bschnell9
100+ Head-Fier
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The PENON official thread
- Thread starter Dsnuts
- Start date
ToneDeafMonk
Previously known as TheDeafMonk
But that would be anti poser!
bschnell9
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2011
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- 837
Not 100% sure what that means haha but I do think the whole signature thing is waaaaay overblown. When I see Moose’s post has ended I put a little more gas into the scrolling finger and spend another .1 second of my life to get to next post
RunWithOne
Head-Fier
We should keep the original statement in mind: materials like silver improve or alter the sound of USB audio. From a scientific perspective, this is likely highly controversial. I can confirm this for analog audio signals. DACs don't have error correction like we see in CD players. They employ different mechanisms to minimize issues.
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Great, thorough review! I will disagree on the warmth of source as my DAPs are, I think on the warm side, and Quattro sounds great from them. Will try on DC Elite soon and see how that differs.Quattro is not an IEM built for everyone. I spent a few hours with these iems and I can understand why they can be hit or miss.
It has a very warm signature. The bass is very, very thick, and it's all over the frequency spectrum, dominating the way the mids and treble sound on these. This is not a hard-hitting bass with full subbass rumbles but a thick, enveloping bass where bass is spread everywhere. It's like everything sounds within a layer of bass. Mids are sweet, and since the bass is all over the mids, vocals are quite thick too because of the bass (bleed). I do not find the treble to be airy or carry a lot of energy, but I never had any issues with the treble. I can live with this amount. The timbre and tonality of these iems are something that few can very easily connect to and find very musical.
If you want an iem to throw a lot of precise technicalities and details, this is not the iem for sure. I have seen a lot of people say it is technically very good for an all-DD IEM, but I tend to disagree (just a little). It surely does a lot of good things, but somehow I feel it falls behind many others because of the way it's tuned. There are a lot of details getting eclisped under the bass. I think it's totally fine if it is not technically very sound. I like my iems to be either very technical or to a level where I am not bothered about these technicalities at all. If you love this signature, you may surely enjoy it and call it a winner.
Source:
With a warm source, the Quattro can be a disaster. It pairs well with a bright source. Also, it is a sucker and needs a lot of power. With the Earmen Angel, it sounds better than with the LPGT. Angel has an ESS Sabre ES9038Q2M dac chip and is quite powerful too. With a good, powerful source, the sound is more open too.
Mini Trifecta??
As soon as I put these on, they reminded me of the Campfire Audio Trifecta. For me, Quattro is a mini-trifecta. I am not sure if Penon took some inspiration from the Trifecta's signature, but these two iems are quite similar in how they sound. And no wonder they both have a very different audience and fan following. Take everything a few levels up—soundstage, detailing, openness—you have the Trifecta with you. Trifecta has a similar bass all over, but it's more open and more spherical, if you know what I mean. Trifecta has troublesome upper mids, which will kind of disturb or annoy you very often if you are sensitive to the frequency. Quattro, however, has just a little hint of a similar thing but does not annoy at all. I remember I liked the Trifecta when I tried them on three different occasions but could never gain the courage to buy them, thinking, What if someday I wake up and find that it's totally disastrous? But I can surely own a Quattro and get some of the Trifecta's feel.
Lastly, I can only say it is really good of Penon to release something like Quattro. I think this is quite a positive release. This only means they can tune their iems very differently, unlike a few brands who would just stick with a similar tuning and change a thing or two here and there.
One more thing: Please demo these iems before you buy. There is a high chance that you will fall in love or totally regret your purchase.
wolfstar76
Headphoneus Supremus
I actually never thought the way you do, maybe I need to go back to listen to Quattro again to understand your perspective. However, before that, I would say (I never heard of Trifecta before) that for multiple DD IEMs, Quattro is totally different: Trifecta has 3 DD that cover the entire frequency while Quattro has 4 DD that do not overlap (correct me if I am wrong).Quattro is not an IEM built for everyone. I spent a few hours with these iems and I can understand why they can be hit or miss.
