Archangel

Penon Archangel, but kinda curious about the QOA Misty Blue

I love the physicality of the Archangel, but I feel like the midrange lacks some of the weight and emotional impact I expected. The bass and the treble are top notch, and extremely satisfying to listen to so I'm keeping the pair. I did some research and found the QOA misty blue which seems to cover what I feel the Archangel lacks, while having a significant discount on aliexpress because of the anniversary sale.

Truthear zero blue 2. Well, I don’t really regret it because they were my first IEMs, but in hindsight I would have preferred getting a cheaper pair for that purpose since I have the Penon Archangel now and I don’t have a use for the blue 2 anymore.

The Archangel is phenomenal

I've only tried the Archangel and I'm definitely not an expert, but I would call it full, rich, energetic and clear. I have a sensitivity to shouty mids and harsh treble. That issue is non-existent on the archangel.

The kids and treble are just about perfect for my ear. Bass is definitely boomy, especially with the bass switch on. One of my favorite things about them is how well they take EQ.

If you like rich bass, this set is going to make you rethink every other IEM.

DAC/AMP - Topping DX5II IEM - Penon Audio Archangel with EA Cadmus II cable Headphones - DCA Noire X DAP/Portable combo - Chord Mojo 2+ Poly I am sort of set for 2026 unless something mind blowing comes out. Focusing more on speakers this year. https://preview.redd.it/6zui0ppecrag1.jpeg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9b11298c55d620fd0ab68544f359e8b20d9dff59

First, I think RSV MK2 and Archangel is pretty close in term of bass response, Archangel just have more energy up top and the Vent just leak some sound so there's report that the Archangel behave like Open-Back headphone. Usually, Balance Armature have different kind of how the bass feel than Dynamic Driver, like the BA will fill more snappy and less rumbly, But RSV Mk2 Do pretty good job by making BA bass have a rumble effect like DD. To me anyways, Each ear perceive sound different. Yeah Niche brand will always have disadvantage of less people have them on hand to compare. From what I've seen, Yu9 Que, are more Neutral bright kind of signature rather than Mid bass warm kind, They have some bass for sure but surely less than Volume S.

Just butting in, but as a fellow Archangel owner I'd say that the treble detail and sparkle is more than plenty for me. You get a good amount of it, with cymbals and hi-hats retaining a good amount of extension and bite when needed, while not really feeling harsh or too artificial. For reference I find the Tea Pro's upper treble feels a bit more forced and not really smooth compared to the Archangel. There's tuning switches, too, if you prefer to have more treble or bass. Btw if you plan on buying it, the set really benefits from a deep and flush fit so the BCDs get good contact and the treble doesn't become harsh. You may or may not need to tip roll and cable roll for ergonomics and fit.

Oh yeah, this is definitely a problem I wrestled with as well, u/higherdotedu can attest. I think the vent is for the rear of the dual DDs so there's no direct full venting. Penon has offered to fix it if I send it back to them, but I haven't taken them up on the offer yet. Give them a contact and see if they'll allow it. Outside of that there's a few things you can do. For trying other tips, I'd recommend Tanchjim T-APB tips and Tanzu Sonic HE as well if you haven't tried them yet. I was also recommended Eletech Baroque by another Archangel user, but I've yet to invest that much into 1 pair of eartips. The biggest thing that helped me was actually swapping cables to a lighter one. Turns out the Cadmus II cable was putting an odd weight on the IEM and made it hard to insert fully without feeling a ton of ear pressure. I swapped to a more plasticky NiceHCK cable and it made insertion much easier. Pressure over time didn't build up as much either.

No problem! The Archangel definitely will still have a bit of pressure even after getting a flush fit, so don't worry too much about it. The only issue is if they have a suction cup effect on deep insertion or if the bass sounds imbalanced, which can be mitigated with insertion technique. Btw how are you seating your eartips on the Archangel's nozzle? I found that pressure didn't really build up too much if I pulled it down enough to cover the cylindrical shaft entirely. You want the nozzle tip to sit a couple millimeters from the eartip's outlet though.

So these arrived today. Have only spent an hour with them but have some thoughts already. I'm mainly going to give my opinion on the bass response and vibration haptics. Have compared to GK Kunten (both use zenith driver) and Penon Archangel (unfair premium bone conduction comparison). Test track I was using was 'Georgio by Moroder - Daft punk'. The last minute of the track, has a very deep but tight sub bass kick drum with elements of electronic and rock (guitar, bass, synth etc) and gets quite busy, in a good way. As expected the Vibe X has a similar sound signature and quality to the Kunten until you hit the low end. There's noticeably less sub bass than the Kuntens and a buttload less than the Archangels. This translates to the kick drum being less 'present' in the mix. Then on a tom hit, the vibes suddenly do their thing and you feel the hit of the toms in your ear canal thanks to the BC/vibration driver. Bass guitar can sound a bit bloated at times. Sounds like the BCs are most reactive to around 80-100hz - kind of like having a subwoofer without room tuning applied where it reverberates more around certain wavelengths. They shake and thump quite noticeably when touching them with my fingers but in the ear the effect is significantly less noticeable at least for my ears. I tried different insertion depths and angle etc and could definitely feel the vibration but not as much as I was expecting and a more narrower frequency response range than I was hoping. Interested to hear other people's opinions though as I feel the vibration drivers might react differently to various individuals ear anatomy. Technically they are meant to vibrate down to 5hz or something silly, maybe my ears just feel/detect it more at 90ish hz. If they do a V2 down the track, I'd love to keep the Zenith driver, Kunten tuning and add a modest bass boost and have the vibration driver respond across a broader range with the most noticeable point around 40-60hz. Just like with large speaker systems/live music where you begin to 'feel' rather than 'hear' the lower frequencies. Basically copy how Skullcandy implement their crusher haptics, refine it and apply it to a high fidelity iem. TLDR: mid and treble similar to Kunten, suprisingly subdued sub bass (60hz and below), vibration not very consistent across bass frequencies - responds most to 80-100hz. Suffers from some bass/midbass bloat. If anyone else has received theirs I'm keen to hear your opinion!

No sorry. Only the CVJ Luki/Konoka and archangel. The CVJ was odd. Haven't listened to it in a while but my memory tells me its bcd was centred around 150-200hz and had to turn it up significantly louder or bass boost the snot out of it to get it going. Sounded very cheap overall. The archangel is a totally different BCD type - much more subtle. More for texture and soundstage than ear rattling bass. It's dynamic drivers thump and rumble enough already.

Tea pro at around 300 was magic to me. I'm now back and forth with archangel and mest mkiii so it's definitely addictive but I'd stop around 300.

I agree. I do love my mest mk3, archangel, and dawn x but tea pro is goated.