Looks interesting, seems like a good competitor to say the ue11 or um merlin at a huge discount.

I'm trying to decide between these and the TS842.  And Average Joe if you're married or have a gf  you have the coolest one ever lol.

haha... i was wondering with the 3 bass drivers, will the bass overpower everything else? I tend to favour neutrality
 
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kimchee said:

I'm trying to decide between these and the TS842.  And Average Joe if you're married or have a gf  you have the coolest one ever lol.

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xtasi said:

I thought it was very nice to see Mitch take in feedback and improve upon his product.
 
Great review, and one more custom for me to consider in the future.

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Thanks, and yes, I too am very happy Mitch was willing to work with me and turn out a surprisingly technically capable product.
 
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rangerid said:

Interesting indeed....
 
Joe this is sort of a side question, out of all the CIEMs you have heard and what I can gather from all your amazing reviews, would you say the SA43 has the best soundstage/transparency/isolation, the SE5way best resolution/detail?

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I will answer this in my multi-thread since it pertains to different CIEMs.
 
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kejd said:

How would you rate the comfort compare to other iem you own? And can you compare its build quality specifically to UERM and jh16?

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Comfort of custom IEMs is based on the shell fit, so they are the same as my other custom IEMs that have a great fit!  I take my own impressions and have become pretty good at doing so!  As far as build quality, all the acrylic CIEMs I have are similar, a shell with sockets and sound tubes.  The sound tube is on par with the JH and UE and the sockets are similar in quality.  If the JH and UE has shell quality scores of 6, the 5X would be a 5; nothing technically wrong that would cause issues, but tiny bubbles vs. a slightly cleaner shell.  But the JH and UE shells aren't as good as some of the other shells I have such as the Rooth and Thousand Sounds shells.
 
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eclipes said:

wow a 5 driver custom for around 500 dollars.... definitely worth looking into... thanks for the great review

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No problem!
 
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dyl1dyl said:

Looks interesting, seems like a good competitor to say the ue11 or um merlin at a huge discount.

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I haven't heard the UE11, but the demo unit of the Merlin I heard has a fairly different sound signature which is much more bass heavy, but I really can't say for sure with a demo.  The 5X doesn't lack treble extension or brightness, but it is not overly bright.
 
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kimchee said:

I'm trying to decide between these and the TS842.  And Average Joe if you're married or have a gf  you have the coolest one ever lol.

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Two very different sound signatures, although an impedance adapter with the TS842 will bring it closer to the 5X, but still, there are a good deal of differences.  What specifically are you looking for in a CIEM and what IEMs do you currently prefer and why?
 
And I am marries and yes, my wife is pretty cool 
 
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eclipes said:

haha... i was wondering with the 3 bass drivers, will the bass overpower everything else? I tend to favour neutrality

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Nope, the bass does not overpower anything else unless the master is recorded that way.  The 5X is very transparent and will reproduce what you give it pretty accurately.  The 3 drivers give the 5X dynamic range.
 

The words you used to describe the TS842 as an upgrade to those that love the TF10 seems perfect to me.
 
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average_joe said:

 

Thanks, and yes, I too am very happy Mitch was willing to work with me and turn out a surprisingly technically capable product.
 

I will answer this in my multi-thread since it pertains to different CIEMs.
 

Comfort of custom IEMs is based on the shell fit, so they are the same as my other custom IEMs that have a great fit!  I take my own impressions and have become pretty good at doing so!  As far as build quality, all the acrylic CIEMs I have are similar, a shell with sockets and sound tubes.  The sound tube is on par with the JH and UE and the sockets are similar in quality.  If the JH and UE has shell quality scores of 6, the 5X would be a 5; nothing technically wrong that would cause issues, but tiny bubbles vs. a slightly cleaner shell.  But the JH and UE shells aren't as good as some of the other shells I have such as the Rooth and Thousand Sounds shells.
 

No problem!
 

I haven't heard the UE11, but the demo unit of the Merlin I heard has a fairly different sound signature which is much more bass heavy, but I really can't say for sure with a demo.  The 5X doesn't lack treble extension or brightness, but it is not overly bright.
 

Two very different sound signatures, although an impedance adapter with the TS842 will bring it closer to the 5X, but still, there are a good deal of differences.  What specifically are you looking for in a CIEM and what IEMs do you currently prefer and why?
 
And I am marries and yes, my wife is pretty cool 

 

Nope, the bass does not overpower anything else unless the master is recorded that way.  The 5X is very transparent and will reproduce what you give it pretty accurately.  The 3 drivers give the 5X dynamic range.
 

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If that is what you are looking for, the TS842 is capable!  

Do you think it would be a big upgrade if I go from w4 to this?

Im thinking about upgrading from my Um3x..

 
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kejd said:

Do you think it would be a big upgrade if I go from w4 to this?

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kejd said:

Do you think it would be a big upgrade if I go from w4 to this?

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The size of the upgrade will be subjective based on your fit with the W4, source, and music, not to mention I don't have the W4 for direct comparison so that is hard for me to answer accurately.  I did compare the Fabs with the W4 and the Fabs were more spacious with better detail and you can read how the 5X compares with the Fabs in my review for the differences.  Personally I find a good deal of improvement with most of the custom IEMs I have reviewed so I would imagine the bass power, space, transparency, and liquidity of the 5X will result in a more realistic presentation.
 
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eclipes said:

Im thinking about upgrading from my Um3x..

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I can see where the UM3X would be a somewhat close match to the 5X, however the UM3X has a pretty small soundstage to my ears leading to congestion not to mention a bass heavy, darker presentation that is mid-centric.  The 5X soundstage is definitely larger, but it is not as mid-centric and has a much better balance across the spectrum.  However, there are 2 camps out there: people that think the UM3X sounds better and those that think the SM3 sounds better; I think the SM3 sounds better because it has a much more spacious sound to me.

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average_joe said:

The size of the upgrade will be subjective based on your fit with the W4, source, and music, not to mention I don't have the W4 for direct comparison so that is hard for me to answer accurately.  I did compare the Fabs with the W4 and the Fabs were more spacious with better detail and you can read how the 5X compares with the Fabs in my review for the differences.  Personally I find a good deal of improvement with most of the custom IEMs I have reviewed so I would imagine the bass power, space, transparency, and liquidity of the 5X will result in a more realistic presentation.
 

I can see where the UM3X would be a somewhat close match to the 5X, however the UM3X has a pretty small soundstage to my ears leading to congestion not to mention a bass heavy, darker presentation that is mid-centric.  The 5X soundstage is definitely larger, but it is not as mid-centric and has a much better balance across the spectrum.  However, there are 2 camps out there: people that think the UM3X sounds better and those that think the SM3 sounds better; I think the SM3 sounds better because it has a much more spacious sound to me.
 
 

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Great description Joe!
 
 

thank joe, but luckily with the silver dragon iem cable, I was able to get a larger soundstage with the um3x so they're not as congested now..good buy based on your reviews. So im just wondering is the better balance across the spectrum worth the jump?
 
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average_joe said:

The size of the upgrade will be subjective based on your fit with the W4, source, and music, not to mention I don't have the W4 for direct comparison so that is hard for me to answer accurately.  I did compare the Fabs with the W4 and the Fabs were more spacious with better detail and you can read how the 5X compares with the Fabs in my review for the differences.  Personally I find a good deal of improvement with most of the custom IEMs I have reviewed so I would imagine the bass power, space, transparency, and liquidity of the 5X will result in a more realistic presentation.
 

I can see where the UM3X would be a somewhat close match to the 5X, however the UM3X has a pretty small soundstage to my ears leading to congestion not to mention a bass heavy, darker presentation that is mid-centric.  The 5X soundstage is definitely larger, but it is not as mid-centric and has a much better balance across the spectrum.  However, there are 2 camps out there: people that think the UM3X sounds better and those that think the SM3 sounds better; I think the SM3 sounds better because it has a much more spacious sound to me.

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While I am not sure the magnatude of the difference the SD cable makes with the UM3X, I would imagine it will sound closer to the SM3 with the cable.  But then the aud-5x also improves with the SD cable, so I would imagine it would maintain its advantage.  However, if it is worth the money is something only you can decide and again the improvement will be dependent upon your gear, music, and fit.  I think the 5X outclasses the SM3 and the treble sounds brighter, but not overly so.  The whole presentation is different as the 5X has a more traditional presentation.

awesome review, how does it compare to the em3pro?

Thanks!  The EM3 Pro has quite a different presentation as it is much thicker and more mid-forward with less bass depth and not as spacious nor as bright in comparison, but can recreate a 3D ambiance better than the 5X (and almost everything else for that matter).  They both do different things right and they are close technically.

Well first post after lurking Head-Fi for a year.
 
Your review pretty much takes the words out of my mouth for my sound signature. I'm pretty tight on money so buying various IEMs to figure out my sound taste was not possible. So jumping from merely my Shure SE215/HFI 580 to the Aud 5x is very huge, this could be the worst decision or one of the best. I listen to various hip-hop artists (Blue Scholars and similar) and currently expanding to electronic and acoustic, so what you described is spot on to what I wanted when looking for either an IEM or custom IEM. This will probably be my first and last purchase in the "high end" IEM world for a couple years to come if these bring a big grin to my face when I use them with my J3.
 
I'll reply again once I receive them mid December!