It has a very warm signature. The bass is very, very thick, and it's all over the frequency spectrum, dominating the way the mids and treble sound on these. This is not a hard-hitting bass with full subbass rumbles but a thick, enveloping bass where bass is spread everywhere. It's like everything sounds within a layer of bass. Mids are sweet, and since the bass is all over the mids, vocals are quite thick too because of the bass (bleed). I do not find the treble to be airy or carry a lot of energy, but I never had any issues with the treble. I can live with this amount. The timbre and tonality of these iems are something that few can very easily connect to and find very musical.
If you want an iem to throw a lot of precise technicalities and details, this is not the iem for sure. I have seen a lot of people say it is technically very good for an all-DD IEM, but I tend to disagree (just a little). It surely does a lot of good things, but somehow I feel it falls behind many others because of the way it's tuned. There are a lot of details getting eclisped under the bass. I think it's totally fine if it is not technically very sound. I like my iems to be either very technical or to a level where I am not bothered about these technicalities at all. If you love this signature, you may surely enjoy it and call it a winner.
Source:
With a warm source, the Quattro can be a disaster. It pairs well with a bright source. Also, it is a sucker and needs a lot of power. With the Earmen Angel, it sounds better than with the LPGT. Angel has an ESS Sabre ES9038Q2M dac chip and is quite powerful too. With a good, powerful source, the sound is more open too.
Mini Trifecta??
As soon as I put these on, they reminded me of the Campfire Audio Trifecta. For me, Quattro is a mini-trifecta. I am not sure if Penon took some inspiration from the Trifecta's signature, but these two iems are quite similar in how they sound. And no wonder they both have a very different audience and fan following. Take everything a few levels up—soundstage, detailing, openness—you have the Trifecta with you. Trifecta has a similar bass all over, but it's more open and more spherical, if you know what I mean. Trifecta has troublesome upper mids, which will kind of disturb or annoy you very often if you are sensitive to the frequency. Quattro, however, has just a little hint of a similar thing but does not annoy at all. I remember I liked the Trifecta when I tried them on three different occasions but could never gain the courage to buy them, thinking, What if someday I wake up and find that it's totally disastrous? But I can surely own a Quattro and get some of the Trifecta's feel.
Lastly, I can only say it is really good of Penon to release something like Quattro. I think this is quite a positive release. This only means they can tune their iems very differently, unlike a few brands who would just stick with a similar tuning and change a thing or two here and there.
One more thing: Please demo these iems before you buy. There is a high chance that you will fall in love or totally regret your purchase.
Regarding the bleeding bass, I am not so sure I need to go back and listen again, but warm is not the word I would use. I found the bass is one of the weakness of Quattro, for example, take the Big Boi Kill Jill, with Quattro, you will be surprised that this is even been used to test bass by many people. If you switch to other IEM, you will noticed the missing part.
Another thing is again I hesitate to say all the time since I only read a lot but never heard the HD6xx, but I am just want to ask if anyone heard of HD6xx before, does Quattro share some similarity in toning with HD6xx?
I am now listening to to Quattro with the music suggested in the cooler thread:
I kinda understand the bass bleeding perspective, interesting. BTW, I just revisited the Penon website and I was wrong in my statement of driver configuration. With 3 way crossover design, there are dual DD covers bass and they are horizontally opposed, which is not the same but kinda similar to the triangle opposed 3 DD in Trifecta.
Finally, I just also notice on the Penon website: "Needs to burn-in 200hrs". I don't think I have reached that, but I noticed that the sound of my Quattro is significantly changed, for the better
. Now I revisited Big Boi Kill Jill, I have to retract my previous statement regarding Quattro, bass is no longer lacking right now. Given my own experience, I have to say this: burn-in is not only necessary, but mandatory, especially for bass performance. Talking about the thickness of the vocal, check this classic out:
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Redcarmoose
Headphoneus Supremus
I will never forget the time I was contemplating to buy a close to $4000 dollar IEM and I PMed a reviewer who had just reviewed them. He answered only one single question of mine, so yes he did get back to me……….but it was all of a sentence or two of help? He refused to answer any more questions. I never forgot that reviewer and his response. A $4000.00 possible purchase? I purchased the IER-Z1R instead and I’m glad I did.
