[Nulliverse]

Quote:

I hope they arrive soon, and do you mean Mitch?

Ha... yes - sorry, Mitch. Dale is the main man at Aurisonics.
 
Thanks Colinharding. I think my pre-purchase research was similar to your own - I was comparing Average_Joes reviews for over 9 months! But that's half the fun eh? I think I'm at a place now where I know what sigs I like, and for what reasons. In writing the 5X appears to appease many of my requirements, without specializing too much in one area. For that reason I think it'll be perfect entry-CIEM. Although the ASG-1 is not my preffered sig, it's technically very impressive, particularly for a phone at $179 (significantly more now I imagine)! Also, Dale got me hooked with his genuine passion, and plans for filter mods / dual driver upgrades.
 
Referring back to your experiences with the SM3, one of the things I always appreciated about this phone was it's musicality and immersive nature, even if it did sacrifice clarity and sparkle (two very important factors to me). Would you say that the 5X is similarly musical and immersive (albeit more balanced)? Of course, due to your above post I already know the answer... I guess I'm just looking for excuses to provoke you into unleashing one of those eloquent posts again ;-p

 

[Deviltooth]

I'm very tempted by these but I'm wondering if I'd be better served by upping my price range and getting Westone ES5s.  I wish Average Joe had a set of those so I could read an aural comparison.  Other reviews both in and out of Head-Fi have pushed me in the ES5 direction.

 

[average_joe]

 
Quote:

I'm very tempted by these but I'm wondering if I'd be better served by upping my price range and getting Westone ES5s.  I wish Average Joe had a set of those so I could read an aural comparison.  Other reviews both in and out of Head-Fi have pushed me in the ES5 direction.

Why are you considering the 5X and what is pushing you toward the ES5?
 

 

[colinharding]

 
 

Referring back to your experiences with the SM3, one of the things I always appreciated about this phone was it's musicality and immersive nature, even if it did sacrifice clarity and sparkle (two very important factors to me). Would you say that the 5X is similarly musical and immersive (albeit more balanced)? Of course, due to your above post I already know the answer... I guess I'm just looking for excuses to provoke you into unleashing one of those eloquent posts again ;-p

 
Hahaha well thanks again Nulliverse and I'll try to do my best to answer the question.  I would certainly say that the 5X takes a few chapters from the SM3 book, but more than this the 5X becomes the much needed sequel.  As the SM3 is a very immersive and musically engaging monitor, so is the 5X but with some very important upgrades.  I think what we both wanted out of the SM3 was a tad more clarity and, as you put it, "sparkle."  By relying heavily on the lower frequencies the SM3 produces a very romantic and soft sound that plays to the soul of the music more so than to a balanced approach between the top and bottom.  There is a lot of syrup in these monitors but not enough pancake (the balance of top and bottom) to go with it.  The 5X is a definite improvement here.  It manages to retain all of this soul, but on top of it dances a wonderfully articulate treble.  Picture the SM3, when you listen (or at least when I do) the music just wells out of the low end and blushes into a very nice midrange.  This low end and midrange presence are so involving that it is hard to notice the apparent lack of detail, which I'll say isn't nearly as extreme as I'm making it sound for those of you that haven't heard these monitors.  However this is where the 5X really pulls through.  In all of this space the SM3 leaves in the higher registers the 5X creates music.  I say music because it is not all harsh.  To digress a bit here, if the AKG701 presents its high frequencies like snow, light chrystiline structures that are very edgy and somewhat harsh; the 5X replicates this sound like a spring rain.  Large round drops of rain that are as refreshing as they are natural and weighty.  So again go back to the SM3's presentation with its syrupy low end and passionate midrange and just "make it rain" in the treble region lol.  That airy space that the SM3 had is now showering with treble, it's not an overbearing AKG treble but a treble that you would expect from the SM3 if it was much more present.  It's like sugar water, it has weight when it falls but is oh so sweet and delicate when your ears drink it in.  The 5X does a nice job of integrating the entire spectrum in a very round presentation both in balance and sound reproduction.  Anyway I hope I lived up to my other post haha, but definitely let me know if anything needs more clarification!

 

[v0nn]

Thats was beautiful... It brought a drool to mouth!

 

[average_joe]

 
Quote:

Thats was beautiful... It brought a drool to mouth!

X 2!
 

 

[Nulliverse]

O_O
 
Have you no mercy Colinharding!?
 
That just about qualifies as the best description of a signature I've ever read. Thankyou, seriously.
 
I think "go back to the SM3's presentation with its syrupy low end and passionate midrange and just "make it rain" in the treble region" is a huge compliment to Mitch.
 
The more you compare the two, the more the AUD-5X sounds like my perfect sig. If I'm honest, I've really missed the syrup of the SM3s in all phones I've owned afterwards, even if my appetite has been sated with copious amounts of pancake
 
How would you compare isolation, and comfort against the SM3?

 

[colinharding]

Hahaha well at times it seems that you can never have too much pancake, that is until you start pouring on the syrup and realize what you were missing!  Thanks again for the kind words as I really do try to give my honest opinion to help out, I'm just glad it is appreciated.  For comfort I really found both of them quite comfortable.  The SM3 was much more comfortable than my Etys, which tended to expand my ear canals a bit and I'd have to take them out to give my ears a breather.  It was almost akin to wearing shoes that were just a skosh to small.  I didn't have this problem with the SM3s but my ears still needed a break from time to time as it still felt like I was shoving something in my ear.  For the customs I really think it depends on how accurately they were made and this relates to the customs themselves and the impressions.  I went on a six hour ride with these in the whole time with no discomfort at all.  Aside from that I have them in quite often while at work and don't experience any discomfort.  It definitely is a different feeling having them in as apposed to universals as they go quite deep into your ear canal but after a few days you get used to the "newness."  I assume it's like those "toe" shoes that are all the rage.  Everyone says that after getting used to them it's the most comfortable thing on the market lol, but I have yet to try this as I'm not sure I'll ever get used to their noxious odor after a couple sweaty runs.  
 
The isolation is much like Average_joe's comments with the silicone ones at the head of the pack and the acrylic somewhere in the middle and he might be a bit more useful here as he's tried quite a number of these.  I used to own a landscaping company and would use my Etys all the time for isolation as they offered more isolation than the store bought earplugs and could play music to boot.  The Aud- 5X don't offer nearly as much isolation as those but it is a nice reprieve from hearing nothing but your music to hearing your music and the person yelling at you to move out of their way so they can get off the metro.  If you take the Underground (I'm not sure where in UK you are) you'll be able to hear the "mind the gap" but just barely, by comparison you wouldn't even hear the car coming to a stop on the rails with the Etys (forgot to finish that sentence first time around lol).  With music playing though, (on the Aud-5X) you'd just barely hear the car screeching to a stop and not the notices over the intercom.  As an aside to this, I also noticed that I needed about a quarter of the volume than I did before as the space between the end of the monitor and my eardrum is much smaller.  With the Etys I pushed the volume on my iPhone, for example, about halfway to a little over.  With the Aud-5X anything over halfway is more than I can handle.

 

[Nulliverse]

Are you talking Central line levels of noise, or just Circle line? Ha, just kidding... I moved away from London a couple of years ago, so no longer have to contend with the racket of a daily commute. I cycle through rush hour traffic, which all previous IEMs (barring the FX-700s) have managed to block out. But from what you say, I'll be able to have the volume lower with the AUD-5x, which can only be a good thing (given the prices of hearing-aids).
 
Very useful examples there - thanks.    

 

[v0nn]

Joe, I meant to ask this awhile ago but forgot. Anyhoo, you mentioned that you had a silicon fill at the canal. Was that an additional request? I am unsure as to what you mean by that. Is that a silicon canal like that of ciems? Thanks a mil.

 

[average_joe]

 
Quote:

Hahaha well at times it seems that you can never have too much pancake, that is until you start pouring on the syrup and realize what you were missing!  Thanks again for the kind words as I really do try to give my honest opinion to help out, I'm just glad it is appreciated.  For comfort I really found both of them quite comfortable.  The SM3 was much more comfortable than my Etys, which tended to expand my ear canals a bit and I'd have to take them out to give my ears a breather.  It was almost akin to wearing shoes that were just a skosh to small.  I didn't have this problem with the SM3s but my ears still needed a break from time to time as it still felt like I was shoving something in my ear.  For the customs I really think it depends on how accurately they were made and this relates to the customs themselves and the impressions.  I went on a six hour ride with these in the whole time with no discomfort at all.  Aside from that I have them in quite often while at work and don't experience any discomfort.  It definitely is a different feeling having them in as apposed to universals as they go quite deep into your ear canal but after a few days you get used to the "newness."  I assume it's like those "toe" shoes that are all the rage.  Everyone says that after getting used to them it's the most comfortable thing on the market lol, but I have yet to try this as I'm not sure I'll ever get used to their noxious odor after a couple sweaty runs.  
 
The isolation is much like Average_joe's comments with the silicone ones at the head of the pack and the acrylic somewhere in the middle and he might be a bit more useful here as he's tried quite a number of these.  I used to own a landscaping company and would use my Etys all the time for isolation as they offered more isolation than the store bought earplugs and could play music to boot.  The Aud- 5X don't offer nearly as much isolation as those but it is a nice reprieve from hearing nothing but your music to hearing your music and the person yelling at you to move out of their way so they can get off the metro.  If you take the Underground (I'm not sure where in UK you are) you'll be able to hear the "mind the gap" but just barely, by comparison you wouldn't even hear the car coming to a stop on the rails.  With music playing though, (on the Aud-5X) you'd just barely hear the car screeching to a stop and not the notices over the intercom.  As an aside to this, I also noticed that I needed about a quarter of the volume than I did before as the space between the end of the monitor and my eardrum is much smaller.  With the Etys I pushed the volume on my iPhone, for example, about halfway to a little over.  With the Aud-5X anything over halfway is more than I can handle.

 
Thanks for the description; good stuff!  The total amount of isolation you get and how a universal compares with a custom IEM is dependent on many things ranging from how deep you insert an IEM/how long the canal is to your anatomy and sensitivity to "sensing" noises, which is in part due to your awareness of your surroundings.  Of course, the volume of your music also comes into play as the louder your music, the more it will mask outside sounds. 
 
Quote:

Joe, I meant to ask this awhile ago but forgot. Anyhoo, you mentioned that you had a silicon fill at the canal. Was that an additional request? I am unsure as to what you mean by that. Is that a silicon canal like that of ciems? Thanks a mil.

The tip of the canal has been filled with silicone to increase the isolation.  This is similar, but not to the extent of the Starkey products which have a complete silicone fill in he shell, and the isolation is increased quite a bit by this.

 

[v0nn]

Gotcha

And this is standard? Thanks

 

[average_joe]

I thought it was standard.  Maybe colinharding can mention if he sees what looks like extra material in the canal area of his 5X (or any other owners).

 

[colinharding]

That seems to be the case with mine as well.  It's hard to tell but it does look as if they are filled in just the ear canal part, the rest is filled with nothing more than the drivers and their associated wiring.  

 

[v0nn]

Thanks for the info !