Disclaimer: I was contacted by a Brainwavz representative to try out a free pair of S5 IEMs under the condition I would write a review for them. I received them in mid July and have sampled them over the past two weeks or so. I listed the purchase price as their current listing of $99. I have tried them from my dedicated, desktop headphone system and from my phone.
 
Overview - Build Quality, Looks, Comfort, Etc.
 
The Brainwavz S5 IEM has a decent amount going for it at face value. They look good, feel solid, are comfortable, and they include a nice set of accessories with plenty of tips to choose from and a carrying case. I usually have troubles getting IEMs to fit and seal right with my ears, but the S5 doesn't give me these problems for some reason. That's a plus. Aside from sound, which I'll get to in a second, these headphones do well across the board. I'll refrain from elaborating on those aspects more, to avoid wasting your valuable time, and move on to the sound quality.
 
Sound Quality
 
This is where I was nearly immediately disappointed with the S5. Coming from headphones or speakers with a known good, fairly balanced response (i.e. HD600, HE-500, Paradox, Mad Dog, Alpha Dog, VSonic GR07...you name it), the S5 sounds overly bassy, has missing midrange information, and has artificial, thin, and uneven sounding treble.
 
To break it down a bit further, they are certainly bass heavy, but thankfully they aren't totally bloated or mushy sounding. They do extend well below and have plenty of impact, but it's simply overbearing on the rest of the sound spectrum. The treble also has some peaky spots, giving the headphone an overall sort of U-shaped sound signature. I'm usually OK with a bit of a "fun" sound signature and am able to appreciate non-neutral products with ease, but the S5 trends towards simply sounding weird and "low-fi." They have a very distinct cupped sound to them.
 
The midrange subjectively has a suckout in the 1-3KHz area. This can sometimes help a headphone sound more relaxed, but it's a bit much in this case and offset by problems elsewhere in the audible spectrum. I noticed a broad peak around the 4-5KHz area and two sharp peaks around 9KHz and 12Khz or so. The areas in between these peaks similarly come off as troughs (i.e. missing information). The S5 does extend fairly well into the upper treble but doesn't sound airy due to the booming bass.
 
Overall, this gives the S5 a very booming and yet sharp sound. Fat and thin at the same time. Treble comes through as thin and artificial and makes cymbals sound wrong. The midrange and treble unevenness causes male vocals to lack proper body and a sense of breath, and they get pushed back into the mix more than they should. Guitars tend to take a backseat and lose their sense of body, though certain areas of detail are highlighted due to peaked areas. Bass drums and bass guitars dominate the scene along with the peaky mid and treble areas and any voice, instrument, or noise that occupies the peaky areas of the frequency spectrum. Lastly, the headphones are so-so in terms of resolving power. Some details come through OK, but a similar amount of details get smeared together. Again, I suspect this is due to the uneven nature of the frequency response.
 
At the very least, I didn't find them fatiguing or hard to listen to. I have no doubt some will like this sort of tuning, but it is simply not for me and far off a reference target. But, given they're an IEM I can actually wear comfortably without fit and seal issues, I might be able to find a use for them. I know some have said they got a better sound with the S5 by having a less-than-perfect seal, but A) that defeats the purpose for me with an IEM and B) they just fall out of my ears without a perfect fit and seal anyway.
 
They look good and seem like a good deal at around $100, but I just don't think the sound quality is there on the S5. You might like them, but I can't say that I do.

---

Brainwavz S5 IEM Review:
 
Disclosure:
 
I was provided a set of Brainwavz S5 IEMs free of charge in exchange for my honest review.  That is what follows below.  Feel free to ask any questions in the comments.  
 
My Preferences:
 
When it comes to IEM’s I own several pairs, and I prefer the sound of a balanced armature drivers.  I love an IEM that is neutral with a hint (+3db or so) of bass boost to add some warmth to it, as well as an IEM that provides good detail retrieval.  I am treble sensitive, and really don’t care for any IEM that gets sibilant, or that has a large treble spike.
 
My go to IEM’s are my re-shelled CIEM Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10, a pair of Westone UM3X’s, and a pair of Audeo PFE012 with the green filters.  However, I occasionally reach for the classic, and often recommended, Shure SE215.
 
As is the same with most of you, I have a very eclectic taste in music, so it’s easier to list what I don’t listen too.  I avoid modern country, most EDM (i.e.: house, trance, and anything played at a rave), and over produced top 40 pop music (those damn loudness wars!!!)
 
Specs:
 
Lifted directly from the Brainwavz site.
 

1. Transducers/Drivers: Dynamic, 10 mm
2. Drivers: Dynamic, 10 mm
3. Rated Impedance: 16 Ω
4. Frequency Range: 18 Hz ~ 24 kHz
5. Sensitivity: 110 dB at 1 mW
6. Rated Input Power: 20 mW
7. Cable: 1.3 m Y-Cord, Copper
8. Plug: 3.5 mm, Gold Plated

 
It’s worth mentioning that the controls on the cable control the volume, and play/pause audio without issue on iOS devices, most Android devices (including my LG G3, Nexus 5, and Samsung Galaxy S7 phones), and used to work on my MacBook Air until the recent update to Sierra.  Since that update, the controls work occasional, and that is just odd.  I have not been able to test the controls with the new iPhone 7 / 7+ that no longer has a headphone jack, so no clue what happens if you use it with the dongle that Apple includes (a coworker just got the iPhone 7 so I will see if I can test it out on there and update the review if/when I know more)  
 
The S5 cable includes Brainwavz “Clearwavz” mic and for the few calls i have made with it, the other party had no complaints about how I sounded, and said I my voice was clear.
 
Accessories:
 
Copy and pasted again from the Brainwavz product page.
 

1. Earphone Hardcase
2. 6 sets of Silicone Ear Tips (S M L)
3. 1 set of Comply™ Foam Tips T-400   
4. 1 Shirt Clip
5. 1 set of Silicone Bi-Flange Eartips
6. 1 set of Silicone Tri-Flange Eartips
7. Velcro Cable Tie
8. Instruction Manual
9. Warranty Card (24 month warranty)

 
Of note, Brainwavz redesigned the S5 recently, and in addition to some changes to the cable, it no longer ships with the really nice 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapters that had been previously included. I was told by the Brainwavz rep that no changes to the sound signature of the S5 were made however.
 
Build Quality:
 
In short, the S5 is built like a tank.  The IEM housing is metal, and seems very durable.  The flat cable is strong, and has a now reduced Y-split that is no wear near as chunky as it used to be.  The strain relief at the straight 3.5mm jack, Y-split, and at the business end all seem overbuilt, and have yet to fail.  I would imagine these IEMs would last a long time, and survive being in a pocket if that is how you tote around your earphones.  
 
While build quality is very solid, and in fact, among some of the best I have used, I personally dislike the flat cable, as it is two wide and heavy, and causes fit issues (more on that next).  But, the cable has xero microphonic issues, so it has that going for it.
 
Fit / Confort:
 
I am lucky to have ears that aren’t too picky with most IEMs, and I rarely have fit issues.  Most IEMs I have tried over the years fit ok to really well, and comfort isn’t usually an issue.  I typically prefer Comply foam tips to silicon ones, but it really does depend on the IEM and how the tips change the sound signature.  With the S5, the fit, for me, is best with the medium transparent silicon tips, and is just ok at best.  Comfort is mediocre due to the large, heavy, flat cable, as it almost never stays wrapped around my ear.  Being that these are intended to be worn over ear, that is a bit of an issue.  For the cost ($99.50 USD as of Oct. 1, 2016), I REALLY wish Brainwavz saw fit to implement a replaceable cable.  I would much prefer using something like the really great braided MMCX cable that MEE Audio uses with their Pinnacle P1.  I have that cable on my SE215 and love it.
 
While the fit is just ok, the comfort (minus that chunky cable around my ear) is above average.  I am able to wear the S5 for longer periods of time, usually around 4 or so, without any issue.  They never really disappear into my ears like the PFE012 or my CIEMs do, but they never seem to cause pair or discomfort either.  I also ever experienced any issues with the S5 falling out of my ears, even when I was more active while wearing them.  Due to the weight of the cable though, I am not sure these would be good for gym use.
 
Sound:
 
I have had the S5 for a few months now, and it has seen quite a few hours of use.  I tried the S5 right out of the box, and after a couple of days, ran it (read: burn in) for about 24 hours.  I didn’t notice any real change in the sound after burn in.  
 
I have used the IEM direct out of my Samsung Galaxy S7 (no EQ), with a FiiO E7, FiiO E17K (no EQ), with a FiiO E12A IEM edition, my MacBook Air, iPad Air 2, and with a SybaSonic SD-DAC63057 (no EQ). 
 
Primary source for music has been Google Music, along with some lossless FLAC files. 
 
Bass:
 
Brainwavz markets the S5 as a detailed, high end IEM with “smooth” bass.  I am not sure what “smooth” bass means, but what I can say is that the S5 lacks sub-bass presence, and has a large mid-bass hump that throws kick drums, floor toms, and bass guitars to the forefront of a lot of tracks.  That mid-bass hump, unfortunately, bleeds heavily into the lower midrange, causing the low end spectrum to sound muddy.  The mid-bass hump present on the S5 does make it sound very dynamic and punchy, however.  With the lack of sub-bass I wouldn’t recommend the S5 for serious bass heads, and with the mid-bass hump I wouldn’t suggest them for those that prefer a balanced sound signature.  If you love top 40 radio play though, go on, these may be for you.
 
Midrange:
 
As mentioned, the lower mid-range suffers thanks to that mid-bass bleed.  Upper midrange is the strong point for the S5 however, yielding very pleasing vocals from both males and females.  Crunchy guitar rifts come through very nice.  While the midrange is palatable, it is recessed, and the S5 tends to have a mild v-shapped sound signature.  
 
Treble:
 
The upper frequencies on the S5 are slightly elevated past neutral, and with that comes the occasional sibilance. Cymbal heavy songs can have a tinge of sizzle to them that isn’t pleasing or natural sounding.  The elevated treble does add a bit of air to the sound signature though which helps purvey a greater sense of detail retrieval.  While the lower end may have somewhat muddy bass, the detail the S5 offers in the upper midrange and treble is a little above average.
 
Imaging:
 
The S5, for me, falls short with below average imaging performance.  That mid-bass hump kills it for me.
 
Soundstage:
 
As an IEM, I expected an narrow soundstage and that is exactly what the S5 gives you.  The music always seems to be inside your head.  
 
Conclusion:
 
My first impressions when pulling the S5 out of the box was very high.  The S5 exudes such great build quality, and I thought for sure they would haver the sound to back it up.  Especially at the pricepoint of $99.50.  Boy was I wrong.  That mid-bass hump and sibilant treble make these a no go, and I can’t really think of a good reason to recommend the S5 for purchase.  For the asking price of almost $100.00, one can do much better with the likes of the Shure SE215, RHA750 (sure, $119, but its in the ball-park), V-Sonic GR07 (again, close at $129), and others.  Even better, the budget IEM landscape has exploded recently with some really great value for price options that would be a better choice than the S5.  For instance, I much prefer the sound from Brainwavz own Jive IEM to the S5 and I got it on sale for $15!  For me personally, I put the S5 in a draw and use the case for a pair of VE Monk +.  

Brainwavz S5 Quick Review
 
Thanks to mp4nation for the sample.
 
Full Review at http://www.head-fi.org/t/730586/brainwavz-s5-review
 
Brief:  Where the only thing flat about them is the cable.
 
Price:  US$100 or £60 at today’s exchange rates.
 
Specification:  Transducers/Drivers: Dynamic, 10mm, Rated Impedance: 16ohms Closed, Dynamic, Sensitivity: 110dB at 1mW, Frequency range: 18Hz ~ 24kHz, Distortion: <= 0.3% @ 110dB, Channel balance: =< 1dB (at 1000Hz), Rated input power: 20mW, Maximum input power: 40mW, Plug: 3.5 mm 45-degree gold plated, Cable length: 1.3 meters Y cord (CU/Ag) PUR, 1 year warranty, Dimensions (Packaging): 160 x 135 x 38mm, Net Weight: 10g, Gross Weight: 140g
 
Accessories:  1 x ComplyT-400 medium foam tips, 6 x Pair silicone tips (S/M/L), 1 x Bi-Flange silicone tips, 1 x Tri-Flange silicone tips, 1 x 6.3mm audio adapter, 1 x Hard carrying case, 1 x Instruction manual & Warranty card
 
Build Quality:  It looks and feels most sturdy.  The buds are aluminium so short of stamping on them should stand significant abuse.
 
Isolation:  Quite good.  By dynamic standards it’s one of the better so should suffice for most use cases and normal day to day activities.  Not really flight to New Zeeland stuff but would do dandy for short haul flights.  Naturally easily enough to make you a road stain of you don’t look where you’re going.
 
Comfort/Fit:  Exceedingly good.  The angle they sit at is just perfect for my ears and even the flat cable didn’t get in my way.  Full marks.
 
Aesthetics:  Visually they are fine, a bit nondescript but..... mostly I’m miffed they are painted.  I would have much rather had lovely bare aluminium.  Oh well.
 
Sound:  Well I am sorry to say but they just weren’t for me.  The bass is big, roundly rambunctious and moved enough air to get rather tiring to my delicate little ears.  The bass isn’t bad per say but it’s just too voluminous and eager to waggle its big fat ass all over the place.  My ears are sensitive and pressure sensitive (I have crap sinuses and its hayfever season.)   With all that air movement it got really tiring and then the lower range treble spike kept leaping out and the recessed mids.  It was hiding the bits I wanted and spiking just where I didn’t.  I’m sure my sister would love its big, jiggley, fat lower end and the excitable upper but it was killing me.  It’s a wants to hurl itself about and force you to party whether you do do or not and its distant yet thickened mids wasn’t for me.
 
Value:  Its sturdy, comfortable fitting and has heaps of thick, heavy bass.  I can see why some would certainly want it.
 
Pro’s:   Weighty and potently heavy bass.  Solid construction.
 
Con’s:  Bass dominates and mids lack any air or presence.

Brainwavz S5

Disclaimer: I’d like to thank Brainwavz for contacting and offering the review sample.

The Brainwavz S5 is the latest addition to the Brainwavz stable of in-ears. It takes design cues from is sibling S1 but refines them for a more elegant and cohesive aesthetic. It eschews the flashier colors of previous Brainwavz models for a more traditional but stately scheme of simple black and gray.




Design/Build

The S5, like the S1, is built like a tank. The dark gray, slightly rubbery cable is a wide and thick flat cable with oversized and extremely robust black Y splits and strain reliefs. The housings are all metal with shiny black paint with plain white lettering that simply says Brainwavz. While I have no doubts about the construction quality and durability of the S5 package, at the $99 price point, I’d like to see a little more premium feel and elegance to the cables and Y-splits. I’m sure there’s room to offer a bit more aesthetic value here, while not sacrificing much in the way of durability.