So when I get PMs I always try to help the person who wrote me.
Here is a question I got about possible cables additives for the OKAVANGO IEM.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/hisenior-okavango.26620/reviews#review-31915
He asked about the White Whale Cable, the SPACE cable, the included cable, the Penon ASOS cable, the Penon Mix cable and the ISN G4 cable.
This is with the switches in the both-up position.
The Mix:
The Mix was also (photographed) and tried with the Penon Rhodium plated plug. Really with the pure silver wire of the Mix, mixed with other pure copper wires the Rhodium would service other combos other than the OKAVANGO IEM and Mix. Meaning the regular gold platted plug offered a slight warmth that was less harsh in the treble region. Though surprisingly the Mix was a great match for the OKAVANGO making the IEM wide in stage and itemized in performance. I still can’t get over how much the regular plug (included set-up) was really the way to go. Also I had doubts about the Mix possibly being too bright with the OKAVANGO, but no any fears were put to rest. Probably the value here was the separation (so the cable sounds like it looks) where there was a separated distance between sound elements here.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/the-penon-rhodium-plated-modular-plug.26746/reviews#review-31868
The SPACE:
Coming off with full stage force the SPACE really leaves much of the tonality of the OKAVANGO alone, seemingly bigger and wider in comparison to the included cable?
The White Whale:
Here this is pushed as the HiSenior upgrade cable for many of their products in including the OKAVANGO. While not quite as airy as the SPACE the physical difference here is this is the one cable here today that comes with ear-hooks, though I’m pretty sure you can order any cable with ear-hooks from Penon/ISN? Still I couldn’t get over how simply pure the White Whale was, adding a smidge of stage as well as lower midrange thickness. Never was the OKAVANGO showing and stark treble of intensity. Due to this stature the bass was also enhanced, except it didn’t have the crisp fireworks of the Mix, nor the tonal weight in the midrange or treble…………or simply the stage positioning of the ISN G4?
The ISN G4:
Come-on……this is pretty much a staple here at Redcarmoose Labs. Yet when I did my OKAVANGO review I used different ear-tips. Yet today with the tips shown in the photograph the G4 is doing its standard magic. Not as boisterous in the treble as the Mix, yet treble and midrange enhancements over the included cable, and a stage difference. Yet the way I describe the G4 is the Graphene sound. Where yes, the bass is slightly diminished yet still hearable? The tone down but still accentuated midrange and treble hold a slightly thicker stance and cohesive qualities. I mean this is what Graphene does most of the time. I may not be finding the exact match-up for this member, yet I’m just explaining what I hear. Nothing wrong with getting the G4 and calling it a day. Just remember it will be slightly midrange and treble pushed and itemized, where the White Whale is warmer down low (below the belt) and gives of slightly more bass action, yet this style of bass it completely good, it is just not the most the OKAVANGO does in the bass department. Still while ever so slightly diminished the bass sitting back it clear and round and hold texture, just not as forward as some cables.
The Penon ASOS:
So this is one I’m really excited to try!
$169.90
https://penonaudio.com/Penon-ASOS.html
Yes it is the most expensive cable today.
But what it did was probably the very best too? Where here was the stage (maybe the stage of the SPACE) except there was more transparency and more clarity? Even a guided physicality over the Mix, in that it was a hair smoother? Except that smoothness was directly the response of simply more weight to the instruments and vocals? It was best today, and the bass while clear was more of a spectrum of tones…………….yep, more detail to hear the bass in its very own stage opening up and showing a blackness of background which simply let the details flow? The bass was more separated and detailed in the end? Vocals were both smooth and held a wonderful forwardness that wasn't really forwardness but only clarity maybe?
