[Review] Brainwavz HM5, A New Neutral Champ - Page 47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Lust Envy 

The E10 has a 3.5mm line out. All you need is a 3.5mm to RCA cable.

Grab a cheap, but quality one from monoprice

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeckyll 

+1

 

Easy to get carried from one upgrade to the next (especially spending time around here) without allowing time to 'stop and smell the roses'. :)

LOL. I know, I know. I need to take a chill pill and simmer.

I do use my HM5's everyday for around 10 hours or more (work/home/bus/ferries) and I do love them! I just know there are "better"/"different" sounds that I would like to hear and try. I play drums, bass, acoustic/electric guitar (for over 10 years) and about five months ago I bought an MPC1000 and have been getting into music sampling and production SO I do know what sounds I like and don't like. I just don't know all the technical mumbojumbo yet. Give me some time. I'm a fast learner!

Thanks for not ripping me to pieces and making me feel like a complete moron......yet 

Cheers! 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Lust Envy 


No, it's the same exact thing, only the cable joins left and right channels in the cable, whereas RCA cables keep them separate only to be joined inside your amp. They do the same thing, and unless you have garbage cables, shouldn't be any difference whatsoever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveSatch 

Grab a cheap, but quality one from monoprice

Thanks for the help! I'll do some research.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021815&p_id=5596&seq=1&format=2

Damn! $1.82! What a steal. I've heard that gold/copper plated have slightly different sounds and they seem to only carry gold plated. Personally, I don't think it would make much of a difference.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RipR0arin 

Damn! $1.82! What a steal. I've heard that gold/copper plated have slightly different sounds and they seem to only carry gold plated. Personally, I don't think it would make much of a difference.

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it. Monoprice really does have tons of amazing deals though. I've bought several cables from them, dirt cheap but great. Their headquarters is actually located 10 minutes down the street from my house!

do they still have giveaways?

I ordered mine from MP4Nation Jan 18th, and I still haven't heard anything.

The order is still in the status Processing.

They do still have the notice that it's a preorder, but I see that some have already got theirs.

When did you people order yours?

When they were in stock (before the new pre-order) I ordered mine December 27th to the States, received them on February 3rd.  They were trackable until they left Singapore for me via ezyparcels and singpost. It was never trackable via USPS once it was shipped out on January 8th. When I picked it up at the post office, I saw why it wasn't trackable...their scanner couldn't pick up the barcode underneath the packaging tape.

Be patient, they are worth the wait.  If you ordered from the new pre-order, I'm sure you'll be notified when they are actually shipping out...I believe they have a general time line listed on their site. 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishelenius 

I ordered mine from MP4Nation Jan 18th, and I still haven't heard anything.

The order is still in the status Processing.

 

They do still have the notice that it's a preorder, but I see that some have already got theirs.

 

When did you people order yours?

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishelenius 

I ordered mine from MP4Nation Jan 18th, and I still haven't heard anything.

The order is still in the status Processing.

 

They do still have the notice that it's a preorder, but I see that some have already got theirs.

 

When did you people order yours?

If you're talking about all of us who've already had them for a while, those orders were probably placed in December. Since that first run they've been out of stock and taking preorders. I was lucky on delivery time. I ordered on Dec 15th and they were at my doorstep (California) in about a week.

I've got the same setup.  Except I'm using the low gain and the volume is plenty loud before I even get the pot to "2".  I'm curious as to what you find the high gain gives you other than additional loudness, as I've definitely read that from a technical/distortion standpoint one should be doing the lowest gain setting that is adequate.

They are better amped vs unamped, but the difference isn't night and day.  Soundstage/separation is the main difference.

For the poster that asked about these vs M50s, I wrote about it before so won't go into as much detail, but the short version is:  HM5s are flatter and better extended in the low end with a far superior soundstage.  M50s had a bit more bass quantity, and the highs were less fatiguing (HM5s don't smooth out sibilance in certain tracks).  I said if I listened to mostly techno I might prefer the M50s, but I just threw on some dubstep in Spotify with the HM5s and was really impressed with the low end extension.  Them with the bass boost on the e10 gave me what I would call a "satisfying amount" of bass, certainly not basshead phones tho.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RipR0arin 

I've had my Brainwavz for over three weeks now. I'm not to sure how long i've burned them in but its been well over 100 hours. I am new to this whole audiophile thing but I'm defiantly hooked.

My current setup is Brainwavz HM5 with the Fiio E10 amp. I can say I enjoy the Brainwavz more amped than un amped. I find the bit of extra power helps with bass and clarity (amp set to bass on and high gain). The Hm5's are very comfy and I don't find my ears get to hot or sweaty. The build quality is good but the cups seem to have a slight wiggle where the metal band goes into the plastic.

These headphones do sound great, but I have nothing really to compare them to so I won't go in detail and make things up, lol

I really enjoy these headphones but I desire more!

(big step)
 

My next purchases are: Schiit Valhalla/230V, Beyerdynamics DT990/600 and Fiio D3 (intill I have more funds to get the Bifrost). I like to listen to rock, jazz, classical, electronica, bit of dub step, and hip-hop. I've heard good and bad things about the DT990 but great things about the 990 with the Valhalla. I listen to all my music on my PC/MAC and i've been trying to get more and more of my music in FLAC files.

*Back to HM5

Here are a couple photos I took with my iPhone of the HM5's.

Cheers!


 

 

I've been switching back and forth and I can't notice a huge difference besides loudness (like you said). BUT I want to say the bass has a bit more punch and the treble is slightly cleaner. It's hard to tell though because I have to keep turning my voluming up and down trying to match the hi and low. On hi gain my volume knob is between 1 and 2. I find that to be ideal.

"They are better amped vs unamped, but the difference isn't night and day.  Soundstage/separation is the main difference."

^100% agree^



 

Quote:

Originally Posted by RipR0arin 

"They are better amped vs unamped, but the difference isn't night and day.  Soundstage/separation is the main difference."

 

^100% agree^

Not trying to be negative here, but is it quite accurate to say that all the improvements you guys are hearing are due to amping? Since you can't isolate the amp section from the DAC section on the E10, there's no way you could really know this... Especially if your comments are based on the sound with the bass boost on. It is true in my experience however that a good amp can do very nice things for the soundstage. 

Also, I don't know if anyone else is bothered by this, but personally I find it annoying when with these headphones, being so sensitive, I can barely turn a volume knob to 8 o'clock or 8:30. In some cases this could run the risk of channel imbalance, and volume may go up in "steps" and not be as finely controlled as wanted/needed. You may want to try a resistance adapter. I've been using some with my HM5s, and now I can go up to 9 or 11 o'clock depending on the impedance used and the amp, and have much finer control over the volume level. I didn't really notice any changes in the sound, but I haven't really done any critical listening or A/Bing. They can be had on eBay for a little over $10.

Coworker of mine has an E7 which is just an amp stage.  From what I've read I'd expect the e10 amp to be better overall, but I've had a chance to check out just the amp vs. amp/dac.  Not sure why the main impact from amping is usually on soundstage (don't have much experience with truly inefficient cans tbh, might be different in that case) but I suppose "placement" gets easier for the driver when it's got plenty of power.

Regards to volume, I'd much rather get the pot to ~4 (out of 8) to have plenty of leeway in either direction, but on low gain I'm way out of channel imbalance territory, so not a big deal for me.  I could see it being a problem with a higher powered amp, but that's not so much the headphone's fault.  The tradeoff is that they sound better unamped, which seems like a virtue to me.  I don't know that there's any true advantage to having a higher impedance and/or lower efficiency other than that perhaps the hardware is easier to manufacture, and there's no real drive to get it lower because if you're spending a few hundred+ on headphones you're almost expected to use a good amp...which just means you're shelling out more cash.  As you mentioned, if you want to use them with an amp with serious gain, there's the option to add resistance.

Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by manveru 

 

Not trying to be negative here, but is it quite accurate to say that all the improvements you guys are hearing are due to amping? Since you can't isolate the amp section from the DAC section on the E10, there's no way you could really know this... Especially if your comments are based on the sound with the bass boost on. It is true in my experience however that a good amp can do very nice things for the soundstage. 

 

 

 

Also, I don't know if anyone else is bothered by this, but personally I find it annoying when with these headphones, being so sensitive, I can barely turn a volume knob to 8 o'clock or 8:30. In some cases this could run the risk of channel imbalance, and volume may go up in "steps" and not be as finely controlled as wanted/needed. You may want to try a resistance adapter. I've been using some with my HM5s, and now I can go up to 9 or 11 o'clock depending on the impedance used and the amp, and have much finer control over the volume level. I didn't really notice any changes in the sound, but I haven't really done any critical listening or A/Bing. They can be had on eBay for a little over $10.

Can anyone comment on the comfort and size of the HM5 ear cups as compared to the KRK KNS-8400?  I have tried the 8400 and while I like the sound, I have a hard time getting them to sit comfortably around my ears.

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrR0Ck 

Can anyone comment on the comfort and size of the HM5 ear cups as compared to the KRK KNS-8400?  I have tried the 8400 and while I like the sound, I have a hard time getting them to sit comfortably around my ears.

 

Thanks!

Can't compare to the KRK as I don't have those or have tried those... but the earcups for the HM5 are ridiculously soft, generously cushioned and comfortable to me.  They fit around my whole ear easily.