Accessories

The S5 comes with the now standard black and red carrying case, which is on the thicker side of cases but is needed for the bulkier than average Brainwavz cables. Brainwavz offers a nice selection of tips, including: 3 sets of black single flange silicone with narrower bore exits, 3 sets of gray single flange silicone with wider bore exits, 1 set of black dual and 1 set of triple flange silicones, and 1 set of Comply. While the dual flange offers me a little better frequency response, due to a looser seal, I prefer the ease of proper fit with the single flange tips; I particularly find the gray singles to provide the best balance of sound over the black singles. The S5 also comes with a 1/8 to 1/4 adapter.




Specifications

Brainwavz lists the S5 specifications as follows:

1. 10mm Dynamic Driver
2. 16 ohm Impedance
3. Frequency Range: 18Hz-24kHz
4. Sensitivity: 110 db @ 1 mW
5. Cable: 1.3m/Y-Cord/Flat/Copper
6. Plug: 3.5mm Gold Plated
7. Fitting: Over Ear Style
8. Warranty: 24 Months

Sound

The S5 signature is highly reminiscent of the Panasonic HJE-900 and JVC FX700 - Balanced and V shaped. The S5 comes across as rich, powerful and upfront. Bass is boosted throughout the range and reaches deep into sub bass territory; although it is not as bassy as its S1 sibling, it is still well above neutral. The center of the midrange takes a bit of a back seat the powerful bass and forward treble. There is slight recession around 1.5k to 2k but by 3k is back up in a sharp rise in the lower treble to approximately 5.5k. This peak gives the lower treble a very forward presence in the mix- lots of sparkle and just occasionally a hint of sibilance. I also pick up a bit of lower treble resonance here, that extends treble decay and slightly blurs resolution. After 5.5, the treble has one more peak much further up, around 8.5k to 10k, depending on fit depth. After about 13k the S5 begins it’s steep roll off. The S5 definitely seems tuned to ‘Rock Out’!

Comparisons

vs BA200

1. BA200 is more linear and neutral.
2. S5 is pretty V shaped in comparison with much greater bass quantity from sub, mid and upper bass.
3. S5 treble is much brighter, especially at 5.5k, where I pick up some resonance and extended treble decay. BA200 cymbals sound more realistic and articulate.
4. S5 sounds bolder, more aggressive and forward.
5. BA200 takes a couple more clicks of the volume to reach the same levels.
6. BA200 vocals take more of the focus in presentation when compared to the S5, which tends to put bass guitars and cymbals on equal footing with vocals and occasionally overpowering them.
7. BA200 has pretty good distortion guitar bite but S5 have more bite, crunch and edge, due to the rise in FR between 3 and 5.5k. The S5 can really rock out with the various metal genres.
8. BA200 sounds more open but S5 sounds bigger/taller and more powerful. More of a rock arena feel.

vs RE400

1. Vastly different presentations and it takes some time to readjust; RE400 sounds over damped upon immediate change over from the more forward and brighter S5.
2. While the RE400 is much more linear, it has a dip centered at 3k, whereas the S5 is climbing there to its peak at 5.5k, which greatly changes the tonality of vocals between the two. Even though RE400 vocals are more forward and S5’s much more recessed, after a quick change from the S5, the RE400 vocals can sound strangely hollow for a few minutes making the comparison somewhat challenging.
3. S5 seems unbridled with raw power next to the more reserved and controlled RE400.
4. RE400 has much thinner note compared to the thicker, much bassier S5.
5. RE400 lets the vocals lead you through the song; the S5 lets the bass line and drum beat lead you through the song.
6. Toms have more snap on the RE400, which have a tendency to get shadowed in the mix with the S5.

Conclusion

There is a lot of stiff competition in the $99 price bracket and preferred sound signature should be a top priority. However none will have the durability and robust build of the S5, which will lend itself towards a better solution for a workout or other outdoor activity IEM. While Brainwavz continues to offer excellent value for the purchasers’ dollar, in future $100+ models I’d like to see Brainwavz put some focus towards a more premium aesthetic in both material and design with cabling, plus perhaps a signature geared a little more laid back and smooth but without losing clarity and detail, while being more on the neutral side of presentations. With the S5, Brainwavz has taken the S1 signature and design to the next level with improved bass control/texture and midrange clarity, while preserving the rich, bold and powerful house sound Brainwavz has amassed in this current line of newer products.

you know the original price of this one, a rock solid $100. can you feel it ? yees, there's a bad review is coming...

let's take a look at what brainwavz says for it's own product, one thing comes forward: "smooth bass". there was a "powerful bass" for the S1. so this is what S5 suppose to deliver: "smooth bass". so, is that true ? i can say yes, there's a very very very small difference between this two basses. the S5's bass is a little "crippled" compared to S1. there's nothing more to say about this. it's completely unnecessary, weird "feature". but despite this, it's bass performance still one of the top performers, so there's not much to complain.
 
now, let's continue with the treble... first, i was pretty disappointed about it's treble performance (with S1's too). i was stopped using these products for sometime. then i gave S5 another chance after some months passed, don't worry i'm not going to talk about burn-in or another harry potter thing. i just find out that i forgot to reduce 8khz on these earphones somehow. i'm an EQ guy, i do not do such mistakes, but i'm also a human being and i'm slowly aging...
 
unfortunately S1 was already sold by the time, i could only find a chance to try it with S5 and it responded very well. after reducing 8khz, i got a stunning treble clarity. this was the closest performance to R3 among other brainwavz products (but it's still not a R3 of course). but it also carries the downsides of R3, which is, the lack of the aggresion. so it's not something to beat Ostry KC06A, but it's still very good. but here's the thing... S5's price is too much. for this price, for this treble, i'm very sorry but i cannot say this is ok. but it could be ok for S1's price.
 
about the S1 vs S5 comparison, if S1 also responds this 8khz correction at the same level with S5, then this is going to be bad news for S5 owners. because they spent their extra dollars for nothin'. these devices treble performances was very very similar (just like the other aspects), so i expect S1 to respond the same. if i'm going to buy something from brainwavz S series again, i'll definitely go for S1.
 
oh and the worst part isn't here yet, the mids... just like the S1, it's mids are still not one of the top performers unfortunately. their acoustic a little small in size, causing mids to sound a little weird, instruments on the front (close to ear) are not in proper position, their soundstage are too horizontal. i tried to give more details about this soundstage on my table (in the acoustic illustrations section).  
 
visit my table for further comparisons and informations:
http://www.head-fi.org/a/table-of-earphocalypse

The 2014 Brainwavz S5:  A Single Dynamic Driver IEM
 

 
Specifications Found here:  
 
www.yourbrainwavz.com/s5.html
 

 
No measurements for the S5 were available at the time of this review.
 
Initial testing on an iPod touch ( 3rd Gen ) no EQ

 
The idea with the iPod is to ensure that the S5 is easily driven and controlled by a portable player.  The S5 having high sensitivity and low impedance is easily driven to very loud levels with a portable and the drivers were nicely controlled although the bass becomes boomy at times.  The S5 sound does improve with amping.  I also noticed that the S5 does sounds more laid back with a portable compared to my home rig.
 
Full review conducted on my home rig:
 
Sources:  PC playing 256kbps AAC or better files, Internal DVD player, iPod Touch 3rd Gen.
DAC:  Grace Design m903 ( 24 bit mode )
AMP:  HeadRoom BUDA in single ended mode
Interconnects:  Kimber PBJ RCA and Seismic Audio Balanced patch cables
 
TEST TRACKS
The Beach Boys:  Surfin’ USA
Chick Corea:  Three Ghouls, Part 1
Karsh Kale: Longing
Maroon 5:  Won’t Go Home Without You:
Michael Jacskon: Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
Patricia Barber:  Dansons la Gigue
They Might Be Giants:  Spiraling Shape
 
ACCESSORIES

 

 
 
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I will compare the Brainwavz M2 and S5 throughout this review.
My history with Brainwavz goes back to the M1 and M2 days.  I am intimately involved with listening to the M2 as it remains my budget IEM of choice.  Glancing at the spec differences between the M2 and the S5 there are a few noteworthy tidbits.  First the frequency response is reported to be wider on the S5 going from 18 Hz – 25 kHz whereas the M2 spans 20 Hz – 20 kHz.  Typically when I see a manufacturer change the specs like this it points me to the fact they are purposely altering the spec because the sound is obviously different than their other models  The S5 holds true to this fact.  In bass sounds extended and the image becomes more up-front under amped conditions.  The impedance and sensitivity are lower, but the M5 reaches ear-blistering loudness on my portables so there are no worries with using either IEM.
 
You can fiddle around with impedance calculations here:
 
http://www.apexhifi.com/specs.html
 
Read more about impedance here:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/607282/headphone-amp-impedance-questions-find-the-answers-here
 
The different between the M2, my go to affordable IEM, is significant. 

The S5 is noticeably bassier which at times becomes too boomy and during other tracks is fun.  The S5 also contains a clearer midrange, and a slightly more up-front image.  The S5 improves upon all aspects of the sound signature of the M2 except the loose bass and hint of sibilance in the upper midrange.  I had no trouble sticking with the S5 during my listening sessions as the M2 sounded too mute and laid-back from my home rig after listening to the S5.

 
LET’S TEST THIS THING
 
Check Corea’s Three Ghouls, Part 1:  This track tests quickness, realism, and treble.  It also tests how up-front sounding a headphone can be.  The speed and glistening treble were well reflected with the S5.  The track sounds quick, fun, and responsive to the cacophony of the Three Goals.  The splash of the cymbals was not as true to form and metallic as from a high-end headphone like the AKG K712 Pro, but certainly was not diminished like so many other IEM’s in this price point.
 
Karsh Kale’s Longing is a track I use for general imaging and engagement.  As Tyll will tell you sometimes how a headphone makes you feel tells a lot about the headphone itself.  The image of the S5 collapses during this track detracting from the space and echo.  The general presentation remains intact, but the spacious gravity is almost completely lost as the image becomes too up-front.
 
Maroon 5’s Won’t Go Home Without You is a track I typically use to test crossover issues with speakers and IEMs.  It also gives rise to issues with male vocals and too up-front sounding headphones.  This track reveals some blurring occurring in the S5 as well as slight sibilance.  I found the S5 fatiguing both with my portables and amped rig with this track.
 
Michael Jacskon’s Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ is a track that tests the up-front nature of headphones.  It also tests treble and vocals as with some headphones like the AH-D2000 and K701 can be harsh.  The treble was surprising soft and laid-back with this track.  I finished the entire track without fatigue.  The upper midrange became a little tizzy at times having a slight buzz sound blending in with the abundance of instrumentation, but nothing that sounded too far out of place for an IEM in this price point.
 
Patricia Barber’s Dansons la Gigue is an excellent track to test separation, bass, and female vocals.  A headphone like the Grado RS-1i struggles here as things become too one dimensional.  The bass blurs into the mids and further into the treble.  The bass sounds awesome with the S5 proving lush and full.  The detail remains clear enough to resolve the full spectrum showing only slight diminution in the upper treble.
 
The Beach Boys’ Surfin’ USA is a track I use to test how even a headphone may sound.  Much like using Pink Noise it reveals any glaring issues like a lack of midrange smoothness, imaging, and even quickness.   The S5 reveals the nice echo and general flow of the track.  However, I did notice a slight sibilance in the upper midrange heard on the letter “S” and when the words “Inside outside USA” were voiced.
 
They Might Be Giant’s Spiraling Shape is a track I use to test male vocals in detail and how the kick drum resonates.  I also use it to reveal the metallic splash of the crash cymbal.  Here the laid-back nature of the S5 becomes obvious.  The track is soft and nice to listen to without any obvious weakness, but no part of the track is especially clear nor exceptionally presented.  The splash of the cymbals is not metallic and the kick drum is a single tone making the S5 sounds unnatural.
 
FORM, FIT, FUNCTIONALITY
The cable of the S5 is flat rather than a twisted pair and the headphones are supposed to be installed into the ear and then the cable routed over the top of the ear.  The problems for me began with the flat cable having too much surface area and pulling the IEM out of ears at time in the recommended orientation.
The IEM can be worn in the cable-down configuration quite comfortably, but they protrude will passed the outer ear which may get attract some unwanted attention.  There is a lack of left/right labeling on the body and how they fit inside the outer ear when installed with the cable up is the only way that I could find which earpiece goes in which ear.  Not a big deal in most instances because we typically just want to listen to music in a general sense while on the move, but for more critical listening a simple red “R” and blue “L” would suffice.
 
The case is well designed and filled with myriad tips.  The addition of some Comply foam tips is a nice touch.  I found the bi-flange tips to be the best sealing and sounding tips.  Brainwavz also provides a slick ¼ inch adapter which easily clicks on and off of the 1/8^th inch standard jack plug at the end of the IEM.

The angle of the resonator, the part of the headphone inserting into the outer ear, was only comfortable or adequate with two of the abundance of tips.  The Comply foam tips simply collapsed into my ear canal and completely blocked out any sound coming from the driver making them an impossible combination with the S5.  This is something that the M2 does not suffer from and Comply foam tips are a huge improvement for that IEM.  The accessories cover a wide variety of tips and sizes so finding one that fits should not be an issue, but optimization may be difficult or impossible for some.

 
CONCLUSION
The S5 improves upon the sound signature over the M2 especially in the bass and presentation.  The treble extension remains in check without becoming fatiguing, but is not as extended as most balanced armature driver IEMs.  My biggest complement to the S5 is the up-front image and midrange clarity which Brainwavz keeps improving upon.

First, I’d like to thank Audrey and the folks at Brainwavz and MP4 Nation for providing a sample of the S5 for review.
 
It was late last month when I received a message from the folks at Brainwavz on Head-Fi, asking if I’d like to review their latest earphone, the S5. I said yes, not knowing at the time that I was soon to play a part in one of the biggest grassroots marketing blitzes I’ve ever seen in the world of portable audio. I was one of possibly dozens of reviewers selected to voice an opinion on the S5, so I would imagine they have quite a bit riding on the success of the S5.
 
But I’m just speculating.
 
Anyway, at $99, the S5 steps into a crowded and highly competitive marketplace filled with a number of extremely high performing earphones So, does Brainwavz’s S5 have what it takes to compete? Read on to find out.
 
Accessories: The S5 ships with a very nice black and red clamshell carrying case, a pair of comply foam tips, various silicone tips in all the expected sizes and a custom gold-plated 6.3mm adapter
 
Design and Build Quality: Before I get into talking about the build quality in general, I must get something out of the way.
 
I hate the S5’s cable. It is truly awful.
 
Now I will readily admit my dislike for flat cables in general but I’ve never met a flat cable as awful as this. It’s too wide, it lacks flexibility and it carries a lot of microphonic noise.
 
Beyond that, the metal shells, beefy y-split and good strain reliefs combined with an awful, but at least durable feeling cable make the S5 an earphone that I wouldn’t be too worried about in terms of long term usability.
 
Comfort and Isolation: Excellent isolation for a vented dynamic driver IEM and comfort is solid as well, with the light aluminum housings weighing very little in my ears. The only issue is the thick flat cable which makes them difficult to route over the ears and doesn’t provide the most ideal or comfortable fit.
 

Sound Quality

At the bottom is a strong and assertive low end that doesn’t sacrifice sub bass detail, impact and extension for the sake of bloated mid bass like you’ll find in a number of v-shaped earphones. I’ve heard the S5’s bass referred to as “too much” and I disagree. Of course, tastes may differ but the amount of bass the S5 offers is just right to my ears, maybe bordering on “too much” but not quite there yet.
 
