[paulkemp]

Why dont you guys write a review? That way you can atleast weight your statements and have a conclusion, where you can conclude how the sound is for the price, weak / strong points etc. 

 

[hans030390]

Quote:

You make some good points,and I will leave it at this:
I still dont like the fact you say I(and others)have "over hyped " these(that is my main beef with you,not your opinion of the HM5's themselves)...its simply our opinion of how the HM5's sound,like yours is your opinion of how they sound. I'm a musician for over 40 of my 46 years(no joke),and own a studio over 20 years,so I think I have a little bit of experience with sound as well,but I'm not as scientific as you are,just blunt and honest with how I see it. We may never agree on this and thats fine with me,the whole point of reviews is to get different opinions and to hopefully make a good decision based on that. 

Fair enough. I'm also a gamer, so "over hyped" is a phrase I use commonly. I attach a less harsh connotation to it than others might. If I were to say that I think people might be a bit overly positive about them (as manveru worded it), would that not seem so bad? I think they're great and very competitive for their price point, but I would find it difficult to say they go much farther beyond that. Not sure why everyone is getting their panties in a bunch over the "over hyped" thing. I'm happy that everyone else likes the cans as much as they do!
 
Really, it all comes down to that bass hump and dip at 300Hz. If the dip was filled out and the bass around 100-200Hz was toned down just a notch, they would be fantastic. Unfortunately, I consider these flaws to be enough to nudge them out of the "neutral" category and keep them from being truly excellent headphones (if price isn't a factor).
 

 

[manveru]

There's nothing wrong with having a positive opinion, but nothing is 100% perfect is all. Admittedly it's a small list, but it seems to me that every headphone I've listened to so far each has one fatal flaw which prevents them from being right or well rounded. The SRH440 had a spike at ~10 kHz, DT770 have a super metallic and unnatural treble, HE-300 (rev1) have a huge scoop out of the midrange and some bumps around 2 kHz, the HM5 have a dip/hump in the bass, etc... But of course that doesn't mean they don't have their strengths either, and I've had a positive experience with all of them. That's why I use an EQ on everything.

 

[Swoosh]

I haven't noticed "bloated bass" so far. This may because I'm using them unamped at the moment. They sound nice with rock, and they perform decently with bass heavier music like dubstep or rap. I'm sure a good amp will do wonders for these headphones.

 

[dragon2knight]

Actually we did that already,lol. We just agree to disagree on some of the HM5's aspects is all. I use a portable amp full time now as well,so the sound is exactly the way I like it to be all the time...not something I can do with many much more expensive headsets I own. And to be fair,hans030390 says that the sound is fine except for a bass spike he notices in the lower bandwidth...and thats all really. This isnt a deal breaker for someone with an amp to eliminate that spike, or for those of us that really dont notice it at all. some ears are a ton more sensitive than others,so some stuff mentioned in these reviews might not be audible to all folks,and that too is fine. The funny thing about headphone reviews is that everyone hears different things when reviewing them based on what he or she has experienced in the past,so not everyone is going to agree on every point made...and again,thats not a bad thing at all. In fact thats the point I tried to make earlier about having different points of view about the same item,it presents a nice round view of the item being reviewed,and we all benifit from that
Quote:

Why dont you guys write a review? That way you can atleast weight your statements and have a conclusion, where you can conclude how the sound is for the price, weak / strong points etc. 

 

 

[hans030390]

Quote:

Actually we did that already,lol. We just agree to disagree on some of the HM5's aspects is all. I use a portable amp full time now as well,so the sound is exactly the way I like it to be all the time...not something I can do with many much more expensive headsets I own. And to be fair,hans030390 says that the sound is fine except for a bass spike he notices in the lower bandwidth...and thats all really. This isnt a deal breaker for someone with an amp to eliminate that spike, or for those of us that really dont notice it at all. some ears are a ton more sensitive than others,so some stuff mentioned in these reviews might not be audible to all folks,and that too is fine. The funny thing about headphone reviews is that everyone hears different things when reviewing them based on what he or she has experienced in the past,so not everyone is going to agree on every point made...and again,thats not a bad thing at all. In fact thats the point I tried to make earlier about having different points of view about the same item,it presents a nice round view of the item being reviewed,and we all benifit from that

Are you saying I don't run my equipment with decent gear? And don't forget the 300Hz dip. That bothers me, too.
 