So when I get PMs I always try to help the person who wrote me.
Here is a question I got about possible cables additives for the OKAVANGO IEM.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/hisenior-okavango.26620/reviews#review-31915
He asked about the White Whale Cable, the SPACE cable, the included cable, the Penon ASOS cable, the Penon Mix cable and the ISN G4 cable.
This is with the switches in the both-up position.
The Mix:
The Mix was also (photographed) and tried with the Penon Rhodium plated plug. Really with the pure silver wire of the Mix, mixed with other pure copper wires the Rhodium would service other combos other than the OKAVANGO IEM and Mix. Meaning the regular gold platted plug offered a slight warmth that was less harsh in the treble region. Though surprisingly the Mix was a great match for the OKAVANGO making the IEM wide in stage and itemized in performance. I still can’t get over how much the regular plug (included set-up) was really the way to go. Also I had doubts about the Mix possibly being too bright with the OKAVANGO, but no any fears were put to rest. Probably the value here was the separation (so the cable sounds like it looks) where there was a separated distance between sound elements here.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/the-penon-rhodium-plated-modular-plug.26746/reviews#review-31868
The SPACE:
Coming off with full stage force the SPACE really leaves much of the tonality of the OKAVANGO alone, seemingly bigger and wider in comparison to the included cable?
The White Whale:
Here this is pushed as the HiSenior upgrade cable for many of their products in including the OKAVANGO. While not quite as airy as the SPACE the physical difference here is this is the one cable here today that comes with ear-hooks, though I’m pretty sure you can order any cable with ear-hooks from Penon/ISN? Still I couldn’t get over how simply pure the White Whale was, adding a smidge of stage as well as lower midrange thickness. Never was the OKAVANGO showing and stark treble of intensity. Due to this stature the bass was also enhanced, except it didn’t have the crisp fireworks of the Mix, nor the tonal weight in the midrange or treble…………or simply the stage positioning of the ISN G4?
The ISN G4:
Come-on……this is pretty much a staple here at Redcarmoose Labs. Yet when I did my OKAVANGO review I used different ear-tips. Yet today with the tips shown in the photograph the G4 is doing its standard magic. Not as boisterous in the treble as the Mix, yet treble and midrange enhancements over the included cable, and a stage difference. Yet the way I describe the G4 is the Graphene sound. Where yes, the bass is slightly diminished yet still hearable? The tone down but still accentuated midrange and treble hold a slightly thicker stance and cohesive qualities. I mean this is what Graphene does most of the time. I may not be finding the exact match-up for this member, yet I’m just explaining what I hear. Nothing wrong with getting the G4 and calling it a day. Just remember it will be slightly midrange and treble pushed and itemized, where the White Whale is warmer down low (below the belt) and gives of slightly more bass action, yet this style of bass it completely good, it is just not the most the OKAVANGO does in the bass department. Still while ever so slightly diminished the bass sitting back it clear and round and hold texture, just not as forward as some cables.
The Penon ASOS:
So this is one I’m really excited to try!
$169.90
https://penonaudio.com/Penon-ASOS.html
Yes it is the most expensive cable today.
But what it did was probably the very best too? Where here was the stage (maybe the stage of the SPACE) except there was more transparency and more clarity? Even a guided physicality over the Mix, in that it was a hair smoother? Except that smoothness was directly the response of simply more weight to the instruments and vocals? It was best today, and the bass while clear was more of a spectrum of tones…………….yep, more detail to hear the bass in its very own stage opening up and showing a blackness of background which simply let the details flow? The bass was more separated and detailed in the end? Vocals were both smooth and held a wonderful forwardness that wasn't really forwardness but only clarity maybe?