As is inherent with a v-shaped sound, the midrange is noticeably recessed and the performance is something of a mixed bag. It has pleasing warmth and smoothness that sometimes comes off as just that and others, it sounds veiled. Not quite opaque, just mildly translucent. The lower mids are definitely warmed up by the heavy bass and that is a definite contributor to the perceived veil.
 
Treble performance is emphasized but not particularly strong. It can sound good, great even, but most of the time, it’s just decent. Nothing special, nothing that made me pay particular attention to it when I wasn’t listening critically. It’s decent. It’s solid. It’s fine. Extension is good. Clarity is good. Not much in the way of sparkle, but not much sibilance either. It’s occasionally strained and somewhat brittle sounding, but that doesn’t happen frequently enough to be particularly annoying.
 
The S5 is, however, surprisingly good at throwing sounds out of your head with its impressive soundstage depth. The width and perceived height aren’t particularly spectacular but there were times when certain sounds surprised me and I glanced to my side, as I thought for certain a tinkling of piano keys at the end of The Roots’ Tomorrow had come from somewhere beyond what I was hearing from the S5.
 
But here’s where things get weird. The S5 can go from sounding expansive and incredibly deep to closed in and somewhat “stuffy”, depending on the song. That’s because the sonic image isn’t as layered or well positioned as it can be on other earphones, even in this price range, like HiFiMan’s RE-400. Don’t get me wrong, it’s far from bad, but it doesn’t wow me either.
 

Conclusion

The S5 is stuck in a very difficult position. On one hand, it does enough right to be worth considering at $100. On the other, it doesn’t do enough right to stand out. On one hand, I love the low end, with its great sub bass extension and rich texture. On the other, I don’t really love the mids or the treble. They’re competent and appropriately detailed for the price, but nothing special.
 
Perhaps the S5 is a victim of its pricing. The $100 price bracket is one of the most harshly competitive and unforgiving. There are a ton of excellent earphones within this price range and the S5 has a hard time competing because of that. Because it’s just “good”. Not excellent. Good for Electronic, good for Hip-Hop and good for Pop but at the end of the day, just “good”.
 
But, these days, one has to wonder if just “good” is good enough. Maybe. Depends on your tastes. If you want a V-shaped sound and don’t mind one that isn’t the last word on clarity and are willing to put up with the cable, the Brainwavz S5 is a solid choice for $99.

This is my second attempt at a review of the Brainwavz S5, my first attempt ended up in the bin yesterday, as I was looking at it from the wrong angle (some forum members wanted a comparison to much more costly IEMs, which – I did, but – felt that this ended up being unduly harsh on the S5), so – this is considered by me as version 2.0 of my review of the IEMs in question...
First of all let me say a big Thank You to Audrey from Brainwavz for putting me down as one of the reviewer panel – being based in the UK, it is relatively fair to say that we come up a little short when it comes to electronics manufacturers (especially for Head-Fi’ers, notable exception being Chord), so it was with a certain amount of excitement that I put myself forward, and – well – the rest is history...

Pros:
Professional looking IEM / packaging.
Great selection of ear-tips included in the box (although fit questionable).
Great (if slightly large) carry case included in the box.
Good construction / build quality for the price.
No cable noise

Cons:
Ear-tip changing (rolling) is quite fiddly with the silicon ear-tips.
Occasionally boxy sounding bass.
Tonal balance can, if volume driven hard tip towards the treble.
Not the best isolation.

If I could change anything (for an S5 V2), strangely – the main thing I would address would be to taper the nozzle that the ear-tips fit onto – only ever so slightly, but – just enough to enable tips to fit much more easily than they do now – if it actually ends up just being me that has an issue with fitting the silicon tips, then so be it – however, I have a feeling as the fan / user base for these IEMs grows, more and more people will have the same frustrations as me...

It should be noted that – with my opinions of the below, the particular pair I have, at the time of writing - have a rather scientifically accurate 125hrs of burn-in on the drivers, using the Colorfly C3 as a source at a fixed volume of 32/40 – I am sure that most people will overlook this point completely, however – for those burn-in aficionados this has this base covered! – Additionally, for the purpose of the below, sound impressions have been observed whilst using the enclosed double-flanged silicon eartips – although, as is logical when a fit-kit is included, personal preferences will differ from person to person.

My opinion of the Brainwavz S5 is coming from a high-end IEM usage background, and what I can say is that yes, for the very competitive street price of US$100, there are some [some would say, obvious] compromises when compared to the US$1000 IEMs that I am used to, however – if you match up the S5 with a suitably good MP3 player, they can belie their price in quite a spectacular way.

The well regarded [Head-Fi] example of this in practice is using the Brainwavz S5 with the Colorfly C3 MP3 player, this allows the treble to gain a sense of control that it seems to lack without this combination, and sparkle (moreso, strangely, than using a US$500 dedicated amplifier!), I am used to a VERY open treble (being a Sennheiser IE800 user), so – on paper (and according to other reviewers opinions) the S5 should be right up my street, and – to a certain extent it is, I can certainly hear that the treble on the S5 could be considered as erring on the brighter side of neutral.

Personally, I agree with some other posters that find the bass a bit strident when the volume is turned up (my personal analogy is that it is like having a ‘loudness’ button turned on, so – this bass actually complements the sound at lower volumes, albeit sounding a little boxy compared to reference!), additionally, others have noted a 4-5khz spike, which I would be inclined to agree about, as – again – when driven quite hard, this can push vocals into sibilance.

Oddly, the biggest concern / point of note from me regarding the S5 is not about the sound quality achieved by the drivers, the build quality, the packaging, or otherwise – but, about the [silicon] eartips – as much as there is a great selection for you to try, they are very fiddly to actually get onto the S5, out of all recent IEMs I have used of late, these are by far the most awkward – The easiest way that I can find to put them on is to turn the tops of the tips inside out (to expose the centre tube), and then do a bit of a wiggle and a shuffle to get them onto the S5 ear-tube... I am unsure if it the size of the bore, or if it is the actual silicon used that causes this issue, as I do NOT have the same issue with the Comply tips (either those included, or those I already have), nor with the Monster fit-tip kit, which – whilst being a [very] tight fit, does work...

Hang on a minute though, the majority of the above is incorporating negative comments – where is the hype, the positive spin, the declaration of love? – Well, that is below...

Looking at these IEMs in their own terms (US$100 IEMs in a crowded market-place) they definitely offer something of a premium feel (my very first note when receiving the package through the post was that the holographic tape that holds the box closed promotes a care for, and a quality of product), the packaging shouts from the rooftops that Brainwavz cares about this product, this extends when you go inside the box, the enclosed heavy duty carry case, with the cable of the IEMs wound carefully inside, the premium baggy that contains the ear-tips, the well made ¼ to ½ inch jack adapter, these are all promising signs from this very up and coming company...

Ambient noise isolation is better than that of the standard Apple Earbuds (for example) but – not as good as equivalent Sony buds at the same price point, at least not with the silicon ear-tips (although this will differ from person to person, so – this is more of an opinion than a fact!) – where things do improve is with the included Comply tips, which both close out more noise, and warm the sound up a little, which could be very handy if you, like me – find the tone a little bright with the included silicon tips.

Overall, tonally (and technically), I would say that the S5 is ‘pleasant’, it isn’t the kind of sound that will offend many people, being open, and clear – my recurring theme for the overall review is that if these are driven hard (to be fair, and brutally honest, I probably listen at a volume above what 90% of potential buyers would!), then the sound does tend to get a little shrill, however – so long as you are the kind of person who wants to protect their hearing (which – I should look at doing myself!) then the S5, tonally – will reward you with a clean sound that allows the overall music mix to be apparent, without any one aspect being any more in your face than the next, there is a slightly boxy tone to the bass, but – this is more indicative of the price point of the S5, rather than a technical failing...

Soundstage is very good with the S5, one of their main selling points in my opinion (which is linked with, in my opinion, the openness of the isolation highlighted in the paragraph above) with credible panning and depth perception, this is definitely something that the designer of the S5 [drive units] has done well, hats off to them – this is a very good set of IEMs for jazz, live, or old recordings where stereo panning is very key to instrument placement etc.

Personally, I would not recommend the S5 for EDM style music, as the [to me] boxy nature of the bass does not lend itself very well to this genre, sounding a bit slow, a bit wallowy, a bit ‘false’, but – much the same as the paragraph above, keep it simple with these, jazz, live, or maybe orchestral music, and the S5 will reward you with a clean sounding listen that belies its price.

The IEMs themselves, for the price – exude a quality that big manufacturers can only dream about – whilst the flat cable design / implementation may not please everyone (personally, I find it quite a revelation, sitting flat against my shirt, and – having absolutely zero cable noise), the level of attention to detail that this shows is very apparent, and a welcome improvement over those more mass-market brands that push out very thin cables that are likely to snap / fray if you so much as look at them badly... The housings of the drive units, whilst not having the premium feel of products ten times their price, again give you a sense that they are ready to stand the test of time, whether that be in the included [premium!] case, or – in the bottom of a back-pack mixed in with a student’s sandwiches, stale socks, or – if really unlucky – both, at the same time!

Overall, I am of the belief that the S5 will be a very good first upgrade for those people who are used to using ‘supplied’ earphones with their electronic devices, one thing that the included IEMs / earbuds definitely do not do very well is treble, and – whilst the S5 may seem to be a bit treble bright, it definitely shows you a look through the window of what is available at a much higher price-point, and – if you’re anything like me, you will find that look through the window very intoxicating, and want more!

The basic moral of the story from my side is, if you listen to music at a modest volume in a library, study, or other quiet area, and can find a suitably revealing source (as mentioned above, and by other forum members, the Colorfly C3 MP3 player is a very good candidate here!), then the Brainwavz S5 can offer you a taste of high-end sound, especially if you like slower / older music, at potentially pocket money prices – these IEMs / this combination would be a very good candidate for a bedroom / bedtime setup, for listening at more restrained volumes (As a general rule, don’t listen too loudly, bad for your ear health!!).

Any questions, please shout –as there are quite a few of us that will be able to chime in with our thoughts.

Ready for a repeat? Good, because the "short list" of Pros/Cons is too short. I wanted to provide a bit more in that regard. So here's a longer Pro/Con list that should sum it up better as there's a lot going on here:
 
Pros: Warm, deep rich smooth bass, mids are not recessed with the bass presence in a significant way, treble has some sparkle to it, very detailed, good separation of channels, solid aluminum build (metal), flat wires that do not tangle and birds-nest easily, great assortment of accessories (case, tons of tips, 1/4" adapter), very efficient and will run from any source.
 
Cons: Competes with too many well established IEM's at the $100 price point, treble can seem a bit harsh depending on the recording (some spikes around 7khz~10khz noted), sound stage is good (more on the intimate side) but not outstanding (this is a challenge for most IEM's so take this with a grain of salt), wires are not detachable, no volume controls (not a con for me, but for some it may be worth noting), it's not a neutral IEM (this is not a con for everyone), more in the warm and sparkly camp (more similar to a subtle "V" frequency response).
 
On to the showcase, the Brainwavz S5:
 
Brainwavz S5 - Warm, Detailed with some Sparkle
 
The IEM market is a tough market to break into. Brainwavz is no stranger to audio and has some major players in the entry market of headphones and IEMs. The HM5 is no stranger to anyone savy about headphones with it's quality for price point. The new Brainwavz S5 aims to challenge the $100 entry point in the IEM market, which is a very challening group to rub elbows with, such as the mighty Shure SE215 and the neutral Hifiman RE-400. There is a ton of other IEM's that are similar in cost and have other features, so the S5 has to really bring something to the table to grab attention. Some of us love full size headphones even for portable use (myself included), but now and then, a good IEM is just so convenient, easy to power without all those fancy and expensive gadgets that glow in our pockets, and of course the heavenly isolation that can only be provided by an absolute air seal. Let's explore the S5.
 

 

 
Quick Reference for the TL;DR folks:
 
·         Aluminum build (not plastic!)
·         Entry price point of $100; competes with Shure SE215 & Hifiman RE-400 directly
·         Rich, deep, controlled bass (not earthquake level, but it should satisfy most bass-lovers)
·         Great mids, vocals & instruments are not recessed significantly
·         Sparkly treble, a bit harsh at times, but not overly bright (spikes around 7khz~10khz)
·         Treble comes off with a bit of congestion with the spikes in high energy tracks
·         Detail retreival is excellent, great overall resolution, no congestion in mids & bass
·         Super efficient, will run from a potato
·         Good isolation (note, airport means it's not completely isolated)
·         Flat wires, resistant to tangle and birds-nests, does not transmit tons of noise when rubbed
·         Tons of accessories (case, lots of tip types, 1/4" adapter)
 
A quick summary of what this IEM is all about: Take a neutral response IEM with a typical soundstage, not too wide, not too intimate, but some where closer to the intimate side, and then gently push the mid-bass up a touch to give it warm, while still being able to comfortably drop a controlled 25hz tone like a champ. Keep the mids appropriate so that vocals and instruments sound normal, not overlly recessed or bled out, competing for attention. And then add a dash of sparkle to the treble. Flatten out the wires, throw on some Comply tips that are included and you have the S5.
 
What Comes In the Box:
 
·         The S5 earphones of course
·         Hard case (does not fit in pocket) that seals with a zipper (crush resistant, but not crush proof)
·         Comply T-400 foam tips (these retail at $17 MSRP, can be found for $8; included)
·         6 pairs of typical silicone tips in small, medium & large (meh)
·         1 set of bi-flange tips
·         1 set of tri-flange tips
·         1/4" adapter (this is a great addition actually for using these at home with gear)
 
Overall Brainwavz has packaged a good assortment of gear. I think if you removed the case, all those tips and just included a basic set of tips to get someone started, it could be sold for a more competitive price. The accessories are probably bringing it up to the overall cost of $100. I really appreciate inclusion of the Comply T-400 tips and the 1/4" adapter. Those are the most important accessories to me because the Comply tips smash down and then slowly expand in your ear canal giving you a good seal and "complys" to the shape of your ear, without having to get custom made IEM's that cost a mint. Great tips. The 1/4" adapter, while totally useless for a lot of people who use these with their mobile devices (phones, DAPs, etc) is a very nice addition for the simple fact that a lot of us still like to use these with desktop gear to get great rendering from great gear we already have and not resort down to only using mobile geared equipment. The hard case is not crush proof. It's crush resistant, so if you sit on it, you'll know you did, and hopefully you'll not continue sitting. If you're not a hulk, you may get away without flattening the case. It will survive most things. Unfortuantely it's too big to fit in your pocket, unless you're wearing cargo pants or have big jacket pockets or hoodie pockets. But typical pants/shorts pockets simply will not take the bulky little case. It's a solid inch and a half thick and covered in a vinyl-like material that will have a lot of friction sliding in a pocket.
 

