I haven’t heard the Mangird Tea 2, but I know it is a much more all-rounder tuning than the Orb, from graphs and many reviews.

I have tried the Orb, and personally think the Orb is terrible, but its fans will describe it as a deliberate tuning choice, “lush, rich, analogue”. I’m all for dark tunings, especially “analogue”, but the Orb takes it too far in my opinion, while also having bass that sounds a little bouncy and clownish from its mid bass emphasis.

I want to say that both people like me who think the Orb is badly tuned, and people who love the Orb, would agree that Tea 2 is more of an all-rounder.

So if you’ve got the budget for just one EDC, the Tea 2 sounds like a better fit. It’s also a better value, the new price of the Orb is ridiculous compared to what else you can get for that amount. The Orb only makes sense as an unusual piece at the going used price (around $150) IMO. From technicalities to tuning to build costs (2 drivers) it can’t justify the new price in my mind and it’s tragic people would drop that much on it considering how incredibly well valued IEMs of the past year have been.

If you can have 3+ IEMs that all focus on something different, maybe the Orb could be justified as part of that ensemble. Even then, at its new price as opposed to used? A very hard sell.

My 2 cents, there will be some very different feedback to this one.

Totally agree with R.B.W. I have The Penon Globe and love it for its lush, organic Mids it has more highs than the Orb bit still a completely different beast than my energetic Obsidian OH10. Teas MKii sound like a great choice.

I had the pleasure and opportunity to get the EJ07m Kinda Lava and went that route but it was a close race with Teas.

I don't think I will sell the Globe's and definitely not the Obsidian. We will see how much play time the other two will get.

I am also eagerly waiting for the new Penon Vortex if it has the same kind of house sound tuning and some decent extended highs form Thier single DD I am down!

 

[arar]

I haven’t heard the Mangird Tea 2, but I know it is a much more all-rounder tuning than the Orb, from graphs and many reviews.

I have tried the Orb, and personally think the Orb is terrible, but its fans will describe it as a deliberate tuning choice, “lush, rich, analogue”. I’m all for dark tunings, especially “analogue”, but the Orb takes it too far in my opinion, while also having bass that sounds a little bouncy and clownish from its mid bass emphasis.

I want to say that both people like me who think the Orb is badly tuned, and people who love the Orb, would agree that Tea 2 is more of an all-rounder.

So if you’ve got the budget for just one EDC, the Tea 2 sounds like a better fit. It’s also a better value, the new price of the Orb is ridiculous compared to what else you can get for that amount. The Orb only makes sense as an unusual piece at the going used price (around $150) IMO. From technicalities to tuning to build costs (2 drivers) it can’t justify the new price in my mind and it’s tragic people would drop that much on it considering how incredibly well valued IEMs of the past year have been.

If you can have 3+ IEMs that all focus on something different, maybe the Orb could be justified as part of that ensemble. Even then, at its new price as opposed to used? A very hard sell.

My 2 cents, there will be some very different feedback to this one.

Thanks for your thoughts! I'm curious, what was it specifically that made you hate Orb so much? Just too warm, too veiled in the treble, too thick and slow and muddy-sounding in general? What sort of sound do you usually enjoy? I'm wondering cause I'm personally definitely into a thicker sound, one that many here would probably find truly awful.

But yeah, I'm really only looking for a single EDC type pair, budget reasons, sure, but mainly because I just like having one good enough pair for every real world use case: one pair of IEMs for when I'm out and about, one open-back pair for home listening, one closed-back pair for home listening when I need isolation, etc. Not that into rotating gear based on what I'm listening to at the moment, cause my music listening habits are chaotic and I go from one genre to a completely different one at a drop of a hat lol.

 

[Penon]

VORTEX may come in two different colors, which one do you like?

 

[yaps66]

VORTEX may come in two different colors, which one do you like?

Left

 

[flu_fighter]

Left

the one of the left is pretty similar to the Volt's colour scheme

 

[rattlingblanketwoman]

VORTEX may come in two different colors, which one do you like?

Left

Looks like clouds swirling over the earth.

The right looks like the ISN D02. The large glossy expanse gives off more of a cheap plastic feel than a resin feel, even if it is the same resin.

 

[ToneDeafMonk]

VORTEX may come in two different colors, which one do you like?

Left

 

[jant71]

Neither really. Why not just the blue? Nice blue that has some variation in it and kinda gives the purple at certain angles. The bore side looks better than the face does to me.

 

[ian91]

VORTEX may come in two different colors, which one do you like?

Left

 

[Ace Bee]

VORTEX may come in two different colors, which one do you like?

Left for sure!!