I run everything I have through my Auzentech Bravura, which is actually a really nice sound card with a nice, proprietary headphone amp (not just a basic opamp). I use my S:Flo2 when I need to be mobile, which works extremely well for basically any headphone that doesn't absolutely need a powerful amp (such as my modded T50RPs).
 
Sure, they're not the best, but I make sure I maximize my gear with the budget I have. I plan on eventually picking up an O2 amp. Still not sure what DAC I'll use with it, but the Bravura should be good enough until I find the perfect match. Or I'll wait for the desktop version of the O2 amp with the built-in DAC. Either way, my source gear should be good enough for the HM5s.
 
 

 

[Jseeker]

I suppose hans isn't the only one noticing the dip. I found a review on the FA-003 by NA Blur from http://www.head-fi.org/products/fischer-audio-fa-003/reviews and that's quite the same thing he mentioned:
 
Sound:
The sound is definitely dark with an audible midrange attenuation. I heard this easily while listening to John Williams' Double Trouble. It sounded clear and neutral until I switched to my AH-D2000's and realized the a big dip in the midrange of the FA-003. The soundstage is wider than the Creative Aurvana Live and the highs were crisp, be it slightly rolled off.
 
Edit: Apparently the codes here don't work the same as the forum I frequent

 

[paulkemp]

Ok, but I'm not willing to accept them as the same cans when that isnt proved yet. The Fa-003's are ranked very high and also have about 150 pages of people sweet talking them. But that doesn't really make any difference when I'm not one 100% sure they are the very same. Elements, materials or even cables may have been switched in the rebranding process. However ulikely. For me the important part is that there are some issues with them, confirmed by two of the owners. Two out of the few who has then now.
 
Let me add that this will not impact my listening experience. But it is good to know of these things. We are all different anyway, and experience these things differently. 

 

[TBEagl]

Quote:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/491632/review-fischer-audio-fa-003-a-neutral-champ/105#post_6764639
if these are identical to the FAs then they'll open up after some more burn in. Ironically I've been following the FAs since LFF post his review but never got the chance the buy them until now

 


Quote:

I suppose hans isn't the only one noticing the dip. I found a review on the FA-003 by NA Blur from http://www.head-fi.org/products/fischer-audio-fa-003/reviews and that's quite the same thing he mentioned:
 
Sound:
The sound is definitely dark with an audible midrange attenuation. I heard this easily while listening to John Williams' Double Trouble. It sounded clear and neutral until I switched to my AH-D2000's and realized the a big dip in the midrange of the FA-003. The soundstage is wider than the Creative Aurvana Live and the highs were crisp, be it slightly rolled off.
 
Edit: Apparently the codes here don't work the same as the forum I frequent

I mention that one of the same people who claimed they heard a bump said it disappeared after a hundred hours of burn in. But I guess some people choose to skip over certain post.

 

[Jseeker]

Sorry that I missed the post because I was just skimming through the 14 long pages before I do my assignment.
 
Well yea we'll see after 200 hours of burn in time but I don't think it matters much. It might be dark and has that big dip but whether or not they are negative points it's hard to judge. I believe it all lies on the buyer's expectation. You'd expect to pay a hundred dollars or so getting a neutral pair of headphones but if it does't turn out as what you expected of course it will be a disappointment. Not an issue for me though.

 

[dragon2knight]

Quote:

Ok, but I'm not willing to accept them as the same cans when that isnt proved yet. The Fa-003's are ranked very high and also have about 150 pages of people sweet talking them. But that doesn't really make any difference when I'm not one 100% sure they are the very same. Elements, materials or even cables may have been switched in the rebranding process. However ulikely. For me the important part is that there are some issues with them, confirmed by two of the owners. Two out of the few who has then now.
 
