3.5mm headphone jack is on it’s way to extinction, with the release of flagship smartphones. Now having a flagship phone with the headphone jack seems impossible now. So the only option left, is either use a type-c (Non-DAC) adapter or an external DAC to enjoy your music on the go. Using external DACs for good sound, worth the effort but portability is something you have to compromise always. In this scenario, DAC dongles are very useful. Still, there is a drawback using these dongles. The added weight of the 3.5 mm female plug and your earphone’s 3.5 mm plug can cause the C port to detach from the phone. Today for review I got the Penon Type-C earphone cable, which smartly resolved this issue by attaching the earphone cable with the type C DAC part and also sound really good.
Penon Type-C earphone cable Specifications
- Connector – 2 pin 0.78mm or MMCX,
- Color – Black or Transparent,
- Termination – Type C with inbuilt DAC chip,
- Max Decoding – 24bit 192 KHz,
- Material – Single crystal copper silver-plated wire,
- Number of cores – 4 shares,
- Cable length – 1.2M.
Buying Link – Here
IEMs used with Penon Type-C earphone cable Origin in this review
Anew U1, LZ Z04A & BQEYZ K1.
Source for Penon Type-C earphone cable
Surprisingly Penon Type-C DAC cable is very source friendly. Just plug and play, no driver or setup required. I have used my Shanling M0, Xiaomi Poco F1 & Windows 10 pc with it and Penon DAC cable just worked seamlessly with all the sources. Another great thing that I have noticed that even after using it for 4/5 hours no heating issue is there near the Type-C plug area and overall power drain is very little but output power is quite very good.
Presentation, Design & Build Quality of Penon Type-C earphone cable
Penon type-c earphone cable comes inside a normal ABS box. An additional velour pouch is also provided to carry the cable. The braided cable is made out of shiny black SPC wires and build quality is decent. Both the Type-C and MMCX plugs are attached well. The cable is a bit stiff but feels very strong even being a 4 core wire. No memory ear-hook has been applied so you can easily wear it in any direction and with any IEM. Overall presentation, design and build quality is OK for its price. A cable tie and mini Type –C to USB A converter could have better if supplied.
Sound
Sound-wise Penon Type-C DAC earphone cable is at the brighter side. Good to note that if your existing IEM can produce good bass, you can feel the bass presence using this DAC cable. Mids where things started interesting. Mids in Penon Type-C DAC cable is totally natural. No such forwardness is there. Both male and female vocals are crisp, clear and have been packed with lots of energy. The high-frequency part is the main highlight in the Penon Type-C DAC cable. Treble is airy and sparkling yet non-fatigue at all. No hash peak is there. IEMs with veiled highs would benefit most from this DAC cable. Instrument separation is too good in the Penon Type-C DAC cable, and it easily handled busy tracks. The soundstage is wide but not super wide, other hand Imaging is good.
Conclusion
I have tried several DAC dongles like Hidizs Sonata, DD TC 35, VE Odyssey and now this Penon Type-C DAC, one thing is clear that when comes to listening music from your Smartphones these dongles are very useful, but having a cable with inbuilt DAC really stops the ‘C’ connector being loose time to time. Penon Type-C DAC cable giving a decent cable and a DAC together for such a small price, when a basic IEM cable’s price is higher than it.
Graphic Designer by Profession, and Music is my hobby. Can’t recall when I had started digging the Audiophile rabbit hole, but this Website was created in 2019 to showcase my passion for music. I am not an Audiophile, I call myself a Music Enthusiasts and my goal is to pass that enthusiasm to my readers.