 

 
Specifics of the IEM & Accessories:
 
·         16ohm Impedance
·         110dB/mW Sensitivity
 
What does that mean? It means they're incredibly efficient and will render full resolution with very little energy requirement, so they will run from your smart phone, tablet, netbook, DAP, etc. Anything. Even a potato. That also means they get loud very quickly, so they will be hissy and noisy and reveal noise floors on anything with significant output (don't plug these into your AVR to watch movies, it'll work, but it'll sound like a hiss-fest depending on the model). Can you put these on an amplifier? Absolutely. Will they burn up or something crazy that I read about on the internet? No. I put them on a 2+ watt source at this impedance and while it was hard to get the listening level down, they certainly didn't melt or smoke or catch fire or breakdown (despite their "20 mW" rated input power; I ignore those, as most audiophile folk do anyways, and just throw them on high powered sources and see what happens in our ears). Do they benefit from an amplifier? Sure. Everything will benefit to an extent. If it's a lower powered source, it will help give you a stable signal and provide a higher minimum amount of power during the rendering of the most complex passages in a track that a mobile device may not accomplish as nicely. But that's more academic than anything. I ran the S5 on just normal devices (smart phone, tablet, DAP) and devices with amplifiers (both powerful and very powerful, even a tube amp) just to see how they behaved and sounded. Thanks for that 1/4" adapter!
 
Construction, Materials & Comfort:
 
The build quality is good. It's a metal (aluminum) hull, and flat rubber wires. The Comply tips are very comfortable because they "comply" to your ear cannal and hold that shape instead of forcing a round object into a non-round space. They're light weight, but most IEM's are. The wires are nice being flat. I've had plenty of IEM's that had normal cylindrical cables and they tangle, twist and birds-nest something fierce. These flat wires don't do that as much, they can still tangle up of course, but they're not prone to it and they just seem to fall more naturally and comfortably. These were made to really be able to swing over your ear (the place where the cable attaches to the IEM is faced forward, so that the cable goes forward and naturally is where it should be to allow a cable to wrap around your ear). A lot of us do that because it adds support to the IEM and takes a lot of the pull from the cables off your ear cannal and instead puts it on your nice flexible ear cartiledge. I have a lot less "IEM slip outs" with them draped over my ear. The cable itself feels good and durable, but you still have to be mindful. It's too bad they are not detachable cables, that would have been a huge plus. The IEM itself is not overly flashy, so you don't have a gold grill or goofy symbol flashing in your ears to people, instead, it's a classy piano black finish that simply states "brainwavz" on the side in white. I like the neutral grey cable and black IEM. It'll match anything and doesn't have that silly flashy neon green or orange mess that the kids wear these days (hey, deal with it, if you're that person).
 

 
IEM Wire Tolerance:
 
Anyone wearing IEM's can testify that if a cable rubs a surface or wriggles, it can create a noise that you can hear even when listening to audio. It can be a hugely disappointing thing. I can say that the S5 doesn't seem to have this problem in a large way. The flat rubber cable seems to tolerate a lot of movement and rubbing on your clothing. I think a lot of this has to do with how you wear it. I'm wearing the S5 over my ears, so the cables' movement is transmitted to my ear structure, and not to the IEM which is in my ear canal. This means when the wind is blowing outside, my shirt rubbing the cable, etc, I'm not getting the noise from that through the cabling to my audio. So overall, a very tolerable IEM to the environment and to phsyical contact. This is a massive plus in my book because it's one of my biggest gripes when it comes to IEM's and cabling.
 
Sound Characteristics:
 
Normally I'm very weary putting any IEM in my ear as I'm usually a near full-time full size headphone wearer, as my near permanently attached to my head headphone these days is my Hifiman HE-500 driven from a speaker amp. Putting in an IEM is a total different experience. Or at least, that's what I expect before trying it. I too can appreciate a portable IEM though that can run from my phone or my DAP and still provide good quality sound even in the ambient noise of the environmente out there. Overall I was pleased with the initial impression of the S5. It had everything I would expect at this price point. It did have a few areas of concern though, so I guess Brainwavz took a chance on a few things to see how it would be received market-wise.
Overall I was pleased with the rendering. The bass was rich, warm, controlled, not loose, fast and dropped very low with plenty of authority. The mids were fine, vocals & instruments sounded as they should and didn't sound recessed to the point of distraction. Treble was a bit sparkly, and in really complex passages I noticed a weird congestion of frequencies that after playing with an equalizer, I found they were in the 7khz~10khz regions and were subdued when lowered, so the treble definitely has some odd spikes that are hallmark of "V" shaped frequency responses, but let's call it a "gentle V" and not near the legendary ear-destroying levels of Ultrasone's treble.
 
Treble:
 
The S5 has some sparkle. Expect some fatigue if you're sensitive to treble. For those of you (like myself) that like a bit of extra treble for the sparkle, the sugar on top, the excitement, the attack, you'll appreciate the gentle spikes in most regions of treble. I noticed during complex passages with lots and lots of treble clashing frequencies, there was a congestion of sorts for lack of a better set of wording. Passages with lots of cymbals like metal with repeating crashing of those types of sounds, it was quite fatiguing even for me and lead me to look to an equalizer to figure it out. I found that the 7khz~10khz region is where it was, so I lowered it a bit, and it solved the fatigue for me. I listen to a lot of Denons & Beyers, so I'm quite used to bright treble, so this is no surprise. I generally equalize all my treble-happy headphones a bit so that my hours-upon-hours of listening time doesn't result in too much fatigue. The enhanced treble gives a sense of detail, a bit of sharpness, which can make you think it has more detail. Overall treble is fine, if not a bit bright and easily congested depending on what you listen to. I noticed in metal, I easily heard the issue. But when listening to jazz, EDM, classical and rock, it was less of an issue and sometimes I didn't notice it, at all. But anything that ventures into 7khz~10khz will certainly come across with some sting and too many occurances will just sound like a congregation of noise. So beware if you're a metalhead, this may be a problem. For everyone else, it's likely not a problem.
 
Mids:
 
The heart & soul of any renderer of full range audio is the ability to render mids properly. The S5 accomplishes this nicely. The gently increased warmth in bass and the sparkle from the treble doesn't bleed into the mids or recess the overall appearance of the mids to the point of distraction. Vocals & instruments sound appropriate. They're more on the intimate side of things, not distant at all. If anything there may be a bit of an increase on the upper mids region as it ventures into the treble. Female vocals sound right, and so do males. Overall detail is great. The mids really give you the majority of what you hear, and the S5 delivers that nicely. Listening to passages, I'm hearing little details like a breath, a foot tap, a cough even in some tracks. It's those imperfections that really let you know that you're hearing detail that someone missed or couldn't remove in the studio. Great resolution requires excellent mids, so the S5 performs here well. No genre was unjustly rendered as the mids were capable of keeping up with the fast pace of EMD, rock and metal and even some complex classical, while still keeping it moody and right for jazz. The only thing that is a bit of a concern is the slight metalic sound of the mids. It sort of reminded me of how some Ultrasones sound. Overall not a super warm organic sound, but rather a decisive sharp sound, a bit cold. The added bass balances this out for a more warm appearance, but on a track with little to no bass (like some indie jazz and some passages in classical) you'll notice the colder edge to the mids.
 
Bass:
 
If the S5 does anything extremely well, it's the bass. I know, tons of people clammer over "I need more bass!" endlessly. The S5 will actually appeal to a bit of everyone I think. The bass is very controlled, rich, and fast. It's not a loose rumble that flubs around. It's capable of tight drops, and recovers for other complex drops at the same time. 25hz is not a problem for the S5. And it doesn't roll off quietly, the bass has quite a nice bit of authority. So it will sound normal if listening to something like jazz, but if your EDM calls for a serious earthquake drop, it will deliver that. While the bass is not earthquake worthy, maybe not quite there for someone who is an absolute basshead who will sacrifice all for the purity of just bass, they satisfied me quite well (coming from a planar magnetic, D5000's, etc). I didn't feel the need to equalize for more bass. It seems to respond nicely no matter what I listen to, which is hallmark of good responsive bass. It's not neutral, there is an obvious hump in mid bass, and no roll-off that is apparent in subbass, so the bass comes across on the prominent side. A good thing if you love warmth and rich bass. Too bassy for someone looking for a pure neutral experience or an analytical experience. The nice thing is that the bass, even though it has a hump, does not bleed badly into the mids, so there's nothing recessed to the point of distraction.
 
Isolation:
 
IEM's in general isolate rather well. The S5 isolates fairly well. While listening at my listening level, I could not hear my mechanical keyboard in a meaningful way, or the click of my mouse. Really all I can hear, if I concentrate outside of what I hear audio-wise, is my breathing if heavy and of course mouth noises (teeth, swallowing, etc). Normal things when your ears are "plugged." The S5 has an airport on the side, which is how it achieves the wonderful bass that it has. This allows some communication of sound back and forth. The good news is though, like most IEM's, someone sitting next to me doesn't hear what I'm listening to. And I can block out most of the ambient sound in the environment. If you need quiet, critical, private listening, then the S5 will do fairly well. In an absolute quiet environment, it's possible for someone to hear your audio if you're listening at high levels. So keep that in mind. I've heard some kids walking around with their IEM's so loud that I could plainly hear them as they walked by.
 
Soundstage:
 
IEM's are not known for having incredible sound stage width or depth. Most closed audio options exhibit this. There are exceptions, but the S5 is unfortunately not one of them. The good news is that the soundstage is appropriate for a closed source. The separation is excellent, instruments and information is nicely isolated and separated from one another and the channels do not blend uniquely to one central blob in your head. Things do have a nice swing from left to right to give you a sense of space. Intimate is the word I'd use to describe the sound stage. Everything is fairly close and appreciable. The soundstage is not wide, so things do not sound like a cloud of 3D space. But this is very difficult to achieve on a closed source. It's difficult even on open headphones. So keep that in mind.
 
Experiments with Different Sources:
 
While it's common to use an IEM with a DAP, smart phone, tablet or small laptop or netbook, it's not common to see folk plugging their IEM's into desktop level equipment. There are some dedicated serious pieces of kit out there for custom IEM users that cost a mint, so those are a whole different level. But I wanted to give a little something extra and go into some portable and desktop sources to give an impression of how the S5 behaves. I'm not much of a portable listener, so how it behaves at my desk is important to me. Let's play with some odd sources from an IEM perspective.
 
Galaxy S3:
 

 
I still use an old S3. That's right. I tested Pandora because I don't normally use my phone for audio. My collection is FLAC and it's a pain to use FLAC on phones, plane and simple. I typically use a DAP for my portable audio. I'll get to that. When I plugged into my S3 and loaded Pandora (I have Pandora One), I just set it to one of my favorite stations that I've honed over the years. Overall it functioned fine. I pushed the volume to see what kind of current the S3 could push into the S5 and it was able to get well beyond my tolerable listening level, so there's that efficiency doing good work. Everything sounded normal, bass was proper, mids were good, treble had it's characteristic sting. I did notice a bit of lack of resolution and overall body, but that's due to the low quality stream of Pandora One and probably the quality of the internal bits and bolts of my S3. It was listenable. But not up to my normal standards at all. I'm blaming compressed streaming media for 99% of this experience. The major point to take away is that the IEM functions fine from the S3 as a source and can get loud enough without an issue, but this was to be expected based on the specifications.
 
Asus MemoPad HD7:
 

 
I have a MemoPad HD7 as a little 7" tablet. Nice, small and does the job with an IPS panel and great resolution. I've watched movies on this little guy with headphones before. The S5 seems to respond just fine. It supplies plenty of power for the efficient S5 to then render nicely the audio. Movies sounded fine. I have DIVX's of my DVD's loaded on this thing, so I watched some clips from some of my films and they had that theatrical thunderous boom and the sparkle gives it some excitement. Overall a nice experience and great for movies.
 
Sansa Fuze (V2) with & without Fiio E11:
 

 
My typical DAP is my Fuze. And old Fuze, that has line level output so that I can output it's native FLAC playback from a 32Gb SD card as a line level source to my portable amplifier for better handling of the signal, the Fiio E11 in my case. I listened to the S5 both with and without the E11 form the Fuze. Directly from the Fuze, I noticed it had more body, more overall richness that lacked compared to my S3 and MemoPad HD7. I expected this as the Fuze has fairly good output that is meant for audio and has a bit more going in it's favor in that regard. With the E11 in the loop, I was able to better control that signal and it simply helped ensure it never dipped below during the complex passages. I also appreciated the much tighter volume control that I could get "just right" which is more difficult I find with a digital volume control. The quality of the FLAC playback through the S5 is a whole other level compared to listening to the S5 on compressed streamed material on my S3 and even compared to the AC3 of my DIVX. Just a clean, rich, detailed experience. Overall very nice, pleasing. The treble is stillt here, I definitely felt the sting from some trumpets in my jazz. I didn't notice any appreciable noise floor on the E11, and had it set to low gain and no equalization used at all on either device.
 
Fiio E10:
 

 
The E10 is a staple in my book for entry AMP/DAC USB units on a dime. It plugs into my netbook and gives me a great audio experience even when I'm portable, but not using a "portable" solution. The E10 handles the S5 nicely. I kept it on low gain and played FLAC via Foobar2000. I found my volume knob between the 1 & 2 on the E10. So it provides way more power than is needed by the S5. There's that efficiency rearing it's head at us (that's a good thing for most!). When I tested the bass boost switch, it definitely bumps up the overall bass response quite a bit. The S5 handled it nicely, it sounded a lot more like a basshead solution and even simple passages had thunderous bass, so the S5 responds nicely to equalization and isn't topped out already. That's great news if you're a basshead and interested in these.
 
JDS Labs Objective 2 (O2):
 

 
Everyone and their brother has the O2. So why not? It's a good neutral amp that is typically a reference for most people. I noticed I could hear something playing even with the volume all the way to the minimum. When I turned it up to listening level, I was only able to get just past the first dash mark before it would go to untolerable levels. I couldn't listen at the second dash mark as it was noticeably too loud for me (and I like it loud). The overall sound was great. Very rich, great control, great resolution. The treble still had it's sting, but I noticed it wasn't as harsh. Odd to me. Maybe the O2 gently softens treble a bit on the hardware side of things. So that said, it's an obvious good pairing to my ears. The treble still was harsh, mind, so the S5 definitely has those spikes I mentioned.
 
Audio GD NFB12:
 

 
No one needs this level of power for an IEM. But why not? It can output 3.5watts into 25ohms, so it's blasting close to 4 watts at a 16ohm resistance, and the IEM is loaded. The result? Nothing special. That's right. They didn't melt. They sounded fine. In fact, on low gain, I was able to take the volume knob to 9 o'clock and a bit more here and there at my listening level. The NFB12 has great attenuation so you get a long throw from minimum to maximum on that volume. Very handy and allows for very tight control of overall volume. No noise floor as expected here. The sound was superb. It was rich and detailed, but the NFB I think also plays with treble. I noticed it was still on the harsh side and bright, but the congestion feature I noticed earlier wasn't as prominent. So either the NFB also gently handles treble at the hardware level or not. I did notice the bass was not as prominent. It was solid and controlled, but it didn't have the same richness that the O2 provided. Interesting difference on the S5 from a totally different source. Overall pleasant to listen to and it's a great all in one solution being a good DAC and great AMP in one unit. The S5 performed great, and it's efficiency ratings didn't keep me from using my gear.
 
