Sound Analysis.

As I already mentioned, I didn’t hear the original P1 and only familiar with PM2, but based on everything I have read about the original P1, my experience with PM2, and many listening hours I spent with P2 (after 150hrs of burn in), I can draw a conclusion that Cowon decided to take advantage of the new AKM AK4497EQ DAC and move to a more neutral revealing signature with a natural reference quality tonality.  And I don’t mean “reference” as in thinner, harsher, or analytical, but rather a more revealing sound which can reach a micro-detail level when it comes to retrieval of details.

In my opinion, the ideal signature of any DAP is to be as neutral as possible so you can evaluate and enjoy the true sound signature of your headphones without additional coloring of the sound.  But nothing is perfect, and you have variations of sound being skewed either toward the more revealing or smoother/warmer side of neutral.  To my ears, P2 has a tonality which keeps the balance between these two worlds.  Also, it has a very impressive technical performance with a sound being layered, transparent, and resolving.  The sound is dynamically expanded, doesn’t feel compressed at all, and has a fast-transient response of the notes, and black background, especially when you compare SE (3.5mm) to BAL (2.5mm) HO where I hear a little improvement with higher res files.  And it also nicely expanded in terms of the soundstage where the width and the height are only limited by the tuning of your headphones/earphones.

In a few discussions with the original P1 owners who asked me about the sound of P2, I sensed a bit of a disappointment from some who had expectations of a warmer, thicker, musical type of sound they got used to with the original line up of Plenue DAPs.  I guess everybody has a different sound preference, but in my opinion the P2 is a very noticeable upgrade from PM2 which I’m quite familiar with, where PM2 is smoother, warmer, not as layered and not as revealing.  If you don’t take JetEffect into consideration, PM2 would make a great pair up with a more revealing or neutral IEMs, but P2 neutral-revealing signature is more versatile to pair up with headphones/earphone of any sound signature and without a need for JetEffect.

That’s a reason why lately P2 became my go-to DAP (and I’m aware I said that in the past about other daps) where I don’t have to think if I’m using balanced or single ended cable, or to worry if IEMs needs more driving power due to lower sensitivity, or to worry about hissing due to high sensitivity or low impedance.  As a matter of fact, the hissing level when paired up with Zeus XRA is very mild – impressive, considering I usually keep P2 in high gain (headphone setting).  The dynamic volume range of high gain covers everything I currently have, from sensitive IEMs to more demanding planar magnetics and high impedance open back full size cans.

Pair up.

In my pair up test I had P2 set in high (headphone) gain, and noted volume level in every case.

UERR (v73) – nicely expanded (soundstage) neutral detailed sound with a natural revealing tonality; the signature is very well balanced with a neutral extended bass (nice rumble), layered detailed mids with a plenty of revealing details, and a crisp well defined treble.

VEGA (v56) – expanded soundstage, warm upfront sound with w-shaped signature where I hear emphasis in all 3 bands, yet it’s not exactly balanced but w-shaped.  Powerful, fast, well controlled bass, organic revealing mids, and a crisp airy treble.

Xelento (v59) – very nicely expanded soundstage, balanced detailed signature with a natural tonality, deep sub-bass rumble with a fast, punchy articulate mid-bass, layered revealing mids with a natural detailed tonality, and well defined crisp airy treble.

W80 (v54) – nicely expanded soundstage, balanced signature with a natural detailed tonality, nicely extended sub-bass rumble perfectly balanced with a moderate-speed mid-bass, smooth organic mids with a nice retrieval of details, well defined moderately crisp treble with a little bit of airiness.

Zeus XRA (v49) – very nicely expanded soundstage, balanced revealing signature with a slightly bright tonality, great sub-bass extension and punchy mid-bass, layered revealing mids, slightly forward in presentation with a brighter tonality, crisp airy treble with plenty of sparkle, a touch of sibilance.  Very mild hissing!

Zen earbuds (v100) – expanded soundstage, natural organic tonality with a nicely balanced signature, neutral extended bass with a nice mid-bass punch, natural smooth detailed mids, well defined crisp treble with a natural sense of airiness.

W900 (v65) – expanded soundstage, balanced smooth signature with a natural detailed tonality, deep extended sub-bass rumble and fast mid-bass punch, full body natural mids with a great retrieval of details, and well defined crisp extended treble.

U18 (v60) – very nicely expanded soundstage, natural revealing tonality with a perfectly balanced signature, great bass extension with a layered sub-bass rumble and fast articulate mid-bass punch, neutral revealing layered mids with a natural detailed tonality, well defined crisp treble with plenty of airiness and well controlled sparkle.

T5p2 (v82) – nicely expanded soundstage, natural smooth tonality with a balanced signature through leaning a little more toward v-shaped due to mids being pushed a little back, warm extended bass with a slower mid-bass punch, spilling a little into full body lower-mids, organic natural upper mids, a bit nasal vocals, and a well-defined crisp treble.

EL8C (v98) – expanded soundstage, revealing balanced signature with a brighter more analytical tonality, neutral extended bass, lean lower mids and analytical revealing upper mids that has a little metallic sheen but no sibilance, treble is very crisp and airy, a bit too much sparkle.

PM-3 (v87) – nicely expanded soundstage, smooth balanced signature with a warmer tonality, good low end extension with a nice mid-bass punch, full body clear detailed organic mids (a bit too smooth), well defined crisp treble.

R70x (v107) – very nicely expanded soundstage, smooth balanced signature with a natural warm tonality, extended neutral low end with a nice sub-bass rumble and good mid-bass punch, neutral organic mids with great retrieval of details, and well defined extended treble with a natural sense of airiness.

Comparison.

In this comparison, I used multiple pairs of IEMs (U18, Zeus XRA, W900, and UERR), volume matched, in order to have a more accurate comparison without a bias of one specific headphone tuning.

P2 vs LPG – soundstage is very similar, though between 3.5mm ports LPG is a little wider, while P2 balanced matches it perfectly.  Tonality is nearly identical, very similar transparency as well, though LPG has a touch better layering and maybe a bit stronger mid-bass.  But overall these are very similar, and if you add to the equation touch screen and JetEffect, P2 has an upper hand in this comparison.

P2 vs Opus#2 – a very similar soundstage expansion and a similar tonality, though #2 is a touch smoother in comparison.  Both have an excellent dynamic sound, with a good layering and separation.  Maybe #2 has a little more transparency, but P2 comes very close.  The only thing I noticed that P2 has a slightly faster and tighter mid-bass which in case of #2 is a bit more relaxed in comparison.

P2 vs DX200 w/AMP2 – soundstage is very similar, and with AMP2 now DX200 doesn’t sound as reference which gets it closer to the tonality of P2.  DX200 is still a little bit brighter and has a bit crisper upper frequencies, while in comparison P2 has a touch more body and a bit smoother.  But other than that, they have a similar bass impact, neutral revealing mids, and crisp well defined treble.  DX200 w/AMP1 had a more reference, closer to analytical sound, while AMP2 brings it closer to P2 performance.

P2 vs X7 w/AM3 – soundstage has a lot of similarities.  P2 tonality has a little fuller body in comparison to a slightly thinner sound of X7, where P2 is actually a little more musical.  Both have a similar sound transparency and dynamics, while X7 has a touch better layering of the sound due to more airiness between the layers.

P2 vs AK120ii – P2 soundstage is a little wider, and in comparison, P2 sound is more dynamic, with better layering and separation, and a little more revealing tonality, while AK is smoother and sounds less dynamic and has not as clear layering and separation between layers of sounds in comparison to P2.

P2 next to PM2.

Flagships galore (DX200, Opus#2, Plenue 2, LPG).

Other connections.

USB DAC.

I’m not a big fan of using a dedicated DAP as USB DAC because I usually look at a DAP as a portable standalone source.  If you are not happy with an audio output of your computer, there are plenty of dedicated USB DAC choices.  But in some cases, when you are traveling and don’t want to bring multiple pieces of equipment, using DAP as USB DAC has its advantage.

Here I found P2 to pair up flawlessly with my laptop, and improved a sound quality of my aging T430s Thinkpad.  The drivers were installed automatically, no need for a manual installation of any 3rd party files.  One very useful feature is when you connect P2 to your computer, when connection is detected you have a choice from the touch screen to either select USB DAC or USB MSC (for a file transfer).  Once you select USB DAC, my laptop volume was set to the max and I was able to adjust the volume from P2.  The only negative here, DSP effects are disabled when in USB DAC mode.  When connected, red led light indicated that P2 was charging while being used as USB DAC.

Optical Out.

P2 vs P2 + Micro iDSD (optical) w/T5p2 – a great pair up where you get just a little more transparency with Micro iDSD, but otherwise a very similar sound.  It’s a great option to be able to use P2 as a digital touch screen transport to drive external DAC/amp supporting optical input since P2 3.5mm HO port is shared with optical digital output.  In my previous tests, I always found optical link to be superior in sound quality to electrical coax cable.

Line out.

Plenue DAPs don’t have a dedicated Line Out port, and instead they suggest to set volume to the max in high gain where the HO acts as LO.  I tried that and to my surprise found no distortion when paired up with E12A external portable amp.  As a matter of fact, P2 vs P2 + E12A w/T5p2 was a great pair up, actually with a very similar sound, maybe having a touch more neutral transparency which indicates to me that P2 internal head-amp doesn’t color sound too much.

Conclusion.

When I started to write P2 impressions, my original intention was to post a few lines and pictures describing some initial thoughts about Plenue 2 DAP.  As I started to type, it became a mini review where a few lines turned into a few paragraphs, and then a few pages which I published a couple of months ago.  In there I mentioned that I do need to spend more time listening and testing P2, but “can tell you with certainty that my final opinion will not change too far from my initial impression which is very positive.”  Now, with a full review finished, I can honestly say that I’m still very impressed with this new Plenue DAP.  From my experience, earphones/headphones have more longevity when it comes to being considered as “favorite”, while due to a frequency of new releases, DAPs often become a flavor of the month.  But I have been using P2 for a few months already and still can’t put it down, though I do have to admit I prefer it more with IEMs rather than more demanding full size headphones.

I use a handful of DAPs in my daily rotation, each one with some unique sound signature suited for different IEMs.  To my ears P2 almost combines the best of them into one very compact design.  I really like the sound signature of P2, the design ergonomics, the performance of the new DAC, and the addition of balanced output which has a rather subtle improvement with a bonus of me being able to use balanced cables without an adaptor.  Plus, you still have access to JetEffect which I find to sound very natural.  Furthermore, it has a great touch screen interface with a customizable GUI, can be used as USB DAC, and turns into a digital transport with optical output.  I do like a wheel-driven volume control and find the second multi-function wheel to be an interesting concept, though for now I don’t find it as practical.  And of course, like other Plenue DAPs, you shouldn’t expect wifi or BT wireless connections – this is a pure audio player.  Having the focus on audio performance is great, but I’m still hoping that one day Cowon will surprise us with Android based dap and wifi streaming.

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Manufacturer website: Cowon, Available on Amazon.