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jsmiller58
Headphoneus Supremus
I am glad to see that this forum is warming up to balanced conversations about the Quattro. It does no good to ignore where a product works and where it does not. People coming to this thread deserve information, and not incantations as though this was a temple…
thaslaya
500+ Head-Fier
Dear audiophile gods, please grant unto me this iem that I may listen to thine music and rejoice. Amen.
thaslaya
500+ Head-Fier
Hey the gods require sacrifices of $$$ so keep buying!
that was me listening to the Quattro yesterday and seeing the preview of the upcoming Voltage tri-brid
The Quattro certainly wasn't a love at first listen for me, my initial reaction was "hmmm, that's interesting." it's taking some time for me to wrap my head around the tuning and tip roll but I'm enjoying it more as I get accustomed. I was listening to some dub techno, Fabric 69: Sandwell District, and the stage depth was really impressive. I hate to use such ambiguous jargon but it was very "holographic" lol, unlike anything I've tried around the price range.
I'm relieved that it doesn't make the Serial redundant, but at the same time getting a little money back from parting with one of them isn't a bad thing.
nihalsharma
500+ Head-Fier
One thing I can surely tell about Quattro is that you HAVE to spend sufficient time (a few days) to decide whether they are aligned with your preferences.
On a certain day, with the right set of songs, they can sound so good and timbre-perfect that you will go gaga about them. On a different day, you are tired and not in the zone, and you choose the wrong song, and god, they would just sound awful—not to be confused with whether they are good or bad-sounding.
I am sure Quattro is a very good addition to anyone's collection. If you are the person who does not swear by technicalities on an IEM, Quattro is an easy recommendation. But, it's for sure, not everyone's cup of tea. Some may outright reject them the moment they put it in, but you can't really blame them.
On a certain day, with the right set of songs, they can sound so good and timbre-perfect that you will go gaga about them. On a different day, you are tired and not in the zone, and you choose the wrong song, and god, they would just sound awful—not to be confused with whether they are good or bad-sounding.
I am sure Quattro is a very good addition to anyone's collection. If you are the person who does not swear by technicalities on an IEM, Quattro is an easy recommendation. But, it's for sure, not everyone's cup of tea. Some may outright reject them the moment they put it in, but you can't really blame them.
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Dsnuts
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2011
- Posts
- 15,610
- Likes
- 32,077
I know this is the Penon site but I had to post about these here as well cus there is some relations here for this brand with Penon. Penon is going to launch an IEM brand they helped develop and market in the Tansio Mirai brand They are pretty much the exclusive dealers when it comes to Tansio Mirai IEMS sold for the western audiences on their web site. If you dont know about Tansio Mirai. They have been around almost the same amount of time as Penon has. And just like Penons excellent 10th anniversary IEM. Tansio Mirai will also introduce their version of the 10th anniversary IEM simply called the TSMR-X.
TSMR X
2 DD+ 4 BA + 1 custom film retarding driver Hybrid IEM
Driver configuration
One side with 7 drivers, both sides total 14 drivers
Low frequency: 2 x 8mm strong magnet dynamic, hollow coaxial structure, Carbon mixed diaphragm
Mid frequency: 2 x Knowles balanced armature
High frequency: 2 x Sonion balanced armature
Full frequency effect: 1 x custom film retarding driver (this driver is detachable design, frequent disassembly is not recommended)
Frequency response: 5-30kHz
Impedance: 10Ω
Sensitivity: 103dB
Low frequency control switch settings
Default standard tuning mode is 020, recommended to use this mode as a reference.
20 x frequency division elements on both sides make the accurate and scientific tuning.
Bass enhancement (100 Mode), control factor: 0.51
Standard tuning (020 Mode), control factor: 1.0
Low frequency attenuation (003 Mode), control factor: 1.47
*The higher the control factor, the lower the low frequency energy.
*All switches are turned off to NO BASS mode.
*0 indicates that the switch is closed downward, and 1/2/3 indicates that the switch is opened upward.
As per the sound. This was my take on them on the 2nd day of burn in and listen.
Day 2 of the TSMR X.
These got an overnight workout and some quality desktop time using my Fiio K9 Pro ESS.
You know who these will appeal to? CA Andromeda fans and IER-Z1R, UM fans. I was trying to put my finger on exactly what level of sonics we are dealing with on these.
If these are going a bit under $400 range for price. These are gonna rock the boat for up to 1K level plus IEMs. Its not just the technical chops of these things but its got an airy quality to the sound that will make you pay attention to whatever you're listening to.
I messed around with the tuning switches a bit just now and this will go from absolute flat neutral sounding with all switches down, quite boring if you ask me to a full on almost basshead level of bass with a flick of some switches. TSMR IEMs of past always had tuning switches but I can't recall one like this where the switch makes an obvious difference.
It comes with the mid switch in the forward position which is its reference balanced sound so it comes this way. But then when you flick the 1 switch or bass switch. BOOM. Its definitely adding about 3-4dbs of extra bass end in the mix. Surprisingly it works amazingly well. It seems Tansio Mirai has learned a thing or two about just how much is required to make the switch actually function the way it should be and to fully utilize the dual 8mm carbon based dynamics for bass.
The bass switch makes more of a difference than something like the Yanyin Canon or anything else I have heard that is minus one Penon Turbo where the switch adds a Ludacris amount of bass. To be honest I never see a real need for the full bass on the Turbo as it is just a bit too much but these. The TSMR X is actually listenable bass boost. It takes on a very nicely done L shaped tuning with the bass switch. They take on an entirely different sound profile with this switch and not just a mild boost like they have done in the past. To say this is the best bass boosted sound I have heard from Tansio Mirai is an understatement and they had some doozies.
I can see the advancement of their work from the Sands and the Lands to these. That reference tuning however is just fantabulous. If these are selling for $400 and lower. I simply can't imagine IEMs to sound much better at that price point. Its mids are just liquid with an atmospheric dimensional quality to the sound, fully 3D to its make up. Its treble is sparkly and shimmery--Reminds me a bit of the old OG Andromeda type of sparkle. But then it has this dual 8mm carbon based bass performance that is about as good as it gets at this price point, and it's got legit variability with the switch.. Hmmm a new contender? Folks that love them some Yanyin Canons, Tansio just made their version and it is a much more refined Canon. These things are not just good. They are crazy good. They sound better and better every time I put them in my ears. We will see how much these will go for but for now this is one IEM to keep a watch out for. I do believe that Tansio Mirai has just made a statement piece.
Bass
So the bass end of the TSMR-X is fantastic. It is by far Tansio Mirais best bass implimentations I have heard, even over the Sands and the Lands. It is 2 8mm carbon based dynamics stacked on top of each other coaxially. If you guys have ever owned an IEM that is designed this way for the bass end. Lets just say it is not lacking in both quality and quantity, which is variable. You can get big bass from a flick of the switch and the quality of the bass end don't suffer.
I do believe there is some bass bleed on the full bass on mode for some fun aspect to its tuning but again that is an option most IEMs don't give you.. You want a full bored bass? one switch and you get it. One of the absolute best implimentations of bass boost with a switch I can recall next to the Penon Turbos. Except this time instead of a dual Sonion Acupass Bass BAs. You get two very capable carbon based dynamics for better agility, impact and rumble.
I would have never in a thousand years would have guessed Tansio Mirai of all people will be putting out a very capable dynamic bass based IEM. ( These guys are traditionally all about BA sets) But then these are much more than just how good the bass is. All of it is exceptional. The mids are more neutral in emphasis but whats got me in a tizzy is just how ambient the entire sound is. It is shockingly airy to the likes of much higher end IEMs. Might have something to do with that newer vent driver they are using.
I am hopelessly addicted to it. Its included cable enhances technicalities with a slight skew for treble emphasis. Tried the Simgot LC7 cable and it gives the overall sound a bit more warmth and skews the sound for more mids an bass. This iem has been for me anyways one of the biggest surprises for me in years.
