Design and features:This model has customizable touch controls with play/pause/call answer/end, next track, previous track, noise cancellation on/ambient sound on, digital voice assistant activation, and Bluetooth volume default settings. Either earpiece can be used alone for one ear monitoring of Bluetooth streamed audio and telephone communications but will only monitor one channel for stereo sources (left earphone monitors left channel only, right earphone monitors right channel only). It has an automatic pause feature - audio pauses when one earphone is taken out of ear and resumes when both are put back. It supports unspecified digital voice assistants when used with Bluetooth devices that have those capabilities and that, if needed, have the appropriate apps installed. The charging/carrying case has a built-in rechargeable battery that the manufacturer claims can be used to recharge the earphone batteries for an additional 18 hrs. of playtime for a total of 24 hrs. The free Denon Headphones app download for Apple and Android mobile devices adds additional features and software updates.
Sound quality:We found the PerL delivers excellent active noise reduction and sound quality that falls in the very good range - it reproduces music and voice very well although it does have some noticeable sonic quirks. The overall sound can be summarized as a bit bassy, grainy, and somewhat sizzly. With the noise cancelling mode engaged and the Denon Headphone app Personalized feature set to Default and the Immersion (bass adjustment) mode set to "0" (the as received state of the headphone) the bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes deep, but is a bit prominent and boomy. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is fairly even, a bit grainy and etched (a bit more sharply outlined then it should be), and a touch sibilant. The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is extended, but a bit prominent and somewhat smeared and sizzly (sounds that should have a delicate shimmer have a sound reminiscent of bacon frying). The sound has a good sense of liveliness and is somewhat open--sound-wise it almost seems like you don't have anything plugging up your ears. It also does a decent job of recovering the room ambience of recordings. The Denon Headphone Personalized feature and Immersion mode adjustments have a noticeable effect on the sound. These earphones provide excellent noise reduction across the entire frequency range with the low frequencies reduced the most. The noise canceling feature produces a very faint rush that can be heard when there is no audio program to drown it out.
Comfort and Fit:As typical of in-ear models they produce a sense of pressure in the ear canal opening that might be uncomfortable for some.
Small
Users with small ear bowls might find that the earphone body feels bulky in their ear bowl and that they stick out too far and feel like they may lever out of place, but that they will stay in place during casual use and are stable during fairly vigorous head movement.
Medium
Users with medium sized ear bowls will probably find that this model stays in place with no problems for casual use and that they are stable during fairly vigorous head movement.
Large
Users with large sized ear bowls will probably find that this model stays in place with no problems for casual use and that they are very stable even during vigorous head movement.
Incidental contact with the touch controls can cause unintentional playing, pausing, or noise canceling/ambient sound monitoring toggling.
