Atrio M5 / MG7 drivers - comments / mini review:
Packaging:
The recycled packaging everyone's raving about seems just fine. Easy enough to tear open and get to the goods. Lots of little baggies for the various tips and pieces. The little carrying case is pretty nice, slim and with tiny stretch mesh pockets inside for extra tips or whatever. It has a nice little D-ring so I can hook it on my laptop bag. Kind of weirdly shaped like a giant ear, though...
Style:
I got the chocolate finish. I think the brown looks marvelous, very classy. A wood grain finish would be perfection. The apostrophe shape looks a bit funky out of the ear, but it's quite natural looking in-ear. Glad I didn't get blue though
Cord:
Reasonably heavy gauge, low microphonics compared to most other earbuds I've tried. I like the right-angle plug though others might not. Not much to say here.
Comfort:
I've tried each of the tip styles (dual flange in all sizes, black and cream foamies in large only - the smalls are without question too small for me).
The medium dual flanges fit quite well and insert remarkably far into my ear canals, almost uncomfortably so. They seal great, but the large dual flanges seem to seal just as well without poking my brain in the process. I'm sticking with the larges for now. Both medium and large feel slightly irritating and I suspect will soften up with a little wear. I've not done extended listening tests but they seemed comfortable enough for at least an hour at a time.
The foamies both feel great. The cream ones have more sponge/stickyness to them - squeeze before inserting and it takes a few seconds to spread back out. The blacks are the opposite, they're quite springy and don't stay squished long. They both insert easily, though, and feel almost invisible to my ears. I wore the blacks for an hour straight and felt only a bit of irritation. They definitely win for comfort, though I've never been a fan of foamies due to the wax factor.
Isolation:
Great with all the tips. The dual flanges have a slight advantage here IMO.
Sound Quality:
NOTE: I've only had these for a few hours and have done no burn-in whatsoever, just listened to a variety of tracks and A/B'd to my old 'buds. Don't take this as audiophile gospel.
TBH, I don't have the most discerning ear. These are my first pair of $100+ IEMs. My old standby has been the TDK EB-9000 'buds that I really quite adore. They may not be worth the original MSRP but they're more than worth the ~$30 going rate. They've got gobs of bass and it's not a muddy mess either. Surprisingly clear and well-balanced for the price, with an admittedly consumerish EQ profile. They may not be reference quality by any means but they've been great for my casual use, and they'll be my point of comparison for the M5s.
So enter the M5s. To be completely blunt, on my first listen I felt a tad bit underwhelmed. This is in no doubt due to the massive hype I've observed about these IEMs, and my lack of experience/ability in high end audio appreciation. Not surprisingly, I started with bass-heavy tracks that could really make these thump, and they did quite well - but I was surprised that the bass profile was so similar to my old TDKs. In fact, the TDKs had an even more prominent and intense midbass, I would say. Sub-bass is certainly more extensive on the M5s, but overall it was not as dramatic an improvement in that arena as I'd been looking forward to. Of course quality is a huge factor, and the bass quality is outstanding. It reaches low and is still nuanced in that range - very low-end vibrations are easily distinguished and not just a big muddy mess. In general, I've preferred circum/supra-aural headphones to IEMs because the bass and soundstage just seems more natural to me. One reason I got the M5s was because of one reviewer's comments that they were hands-down the most like supra-aural headphones of any IEMs out there, in terms of bass response anyway. I'm just not getting that, personally.
Moving up the spectrum: I would describe the mids as mildly recessed when judged by a flat EQ target, but are much more recessed than my consumerish TDKs (which is understandable). Not a complaint by any means, just a fact.
Treble is quite forward for my tastes, though again I'm coming from the consumer-oriented TDKs. Admittedly, I'm not a treble freak; I get fatigued easily and these are a tad sharp for my tastes. I know burn-in should soften that up a bit though. The foamies also seem to soften these up and mitigate the fatiguing sharpness. I've noticed a bit of sibilance present on certain tracks, though it's not been an issue for me in general.
Clarity is remarkable, and I'm already picking up some nuances I've missed with my TDKs. In fairness, I also detected some subtleties in certain tracks that I heard more clearly on the TDKs - likely because of the more prominent midrange presence. But on the whole, listening to the M5s is like doing a before/after comparison of an image in Photoshop when applying an Unsharp Mask filter. The whole stereo image is just more clear and defined. Hard to put into words I guess, but that's just the image I get.
I would describe the M5s as accurate, neutral, uncolored, almost analytical headphones. That isn't a bad thing, and be clear that my opinion is biased because of my history with consumerish 'buds, which are certainly more "colored" (but, dare I say, musical). I'm sure many more experienced and discerning listeners will have a more unbiased opinion about them, but that is how I hear it. The M5s are also a bit fatiguing, to my ears at least. A big part of that is probably the treble push, which as I mentioned I'm not fond of, but we'll see if they smooth out in time.
Conclusion:
This review is coming out more negative than I intended -- I don't dislike them at all, and they are truly great IEMs. I think it's more of an issue of expectations and experience. I have no reference point in the high-end arena with which to compare them.
Keep in mind I've not given these a real long-term listening test, nor any kind of burn-in. I'm sure things will only improve in hear. I have no doubt after a couple weeks I could go back and listen to my TDKs and be horrified at their sound
Tune in next time for my review of the BlueLink bluetooth receiver -- I promise to not be such a noob in that one, because unlike high-end IEMs, I am quite the discerning expert when it comes to computer gadgets!
Jesse
