[Redcarmoose]

This might sound strange but the Space cable actually might not be an upgrade for your MK3 from the included cable on the MEST MK3. Reason I know this is because UM usually throws in a premium cable with their IEMs. I have the fist MEST and it came with a cable that cost something like $425.

Space is a great cable but UM usually will throw in sometype of higher end product to make their IEM sound as good as they can put out there for the price. Which is another reason why they charge the prices they do. This being said as crazy as it might seem but you will have to get something like a Penon TOTEM or something of that quality for an actual upgrade. This might be a reason why your not hearing much of a difference. Might say something about the included cable more so than the Space actually.

Ahh, good point I was not familiar with the original cable used.

 

[Echalon]

Which Xinhs cable are you talking about? The cheaper one with 2 strings? The expensive one is several hundreds $.

The cheaper one. Honestly it sounds great with the Quattro. Even though I’m very treble sensitive, it is only slightly too bright for me. On most IEMs it is much more intense.

 

[helloh3adfi]

The cheaper one. Honestly it sounds great with the Quattro. Even though I’m very treble sensitive, it is only slightly too bright for me. On most IEMs it is much more intense.

Maybe that's why my Novas sound too bright? I'll need to try another cable.

 

[Echalon]

Maybe that's why my Novas sound too bright? I'll need to try another cable.

Possibly. That silver & palladium cable has a lovely sound, but certainly boosts treble.

 

[Sheeno101]

Hey everyone, I'm looking at buying some IEMs to complement/upgrade what I already have, and I'm currently leaning towards Penon/ISN - particularly the Penon 10th. I just wanted to see if people here agree and if there are any other IEMs I should be considering (or waiting for - I'm not in a rush). I think the 10AE is at the very top of my budget limit (if not a bit over).

Although I'm no audiophile, I think my preferences lie with warm, full vocals, and big bass, rather than clinical technicalities, which is why I am leaning towards the Penon house sound (which I've not heard before myself). I listen to a lot of different music, but a fair chunk falls under art pop and singer-songwriter (Bjork, Sufjan Stevens, Lana Del Rey good examples), but I also really enjoy rock (particularly prog and indie), metal (prog/power/heavy), as well as electronic (hard to summarise but Burial, Aphex Twin, Shpongle good examples). It's quite broad so maybe it's better if I talk about my experiences of >$100 IEMs:

• Yanyin Canon OG: My first pair I bought over $100, and they blew me away. I really struggled to fault them. My preferred tuning switch set-up for them was 110, emphasising bass and mids. Unfortunately, I lost them!
• Yanyin Canon II: Bought these to replace the original Canons, and I also love them. Preferred set-up is 10, although I do use 00 too to mix it up for more vocal presence. That said I do like EQing my IEMs and I do have an EQ profile for the 10 that brings up midbass (bringing it closer to Canon OG FR @ 110 tuning) that I prefer for quite a few songs, so it's possible I preferred the OG Canon's slightly thicker presentation - although sadly have never been able to compare the two sets directly.
• Aful Performer 5: I do like them, but they sound quite flat and a bit boring so I much prefer the Canons (which I often EQ the P5 to, bringing up midbass and mids)
• S12 Pros: I really don't like these very much. The vocals are far too recessed, and they sound empty and clinical in comparison to the above (I even vastly prefer my OG Starfields to them). I really only keep them for metal (which I enjoy a lot after an EQ)

I'm hoping that the Penon 10th AE will hopefully be like everything I like in my Canons, but better. I'm intrigued by their emphasis on mids, but without sacrificing warmth and bass. I was also considering the ISN Neo 5's but am thinking it might make more sense to go with an upgrade with better hardware over a sidegrade, particularly as I get a lot out of creating EQ profiles. A couple of questions about the Penon 10AE's (as well as if you think I should be considering or waiting for any other pairs):

• How do you think they compare to the Canons (either version)?
• How are they for metal music (particulaly prog/power/heavy/doom)?
• Do they ever have discounts on Aliexpress? If there's any way I can avoid paying full price I'd be very happy particularly as I've already lost one expensive pair!

Sorry for the long post, thanks all

 

[iscorpio71]

I'm stoked by the Quattro, it's up there with the 10AE but more intimate, I would say less 'technical", whatever that means. To me it decreases detail retrieval but in a good way. The sound stage is smaller but not to a level that compressed, really is more "musical" natural.

I've only heard them with the newer K9 AKM, which is very revealing and not forgiving with the audio recording, which the 10AE also is.

So the Quattro pairs wonderfully with Fiio's K9 AKM.

 

[drummguy26]

I'm stoked by the Quattro, it's up there with the 10AE but more intimate, I would say less 'technical", whatever that means. To me it decreases detail retrieval but in a good way. The sound stage is smaller but not to a level that compressed, really is more "musical" natural.