Let me add that this will not impact my listening experience. But it is good to know of these things. We are all different anyway, and experience these things differently. 

It should be noted that one of the two says that the spike subsided after a full burn in...so its down to one again It sounds,on here and on mp4nation.net,that you wont be happy until parts start falling off the HM5's,lol. No set of headphones,at any price,is all things to all people,period. There will always be someone(or a few someone's)who will find something wrong(or right...) with a certain pair of cans...but that dosent mean that the cans in question are garbage,just that they arent what the reviewer(s) thought they would be when they bought them. I always go with the vast majority vote personally,as that means to me that more folks are getting what they want(or not,it does go both ways).Am I sounding cryptic? Yep.Thats the nature of reviews,just take what you need and leave the rest behind,its the only way
 

 

[kingpage]

Quote:

 

 
When somone hypes something, he's basically misleading others intentionally into thinking the thing is better than it actually is. You're certainly entitled to an opinion, but not one that makes people think the others are "wrong". Yes, the word hype has the implication that the person is wrong and he knows it as well. It is the word that made people feel that way, whether you knew it or not. No matter how many times, you said you're spoiled by the T50RP, or you might be wrong, or you might have got a bad pair, etc. It still would hurt... I guess now you've learned that you should only comment on another person's opinion, not the person himself (even if not specifically).
 
If you really want to get all scientific and objective about this, you may want to send both the HM5s and T50RPs to Tyll at innerfidelity. So far, what the HM5s owners have done is only subjective listening. There's nothing remotely scientific or objective with that. You could argue that you were looking at FA-003s' graphs, but that's not even your pair, or the confirmation of the link between FA-003s and HM5s has not been established and even if they were the same, we still don't know anything about your modified T50RPs. We can only take your word for it.
 
Your T50RPs could be as perfect as LFF's (left) or Smeggy's, or like Teej's (right). (Now if I held that against you similarly, and say that you're overhyping your T50RPs when there's recessed bass and massive channel imbalance, that would be wrong of me; same situation, not confirmed pairs and peudo-scientific approach. Do you see what I did here? Not so different if you can think in their shoes)
 

 
Can we move on as I suggested a few posts back? You have nothing else to prove. We believe what you're hearing (at the very least I accept your assessment, though not your insinuation of over-hyping), so what's the problem? (rhetorical)

 

[keanex]

As I said I received my HM5 with over 250 hours of use that dragon2knight put on them and another 50+ before I worked on my review. I'm using my iBasso D4 which is more than enough power for these. I've run frequency sweeps and so forth and I don't hear any odd bass that any of you are describing, nothing I could even consider bloated at all. I've listened through near flawless masters of Dark Side of the Moon (Black Triangle and the MFSL versions), The Beatles 2009 remasters, and Rage Against the Machine's debut album. All are noted as having excellent audiophile quality mastering and mixing. The HM5 definitely reveal flaws in mastering and mixing and I see no glaring flaws in these.

 

[manveru]

 

For me the important part is that there are some issues with them, confirmed by two of the owners.

 
It's not really an "issue" per say, just a coloration of the sound not many other people seem to have mentioned previously. It may or may not be a problem for somebody depending on their tastes. It doesn't bother me too much for instance.
 
 
 

As I said I received my HM5 with over 250 hours of use that dragon2knight put on them and another 50+ before I worked on my review. I'm using my iBasso D4 which is more than enough power for these. I've run frequency sweeps and so forth and I don't hear any odd bass that any of you are describing, nothing I could even consider bloated at all. I've listened through near flawless masters of Dark Side of the Moon (Black Triangle and the MFSL versions), The Beatles 2009 remasters, and Rage Against the Machine's debut album. All are noted as having excellent audiophile quality mastering and mixing. The HM5 definitely reveal flaws in mastering and mixing and I see no glaring flaws in these.

 
Maybe it flattens with more time? That would be nice. Everyone would have gotten worked up for nothing, haha.

 

[atomikn00b]

Quote:

 
I can give these a shot with ATH-M50's, though I'm by no means experienced.
 

please do. i thought about getting those before i got these. would like to hear your comparison.