Little Dot MK III:
 

 
That's right, let's put a super efficient IEM on a source that hates to give up current and loves to output high voltage. This tube amp is meant for high impedance. It doesn't perform it's best with low impedance and small loads. But who cares? Let's do it for science. I used my NFB as the DAC and output to the LDMKIII. I set the NFB's line level output to around 9 o'clock initially to see how the tubes would behave. The S5 was silent when both were at minimum. When I took the volume up, I noticed that I was able to take it all the way to nearly 3 o'clock on the Little Dot. Also, I didn't have a noticeable noise floor (I thought I would have one). That's a good thing, because despite the overall match up of the devices, amps perform best at their higher output levels. Granted, the Little Dot was not working hard to output it's small current to this tiny load. Typically this kind of match is frowned upon due to mismatched impedance and output impedance. But, despite all that academic stuff, it sounded great. Atenuated with the NFB to handle a lower line level out, the Little Dot then flexed after warming up and hearing those wonderful little chirps, pops and dings as the tubes get warm, and the S5 started to sing. Right away I noticed something, just how warm and rich the S5 sounded on a tube like this. The upper bass and lower mids were much more rich and prominent, making it super warm sounding. Too warm probably for some. Treble took a step back, so the fatigue went south. Quite a nice match for me. Granted, this is just hardware equalization ultimately, but basically it sounded to me like the treble was toned down and the lower mids and upper bass were enhanced a bit, for a very rich, organic sound. No more metallic mids. It didn't quite sound like the S5 anymore. Pretty interesting. A great listen. Vocals were very much butter and syrup and I probably liked this match up best of all. It makes me very curious to now get a portable tube amp, like a Little Bear, so that's on my want list for right now.
 
Closing Thoughts:
 
Overall I'm pleased with the S5. The accessories and it's performance are pretty close to what I would expect from a $100 IEM. While it lacks some features that I would want at this price point (detachable cables) and it has some characteristics that I'm not a fan of (metallic mids, a bit harsh in the treble), it performed quite nicely every where else. It's an earphone that is definitely source sensitive after playing around. Sure, no one is going to walk around with desktop sources in their pocket. And an IEM is hardly meant for the desktop--or is it? Even without a special source, the S5 was fantastic from my Fuze and E11 and is a very good portable setup that handles my jazz, classical, EMD, metal and indie quite well. It didn't have a genre that it didn't really handle well, it was quite capable. I did note that harsh treble showed up in passages that contained tons of cymbals, like metal. So I think if I had one warning it would be to metalheads to beware unless they love the sting of treble. The S5 should fullful most bass lovers except too. And while not analytical, it definitely had the detail and resolution that made me enjoy taking the time to have a dedicated portable audio rig, as well as high quality media to playback (FLAC in my case). I was able to definitely tell a difference between my media and streamed media, so that tells you a lot about the earphone and it's resolution, it doesn't mask good audio and it doesn't gently render bad audio sources. I still think it has a tough match when it tries to compete at the same price point as the Shure SE215 which has detachable cables and the difference in tone and character is a tough match and it comes down to one's preference. I definitely appreciate the flat cables and the overall fit with Comply tips. I guess my next piece of kit is going to be a portable tube amp by Little Bear as I simply enjoyed too much the way the S5 responded to tubes. I say that as someone who is tyipcally using a tube DAC and a 50 watt solid state speaker amp as my main headphone source. I think if I were to put a price on the S5, I'd probably put it in the $65 region for competition and ditch some of the accessories and package. Does it sound like a $100 IEM? It's pretty much there. The things that hold it back from being perfect are mainly the metallic mids sound and the treble spikes and the minor lack of detachable wires. It has too much competition at $100, so I think at a slightly lower price point, it may be a better fit. Either way, I think it's fair at $100 for the overall package and I'm pleased with the quality of sound at this point and it's interaction with different sources. I'd give it a good thumbs up.
 
Very best,

Overview

 

First I'd like to thank Brainwavz for the opportunity to review these. As others did, I received a review pair to keep. It was a very generous gesture. 
Plenty of people have already posted all the pictures and statistics you'll ever need, so this review won't contain them. 
All the usual qualifiers apply: IMO, YMMV, OMGWTFBBQ, ROFLCOPTER. This is just my experience. Yours might be different. 
 
For those that don't like to wade through the paragraphs of information that most reviews provide, here is a succinct synopsis: 
 
 

Initial Impressions: 

The first day I listed for ~6 hours. I listened for an hour at a time with an hour break in between. 
Out of the box I thought the bass was bloated, the Mids recessed and lifeless, and the highs peaky and fatiguing. I was pretty disappointed and not particularly looking forward to spending more time with them.
By the end of my last hour of listening I my hears were fatiguing and I was happy to have them out and get them on the burn-in station.
 

Methodology: 

As mentioned above, I gave them 5 hours of listening the first day to become accustomed to the signature. They were then burned in for the next week using set of burn-in tracks with mixed tracks, pink noise, and 5 minute breaks every hour on repeat. 
They were burned in for ~150 hours before listening again. During that week I listened to all of my other cans. 
 
Listening was done casually at home and while out shopping. Detailed listening was done in a quiet office. A/B testing done as well with different gear and Fiio HS2 used occasionally for quick switching of sources or headphones.
 
I was pointed to the S5 thread, but instead decided to avoid reading any reviews before posting my own. I figured it would keep me from adding any additional bias. 
 
Chains used:
1. PC USB/Optical>>>Audio GD NFB-15>>>S5
2. Fiio X3>>>(Topping NX1/C&C BH)>>>S5
3. Rockboxed Sansa Clip+>>>(Topping NX1/C&C BH)>>>S5
4. HTC One M8>>>S5
 
Tips used: Supplied tips, JVC spiral tips, Sony hybrids, Sennheiser double flange. 
 
Test tracks: Many albums in my collection were listened to in full with a number of mixed in individual tracks, but here are a few specific tracks used.
                     Track formats included 256-320kbps mp3, FLAC, WAV files and a few youtube videos for variety.
 

1. Jessica Lee Mayfield - Nervous Lonely Night : The first minute of this song can tell me a lot about a can. This will seem odd, but the pencil tapping at the start tells me a ton about timbre and a bit about depth. The generally forward vocals of the entire "Tell me" album help point out recessed mids quickly. The bass comes in strong with lots of quantity and impact to let me judge the low end presence and texture. I could go on. It's just a track that works for me. 
2. Queen - Killer Queen  :  One of my sibilance test tracks, though it's much more than that. It's another track that can really let you individually identify a spectrum of specific quality attributes or flaws.
3. Paramore - Hallelujah  : The recording/mastering, whatever, sounds just terrible on the deluxe mp3 version that I have. I use it to test how forgiving a can is. 
4. Pantera - Cowboys from Hell; Cemetery Gates; Floods : It's Pantera. No more explanation needed. 
5. Lisa Hannigan - Live from the Troubadour in W.Hollywood. :  This is a special recording that I have from a live concert I attended.  I'm frighteningly familiar with the venue/performance and how it should sound. I use this to judge soundstage, imaging, timbre and separation. 
6. Rage Against The Machine - People of the Sun :  Bass. 
7. Metallica - (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth / One/ etc - Lots of reasons
8. Lana Del Rey - Lolita/National Anthem/Carmen : Lots of reasons but in general for her vocals that can sound like thick, warm syrup. 
9. Geographer - Kites :  I like this for cohesion. Some cans make it sound disjointed or all jumbled up. 
10. Filipe Melo · Ana Cláudia // Spiegel im spiegel (Arvo Pärt) : It's beautiful. Noise test. Timbre. Naturalness. 
11. Girl Talk - Let it Out  : It's fun. 
12. Dr. Chesky - The Ultimate Headphone Demonstration Disc - Soundstage, imaging, dynamics, etc. 
13. Many, more. 

 

Build Quality & Acessories:

I'll keep this short.
The build quality is solid from tip to earphones. The flat, rubbery cable might not be your cup of tea. It can be bouncy at times when walking and add some mechanical noise. That's what the over the ear wear style and a shirt clip are for. Ample accessories and travel case. I really cannot think of anything else they should have included except perhaps a pair of wide bore tips for comparison, but they were probably after a specific tuning. 
I wasn't sure where to put this particular piece of information, so I'll go with right here - I notice a bit of driver flex in both channels. Nothing crazy like cheap IEMs, but there nonetheless.

Comfort/Fit:

Average comfort. It doesn't seem to molest my concha/external auditory meatus regions at all. Tips determine the comfort more than anything. Additionally, the cable mostly goes unnoticed over the ear but has a habit of twisting. It's best when it lies flat up and over the ear. If it twists, you'll notice.  
 

Isolation/Leak: 

Average again. Nothing special to report. They are right in the middle. Noisy locations will be noticeable. No specific issues with leak but can slightly vary depending on tips/seal.
 

Bass: 

Burn-in did seem to help the overpowering, bloated bass from my first impressions a little bit. There is solid impact. It still is noticeably loose and has a "one note" kind of texture. 
It has a mid-bass emphasis but does have pretty good extension though it's overshadowed at times. The bleed into the lower-mids is very mild and isn't much of an issue. 
When using wide bore or triple flange tips that help to tame the bass quantity, I preferred a high gain setting on the amps to keep the impact and help bring out a little texture. 
Overall, one of my least favorite types of bass.
 

Mids: 

I think people might disagree with my opinion of this part the most. I find the mids to be dry. My first though about the mids is what lead to "Succubus" part of the review title - They sound like the life had been sucked from them. Tracks that usually are bring a lot of emotion, even goose bumps and send shivers up my spine 100% of the time were reduced to zombie-like shells. Clearly I'm exaggerating with my description, but it's noticeable enough to bother me. This isn't something that might go unnoticed depending on one's headphone collection and preferences. 
The mids are slightly recessed. They are a small step back from the rest. Very non-fatiguing overall, smooth. The exception would be in the far reaches of the upper mids/lower treble.
 

Treble: 

Sparkly. These can bring some nice shine. I don't find them particularly extended, however. There are some peaks and dips that can cause an odd tonality depending on the tip/source/track. The upper mids/lower treble. If I had to guess, I would say peaks in the 1-2k and 7k regions. I found these peaks to be unbearable before burn-in. It was the part that caused me the most fatigue. Afterwards, I don't seem to have any issue. One could argue that I've adjusted to the sound, but I hadn't listened to them for a full week and had been using my usual cans. Take that as you will. 
 

Separation/Clarity/Detail:

This is where I find that these can shine. I particularly enjoy the separation. Good detail and clarity. This pertains specifically to using wide bore or triple flange tips. As mentioned in "The Skinny", fast metal guitar solos go under the microscope with these. Each note is distinguishable. The stock and Sony hybrid narrow tips tend to congest the sound a bit. They still maintain good separation, but it really takes off with other tips. It's a trade off. YMMV and I suggest plenty of rolling until you find a sound that suits you best.
 

Soundstage/Imaging:

I find the soundstage to have good width but lack depth. Sounds like everything is standing in a straight line from one side to the other. Imaging doesn't seem to suffer too much from the lack of depth. I'm still feel that positioning is good. The slightly recessed Mids might give the illusion of depth. The issue becomes very apparent using binaural test tracks as well as live recordings.
 
 

Source/Amping/Tips: 

The S5 didn't scale particularly well though I did find myself having a preference when it came to the dac/dap.
In order from favorite to least favorite:

• Audio-GD NFB-15 
• Rockboxed Sansa Clip+ (no amp) 
• Fiio X3 + C&C BH (Line 2, switches off, gain 'High').
• Fiio X3 + Topping NX1 (Low gain, high was noisy and gave no play with the volume)

 
I didn't try the clip+ much with an amp. I found that I enjoyed it solo and the one time I tried with an amp connected it wasn't big enough for me to keep testing. 
The S5 low end responds to high gain with added impact and a bit more texture. It really didn't need an amp otherwise as it can easily be driven from a cellphone to blistering volumes.
 
Tips seemed to have the largest affect on the sound. Wide boar vs narrow bore are extremely different. The rest of the tips were pretty much the same except for the triple flange. Internal auditory canals can vary greatly from person to person. So your experience with these tips might also vary from my own. I'll reiterate my previous recommendation to spend some time tip rolling. 
 

Final Thoughts:

The Brainwavz S5 offers a trade off of benefits and flaws. It doesn't match up well with my personal preferences. I could see myself using these as a benchmark for separation with the right tips. In fact, it almost felt like the music's tempo slowed and allowed me a matrix style glimpse and otherwise extremely fast sequences. The sparkle is a friendly and welcome addition to the sound, even with the occasional peaky regions. Unfortunately, the dryish mids, loose bass and lack of depth make me reconsider their place in my line up. 
I feel like there is a lot of competition in the $40-100 earphone catagory. I feel like the S5 might have a difficult time standing out among the crowd. 
 
In the future I'd like to see a tuning that tightens up the bass and reduces the upper-mid treble peak. I think that would help bring the overall timbre, especially the mids. 
 
 

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Preamble:

Recently, Brainwavz’ Pandora reached out to me and asked whether I was interested in reviewing their S5 dynamic driver in-ears or not. Although they are the flagship model of the S series and Brainwavz has released some solid quality products with a good price-performance ratio in the past, I would have probably rejected the offer if I hadn’t read a quite positive German test report of that particular in-ear not too long ago, as flat cables are one thing I really dislike about in-ears. Having the positive comments on its sound in mind, I just had to convince myself not to hate the S5’s flat cable too much and to objectively focus on its sound more, and now in retrospect, I am quite happy that I took the chance and didn’t turn the offer down just because of the flat cable, as comfort was better than I thought.
As usual, this review reflects nothing but my honest, unbiased thoughts on the product.


Technical Specifications:

MSRP: $99.50
Transducers/Drivers: Dynamic, 10 mm
Drivers: Dynamic, 10 mm
Rated Impedance: 16 Ω
Frequency Range: 18 Hz ~ 24 kHz
Sensitivity: 110 dB at 1 mW
Rated Input Power: 20 mW
Cable: 1.3 m Y-Cord, Copper
Plug: 3.5 mm, Gold Plated


Delivery Content:

The IEMs come in a dark package which has got a picture of the S5 along with a large Brainwavz logo on the front. On the back, there are a brief sound description, a listing of the included accessories, the technical specifications and some small pictures of the included accessories.
The front has got a magnetic flap, which, when it is opened, has got a description of the company and labelled cross-sectioned pictures of the IEMs, Comply Foam tips and the cable. On the upper half on the right side is a picture of the remote control along with pictures that describe how to operate it. Underneath is a small plastic window with the typical black and red Brainwavz case behind it.
Besides the IEMs and the case, there are three pairs of black silicone tips, three pairs of grey silicone tips, one pair of double-flange tips, one pair of triple-flange tips, one pair of comply foam tips and last but not least a shirt clip included.
 

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Looks, Feels, Build Quality:


The IEMs have got a flat cable with a straight connector, which is rather untypical for Brainwavz, but I see it as an advantage over the 45° connector.
The strain reliefs near the cable and the IEMs are not bad at all, though a little too stiff, wherefore I doubt that they are much effective. Nevertheless, the cable seems sturdy and durable and fortunately a chin-slider above the slim y-split is not lacking either.
The in-line remote control is made of rather stiff matte black rubber and has got three soft rubber buttons which have to be pressed deeply until the buttons are actually pressed and the input is recognised – that is clearly handled better by the Brainwavz Jive.
The IEMs themselves are made of black, halfway shiny polished metal and have each got a small vent.