I've only heard them with the newer K9 AKM, which is very revealing and not forgiving with the audio recording, which the 10AE also is.

So the Quattro pairs wonderfully with Fiio's K9 AKM.

I havent heard the 10AE, but for me, the technicalities are one of the Quattro's biggest strengths. For an all DD set, the technicalities pretty much blow my mind. Throws down with the best of them IMO.

 

[Bosk]

I recently received two new additions to my collections I'm quite excited about - the Penon Tail dongle & Penon ASOS 8 wire cable. Many folks outside the hobby would be shocked to learn the cable costs almost twice that of the dongle, but I expect most of you are discerning enough to appreciate the improvements cables can deliver.

As someone who for a long time resisted the pull towards heavier 8 wire cables by insisting ergonomics always take precedence, last year I began re-evaluating my beliefs after commencing work on my massive IEM Cable Shootout. For the first time I was surrounded by a number of bigger, heavier cables and in a position to critically evaluate them against their smaller 4 wire brethren.

What I discovered beyond any shadow of a doubt is something women have been telling me for years - size matters. Adding 4 extra wires typically boosts a cable's dynamics, deepens bass, broadens the soundstage and can even improve resolution & imaging. A good 4 wire cable can provide subtle improvements to these areas, but a bigger 8 wire version can give you even MORE of each.

So having grown accustomed to the ergonomics of bigger audio pythons, I now approach cables from the perspective of thinking if they aren't substantial enough to provide a significant improvement then what's the point? Precisely why I'm glad this new ASOS cable takes that approach with 8 SPC wires that physically remind me of EA's Cadmus 8 Wire, and sonically I can already tell bass is the star of the show here. Having received a number of new cables recently I'm planning a comparison of the best of them which will include the ASOS.

The Tail is an entry-level dongle Penon have developed and it'll be fascinating to compare it with some of the more popular 'flagship' dongles out there in the coming weeks to see how steeply diminishing returns kick in. Dongles have come a long way in the last few years with surprisingly competent technical performance these days, so stay tuned for that shootout.

 

[PeacockObscura]

I recently received two new additions to my collections I'm quite excited about - the Penon Tail dongle & Penon ASOS 8 wire cable. Many folks outside the hobby would be shocked to learn the cable costs almost twice that of the dongle, but I expect most of you are discerning enough to appreciate the improvements cables can deliver.

As someone who for a long time resisted the pull towards heavier 8 wire cables by insisting ergonomics always take precedence, last year I began re-evaluating my beliefs after commencing work on my massive IEM Cable Shootout. For the first time I was surrounded by a number of bigger, heavier cables and in a position to critically evaluate them against their smaller 4 wire brethren.

What I discovered beyond any shadow of a doubt is something women have been telling me for years - size matters. Adding 4 extra wires typically boosts a cable's dynamics, deepens bass, broadens the soundstage and can even improve resolution & imaging. A good 4 wire cable can provide subtle improvements to these areas, but a bigger 8 wire version can give you even MORE of each.

So having grown accustomed to the ergonomics of bigger audio pythons, I now approach cables from the perspective of thinking if they aren't substantial enough to provide a significant improvement then what's the point? Precisely why I'm glad this new ASOS cable takes that approach with 8 SPC wires that physically remind me of EA's Cadmus 8 Wire, and sonically I can already tell bass is the star of the show here. Having received a number of new cables recently I'm planning a comparison of the best of them which will include the ASOS.

The Tail is an entry-level dongle Penon have developed and it'll be fascinating to compare it with some of the more popular 'flagship' dongles out there in the coming weeks to see how steeply diminishing returns kick in. Dongles have come a long way in the last few years with surprisingly competent technical performance these days, so stay tuned for that shootout.

That's a very nice looking cable does it handle as well as the Cadmus 8W? I Do wish Penon would use a locking mechanism on their changeable terminations the push and pray connections are an instant turn off for me.

 

[bschnell9]

I recently received two new additions to my collections I'm quite excited about - the Penon Tail dongle & Penon ASOS 8 wire cable. Many folks outside the hobby would be shocked to learn the cable costs almost twice that of the dongle, but I expect most of you are discerning enough to appreciate the improvements cables can deliver.

As someone who for a long time resisted the pull towards heavier 8 wire cables by insisting ergonomics always take precedence, last year I began re-evaluating my beliefs after commencing work on my massive IEM Cable Shootout. For the first time I was surrounded by a number of bigger, heavier cables and in a position to critically evaluate them against their smaller 4 wire brethren.

What I discovered beyond any shadow of a doubt is something women have been telling me for years - size matters. Adding 4 extra wires typically boosts a cable's dynamics, deepens bass, broadens the soundstage and can even improve resolution & imaging. A good 4 wire cable can provide subtle improvements to these areas, but a bigger 8 wire version can give you even MORE of each.

