[-rowan-]

Fan 2 with RS2 & Wagnus Easter Lily.

Really digging this pairing today.

The Wagnus and Fan 2 are a case of opposites attract. Gives the Fan 2 some nice analogue warmth, smooths the upper mids/lower highs, brings out the decay and reverb.

On the little RS2, it reminds me almost of the easy musicality of the Impact stock everything.

 

[-rowan-]

I got the Serial and... holy schiit

And?

 

[msing539]

And?

Trying to find the right pair of tips now... after all the stock plus these:

Dunu S&S tips are the most comfortable, but take away some low end impact.

Final E tips make them more sparkly, neutral, focus the bass impact and make them a little wider... but they take away the warmth.

SpinFit W1... bah. They make the midrange less lush.

FiiO tips are not bad, pretty close to stock.

And the winner for me so far is the stock tips that came with the LETSHUOER S12. These keep the warmth and timbre but enhances the low end. Impact, presence, fullness are all there. Just don't know where to find more of these...

 

[106miles]

Trying to find the right pair of tips now... after all the stock plus these:

Dunu S&S tips are the most comfortable, but take away some low end impact.

Final E tips make them more sparkly, neutral, focus the bass impact and make them a little wider... but they take away the warmth.

SpinFit W1... bah. They make the midrange less lush.

FiiO tips are not bad, pretty close to stock.

And the winner for me so far is the stock tips that came with the LETSHUOER S12. These keep the warmth and timbre but enhances the low end. Impact, presence, fullness are all there. Just don't know where to find more of these...

I started with Spiral Dots and haven't changed. I will roll some tips someday but I'm too busy music rolling now. The Serials made me dig into some older songs. The Rover by Zeppelin, Live With Me by the Stones, Sweet Love by the Commodores. Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Van Halen, everything sounds like I'm in a studio listening to a pair of JBL studio monitors. Then I turned on the latest episode of HBO's Perry Mason...oh my...pour me a glass and turn up these old songs...sooooo smooth!

 

[msing539]

I started with Spiral Dots and haven't changed. I will roll some tips someday but I'm too busy music rolling now. The Serials made me dig into some older songs. The Rover by Zeppelin, Live With Me by the Stones, Sweet Love by the Commodores. Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Van Halen, everything sounds like I'm in a studio listening to a pair of JBL studio monitors. Then I turned on the latest episode of HBO's Perry Mason...oh my...pour me a glass and turn up these old songs...sooooo smooth!

I've been enjoying pop and edm with the--wait, they brought back Perry Mason?

 

[BrokenHill]

It seems that either due to the burn-in period of the BA, or due to the brain burn, I am getting more used to the level of detail of the Impact with cables other than the original. The Moondop Shirokawa that I had with the Volt is proving excellent for jazz, acoustic and instrumental genres, although I still feel some fatigue in other genres, where the original is still the best option.

A few days ago, I was looking at what cables to buy in the Aliexpress Anniversary Sales, that could be good for the Impact. I had several in the basket, and in the end I canceled all of them. I don't know what happened to me, but I ended up pulling the trigger on an another one that I had read about in the @Bosk review.

Effect Audio Code 23... I'll tell you...

 

[106miles]

I've been enjoying pop and edm with the--wait, they brought back Perry Mason?

Season 2 started this month. Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Bobby “Blue” Bland. The Serial was made for this.

 

[Bosk]

It seems that either due to the burn-in period of the BA, or due to the brain burn, I am getting more used to the level of detail of the Impact with cables other than the original. The Moondop Shirokawa that I had with the Volt is proving excellent for jazz, acoustic and instrumental genres, although I still feel some fatigue in other genres, where the original is still the best option.

A few days ago, I was looking at what cables to buy in the Aliexpress Anniversary Sales, that could be good for the Impact. I had several in the basket, and in the end I canceled all of them. I don't know what happened to me, but I ended up pulling the trigger on an another one that I had read about in the @Bosk review.

Effect Audio Code 23... I'll tell you...

Code 23 paired very nicely with the Impacts, but the ergonomics -particularly the stiffness of the earhooks- are something I would struggle to live with.

Sonically for such a (relatively) 'affordable' cable, Code 23's stage expansion is the best I've heard, up there with cables worth thousands. The Impacts do not have a wide stage on the stock cable and Code 23 will remedy that. I didn't have a lot of time with Code 23 but do remember it being very transparent, meaning it shouldn't alter the character of the Impact's presentation in a negative fashion. Looking forward to hearing what you think of it.

 

[BrokenHill]

Code 23 paired very nicely with the Impacts, but the ergonomics -particularly the stiffness of the earhooks- are something I would struggle to live with.

Sonically for such a (relatively) 'affordable' cable, Code 23's stage expansion is the best I've heard, up there with cables worth thousands. The Impacts do not have a wide stage on the stock cable and Code 23 will remedy that. I didn't have a lot of time with Code 23 but do remember it being very transparent, meaning it shouldn't alter the character of the Impact's presentation in a negative fashion. Looking forward to hearing what you think of it.

Yes, I took ergonomics into account, but I'm not going to move much with it, and I don't usually have problems with thick cables, although this will be the most. My use will be mostly while working from home at a desk. Modularity at both ends is also a plus point.

The truth is that the stock cable is a good all-rounder. What I am looking to improve is to expand and decongest the stage a bit. I also like the level of detail that is achieved as soon as I put some wire with silver or palladium, but it causes me some fatigue after several songs. I think a good pure copper cable can help something in between. The gold plating of the original, although it makes for warm, welcoming voices, softens or rounds out the notes. When I read your description, it matched what I'm looking for. Thank you.

 

[Bosk]

Yes, I took ergonomics into account, but I'm not going to move much with it, and I don't usually have problems with thick cables

There's thick cables... and then there's Code 23. Definitely the most "interesting" ergonomics of any cable I've tried, perhaps also because it utilises solid core wire. You'll be very impressed with what you hear however!

Allow me to speak candidly about the Impact stock cable. I must respectfully disagree that it is a good all-rounder. To me it does extremely well with vocal-centric music but left me underwhelmed with my preferred genres - classical & EDM.

For those genres my humble Ares S 4 wire has been an instant improvement. It widens the stage, deepens bass, and pushes the treble forward more. I suppose you could say it offers a more V-shaped presentation, to my ears it helps "wake up" the Impacts by making them feel more dynamic and exciting. On the stock cable they sound flatter, and the stage is narrower than I'd want from a $2500 IEM. Particularly one lacking a DD, which really should offer improved technical performance as a tradeoff.

I'm slightly disappointed Penon decided to pair the Impacts with the stock Obsidian cable. Had they bundled them with a cable that delivers better technical performance I suspect the Impacts would be causing more of a stir in the high-end IEM community right now. Having said that, choosing the Obsidian allowed Penon to keep the price down which effectively gives more people a (relatively) "affordable" gateway into TOTL sound - much as I loved the sound of Traillii on the stock 1960s 4 wire cable, there was no way I was willing to spend USD $6000 on them.

Moreover I'm sure Penon realises many of us are going to swap cables on the Impacts regardless of which they chose, so why bundle them with something like Totem if this would only increase the price substantially when many of us are going to swap cables regardless? This makes a lot of sense, though I wonder how many people may be impressed, but not completely blown away by the Impacts when listening via the stock cable, unaware how much they respond to a cable change.

As for my situation the Ares S 4 wire is proving to be a fine match but still leaves too much potential performance on the table. I purchased a Liquid Links Martini but it sounds too smooth and doesn't synergise particularly well with the Impacts, so my search for an upgrade will continue. The Impacts are resolving enough that a flagship cable would not be wasted on them. Chiron 8 wire would be my ideal choice but is more than I'm currently comfortable spending on a cable.

 

[ehjie]

No it's totally different from the stock black bore and clear tip.

Orange tip impressions, please

Fresh, as a Californian, a Valencia even!

Folks very sensitive to treble sibilance will Love them, this is for sure.
The Mids - sweeter! Imagine, Penon organic mids + sweetness.

Awaiting more impressions! How different is it from the OS133?

It can be early times for now but, I'm hearing a larger venue on the Space, most especially height.

The Sphere benefited heavily on that huge staging coming from the Space. In the head sound No more, simply fantastic is what I'm hearing...

 

[s2kphile]

Fresh, as a Californian, a Valencia even!

Folks very sensitive to treble sibilance will Love them, this is for sure.
The Mids - sweeter! Imagine, Penon organic mids + sweetness.

It can be early times for now but, I'm hearing a larger venue on the Space, most especially height.

The Sphere benefited heavily on that huge staging coming from the Space. In the head sound No more, simply fantastic is what I'm hearing...

I have similar conclusions with the orange eartips.
- Improved space height
- Smoothing out the treble (Sibilance reductions)
- Vocals are more present
- Bass increased
- But highlights are the mids especially on the Impact and Serial. It takes the what makes the Impact great, "mids" and makes them even better.

Edit1:
Bass: 4/5
Mids: 5/5
Highs 3.75/5
Vocals: 4.5/5
Stage: 4.25/5

 

[Leonarfd]

Interested

 

[BrokenHill]

Interested

ufff... I thought that the G4 was the worst design that Penon/ISN had made for a cable... I was wrong

(with love)

 

[BrokenHill]

There's thick cables... and then there's Code 23. Definitely the most "interesting" ergonomics of any cable I've tried, perhaps also because it utilises solid core wire. You'll be very impressed with what you hear however!

Allow me to speak candidly about the Impact stock cable. I must respectfully disagree that it is a good all-rounder. To me it does extremely well with vocal-centric music but left me underwhelmed with my preferred genres - classical & EDM.

For those genres my humble Ares S 4 wire has been an instant improvement. It widens the stage, deepens bass, and pushes the treble forward more. I suppose you could say it offers a more V-shaped presentation, to my ears it helps "wake up" the Impacts by making them feel more dynamic and exciting. On the stock cable they sound flatter, and the stage is narrower than I'd want from a $2500 IEM. Particularly one lacking a DD, which really should offer improved technical performance as a tradeoff.

I'm slightly disappointed Penon decided to pair the Impacts with the stock Obsidian cable. Had they bundled them with a cable that delivers better technical performance I suspect the Impacts would be causing more of a stir in the high-end IEM community right now. Having said that, choosing the Obsidian allowed Penon to keep the price down which effectively gives more people a (relatively) "affordable" gateway into TOTL sound - much as I loved the sound of Traillii on the stock 1960s 4 wire cable, there was no way I was willing to spend USD $6000 on them.

Moreover I'm sure Penon realises many of us are going to swap cables on the Impacts regardless of which they chose, so why bundle them with something like Totem if this would only increase the price substantially when many of us are going to swap cables regardless? This makes a lot of sense, though I wonder how many people may be impressed, but not completely blown away by the Impacts when listening via the stock cable, unaware how much they respond to a cable change.

As for my situation the Ares S 4 wire is proving to be a fine match but still leaves too much potential performance on the table. I purchased a Liquid Links Martini but it sounds too smooth and doesn't synergise particularly well with the Impacts, so my search for an upgrade will continue. The Impacts are resolving enough that a flagship cable would not be wasted on them. Chiron 8 wire would be my ideal choice but is more than I'm currently comfortable spending on a cable.

Well.. I really agree with you. By all-rounder I meant that they have made no song sound bad with the stock cable. However, they have left some of the Impact's potential untapped. The Impact with the totem would be wonderful for instrumental passages, acoustic or jazz, as I've seen with the shirokawa, but would possibly make it the sharpest in Penon's catalog when it comes to female vocals or high-pitched instruments. That's why I say the stock cable is conservative. It sounds good with everything, but it doesn't bring out the full potential of the Impact. It's going to be more difficult to match a cable than with other Penons. I was considering the Ares S and in the end I went a little higher for the code 23.