1MORE Penta Driver IEM Review

[Multicore]

Which video?

Luca's.

 

[IAmAlwaysSerious]

Is there an ASR consensus on the use of multiple drivers in IEMs? We have single DD IEMs such as the 7Hz Zero 2s with vanishingly low harmonic distortion. I haven’t seen many multi-driver IEMs measured but the ones I’ve seen have significantly more distortion. I’d imagine that all those crossovers would add thd and/or IMD, though I’m pretty hazy on the details. Do multi driver designs bring anything to the table or is it all marketing and hokum?

I really struggle to imagine that the huge numbers of drivers is any kind of advantage (unless maybe you want weird impedance?!) compared to a single good driver. Some single driver ones measure very well.

My Moondrop Kato is subjectively the best in-ear i've heard, but i'll admit that i don't have a ton of experience with the high driver-count ones. On the other hand, how much better could they actually be?
I guess i'd have to send these to Amir to be measured, if i really wanted to know. But i don't want to be without them for months. :/

 

[SteveL]

I really struggle to imagine that the huge numbers of drivers is any kind of advantage (unless maybe you want weird impedance?!) compared to a single good driver. Some single driver ones measure very well.

My MoonDrop Kato is subjectively the best in-ear i've heard, but i'll admit that i don't have a ton of experience with the high driver-count ones. On the other hand, how much better could they actually be?
I guess i'd have to send these to Amir to be measured, if i really wanted to know. But i don't want to be without them for months. :/

It's a marketing advantage. The market for 1DD IEMs costing much more than $20 is dead.

 

[IAmAlwaysSerious]

It's a marketing advantage. The market for 1DD IEMs costing much more than $20 is dead.

Oh, i don't know about that. There's always room for better build quality. Having used a couple of those cheaper ones, they can sound fantastic and be well built. But there is some limit to how high quality the build can be on something that cheap.

And there might be room out there for someone to make a good open back IEM, wouldn't that be neat? I bet you wouldn't find it at such a low price, unfortunately.

 

[SteveL]

Oh, i don't know about that. There's always room for better build quality. Having used a couple of those cheaper ones, they can sound fantastic and be well built. But there is some limit to how high quality the build can be on something that cheap.

And there might be room out there for someone to make a good open back IEM, wouldn't that be neat? I bet you wouldn't find it at such a low price, unfortunately.

You can replace a $20 IEM that falls apart 4 times and still have spent less than the cost of the unit under review. If the sound of the latter were even as good I could see paying more for visual aesthetics if that matters a lot to someone, but actually it's worse.

 

[usersky]

I started my relationship with 1More Evo with the same sentiments: how an artist tuned pair of buds can compare with science, what can all of those bleeding hearts and artist know? Indeed they sound unusual (not sure how much they resemble this Penta Driver but the story is similar). It takes an hour or two to adjust and then it became one of the very few iems that I lately hoarded and prefer without eq (wavelet, don't know how good/bad that eq is, couldn't find Evo measured but i'll give it a try with minidsp ears soon). I would recommend a lot of you sceptic guys remain open to nice suprises, even though they may be quite rare these days
About Luca, it must be something about his acomplishment that is not measurable though, let's not go there and question artistic merits because a different preference curve.
Note about myself: I fully know and thoroughly enjoy how a wonderfully measuring earbud like 7Hz Salnoted Zero 2 for example sounds so I wouldn't classify myself as a Harman denier by any mean.

 

[daftcombo]

Thanks Amir!

I have their Triple Driver Over-Ear and would love a review.

 

[Jimster480]

Personally, I expected a better result.

To me these don't sound like they have any specific fault, even if they don't sound as good as some of my larger planars.
While the tuning looks weird on paper; it doesn't have any "sharp edges" I'd say.
I can take it out of the box and listen to just about any kind of music without offense. No sharp highs, no muddy bass, no missing mids.
I found that the IEM sounded much better with the silicone / TPU tip with the "filter" rather than the foam one without.

My wife is a violinist and she likes the sound of these as well. It's definitely not perfect but it's not something I would take offense to (nor does she). Mostly my wife has issues with IEMs falling out or not sealing; the design of these stay in her ear so she can actually use them.

I don't think their technical accuracy matches my Aeon but this is also way more portable and has more bass.
I read through some comments and people suggested that there are IEMs which are way better (I guess this would match the DCA Stealth then?) for way less money. If people make suggestions, I'll buy a couple of them and listen to see how true that is.

I'm also wondering if @amirm will test the dongle that comes with these IEMs in the box. It has ADC capabilities as well.

PS; yes the cables are detachable. It does come pre-attached in the packaging though.

 

[markanini]

The market for 1DD IEMs costing much more than $20 is dead.

Apparently not https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/tanchjim-origin-iem-review.52707/

 

[Honken]

Fairly certain I would not like the frequency response of these, what an odd frequency response. The shell looks comfortable though, which is perhaps more important than the raw frequency response in this case.

With that many drivers I wonder if it'd be possible to run a multi tone test with them? I think it'd be interesting to get some data points around what it could be that some people claim could be done better with fancier driver tech compared to plain DDs.

 

[muza_1]

Oh, i don't know about that. There's always room for better build quality. Having used a couple of those cheaper ones, they can sound fantastic and be well built. But there is some limit to how high quality the build can be on something that cheap.

And there might be room out there for someone to make a good open back IEM, wouldn't that be neat? I bet you wouldn't find it at such a low price, unfortunately.

Well there are some really cheap and well made (good sounding) IEMs in fact better made than some expensive ones the TRN Orca ($12 on sale*) is an example the thing is ceramic coated metal they feel very sturdy and sound well above what the price suggest by contrast Kefine Delci which is as well made as the Orca but have better accessories and a nicer packaging (some seem to care about that) and is 6x the price, I am still deciding which one I like more sound-wise.
The KZ D-Fi for $5 ($7.50 with tuning switches) (on sale*) is really good looking, built like a tank and sound is good and not just for the price, not all cheap IEMs are bad quality nor horribly made but I guess marketing works making people think that more money or more drivers are better and then there are the elusive "technicalities", hype and FOMO don't help either.

One disadvantage of the $10 to $30 market is that there are too many options some bad and some good so finding one that suits you can be time consuming but the total cost of experimenting is still lower than the price of a single mid-priced IEM.

*Some IEMs are on sale constantly so I personally think of that as its regular price.

 

[Jimster480]

Fairly certain I would not like the frequency response of these, what an odd frequency response. The shell looks comfortable though, which is perhaps more important than the raw frequency response in this case.

With that many drivers I wonder if it'd be possible to run a multi tone test with them? I think it'd be interesting to get some data points around what it could be that some people claim could be done better with fancier driver tech compared to plain DDs.

Personally (and while this is not scientific); I find that multi driver IEMs are "faster". When I listen to house / electronica music; dynamic / single driver IEMs tend to get muddy.
Planar headphones tend to be "faster" as electrostatics are often even faster than planar. Which allows for cleaner and better tone separation.
When listening to classical or jazz; it doesn't seem to make a real difference (although some dynamics have ringing at certain frequencies, especially higher notes produced by violins).

I'm not sure how many is too many and where diminishing returns hit, but looking at this penta driver VS the Quad driver both from the same company; it looks like the diminishing returns hit right here (at least in their designs) as the performance here is not better than that of their own quad driver.
I also have the quad and with EQ those are really nice.. But I don't hate them without EQ either (yet the sound isn't as balanced as this Penta).

Well there are some really cheap and well made (good sounding) IEMs in fact better made than some expensive ones the TRN Orca ($12 on sale*) is an example the thing is ceramic coated metal they feel very sturdy and sound well above what the price suggest by contrast Kefine Delci which is as well made as the Orca but have better accessories and a nicer packaging (some seem to care about that) and is 6x the price, I am still deciding which one I like more sound-wise.
The KZ D-Fi for $5 ($7.50 with tuning switches) (on sale*) is really good looking, built like a tank and sound is good and not just for the price, not all cheap IEMs are bad quality nor horribly made but I guess marketing works making people think that more money or more drivers are better and then there are the elusive "technicalities", hype and FOMO don't help either.

One disadvantage of the $10 to $30 market is that there are too many options some bad and some good so finding one that suits you can be time consuming but the total cost of experimenting is still lower than the price of a single mid-priced IEM.

*Some IEMs are on sale constantly so I personally think of that as its regular price.

I've listened to a few KZ IEMs and... They sounded like cheap IEMs. Not terrible, but definitely not to the level of something like the quad driver.
Sure, way cheaper but... I don't need something cheap.
Never heard of TRN Orca, but I'll research that one.

I paid $106 shipped for this Penta driver and it came with all these tips + a dongle (which my wife uses). Hard to test more than 2-3 random IEMs before you spend more money and potentially just end up with a few pairs of junk.

 

[InfiniteJester]

Kefine Delci which is as well made as the Orca but have better accessories and a nicer packaging (some seem to care about that) and is 6x the price

No need to exaggerate:

3,5x at best.

And that sweet bass from Delci, though.

 

[Jimster480]

No need to exaggerate:

View attachment 378418
View attachment 378419
3,5x at best.

And that sweet bass from Delci, though.

View attachment 378420

Do you have distortion or group delay graphs? Since frequency response is just one thing... Looking at the KZ Castor Harman Target IEM for example shows great Harman conformity, but a disastrous distortion plot.

 

[muza_1]

No need to exaggerate:

View attachment 378418
View attachment 378419
3,5x at best.

And that sweet bass from Delci, though.

View attachment 378420

Yes you are right but... I payed $12 for the Orca and $58 for the Delci so not that far I guess it all depends on sales and luck, also I think some sales are differnt depending on country.

 

[InfiniteJester]

Do you have distortion or group delay graphs? Since frequency response is just one thing... Looking at the KZ Castor Harman Target IEM for example shows great Harman conformity, but a disastrous distortion plot.

I don't, sorry.

By ear, Delci sounds less distorted than ARTTI R1, for example. I also tune the ear gain region considerably down, that is where distortion tends to be more present and audible. I have not detected anything weird going on. Unlike with ARTTI R1, CCA Hydro and Kiwi Ears Quintet, that surely have something weird. Delci sounds very correct and neutral to my ears.

Yes you are right but... I payed $12 for the Orca and $58 for the Delci so not that far I guess it all depends on sales and luck, also I think some sales are differnt depending on country.

4,8x, then.

Kefine Delci is reasonably good for the price. Maybe EW200 beats it in price to performance (€31), but the driver flex is truly horrendous in that one.

 

[muza_1]

I've listened to a few KZ IEMs and... They sounded like cheap IEMs

Some yes some are good but there is also the psychological aspect, perception and KZ bad reputation (which I think is exaggerated given that all companies engage in the same practices).

And that sweet bass from Delci, though.

Yes is really good, I really like the Delci, but it might be a bit much in some tracks, while in the Orca too little in others same with the treble, I guess tuning is a balancing act especially with the "circle of confusion".

 

[InfiniteJester]

Some yes some are good but there is also the psychological aspect, perception and KZ bad reputation (which I think is exaggerated given that all companies engage in the same practices).

My CCA Hydro has a different mesh in either driver. That is the most scummy thing that I have ever seen in any audio product I have ever bought. Also, they do seem to have channel imbalance that becomes worse every day. I don't know if some drivers died or what. Truly terrible experience por 120€.

 

[muza_1]

My CCA Hydro has a different mesh in either driver. That is the most scummy thing that I have ever seen in any audio product I have ever bought. Also, they do seem to have channel imbalance that becomes worse every day. I don't know if some drivers died or what. Truly terrible experience por 120€.

Yes I know (it was me that posted the pictures of the mesh), I returned them almost immediately they had an imbalance and triggered my mild tinnitus (I don't know why or if it's psychosomatic but must BAs do) on the other hand the Trio are holding up well after some rough use (gym).

 

[muza_1]

Kefine Delci is reasonably good for the price. Maybe EW200 beats it in price to performance (€31), but the driver flex is truly horrendous in that one.

This is why I may sound like a shill but... and no driver flex form the Orca just funky looking shells.