So having grown accustomed to the ergonomics of bigger audio pythons, I now approach cables from the perspective of thinking if they aren't substantial enough to provide a significant improvement then what's the point? Precisely why I'm glad this new ASOS cable takes that approach with 8 SPC wires that physically remind me of EA's Cadmus 8 Wire, and sonically I can already tell bass is the star of the show here. Having received a number of new cables recently I'm planning a comparison of the best of them which will include the ASOS.

The Tail is an entry-level dongle Penon have developed and it'll be fascinating to compare it with some of the more popular 'flagship' dongles out there in the coming weeks to see how steeply diminishing returns kick in. Dongles have come a long way in the last few years with surprisingly competent technical performance these days, so stay tuned for that shootout.

I tend to agree with the cable thing but why for example is the ISN S4 cable more expensive than S16 and the cheapest one the S8? Always curious about this

 

[Bosk]

That's a very nice looking cable does it handle as well as the Cadmus 8W? I Do wish Penon would use a locking mechanism on their changeable terminations the push and pray connections are an instant turn off for me.

I'm going off memory as I no longer have the Cadmus 8W here, but it feels like ASOS is slightly smaller gauge and appears to be machine braided (so the braids are tighter) whereas EA cables are hand-braided across the board I think so the braiding tends to be looser. ASOS may be slightly more comfortable but they're quite similar.

I tend to agree with the cable thing but why for example is the ISN S4 cable more expensive than S16 and the cheapest one the S8? Always curious about this

I can't answer why those particular cables vary in price, but many factors beyond wire count affect cable pricing. The purity of the metals used in the conductors, geometry of the conductors, quality of the connectors, type of insulation and even braiding or sheathing used... it could be any number of things.

Similarly performance isn't solely dictated by wire count, but in my experience it's much easier for beefy 8 wire cables to deliver higher magnitudes of performance improvements. The most impressive flagship cables I've heard have all been very thick, very heavy, and very expensive.

Speaking of impressive....

That's a photo from a recent Head-Fi meetup where we were able to demo a very special Nightjar Sovereign Symphony cable - the regular version they sell is 2 wire, and the upgraded flagship cable Nightjar charges thousands of dollars for is 4 wire. This was a prototype 8 wire version.

You can see it pictured alongside my Hakugei flagship Sky Bolt 8 wire cable, which at 60 grams is the biggest, heaviest cable I own. The Sovereign absolute dwarfs it, in fact it's so massive they had to custom 3D-print 2pin connectors and a 4.4mm plug housing to fit those gargantuan wires!

It made Brise's Yatono 8 Wire Ultimate feel positively light by comparison, so it goes without saying ergonomics were.... "interesting" to say the least. However with MEST MKIII it performed well above any other cable I've heard. The soundstage was absolutely enormous - I mean open back headphones level of enormous, with sounds coming from all around me. The soundstage's height in particular was absolutely mindblowing, going far beyond what I imagined IEMs could ever deliver.

I'm told Nightjar are willing to sell these cables as custom orders... just don't ask the price because they make PWA's Orpheus seem cheap. However what I really took out of the experience is that the level of cable scaling that's possible (brutally expensive, but possible) is far beyond what most people think. Of course the other big tradeoffs are weight & ergonomics, and I'm not sure a cable like this would be terribly practical in anything but stationary listening situations where most of the weight is supported by a desk or a bed. It's impossible to forget that incredible sound once you hear it though, so I'm really hoping we see more "crazy" cables like this in future.

 

[emdeevee]

I'm going off memory as I no longer have the Cadmus 8W here, but it feels like ASOS is slightly smaller gauge and appears to be machine braided (so the braids are tighter) whereas EA cables are hand-braided across the board I think so the braiding tends to be looser. ASOS may be slightly more comfortable but they're quite similar.



I can't answer why those particular cables vary in price, but many factors beyond wire count affect cable pricing. The purity of the metals used in the conductors, geometry of the conductors, quality of the connectors, type of insulation and even braiding or sheathing used... it could be any number of things.

Similarly performance isn't solely dictated by wire count, but in my experience it's much easier for beefy 8 wire cables to deliver higher magnitudes of performance improvements. The most impressive flagship cables I've heard have all been very thick, very heavy, and very expensive.

Speaking of impressive....




That's a photo from a recent Head-Fi meetup where we were able to demo a very special Nightjar Sovereign Symphony cable - the regular version they sell is 2 wire, and the upgraded flagship cable Nightjar charges thousands of dollars for is 4 wire. This was a prototype 8 wire version.