In comparison to their Lands and Sands IEMs
YES. Mids are just a dimensional as the Lands but slight bit more forward and more airy in comparison. Does not have the big upper mid and treble shelf of both the Lands and or the Sands. The Sands has a bit too much in the treble department that can cause fatigue if you dont have the right cable and source to use them on.
Sands in the end is more v shaped in comparison and a bit too technical for its own good. Lacks some musicality. I think they learned a thing or two vs these but more so they have been tuing for higher end stuff like the RGBs and their recent Halos. And I am certain the TSMR-X has a bunch of trickle down aspects of both higher end IEMs as well, especailly in the balancing department. The TSMR-X can easily be sold for double and folks would praise them up n down for how good they sound. I own IEMs that cost more than double to these that these sound better to my ears, MEST being one of them.
For fans of the IER-Z1R. Yes I can even say you folks might enjoy these quite a bit. They are not exactly what the Z1Rs are but the TSMR-X is much easier to drive to get a full bored sound out of. Bass fans will absolutely love these.. Mids fans will absolutely love these.. Treble fans will absolutely love these. What happens when you get all 3 aspects of the sound and your a fan of all 3? A must buy.
The reason why I know so much about Tansio Mirai is because I own and heard just about all of them including their flagships. Anyone ask me which Tansio Mirai to look into regardless of cost.
Thats a very simple answer right now.
TSMR X
2 DD+ 4 BA + 1 custom film retarding driver Hybrid IEM
Driver configuration
One side with 7 drivers, both sides total 14 drivers
Low frequency: 2 x 8mm strong magnet dynamic, hollow coaxial structure, Carbon mixed diaphragm
Mid frequency: 2 x Knowles balanced armature
High frequency: 2 x Sonion balanced armature
Full frequency effect: 1 x custom film retarding driver (this driver is detachable design, frequent disassembly is not recommended)
Frequency response: 5-30kHz
Impedance: 10Ω
Sensitivity: 103dB
Low frequency control switch settings
Default standard tuning mode is 020, recommended to use this mode as a reference.
20 x frequency division elements on both sides make the accurate and scientific tuning.
Bass enhancement (100 Mode), control factor: 0.51
Standard tuning (020 Mode), control factor: 1.0
Low frequency attenuation (003 Mode), control factor: 1.47
*The higher the control factor, the lower the low frequency energy.
*All switches are turned off to NO BASS mode.
*0 indicates that the switch is closed downward, and 1/2/3 indicates that the switch is opened upward.
As per the sound. This was my take on them on the 2nd day of burn in and listen.
Day 2 of the TSMR X.
These got an overnight workout and some quality desktop time using my Fiio K9 Pro ESS.
You know who these will appeal to? CA Andromeda fans and IER-Z1R, UM fans. I was trying to put my finger on exactly what level of sonics we are dealing with on these.
If these are going a bit under $400 range for price. These are gonna rock the boat for up to 1K level plus IEMs. Its not just the technical chops of these things but its got an airy quality to the sound that will make you pay attention to whatever you're listening to.
I messed around with the tuning switches a bit just now and this will go from absolute flat neutral sounding with all switches down, quite boring if you ask me to a full on almost basshead level of bass with a flick of some switches. TSMR IEMs of past always had tuning switches but I can't recall one like this where the switch makes an obvious difference.
It comes with the mid switch in the forward position which is its reference balanced sound so it comes this way. But then when you flick the 1 switch or bass switch. BOOM. Its definitely adding about 3-4dbs of extra bass end in the mix. Surprisingly it works amazingly well. It seems Tansio Mirai has learned a thing or two about just how much is required to make the switch actually function the way it should be and to fully utilize the dual 8mm carbon based dynamics for bass.
The bass switch makes more of a difference than something like the Yanyin Canon or anything else I have heard that is minus one Penon Turbo where the switch adds a Ludacris amount of bass. To be honest I never see a real need for the full bass on the Turbo as it is just a bit too much but these. The TSMR X is actually listenable bass boost. It takes on a very nicely done L shaped tuning with the bass switch. They take on an entirely different sound profile with this switch and not just a mild boost like they have done in the past. To say this is the best bass boosted sound I have heard from Tansio Mirai is an understatement and they had some doozies.
I can see the advancement of their work from the Sands and the Lands to these. That reference tuning however is just fantabulous. If these are selling for $400 and lower. I simply can't imagine IEMs to sound much better at that price point. Its mids are just liquid with an atmospheric dimensional quality to the sound, fully 3D to its make up. Its treble is sparkly and shimmery--Reminds me a bit of the old OG Andromeda type of sparkle. But then it has this dual 8mm carbon based bass performance that is about as good as it gets at this price point, and it's got legit variability with the switch.. Hmmm a new contender? Folks that love them some Yanyin Canons, Tansio just made their version and it is a much more refined Canon. These things are not just good. They are crazy good. They sound better and better every time I put them in my ears. We will see how much these will go for but for now this is one IEM to keep a watch out for. I do believe that Tansio Mirai has just made a statement piece.
Bass
So the bass end of the TSMR-X is fantastic. It is by far Tansio Mirais best bass implimentations I have heard, even over the Sands and the Lands. It is 2 8mm carbon based dynamics stacked on top of each other coaxially. If you guys have ever owned an IEM that is designed this way for the bass end. Lets just say it is not lacking in both quality and quantity, which is variable. You can get big bass from a flick of the switch and the quality of the bass end don't suffer.
I do believe there is some bass bleed on the full bass on mode for some fun aspect to its tuning but again that is an option most IEMs don't give you.. You want a full bored bass? one switch and you get it. One of the absolute best implimentations of bass boost with a switch I can recall next to the Penon Turbos. Except this time instead of a dual Sonion Acupass Bass BAs. You get two very capable carbon based dynamics for better agility, impact and rumble.
I would have never in a thousand years would have guessed Tansio Mirai of all people will be putting out a very capable dynamic bass based IEM. ( These guys are traditionally all about BA sets) But then these are much more than just how good the bass is. All of it is exceptional. The mids are more neutral in emphasis but whats got me in a tizzy is just how ambient the entire sound is. It is shockingly airy to the likes of much higher end IEMs. Might have something to do with that newer vent driver they are using.
I am hopelessly addicted to it. Its included cable enhances technicalities with a slight skew for treble emphasis. Tried the Simgot LC7 cable and it gives the overall sound a bit more warmth and skews the sound for more mids an bass. This iem has been for me anyways one of the biggest surprises for me in years.
In comparison to their Lands and Sands IEMs
YES. Mids are just a dimensional as the Lands but slight bit more forward and more airy in comparison. Does not have the big upper mid and treble shelf of both the Lands and or the Sands. The Sands has a bit too much in the treble department that can cause fatigue if you dont have the right cable and source to use them on.
Sands in the end is more v shaped in comparison and a bit too technical for its own good. Lacks some musicality. I think they learned a thing or two vs these but more so they have been tuing for higher end stuff like the RGBs and their recent Halos. And I am certain the TSMR-X has a bunch of trickle down aspects of both higher end IEMs as well, especailly in the balancing department. The TSMR-X can easily be sold for double and folks would praise them up n down for how good they sound. I own IEMs that cost more than double to these that these sound better to my ears, MEST being one of them.
For fans of the IER-Z1R. Yes I can even say you folks might enjoy these quite a bit. They are not exactly what the Z1Rs are but the TSMR-X is much easier to drive to get a full bored sound out of. Bass fans will absolutely love these.. Mids fans will absolutely love these.. Treble fans will absolutely love these. What happens when you get all 3 aspects of the sound and your a fan of all 3? A must buy.
The reason why I know so much about Tansio Mirai is because I own and heard just about all of them including their flagships. Anyone ask me which Tansio Mirai to look into regardless of cost.
Thats a very simple answer right now.
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Dsnuts
Headphoneus Supremus
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Reason why I am posting about these is because these will be launched tomorrow on Penon site. These are shockingly great sounding.
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