Well, I finally have the HM5s in hand and will be sure to put up a more detailed review once they are burned in and I have time to use them for extended lengths.
Intially: I'm absolutely impressed on all fronts.
Comfort wise, they are outstanding. The thick pads more than balance out the clamping for my noggin.
Sound wise, coming from my very limited foray into quality audio the thing that I'm noticing first and foremost is the clear separation of instruments, especially intermingled guitars in both rock and folk. It opened up an entire new world with Santana compared to the Bose Triports I had been using previously. I'm most surprised by how deep and textured the bass is, especially in downtempo and house electronica but just as impressive with the bass drum in a singer songwriter song as well. The surprise comes from choosing a more neutral headset compared to some of the more bass heavy suggestions.
Right now, I'm running my entire collection on shuffle and seeing what grabs me. I would have never chosen Santana as a test piece but the track that came across noticeably impressed itself upon me. The more I think about it, Husker Du is one that hasn't come across yet that I may have to throw in here. There hasn't been a genre that really hasn't been covered and impressed thus far everything from Basement Jaxx (house) to Rancid (Punk)to The Roots (Rap/Hip Hop) to The Rolling Stones to Miles Davis to Frank Sinatra and Beck's singer songwriter material and the Dead sound mighty fine as well.
Thank you so much for the advice and suggestions guys. I'm thoroughly impressed.