You can see it pictured alongside my Hakugei flagship Sky Bolt 8 wire cable, which at 60 grams is the biggest, heaviest cable I own. The Sovereign absolute dwarfs it, in fact it's so massive they had to custom 3D-print 2pin connectors and a 4.4mm plug housing to fit those gargantuan wires!

It made Brise's Yatono 8 Wire Ultimate feel positively light by comparison, so it goes without saying ergonomics were.... "interesting" to say the least. However with MEST MKIII it performed well above any other cable I've heard. The soundstage was absolutely enormous - I mean open back headphones level of enormous, with sounds coming from all around me. The soundstage's height in particular was absolutely mindblowing, going far beyond what I imagined IEMs could ever deliver.

I'm told Nightjar are willing to sell these cables as custom orders... just don't ask the price because they make PWA's Orpheus seem cheap. However what I really took out of the experience is that the level of cable scaling that's possible (brutally expensive, but possible) is far beyond what most people think. Of course the other big tradeoffs are weight & ergonomics, and I'm not sure a cable like this would be terribly practical in anything but stationary listening situations where most of the weight is supported by a desk or a bed. It's impossible to forget that incredible sound once you hear it though, so I'm really hoping we see more "crazy" cables like this in future.

I tried that prototype with Storm at CanJam Socal, and just wow....like $13k wow! But still a huge wow, nonetheless!

 

[drummguy26]

So I have recently reacquired my Fan 2's after having sold them to a buddy of mine awhile back. When I popped them back in, to be honest I was a little underwhelmed and understood why I sold them in the first place. Initially a solid set, it didn't have the sub bass rumble and treble extension that I was hoping it would have. I know it's not what it's sound signature was designed for, but I couldn't help but wonder what this set was capable of with it's driver configuration for my musical preferences.

I did all kinds of cable rolling and tip rolling with varied results but realizing that there's a ton of hidden potential in those 2 6mm DD's. I eventually settled on a pure silver cable and spring tips but then I got curious... What if I swapped out the nozzle filter grill? I always thought the stock grilles seemed a little too restraining for sound to pass through. So I swapped them out for these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BJMBSVR?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_JY4WT2091HTXQNR0KVB7&language=en-US

After I did that, I immediately noticed more prominent bass! Then I added an EQ I created including more sub bass and about 4dB high shelf after 10k and holy !@$&! These things were transformed! I didn't realize how capable this set was until I made these changes. It's a night and day difference and the Fan 2 is now my new favorite! Still love the Quattro's, but man.... I didn't expect these to sound this good! Seriously guys, the Fan 2 is no joke. The nozzle filter swap might not be necessary if adding the EQ, but I happened to do it prior to EQ'ing and the sound was so good I didn't want to revert back to stock configuration to test it out so I just kept it the way I had it.

If anyone's interested in the EQ, just let me know and I'll post it. It's a 20 band PEQ based on the Monarch MK3 graph. Night and day transformation...

 

[dharmasteve]

So I have recently reacquired my Fan 2's after having sold them to a buddy of mine awhile back. When I popped them back in, to be honest I was a little underwhelmed and understood why I sold them in the first place. Initially a solid set, it didn't have the sub bass rumble and treble extension that I was hoping it would have. I know it's not what it's sound signature was designed for, but I couldn't help but wonder what this set was capable of with it's driver configuration for my musical preferences.

I did all kinds of cable rolling and tip rolling with varied results but realizing that there's a ton of hidden potential in those 2 6mm DD's. I eventually settled on a pure silver cable and spring tips but then I got curious... What if I swapped out the nozzle filter grill? I always thought the stock grilles seemed a little too restraining for sound to pass through. So I swapped them out for these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BJMBSVR?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_JY4WT2091HTXQNR0KVB7&language=en-US

After I did that, I immediately noticed more prominent bass! Then I added an EQ I created including more sub bass and about 4dB high shelf after 10k and holy !@$&! These things were transformed! I didn't realize how capable this set was until I made these changes. It's a night and day difference and the Fan 2 is now my new favorite! Still love the Quattro's, but man.... I didn't expect these to sound this good! Seriously guys, the Fan 2 is no joke. The nozzle filter swap might not be necessary if adding the EQ, but I happened to do it prior to EQ'ing and the sound was so good I didn't want to revert back to stock configuration to test it out so I just kept it the way I had it.

If anyone's interested in the EQ, just let me know and I'll post it. It's a 20 band PEQ based on the Monarch MK3 graph. Night and day transformation...

Seems all good. They are on UK Amazon where I live. What size ones?

 

[drummguy26]

Seems all good. They are on UK Amazon where I live. What size ones?

I wanna say its 4.5mm. Definitely not 5mm. Try 4.5mm first and if thats too small, then its 4.8mm. But Im pretty sure its 4.5. It should be a perfect fit.

It should look like this: