I think its time I finally put in my order on the Serratus…
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Well now I’m 3x as excited as I was before. I have been counting down the days till the 18th if I’m honest 
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Letting you have a listen… letting Dom have a listen… letting the community hear impressions on a bunch of sets, when it seems I never get around to writing or sharing these days… giving Jim Park the rep and business he deserves…
The pay-offs of this simple loan are already huge!
Thanks for all you’re sharing.
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Don’t forget letting my Noob girlfriend have a listen. She’s probably the biggest positive review of us all 
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Curious if you’ve tried EQ-ing the Kahn a little to add a bit of midbass and if you have how’d it sound to you?
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I haven’t actively used digital EQ, but I did turn on xBass on my iFi Hip-Dac, and that added in more sub-bass and some of the mid-bass that I felt was missing
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I just reached out to Jim and I’m pulling the trigger on a pair. I have heard too many good reviews to pass them up.
Btw it looks like Jim will do custom cable requests too so I’m getting it with a short 2.5mm cable.
I love my prototype Rikubuds for gaming and might pull the trigger on a low ohm set for quality gaming immersion.
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My First Impression of the Penon Lineup
General Thoughts
- Outside of judging brand-wide QC and driver matching issues, I think is a very interesting brand
- On pure tuning, they’re class. If you want a warmer tune, bypassing the lean neutrality of Harman and the “audiophile” elite, then shopping with Penon (either them or their ISN sub-brand even though I haven’t heard any of these IEMs) makes a lot of sense
- Penon is charging “Boutique Store” prices for their tuning and aesthetic. This is NOT a value brand. And if you get in with them, you have to understand that going into it.
- Addendum to the above: If you sign up for their VIP newsletter and buy Penon when they are releasing a new product with a VIP pricing, then you are buying for what is A LOT closer to true market value. Case in point: Fan 2 is $280, and that’s a bit of an ask in the 2023 market environment. On release, they offered a 50% off VIP pricing. At that price, it was a fucking steal. So if you want to shop Penon be on their newsletter and watch your emails.
The IEMs
- Vortex is a cool enough neutral-bright IEM, that leans a touch warm in the mid-bass, like an Olina SE rather than (I’m assuming) a Hexa that comes in at $220. But you see what I mean about Boutique prices…
- OG Fan is a fun V-shape IEM with a balanced lower-midrange. Their V is more upper-midrange focused than treble focused at $135
- Serial is a sub-bass emphasized set, with a balanced signature through the rest of the frequency. It goes for $299
- Fan 2 is a warm, mid-bass focused neutral tuned IEM. It goes for $280
Of these four IEMs, I’d have to say Penon doesn’t do “bad”. On the merits of their tuning and technicalities I wouldn’t tell you not to buy Penon IEMs, if you are so inclined to. But I’m also finding reasons not to go Full Head-Fi about them.
(You never go Full Head-Fi, after all)
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Fair! I’ve only bought their IEMs during introductory offers, or at that price or below when used.
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The Rikubuds Collection Part Two or What About the One You Actually Bought?
So I had a plan about how I was going to do a three-way matchup between Rikubuds Lancer 1, Saber 1, and Grand Rider 1 and do a whole thing about how Grand Archer outclassed them, but then Grand Archer entered the chat (as well as a certain Bud Who Shall Not Be Named), and things have changed. So Grand Rider will be in a write-up with the Unnamed Bud (It’s Serratus. I’m going to write up Grand Rider with Serratus), and we’re going to the bullpen. So let’s take a journey through more of the Rikubuds lineup, and talk about Saber, Lancer, and Grand Archer.
Songs to Listen to and Follow Along:
As usual, I’m going to write my thoughts in generalities, but I’ll give you a sample of songs that I listen to, that will relate to the concepts I write about. Feel free to ask for specifics, if you don’t keep up with my thought processes.
Holding On (Rome In Silver Remix) - Dabin (For Female vocals, tonality, mid-bass response within mix From 1:12-1:36)
DISINTER MY HEART - TRAILS (For treble response and resolution, male vocals, midrange response)
The Curse - Agnes Obel (For violin tonality, layering and separation From 1:45)
When I Fall (Outta Love) - Kevin Olusola (For Imaging/detail retrieval :00-:07, tonality, timbre)
The Speedwalker (Live at Madison Square Garden) - The Fearless Flyers and Vulf (For bass elements, imaging/layering/separation
Oh How We Envy All Those We Haven’t Met; Look Up When We Rise, You’ll See Our Silhouettes
So to make this fun and interesting, I’m going to start with the new challenger that has just appeared: Thanks to Breakfast Club, I’ve been given the opportunity to trial the Grand Archer with the rest of the collection, and I’ll be honest; I didn’t have many expectations or hopes for these. In terms of the Rikubuds classes, Archer wasn’t one that would’ve grabbed my attention. Going in, I knew these have a reputation of being a neutral-bright set and I can understand that reputation. For my ear, though, I don’t find them to be overly bright. I find these to lack sub-bass which isn’t shocking, but they have adequate mid-bass. It’s a bass that has punch rather than boom, but it is restrained in quantity. Only just enough bass, these have. The mids are the highlights for the Grand Archer; they’re forward but pretty equal from low-to-upper mids. Vocals and instruments play with equal emphasis, the stage doesn’t play with any notable recess or depth, even if it’s wide enough. The treble is fantastic and lends to a good timbre and tonality. I could use a little more warmth personally, but these do not come off as harsh or sibilant at all. These have great technicalities, presenting details like the swirl of wind at the beginning of “When I Fall (Outta Love)" correctly with panning and some of the swirling effect.
Lancer and Saber are actually quite similar with each other. They have bass responses that sound alike, though I would say Saber has a touch more in the mid-bass. But only by a touch, when you’re listening to bassier music. The midrange on both sets are clean and unobstructed by the bass, but Lancer has a touch better tonality and note-weight. Of all the Normal class Rikubuds, Lancer has the best tonality for me. Both sets lack a little bit of treble. In my girlfriend’s words, when she tried the different earbuds, “they make the vocals sound clear but not clear.” Let me make sense of this: The staging is forward on both so vocalists are a step or two ahead of instruments and that forwardness makes it easy to follow along with the lyrics. But the slightly dark turn from the treble leaves a bit of muffle over the vocalist at the same time. They sound JUST a little lo-res, and on their own it’s less noticeable, but when you put them up against a set like Grand Archer I find it noticeable. Saber and Lancer are rather equal in terms of soundstage and technicalities. They do what you would expect of a quality earbud.
Storm Is Coming, You Best Start Running
I think you could’ve guessed by now that the reason I separated these three from Grand Rider and Serratus is because those two are a different class from these three. But that conversation is for another time. Today, we talk about where we stand with these three. First of all, I’ve heard all of the Normal class Rikubuds that have gained traction in the community except Archer (My apologies to Caster, but you’re like Fetch in Mean Girls). Lancer and Saber are the top of the classes (as is apropos if you know the reference these come from). In the Fate world, Saber is meant to be the most preferred class because it’s the most balanced. In my opinion, Riku fucked up, because he made Lancer the most balanced instead in my opinion. I’m sure that people that want that slightly cleaner lower-midrange will argue that Saber is the one, but for me (and at least two people I know who have listened to Lancer, hi @domq422), Lancer comes first. And yet…
What Does This All Mean?
Also, if you know the Fate world, Grand classes are souped-up, more powerful versions of the normal classes. RIku follows this guideline and makes his Grand class buds a little bigger, a little badder. He saves the good shit for the extra dollars you’re spending on them. Now, in this comparison I’m not saying there’s a giant gap between Saber/Lancer and Grand Archer, but for me it is noticeable. If you are in the camp with me that doesn’t find the signature Grand Archer presents to be too bright, it is a winner for me. It’s a little lighter but has a bite that is not just acceptable but very palatable. The others are very good comfort items in the lineup, they are more easily recognizable and there is nothing wrong with them, but the Grand Archer just goes a little bit bigger. And it works. That’s going to be it for this review. Enjoy your days, and take care till next time!
Rank For Saber: B
Rank With Personal Bias: B
Rank As a Food: Lasagna
Rank For Lancer: B
Rank With Personal Bias: B
Rank As a Food: Chicken Parmigiana
Rank For Grand Archer: B+
Rank With Personal Bias: B+
Rank As a Food: Chicken Piccata
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Literally bang on the money here In terms of the sets I’ve had the pleasure of hearing so far. Lancer was my favorite out of the bunch and there wasn’t really an argument about it. The saber was definitely close, don’t get me wrong but if I go back to my notes from a few weeks ago when I had the Riku buds in my possession, the timbre and tonality of the Lancers spoke to me in a different way all together.
According to December 2022 Dom, the Saber came off as “Night and day coming from B2. Thinner timbre, definitely more balanced. More zing up top, lots of air - mid bass comes off as more defined, less loose and more punchy. Female vocals balanced within the mix - not recessed nor forward. Resolution is pretty much top tier. Consonants border sharp. Crash Cymbal sound a touch thin. Overall fantastic resolution and speed, however. Mid bass is spot on.” it must be confirmed by now that our way of hearing is very close to one another, no?
Anyways - food comparisons are my cup of tea 
really spot on article my friend!
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Remember you said this on the 18th, when it’s your job to confirm some of the utter bullshit I’m about to say.
If I’m going to die on my hill, I’m taking your ass with me!
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Let’s get crazy, bruv I’m down 
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TGXears Serratus and Rikubuds Grand Rider 1 or How Do You Pick Favorites Between Your Kids…?
It’s funny how plans keep changing. Thanks to the generosity of @rattlingblanketwoman (seriously, thank you Sweet Prince), I was expecting to get another week with Serratus to lazily enjoy its company, before passing it on to @domq422 for him to get his time with it. But then we had to move up our timeline and I have about a day left with it. So it’s time for me to switch gears and put together my thoughts about Serratus while I still have it with me. And because I haven’t done so already, and was waiting for this opportunity, I’m going to also tell you about the Rikubuds Grand Rider I bought myself for Christmas, thinking this would be my most interesting listen for the holiday season. PFFFFT, yeah about that. But now it is time for my dual review of the Rikubuds Grand Rider and TGXears Serratus. Enjoy.
Songs to Listen to and Follow Along:
As usual, I’m going to write my thoughts in generalities, but I’ll give you a sample of songs that I listen to, that will relate to the concepts I write about. Feel free to ask for specifics, if you don’t keep up with my thought processes.
War - Hypnotic Brass Ensemble (For brass tonality, bass elements, layering and separation)
Holding On (Rome In Silver Remix) - Dabin (For female vocals, tonality, mid-bass response within mix From 1:12-1:36)
DISINTER MY HEART - TRAILS (For treble response and resolution, male vocals, midrange response)
When I Fall (Outta Love) - Kevin Olusola (For Imaging/detail retrieval :00-:07, tonality, timbre)
Fundamental Elements of Madness - Dax Johnson (For soundstage 1:10-1:26, piano tonality)
Run Out of Sentences to Say, Wish I Could Put This Into Better Words
If I’m being very honest, I could start and finish this review with “Serratus and Grand Rider are phenomenal, and you could just buy either of them (or both) and be done,” and you’d already have all the information you’d need. While listening to the various Penon sets in my possession, I’ve struggled with explaining why it was such a struggle to place the Penon lineup in the audio hobby ecosystem. We will get to that in another review, but I think the reason for the struggle is because of value propositions like these earbuds. Whether considering IEMs, earbuds, headphones or whatever, I can easily say Serratus and Grand Rider are amongst the finest pieces of equipment that have reproduced music into my ears. But what exactly do they do, to make me say that?
TGXears Serratus - To live up to the hype and expectations I had when I knew I was listening to Serratus, you’d have to be more than special. And Serratus lived up to all the hype and then some. These are balanced, warm and highly resolving, with superior technicalities. The bass here is good: Not “good for an earbud”. It’s good, period, compared to anything. There’s enough sub-bass, rather than a deficiency, and the mid-bass performance is legitimately impressive in quantity. The only nitpick in it is a bit of a softer impact, but that is acceptable enough because the midrange on Serratus is immaculate. If I hadn’t heard Dark Magician before these, I’d say these are the very best mids I’d ever heard but even still, they are as good as it gets. The midrange is open, clean, clear and highly detailed. Vocal and instrument timbre is also elite. The only true flaw to see in Serratus, for me, is the treble tuning. It’s a very good treble, until you get into the deep treble. It is a bit overcooked, too boosted, with excessive sparkle. There’s a slight lack of clarity that I perceive that takes just a little away from the rest of the tuning. The technicalities behind Serratus make up for this though. They’re obscene. The detail retrieval capabilities on these are unrivaled to anything I’ve heard. Not that they necessarily capture details no other set can (it’s possible they do, but I’m not the one to pick that point out). But Serratus does better than the rest is how it pulls details so effortlessly that I NOTICE details that I’ve never paid attention to on other sets, that I will then listen and go “oh hey, I hear that now. Why didn’t I pick that up before?” Serratus actually has the power to point out the obvious! Soundstage is a little bit of a mixed bag; the stage is a little forward, and a little narrow, but there is excellent depth. In fact, at the end of the day, this is an earbud that oozes excellence.
Rikubuds Grand Rider - I’ll get the Grand Rider’s biggest flaw out of the way first: This has a barely adequate bass reproduction. There’s no real sub-bass to be found here and the mid-bass is just enough to get by, but it is not a fulfilling bass. The reason why I don’t find that a dealbreaker is because the Grand Rider has no other missteps: The midrange on Grand Rider is gorgeous. It’s crystal clear and open, with a neutral tonality and timbre. These are pitch perfect. The Overall upper-midrange energy is exactly on the line of energetic, without ever overstepping into sharpness or harshness. The treble is perfect to me, and a clear advantage Grand Rider has over Serratus. The clarity and resolution produced through the rest of the signature because of the treble is peerless. I’ve heard treble boosted IEMs before that give the impression of clarity. This doesn’t sound like that. This sounds like it’s just perfectly tuned for the rest of the frequency, and perfectly tuned for me. The soundstage on this is too good as well. It’s not an especially wide stage, but the depth raised the bar on how I compare soundstage for anything else I listen to. The amount of depth and layers you can find in the music, in part because of how much space in the stage there is to work with is beyond description. It’s something to be experienced. And the clarity and soundstage combine to make vocals absolute magic on Grand Rider. They are forward (without overwhelming the instruments), and perfectly clear, so you can easily listen and follow along, and also have great separation so multiple singers/harmonics come through with ease. Much like with Serratus, this isn’t even game changing, as much as having a moment of clarity when you’ve been enlightened to something you didn’t even know existed before. Grand Rider and Serratus have altered how I relate to the different pieces of equipment I use to listen to music. What else can I say but that?
What Does This All Mean?
My journey has been forever altered because of my opportunity to live with these two sets. I’ve had things I’ve enjoyed before, I’ve had things I’ve loved. I’ve had things I swore were good, and I’ve had things that excited me. But in the last few weeks, I’ve gotten to experience actual greatness; great IEMs, great earbuds (and great people, but I digress), and now I can begin to truly express an opinion about what is worthy of being considered truly amazing, and top-tier. These are two pieces of audio that are that level of elite for me. And hopefully, now that I have actual experience with what the best can sound like, I can be better about helping myself and others find what the best will be for them. Where the journey goes next, I have no idea, but I’m still excited to find out. And that’s going to be it for this review. Enjoy your days, and take care till next time!
Rank For Serratus: S
Rank With Personal Bias: S+
Rank For Grand Rider: A
Rank With Personal Bias: S
Ranks As a Food: Top-Shelf Whiskey
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Grand Rider 1 as a Macallan Double Cask? Yeah, that’s about right (as in both are gorgeously smooth and refined, and great to just relax and get lost in). I’ll see if it matches Serratus once it gets here.
Fantastic write-up as always!
Edit: only disagreement I may have on the Grand Rider 1 is that it DOES have some subbass, but as you say, the low-end drops off too early to be considered properly “full-range”, especially if used in an environment with significant background noise. If you are looking for subbass in a bud, there are many better options than the GR1 (both in and out of Riku’s lineup).
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I chose my words about the sub-bass very deliberately. I said no “real” bass because a). I needed xBass to get a proper, adequate amount of sub-bass and b). You haven’t heard Serratus yet.
You might not know yet, but you will when it’s over
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I feel you; my current bud rotation in the office is the Grand Rider 1 and Grand Alter Saber 2, and if I need subbass, I step on THE GAS(2). I have a feeling that Serratus will be similar in that respect, and I can’t wait to find out!
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Don’t know a lot about buds but I have Serratus and although it does need a bit of power it’s a set that I find does really well at lower volume levels especially driven by a Burr Brown chipset source and that’s coming from someone who cranks the volume on most of my sets so i’d give it a MACALLAN 18 score because it’s smooth, complex and easy to enjoy 
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While I am not a whiskey guy, I can admit that when I have had the opportunity to try a high end Macallen, it was smooth and Smokey with a bit of bite as it goes down just to let you know you’re alive - now I’m really looking forward to hearing these two side by side and indulging in a bit of mature listening
Lovely write up, my friend 
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