So besides the colour and angle of the nozzle, the S5 IEMs are identical to the S3. In the price range of the more expensive S5 though, one could probably expect a somewhat better build quality, especially regarding the cable and strain relief.
 

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Comfort, Isolation:

Comfort is surprisingly pretty good, as the bodies are not too big, ergonomically angled and the IEMs can be worn both with the cables straight down and around the ears.
Wearing the IEMs straight down, microphonics are worse than with round cables, but are distinctly reduced when being worn “professionally” over the ears.
Nonetheless, comfort is not as good as with in-ears that have got round cables, as the flat ones are not as supple when being worn.
Surprisingly nonetheless, comfort is better than with the S3 for me and I also manage to get an immediate seal, as the S5’s tips are of better and thicker quality.

I’d say isolation is about upper mediocrity for vented dynamic IEMs.
Isolation isn’t as good as the Jive’s, but better than the M3’s and comparable to the S3’s.


Sound:

For listening, I mainly used the iBasso DX80, Luxury & Precision L3 as well as LH Labs Geek Out IEM 100.

Although I personally don’t believe in the burn-in theory with in-ears, I burnt the S5 in for 100 hours before even listening to it once – just to be on the safe side.

For listening, I used the largest size of the included grey silicone tips.

Tonality:

The S5 has got a rather v-shaped tonality with the main focus being on the sub-bass and midbass with a climax in the lows that is being reached quite low, and a forward and slightly artificial middle treble along with another (smaller) emphasis in the upper highs. Mids are more in the background but not sucked out or hollow.


Going more in-depth and listening to a sine generator (and music of course), I’m hearing the lows’ emphasis to start rising from a flat level at around 700 Hz, climbing up in intensity down to 70 Hz where the climax is being reached. This emphasis can be kept upright down to 30 Hz in the subbass and is then somewhat loosing quantity below.
With about 12 dB north of a strictly flat in-ear (Etymotic ER-4S; ca. 9.5 dB compared to the UERM), sub-bass and midbass aren’t necessarily the leanest and there is some warmth in the root/fundamental range, nonetheless the bass doesn’t become boomy nor do deep voices suffer due to the climax being reached so low and below 100 Hz.

The midrange is more in the background and belongs rather to the relaxed and consumer-sound style, but isn’t as sucked out or subdued as with some lower-priced mass market consumer-style in-ears (such as the Sennheiser CX line in-ears for example which are distinctly v-shaped and sound metallic). So everything is still good here and the recession isn’t that large honestly.
Regarding timbre, there is no shift to the fuller or to the leaner side I can detect and vocals are played back in an unaltered manner. As the upper vocals/presence range isn’t recessed though (in contrast to many in-ears), bad recordings and sibilance aren’t watered down.

When it comes to treble, it is undeniably more on the somewhat brighter side. Starting in the (upper) lower treble around 4 kHz and climbing up to 6 kHz where the first peak is being reached, this range can sound somewhat metallic and artificial from time to time. At 8.3 kHz, I can make out another peak that is however less in quantity than the first without any other peaks to follow. Moving up past 10 kHz in the super highs, level is relatively neutral and reaches past 17 kHz without rolling off.
While the highs don’t become hot or splashy let alone ringing (they disappear quickly enough and don’t have a hollow ringing character), instruments can sound somewhat metallic and artificial at times. If the peak around 6 kHz in the middle highs wasn’t present, the treble would have been more realistic overall. Alternatively, an evenly rising treble from the lower up into the upper highs would probably have led to a more natural perception.

Overall, one could say the S5 was tuned more for fun and on-the-go listening. The focus on sub-bass without having a boomy yet still somewhat forward fundamental range is nice and while the treble is not the most realistic, it is not ringing and decays quickly (however not too quickly so notes’ decays and overtones don’t appear subdued).

Resolution:


The bass, while not being bad, isn’t really the best for dynamic driver in-ears in this price range. It is not boomy and control is also pretty good, however the overall character is more soft than arid and decay isn’t as quick as it could be. Additionally, the bass softens somewhat towards the sub-bass and doesn’t maintain a consistent level of aridness. Hmm, I’ve heard better from other manufacturers and also Brainwavz’ own models for somewhat less.
Midrange details are okay and relatively good – neither bad nor outstanding. Male as well as female vocals are identically presented with good air, body and details in singers’ variations.
Moving up to the treble, it could be a bit better separated at times. I wouldn’t really be picking at it at a price of $50 to 60, but as the price is right now, there could be somewhat more separation in busy tracks when it comes to the treble.

Overall, I am honestly not really sure if the sound is worth the full price tag these days. The mids are adequately detailed for the price but again, I have heard better. The bass and treble however don’t completely live up to the price although the tonal tuning doesn’t really have flaws.
And here is what the other German said in his test report – he got his S5 when it was on sale for around $60 or so and felt it was a solid deal. And this is also how I feel: when these in-ears are on sale or offered with a discount, one can get a really solid and good product at $60. But at close to $100, there is still a little more desired for more complex tracks and the build could be a little bit better, too (especially the cable). Realistically speaking, I think $70 or even 60 would be a fairer price (this is just my humble opinion and yours might of course vary).
Overall, I’d say the resolution is about on the same level as the SoundMAGIC E80 and slightly inferior in few areas.

Soundstage:

To my ears, the soundstage is relatively oval and stretched to the sides, with audibly more width than depth. It is a pretty easy-going soundstage without any congestion. Not scarcely at all, instruments even leave the side of my head.
The width helps quite a bit with instrument placement and perception of air. Instruments are well-separated from each other, nonetheless there is no “empty space” around them yet.
Playing more complex and quicker tracks, the soundstage collapses somewhat though.

---------

In Comparison with other In-Ears:
 

 
Brainwavz S3:
I’m probably in the minority of people who actually think the S3 is a really nice product. Although it doesn’t have the best extension on both ends, it delivers a smooth and coherent sound with a solid level of details for its respective price point.
Tonally, both are rather oppositely tuned – a sub-bassy and v-shaped V5 vs. a mid-centric and rolled-off S5. If you are into sub-bass (not even emphasised sub-bass but only neutral levels), the S3 won’t be for you, and the same goes if you are into a very airy presentation.
When it comes to detail retrieval, I honestly think the S3 is more detailed and layered in the mids and bass. Yeah, in the upper bass, upper midbass and fundamental range, the S3 is quicker and somewhat better controlled. In the treble however, both lack some refinement.
When it comes to soundstage, I perceive the S3’s as slightly less wide but deeper by a good bit, sounding overall very round. Both in-ears are comparable when it comes to instrument separation.

Brainwavz M3:
The M3 is probably my favourite Brainwavz in-ear (I have unfortunately never heard the B2 though). It is very balanced sounding with just a really moderate bass and upper treble lift so it well appeals to those who want an in-ear with just slightly more fun than strict neutrality. In addition, the M3 has got a pretty nice and deep soundstage.
The M3 has got more of a balanced w-shaped signature whereas the S5 appears more “extreme” in comparison. Both have an emphasised sub-bass but the M3’s is just very moderately elevated. The M3 has got the slightly warmer mids and a recessed middle treble but a quite bright upper treble peak, but sounds more realistic in the treble overall.
The M3 isn’t necessarily known for an arid bass but is a little more arid than the S5 (the difference isn’t really large) while both have got identical control. Nonetheless, the M3 appears to have the somewhat better resolving lows. In the mids, both are equally detailed in my ears. In the treble however, the M3 is more refined and detailed to my ears and appears more realistic and better layered.
The S5’s soundstage is kind of the opposite of the M3’s – a lot of width and not as much depth in contrast. The M3 however has got a very deep stage to my ears while the width is less distinct. When it comes to instrument separation, the M3 appears slightly cleaner (but not by much).

Fidue A65:
The Fidue A65 is a musical in-ear that is tuned more for a warmer sound signature. In my opinion, it offers really good value for the money. Its bass is really well controlled and clean, without neglecting a nice body, and the soundstage, while being more on the smaller side, is quite precise.
The Fidue is the overall warmer and more musical in-ear. The A65 has got less bass but more fundamental range quantity and therefore the thicker lower vocals. In the upper vocal/presence range, the A65 is more relaxed and also darker in the treble.
When it comes to overall detail retrieval, I would see the A65 as being the more refined and better layered in-ear. The difference is rather small in the vocal range, but the Fidue has got the better controlled and faster, less soft plus more detailed bass and appears somewhat more detailed in the treble (though, its decay is a little too quick in the upper frequency range).
The S5’s soundstage is much wider while both are about comparably deep. The A65’s soundstage is relatively small but also quite round. Instrument separation is noticeably cleaner and sharper on the Fidue’s side.


Conclusion:

The S5 is a relatively solid product, yet I am hesitating a little to give it a full recommendation at a price just $0.5 below $100 – and surprisingly the flat cable didn’t me bother as much as I thought as the fit and ear tips are quite good. Nonetheless, I would appreciate if an updated version of the S5 with a round cable was released – and I think Brainwavz could do it, as they already dropped the large and wide y-split from earlier production batches.
The sound is enjoyable and rather consumer-oriented and more for relaxed fun listening than for critical auditions. The soundstage is very wide an easy-going without the slightest hint of congestion. Though, I feel like resolution and control don’t fully live up to the price tag (at least there are many other strong competitors’ products as well as these from Brainwavz’ own model range that deliver the same/somewhat better sound for 30 to 40 US-Dollars less), so I would recommend potential customers to wait for sales and promotions and a price of $60 or maximum 70 – then I could also say that the S5 is a good/solid deal, but there a few points of criticism at $99.50 to give the in-ears a distinct recommendation (somewhat unrealistic middle treble, bass loses aridness towards sub-bass and could be more detailed, instrument separation could remain better with busy and fast recordings).

Overall, I come to a conclusion of 65.7% or 3.285 out of 5 possible stars with my usual 70% sound to 30% comfort/build weighting (that is pretty good despite the flat cable) at the usual price of $99.50.

Thanks to Brainwavz for a review sample of the S5 headphone, which by now has 38 reviews posted on this site, quite a lot.
I won't repeat all the information that is available here on the design implementation packaging etc of these phones, since
it is all repeated over and over again here.  I will start with my conclusions:
 
This is a very good iem for carrying around in your pocket with your phone or iPad for portable listening to streaming
music, especially EDM, electronica and blues.  In fact, i would give Kudos to Brainwavz for making a product in this
price range (100$ or so) that maximizes the sq of the streams that come out of portable devices connected to the internet.
This phone makes listening to amazon music, Pandora, etc more delightful than phones like the ue600, zero audio singlulo,
etc because its tuned to making listening to streams a pleasure instead of an inditement of poor internet sound quality of audio.
 
Brainwavz created a fairly balanced spectrum of sound in the S5, while emphasizing the bass .  This emphasis makes these
phones especially potent for EDM and rock, but less so for other types of music.  The midrange is clear and the 
treble is fairly sparkly, but both of the above lack detail and clarity because of the bass emphasis.  This is typical of phones
in this price range, however, and the S5 is still quite enjoyable in spite of this. 
 
Where it breaks down is listening to more refined source material, trying to improve the sound through amping
through state of the art device like the Cayin C5, or through high resolution players like the DX90. for those sources you
want to go beyond the qualities of the S5 to a more refined phone line the Doppios or FX850s, which are of course, a lot
more expensive.  But those phones aren't needed when listening to streaming audio directly out of
your pocket on a smartphone or iPad. However, it should be noted that DSnuts, in his review, found the S5
did respond with improved quality to amplification and better power sources (ifi Usb )
 
The S5 fills a niche with aplomb here, being good enough to really enjoy
for example, psytrance on sound cloud (Jonny Blue mixes on peak records), Robert Plant on iTunes radio, or other
sounds of the moment that you can hear for free.  True, they don't have all the detail you want want, and the bass
is rather overemphasized, but so what?  the overall sound is enjoyable, musical and you can
close your eyes and dream with the music, or water your garden while listening and dancing to the beat. i would agree
mostly with Kamakaha's conclusions in his recent review of the S5:
 
"The Brainwavz S5 offers a trade off of benefits and flaws. It doesn't match up well with my personal preferences. I could see myself using these as a benchmark for separation with the right tips. In fact, it almost felt like the music's tempo slowed and allowed me a matrix style glimpse and otherwise extremely fast sequences. The sparkle is a friendly and welcome addition to the sound, even with the occasional peaky regions. Unfortunately, the dryish mids, loose bass and lack of depth make me reconsider their place in my line up. 
I feel like there is a lot of competition in the $40-100 earphone catagory. I feel like the S5 might have a difficult time standing out among the crowd. 
In the future I'd like to see a tuning that tightens up the bass and reduces the upper-mid treble peak. I think that would help bring the overall timbre, especially the mids."
 
But sometimes average is good enough, and the marriage of convenience of live free sound streams, and the Brainwavz S5
is a good one for such listening!  I'm enjoying these every day! I think these do stand out for the uses i recommend.
When i reach for my DX90, FLAC recordings or critical listening sessions, i switch to other phones, but that leaves me
a lot of time when i am happy to have the S5s in my pocket with my phone and reach for them!!!

First of all I'd like to thank Brainwavz and Audrey for giving me a chance to check out the Brainwavz S5 IEM.
 
Built and accessories:
There's already multiple reviews of the Brainwavz S5 here on Head-Fi describing the accessories and built on them so I just cut it short and conclude that the accessory pack is very good with many tips to choose from and a great zippered case to store them in when not in use. Built quality is also top notch and the only thing I'm missing is an L-plug instead of the straight one.
 
The S5 is easy to drive and works great out of portable devices.
 
I've let them play for over 100 hours and I've used them while travelling, while working out, at the office and at home and I've not found any weaknesses to the way they're constructed. I've been using them with my HTC One M7 phone, Nexus 7 tablet, FiiO X3 dap and with my Geek Out720 playing music from my computer.
 
Package:
 

 
S5 with carrying case:
 

 
 
 
 
Sound:
For this review I've used them paired with my FiiO X3 feeding a Cayin C5 amp. The tips used for the review is a pair of random double flange wide bore tips that I've bought on Ebay. I've used these tips because I found them to present the sound from the S5's most to my liking among all the ones I've tried with them.
 
S5 with double flang tips:
 

 
 
Review set up:
 

 
 
The sound signature of the S5 is lively and engaging, a bit on the bright side with pleanty of bass impact. Their strongest points to my ears are the soundstage which is larger than average for an IEM and the separation that is also good. Unfortunately the bass is a bit too much for my liking and overshadows the other frequencies with some music. I'm very sensitive to overpowering bass so that might not necessary be a problem for others. There's also some sibilance present but I'm not very sensitive to that and it only bothered me on a couple of my test tracks.
 
Comparison:
Since there's already so many reviews of the S5 available here I thought I'd  try to contribute with something new by throwing in some comparison with a couple of other well regarded IEM's with similar sound signature and price.
 
The contesters:
 

 
 
Brainwaz S5 ($99) vs Shure SE215 ($99):
The S5 and SE215 are equally easy to drive.
 
They both offer the same amount og bass impact and both are a bit too much for my personal preference. The S5 has better soundstage and also better separation. They're also brighter. In their overall presentation. The vocals are also more forward and has more bite to it on the S5. I prefer the S5 over the SE215.
 
Brainwavz S5 ($99) vs Onkyo IE-HF300 ($129):
The S5 are a bit easier to drive compared to the IE-HF300.
 
The bass of the S5 has more impact but the IE-HF300 has better control on the bass. The S5 again has a better soundstage and separation. The IE-HF has an overall darker and more balanced sound while the S5 is more lively in it's presentation. Vocals on the IE-HF300 are smoother but the highs on the S5 have better extension. I prefer everything but the way the bass are presented on the S5 and since I'm so sensitive to that I call this one a tie.
 
Summary:
The Brainwavz S5 is a good all rounder with a bass impact that might be too much for some. It's very well built and can be used with pretty much any device. It compares well to other well regarded offerings in the same price bracket. For a person that's looking for one IEM to use in many different settings the S5 should definitely be considered.

Introduction/Disclaimer
 
Guess who’s back, back again Brainwavz S5’s grabs some music and a pen. Yep you know I am here writing up another short piece on the S5’s this time. Sorry my review is a little late to the party but hey it’s here if you want a read. A little about me, so I have been following audio for about 5 years now and been enjoying the journey/growing addiction ever since. 

I would sincerely like to thank Pandora for sending out this sample unit for purpose of review in trade for my honest opinions and impressions.  Let’s jump in first with the specs.
 
Specifications:
 

1. Transducers/Drivers: Dynamic, 10 mm
2. Drivers: Dynamic, 10 mm
3. Rated Impedance: 16 Ω
4. Frequency Range: 18 Hz ~ 24 kHz
5. Sensitivity: 110 dB at 1 mW
6. Rated Input Power: 20 mW
7. Cable: 1.3 m Y-Cord, Copper
8. Plug: 3.5 mm, Gold Plated

 
Not looking too shabby so far but by now I must add it would have to be a pretty damn finely tuned single driver to stand out.

Accessories:
 

1. Earphone Hardcase
2. 6 sets of Silicone Ear Tips (S M L)
3. 1 set of Comply™ Foam Tips T-400   
4. 1 Shirt Clip
5. 1 set of Silicone Bi-Flange Eartips
6. 1 set of Silicone Tri-Flange Eartips
7. Velcro Cable Tie
8. Instruction Manual
9. Warranty Card (24 month warranty)

 
At the very least I will always say this about a Brainwavz earphone you will get what you need from there accessories package. Every earphone I’ve had from them and reviewed has come provided with all I need to keep them safe, provide a comfortable fit, detailed enough manual (For those who like to read) and security knowing I’m backed up with a warranty card. Also always love that Velcro cable tie and carry case just so handy for keeping these tangle free, well most earphones, these don’t really need any help the cable kind of does all the work.
 
I could write home about the accessories but please take a look for yourself. I must add I love a good picture it writes all the details for you. Now to take the pictures, sighs I must be tired as even that seems like too much effort haha.
 

Design / Build:
 
So what do we have here, a cheeky housing design which at first glance I admittedly hated. The Brainwavz S5 shells are made from a really lightweight metal, why do I stress this point? To be honest it’s because these things look pretty darn big and when you match the size of the housing and think of metal your first thought might be heavy! Not in the slightest with the right ear tip I can wear these for hours straight down or hooked over my ear. I must add the ergonomics of Brainwavz’s earphones is continuing to grow on me daily. These have been well thought of although, I did have my concerns when trying to get these to sit flush in my ear with the silicon ear tips but as soon as I pulled out the comply eartips bam we were in that toasty bed, snug as a bug in a rug.

Talking a little more on the design you can clearly see the splitter used is made of some beefy stuff. In fact, I would like to personify the identity of these earphones. Journey with me if you will, feel that cool gust as the air thins look up and see this Viking hiker standing on the brow of the rocky white hills of Everest, there he stands rugged as anything beard fully grown chunky arms and rotund belly facing all the elements backpack loaded to the brim standing almost as tall as he is. There we go I think that pretty much sums the earphones look up. A picture can paint more sometimes then my attempts at writing how these look so I’ll save that for the sound section, after all that’s really why we do what we do and buy what we buy right?

 
Ergonomics/Cable

Keeping it short one final word on ergonomics and I have covered it briefly even though S5 has been designed for over ear wearing you do have the option of being able to stuff these in straight down with little to no problem. The cable design whilst working great in the war against tangling isn’t the comfiest thing to hook over one’s ear so 70% of my wearing use was in the straight down position, hey no naughty thoughts guys and girls. You might find these a little strange looking but honestly I get weird looks all the time my advice, wear them how you feel most comfortable close your eyes and listen to your music.  

Previously mentioned these things are rugged as you can see and has been mentioned by other reviewers. The Y splitter is reinforced and the jack even looks like it has an extra layer to protect it from every element. I like this cable but it does come at the cost of comfort whilst I haven’t had many issues the flat style design adds in extra microphonic noises and does compromise the S5’s flexibility. I am trying to stretch this section out a bit but it doesn’t really need it if you’ve had any experience of a flat cable design think of that as a reference and add in the factor these actually don’t tangle like some other cheaply made attempts using the same design.
 

Microphone and Functionality
 
Everything works great here and I must say the microphone/control system works pretty good. There is a subjective con I would like to add and this comes due to the highly stable design of the S5’s, those buttons are stiff! I mean when you are going through trying to skip a track I sometimes have found myself having to stop and really give them a firm press. Aside from this everything is kosher and works as it should although I couldn’t seem to get the control functions to fast forward or rewind when running Tidal.
 
Here is a picture of the Media controls and the Phone call controls just in case you wanted to know how it is all supposed to work.  
 

Well, well kiddies it's that time again! Let us dive into the depths of creation and explore the world of music and fidelity that the Brainwavz offer. 
 
Sound Quality

Treble
 
Now I wouldn't say this is the strongest suit of the S5's but I wouldn't say the results are treblible, feel free to hang your head in shame for me for adding that awful pun. Anyway back to the matter at hand how does it sound, what level of performance can I expect? At this price range considering the market I would have hoped for a little more refinement. 

Notes and instruments are all clearly defined however, there is a metallic taste to the bite and details where there should be just aren't fully accurate, despite its attempts of cramming them in. I mean you will get a nice and fair amount of detail and a spacious amount of air but gosh they could have turned an otherwise decent earphone into a more serious contender.

Pros are though despite the level of refinement you get the detail you need. Oodles of it, no but more than sufficient to pick out nuances, strings, pops and more in just about every recording. 

Midrange

"Why hello gorgeous, fancy a night out on the town with me? I like the way you look, please feel free to show some of that sparkling personality."

"Oh but I am embarrassed can't you let me cover up just a bit baby, I'm not shy I just don't want everyone looking at me... How about when we are home alone I show you a bit more?"

Needless to say we had a fantastic night and she truly gave me a great time as we popped on some beautiful pop tracks. I felt on occasion I melted into the vocals and forgot I was meant to be assessing the sound quality here.

There is a slight lift resulting in a forward personality but on the occasional song this character takes a back seat. For the life of me I can't figure out why!!! But I will say this if you are a vocal fan in favour of a more balanced signature with a little bass to boot and can sacrifice a little treble maturity, on a budget these might be well worth a look. 

Bass 

I could summarise this is a sentence. "Let me hang back and do my job if I have to!" Yeah that would pretty much be all she wrote. I can't leave things there though because the bass whilst not a holding a great deal of complexity still performs well overall maybe being slightly outclassed by newer models in the same price range but I digress. 

Sufficient mid bass rumble comes into play and is dependent on the track of course. A footnote I need to add are these aren't reference flat and if you get the first impressions these lack bass you need another set of ear tips on there because they just don't. The bass is all over the place sometimes then other time you will find her perfectly controlled it's like a mood swing the S5's just have. 

Sub bass extends down about 3/5's of the equator but once again fails to really impress a discerning ear. I'm not here to pick out every fault I can, I actually like these earphones a lot just have been spoilt over the years by hearing what true fidelity can sound like. Don't be put off by this merely add it into your consideration.
 
Soundstage/Imaging
 
I must say despite some of the short comings the S5’s really does give of a spacious sound for the price. It came as quite a surprise to me when listening to selected songs which I use to test out the sub bass of earphones and headphones. (Cay’s Crays, Fat Freddy’s drop remix by Digital Mystikz) thank me later. Anyway I just wanted to put some emphasis on how the soundstage and imaging plays a suburb part here there are details and rattles subtle hints of the music that are layered into the song and really bring a sense of deep dimension to the song. I was about 2 minutes 18 seconds into the song when I started to hear sirens in the background I haven’t really heard this placed so well before chimes of a what sounds like the hands of a clock ticking plodding along in the background.
 
Well played is all I can say a great addition to this otherwise slightly outdated earphone. I enjoyed the aforementioned song so much it ended up on repeat. If you like an airy signature with fairly decent layering and can handle a bit of a treble peak these do perform remarkably well in this section.
 
Conclusion

I suppose it's time to draw towards my final thoughts on these overall otherwise rounded earphones. Will these be for you? Honestly I don't know if you are looking for something that you can be assured will likely outlast the 24 month warranty provided and are looking for a throw around pair of earphones with a more than adequate sound then yes. Out and out audiophiles looking to pick apart sound on a budget I'd still recommend looking around. 

Damn it I'm still in two minds with these whilst I have enjoyed them very much at their original price point I can't recommend getting them, when the sales on and they can be snagged at half the price if you've got the money without hesitation these are a pair I'd always have to hand as a handy back up.

As always if there are any questions or comments please leave them below and I'd be happy to get back to you.

INTRODUCTION
 
First of all, a big THANK YOU to Audrey from Brainwavz for providing the review unit. It is much appreciated, and my humble ears are feeling so incredibly honoured to be included as one of the reviewers. This is Brainwavz single dynamic IEM, one of the top offering alongside dual dynamic R3 and dual-armature B2.
 
Brainwavz is no stranger when it comes to audio enthusiast and audiophile, offering products that are priced well below their performance. Historically, B2 was my first exposure to Brainwavz product and I absolutely loved it. Since that, I have acquired M3, M4, M5, R1, and R3 mk1.
 
The components that I used for this review are as follows

1. iPod Classic (straight, and through C&C BH)
2. Fiio X5 DAP
3. Desktop (through Aune T1)
4. MacBook Air (straight out, and through Dragonfly)
5. Spotify (highest quality streaming), 320k MP3’s, 16/44 and 24/96 FLAC’s

 
PACKAGING AND ACCESSORIES
 

 

 
 
Packaging is a very nice retail packaging, with a very sharp picture, contrast colours, and especially the display front where it has a magnetic ‘cover’. The box is thicker compared to some of the competitor, and definitely can withhold some abuse without being crushed, dented, and by the feel of it, has some element of waterproofing to prevent water smudging.
 
Accessories wise, in a typical Brainwavz effort, you definitely get a lot. There are 2 types of silicone single-flange, small-bored, and medium-bored, each type with S/M/L sizes. Then there are dual-flanges and triple-flanges silicone, and a pair of Comply T-400 foam. Not to forget the standard 6.3mm adaptor, and a nice black with red lining hard case. In the age of otterbox and Pelican case inclusions,
 
Brainwavz hard case is infact one of my favourite case, as it possesses the perfect combination of size and robustness. Strangely enough airline adapter is not included, though it could be obtained rather cheaply, it would have been nice if it is included.
 
BUILD QUALITY, ISOLATION, AND COMFORT
 
Build quality is just superb, it is made from aluminium alloy, which is typically used for the chassis of standard corporate laptops/notebooks, and as such, it will be able to handle some abuse without being distressed. Absolute perfection for daily use/commuting.
 

 

 
 
The cable, well, let me just start by saying that personally, I am not a fan of flat cable. I just don’t like to look and feel of flat cable, and also, it won’t stay over my ear when worn that way. The quality of the cable however, is very good and strong, and won’t tangle easily, though it is rather noisy (microphonics).
 

 
 
Isolation is average, over ear or straight down. Brainwavz recommends an over ear style wearing, though I prefer to wear it straight down, due to the reason I mentioned above, that flat cable won’t stay over my ear
 
SOUND QUALITY
For the purpose of this testing, I am using a pair of large Comply TS-400, and the good old large UE single-flange, large-bore silicone (pre-Logitech UE, this silicone is possibly my all-time favourite tips). What I found also that like most other IEM’s, bore size will have some effect on the sound signature. None of the included tips give me perfect seal and comfort, and to those who know me, that is completely normal as I have a rather extra-large and extra deep ear canals.
 
The general sound signature, I would describe as balanced and fun.
 
Bass – the bass is warm, thick, and quantity wise, is slightly north of neutral, and there is a slight boost in mid-bass which gives the perception of its warmth and thickness. To me this is the perfect quantity of bass, not too much, not overbearing, but it’s there when called upon. Listening to Deadmau5’s My Pet Coelacanth is such a joy as the bass hits superbly, and the mid-bass lifts the track to a new height
Speed and accuracy is average however, and there is a slightly long decay, which makes it less ideal for rock and metal tracks.
 
Midrange – The midrange is smooth and detailed, however, to my ear it is slightly laid back, however I believe the recession is mostly caused by the slight dominance of the mid-bass. Personally, I do prefer S5’s midrange to that of the AudioFly AF140 which I auditioned a few months ago, and considering the S5 only cost ¼ of AF140, that is an excellent achievement indeed.
 
Treble – The treble is well extended, has a good sparkle, and generally is pretty clean from sibilance and spikes, however, I can hear some metallic tinges a la Sony XBA-3 and XBA-4, though in saying that, it is nowhere as annoying as that of the Sony’s.
As mentioned briefly above, tip selection will play a large part in determining what sort of sound you are getting from the S5. Using a small-bored tips, the metallic tinges are at worst here, as well as some sibilance and peaks. However, when using large-bored tips, I can hardly notice the metallic tinges (it’s still present, however), and overall the treble sounds cleaner and warmer with a bit more air in it
 
PRESENTATION AND AMPING
 
Soundstage is average, it’s nowhere as expansive as Havi B3 for example, but pretty decent overall and not too bad. It is not very revealing either so perfect to listen to Soundcloud/Bandcamp and the likes on the go.
 
Amping, although not necessary, using a good amp does gives a little more oomph in the overall sound, it gives that extra bit of fullness and richness
 
CONCLUSION
 

 
 
Brainwavz is at it again, creating yet another excellent value IEM, to be honest, my faith in Brainwavz was somehow tainted because of R3, but this S5 has certainly gone a long way in restoring my faith.
In one of the most saturated sub-$100 section of the market, it has perform fantastically no doubt, definitely much better than your standard run rate big name consumer offering like Beats, Sol, Marley, etc
 
With its fun signature, it will treat you until the cows come home, and built like a tank too. You can easily throw this in and out of your bag, or in and out of the car, without any worry of damaging the aluminium alloy body

Introduction

Thanks to Audrey from Brainwavz for providing a sample (and sorry for the delay!). This is my first review sample (and my first proper review) and I will be as honest as I possibly can, zero bias in this review I can assure you. Just felt this needed to be added to due the recent controversy surrounding review samples.
 
I've used the following gear for this evaluation:
Kogan Media Player
Sansa Clip Zip
Colorfly C3
Macbook Pro 2012
 
I slapped on some Ortofon tips which got a great seal for me and provided a much more resolving experience in comparison to Comply tips. I'd recommend silicone tips for these IEMs.
 

 
This IEM can be purchased from MP4Nation which often allows the use of coupons on purchases. There's a good chance you'll get a price better than the standard $99, so highly recommend you use MP4Nation.
 
 
 
 

Accessories
 
What's included: 
Black tri-flange silicon tips
Black bi-flange silicon tips
Black narrow-bore tips (S, M, L)
Grey wide-bore tips (S, M, L) 
Comply tips [Not pictures]
Metal 1/8" to 1/4" adapter 
Carrying case
 
Nice amount of included tips/accessories. Probably what I'd consider to be the ideal amount of included accessories without going overboard (think GR07 MK2/BE). Seems to be of a good quality too, nice!
 

 
 
 
 
 
Build Quality
 
Straight off the bat: the shape struck me as uncomfortable. Surprisingly not when I placed them in my ears. Light as all hell too, surprisingly light that I didn't worry about strain relief issues due to bulkiness or pressure on the outer ear - just a pleasant listening experience. On first impressions they felt a little cheap and slightly tacky looking, yet after discovering they actually have metal housing it suddenly didn't feel all that cheap anymore. Then I noticed the beefy strain reliefs and a comically large Y-split… Yep, this ain't breaking anytime soon. Very solid. Those that like to chuck their stuff around will enjoy this IEM. The flat cable is annoyance - for future reference Brainwavz don't opt for style over substance, audiophiles dig an ergonomical well-made cable free from hassles. Flat cables are rigid Style is always secondary.
 
I'm going to squeeze isolation in here as it is kind of related to build quality - not the best, not the worst. Definitely on the weaker side though due to the angle/shape of the housing. Not really a design fault, just a by-product of Brainwavz choosing this particular shape. Not a biggie. You are going to isolate the annoying background noises of a train station or an urban area without concerns.
*I have to note I did experience slight driver flex in both earpieces, whether this presents a problem in the future is up to the gods…
 

 

 
 
 
 

Sound Quality
 
Going to be a little cliched here and divide into the distinct frequency categories (bass, mids, treble etc.) - even though I believe for a sound signature to be likeable all these frequencies must mesh together well. 

My overall impression is one of warmth, energy, solidarity and clarity - it's a very confident IEM if that makes sense. Not reserved in the least.
 
Bass: Nice. Goes deep, low, a seductive bass that lulls you into a pleasant mood. Mmmm. It's not ferociously aggressive, it actually has nice impact yet some looseness. I'd say the bass is forward for sure (by how much I'm not sure, it's been a while since I've had a completely dead neutral earphone), so I'd recommend this IEM to someone who's migrating from your classic bass-boosted store-bought headphones to audiophiledom. Most newbies won't notice the looseness, but the discerning audiophile who's tried higher end gear would notice.
In some ways it's very natural sounding. At all the live music acts I've been to, there's a decay to bass - obscenely tight bass à la TWFK armatures (DBA-02, B2) are often viewed as unnatural to budding audiophiles, hence something like this might be a good place to start. 
It does intrude on the mids a bit imo, as the mid-bass can obscure the overall impression of the music. This phenomenon is generally track-based - heavy bass tracks = bloat.

Mids: Yupppppp. Right here is the where the S5 excels. Creamy, upfront mids here. Vocals soar and hit all the right notes (with the occasional hint of sibilance). If you are experiencing heaps of sibilance, fix that seal brother! Back to the vocals - the singer is generally pretty forward, whispering his/her sweet melodies right into your ear. I feel like male vocals are slightly recessed in comparison to female vocals, not a big deal though. 
 
Ok, they aren't perfect. There's a slight unnatural tonality. I can't describe it, it's just a little off at times. In comparison to the supremely natural mid-range of the ASG-2, it has a tendency to be peaky and spikey at times. No biggie we are comparing high-end to the low-end here, so in that context it is a fantastic midrange.

Treble: Experiencing issues here. For it's price range it sits squarely in the middle. Not the best extension, so you are missing out on that airiness that makes music so delicious. 
All in all, it's a bit clunky. I wish Brainwavz improved on their treble tuning as they often have trouble here (FYI, I know how hard it is get the treble right when tuning your product). 
I'd say the treble is relatively balanced, I did not find it excessively bright. However it is peaky at weird intervals - sometimes it's fine, sometimes it annihilates your eardrums. When it's not peaky, it's a perfectly fine IEM with no obvious flaws. Few seconds later… Whoop, there it is! Treble peaks. Oh well, it might not bother you as much as it bothers me. I think most people will be able to handle it. If you can handle the GR07, you might find this a pleasant listening experience.
 
Comply tips may be a fix but I can never get a good seal with them, they just keep falling out. Ask around though if you are curious.
 
Soundstage: I detect good width and good depth for it's price range. Generally, sounds will pan left and right very well creating a nice illusion of an intimate live venue. The depth of the sounds actually surprised me - S5 projected a great sense of depth at times without that unnatural cavernous feeling. I'd say Brainwavz struck a nice balance between too forward and too cavernous. Height of the soundstage is a little lacking, it doesn't reach stratospheric heights (like the ASG-2), it's rather compressed in this area. It's not a huge deal as it's clarity more than makes up for it, presenting a well-layered sound. I've been spoiled by some higher end IEM's that create an almost unblemished, unique sonic scape (ASG-2, SM3) and I have to say S5 lags behind a bit but it ain't no slouch. Well done.
 
Imaging: Instruments can be located fairly clearly. The width/depth of the soundstage definitely helps in this regard, spaciousness generally equates to better imaging from what I've found. There's some haze, some smeared instrumental placement but it's a very minor issue. Especially at this price point. No complaints!
 
 
 
 
 
Conclusion
 
This is a GREAT in-ear monitor for those taking up audio gear as a hobby. It will introduce you the capabilities of what audio gear can do and provide you with curiosity into what lies beyond this price point. It hits hard, it bursts with energy and has a sassy personality. All in all, recommended. Highly recommended.

 
UPDATED REVIEW- *initial mistaken impressions contrasting with this revised version are preserved below or are otherwise struck out
All the ratings for each individual category are relative except for "design" which I've decided to mark standalone (based on its own merit):
Audio Quality: 7/10
Comfort: 8/10
Design: 8/10
Isolation: 8/10
Value: 7/10

 

*I'm not sure if the ratings under "Review Details", off to the left, are supposed to reflect that of my own or just everyone's average.  They obviously don't match what I've listed here (and perhaps this answers my question), but in any case, that's the reason I've written it out.

 

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As it is easy to find pictures which many have already posted, likely better ones than I'd be able to produce anyway given the use of better cameras, I won't clutter the web with redundancy.

 
General Impressions- 
To mention straight from the start, for those unfamiliar with Brainwavz, I regard them as currently one of the best companies which brand and manufacture different kinds of headphones.  They aim for quality and produce their product at prices which many I'm sure would argue are very fair.  Often times they also allow for some great sales!  As an audio enthusiast and sound engineer, they truly do provide a wide variety of products to satisfy needs on every front.  I would say the Brainwavz M2's formerly were and the Brainwavz HM5's are currently the number one value headphones on the market, from every perspective one can think of.  By my standards, the Brainwavz S5 in comparison falls a little short on these fronts.  Although not necessarily entirely bad in the general context of all things, the product is more akin to the design and price of something made by Monster.
 
So now, moving onto the S5's more specifically, upon opening the packaging and opening the case in which they reside, from the beginning I was immediately pleased by everything aesthetically about them.  Having had experience with many IEM designs in the past, I already knew this would be a winner.  I think mostly the cable design is what's to credit, and the obvious choice to make angled eartips.  
 
Upon picking them up, considering the soft quality of the cable, a concern did arise which was that perhaps the cable may rip over time.  Upon further examining, the connections were solid enough that this concern quickly dissipated.  That, plus the slider which connects the earphones at the Y-split, which I finally found to once be useful on a cable, is what also helped this fact.  I would recommend using it as it seemingly also aids in the distribution of tension from any pulling forces.  
 
Apart from this, the cable design is actually very comfortable.  Anybody who may have concerns about the thickness of the cable can drop them now because all this does is help keep it from tangling.  Additionally, in my experience, it actually gets less in the way considering the fact that it doesn't twist out of shape.  The thickness also doesn't otherwise contribute noticeably to the weight of the cable.
 
Finally, this new cable design also handles microphonics quite well (which is when tapping the wire transfers the sound to your ears) though perhaps it isn't the best amongst earphones starting to approach this price range.  All-in-all, it's a more than worthwhile tradeoff for the rest of the benefits imo.  
 
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Sound Quality-

My review of these in-ear monitors is from impressions obtained mostly with use in conjunction with the FiiO E17 DAC/Amp.  I have however tried them with many other devices such as phones and tablets, and for the most part, given their easy-to-drive nature, their signature sound and their frequency response generally remained the same.  Listening was done after 120 hours of burn-in.  It should also be noted that this is all based on listening using the stock medium-sized silicone tips with which they arrive, which are perfect in terms of comfort/size for me (and I imagine is likely the same for most).  Lastly, the music this was tested with was largely varied to encompass the full spectrum of sound including time and frequency; this includes the best produced and recorded pieces of Classical music, Dubstep, other forms of Electronic music, Hard Rock, Metal, Pop, and other genres and unique artists (obviously, all with different production styles). 
 

Upon truly getting comfortable with the Brainwavz S5’s, I came to recognize their full potential.  Going from song to song, if I were to best sum up in one word the way which they sound, it would be neutral.  This wouldn’t be however to say that they sound natural, unfortunately.  One would think the two go together but interestingly, not in this case.  I found the sound to generally give the impression of being sonically layered, and in turn lost some depth. Songs generally retained most of their qualities though the area which I found mostly problematic were the highs.  If there was at all anything these headphones can be claimed to seriously imprint onto the music, it would be very one-dimensional and isolating highs.  This in effect can grow to be tiresome over time, however ignoring this fact, I did find all genres of music to work rather well, very rarely giving the impression of lacking in any of their fundamental frequencies.  They can in cases be unforgiving to music that's poorly mixed or otherwise poorly produced.  Sound-wise, I feel the S5’s would squarely fall into the category of $80 IEMs (at retail value), and would imo be a great deal at a price of ~$65-.  I’d place their true value at around $70, but of course all these values are completely arbitrary and don’t account for any design/manufacturing costs.

 

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Taking note of the good (with exception)-
These have great clarity, soundstage, and separation.  I’d certainly say it’s above average from what you’d come to expect of most in-ear monitors leading up to this price range.  I haven’t had in-depth experience with the RE0’s, but from how I remember them, I would wager that they still lead* on this front (or I guess I should say led* since they're discontinued).  

 

Furthermore, as mentioned, these do work well for pretty much all genres, although I might say with the exclusion of Jazz.  In many songs, the concentration of frequencies falls right into the accentuated ranges of the headphones, giving a sense of really cheap reproduction.  Obviously this applies to any song mixed with sound predominantly in those areas but it appears to be more rare in other genres. 

 

To take note furthermore, there’s never a sense of fatigue from crushed transients.  In terms of their speed, they have a great balance between accentuated notes and sustain.  Problems lie mostly in other areas.

 

Finally, in terms of what stands out, bass guitar in most songs is well defined, clean, and smooth throughout the ranges.  Apart from a certain peak which emphasizes the attack of certain LF sounds, there is little to criticize about.  If “adjusted” right, these IEMs certainly aren’t missing balls.  Just as an example, anyone considering these for EDM would likely be satisfied…

 

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Taking note of the bad-
Because of a sibilance peak I’d wager is around 10 KHz-12 KHz and other frequencies throughout the treble range which also peak (or otherwise dip), the sound of the highs came across as thin and narrowly focused, mostly affecting percussion type instruments like cymbals, shakers, and snare actually as well.  It also gives the feeling of having these instruments taken out of context, especially when they're panned off to the left or right.  In the center, it’s rather distracting and there’s generally a predominance of a harsh-sounding snare over everything else (likely due to another peak at ~5 KHz).  These specific regions give the impression of somewhat sounding distorted, and there is definitely an issue of sibilance in vocals (though it’s not the worst out there, likely due to not as narrow a peak). 

 

In terms of low frequency response, bass may sometimes appear to be bloated, particularly in the 80 Hz & 120 Hz regions (the power frequencies), somewhat more prominent at around the upper-mid bass area.  There is apparently a bump there which, as briefly mentioned prior, tends to mostly influence sounds with a relatively fast attack, like it may with kick drum for example.. 

 

Lower mid-range seems to be present, but often times there seems to be a lack of mid-range bite.  My best guess would be slightly attenuated frequencies between 650 Hz-850 Hz or perhaps they're just somewhat drowned out by other slightly boosted regions.

 

Considering all the above mentioned qualities, this is likely why, as mentioned in my introductory SQ impressions, the sound comes across as layered.  It’s almost as if the lows, mids, and highs are generated from three different sources.   

 

It’s safe to say that clearly, these aren’t exactly flat; however, it would be my personal submission that they don’t also lean towards any one area over the other.  Any of its inconsistencies I would explicitly label as strictly faults.  That being said, any set of headphones as disproportionate in balance as perhaps these are imperfectly tuned in any one area, I’d likely consider as ultimately worse.

 

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In conclusion, I would say these headphones are good for any general purpose; however, I would also say they are the master of none and certainly not the master of all.  If you’re looking for something specific for any casual listening purpose, there would perhaps be options better tuned for whatever that purpose may be.  If you’re looking for IEMs which are simply as accurate as can be but personally aren’t willing to spend much over $100, these may be the way to go. 
 

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*Keep in mind that all estimations of frequencies are nothing more, stated simply for the purpose of conveying some sense of understanding to those at all familiar with how specific frequencies may influence your overall impressions of sound. 

 

 

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Previous Review-
Rating: Overall Summary: Setting a Precedent in Cable Design; Warmth & Neutrality Left to be Desired in the Sound
Pros: Exemplary design; provided assortment of eartips to match anyone's interests and comfort needs; solid soundstage & imaging; all the pros of good IEMs
Cons: Highly priced for only slightly better than average sound; earphone buds are fully plastic
 
All the ratings for each individual category are relative except for "design" which I've decided to mark standalone (based on its own merit):
Audio Quality: 5/10
Comfort: 8/10
Design: 9/10
Isolation: 8/10
Value: 6/10
 
"
 ...
 
     "
_______________
Sound Quality-
My review of these in-ear monitors is from impressions obtained mostly with use in conjunction with the FiiO E17 DAC/Amp.  I have however tried them with many other devices such as phones and tablets, and for the most part, given their easy-to-drive nature, their signature sound and their frequency response generally remained the same.  Listening was done before and after 120 hours of burn-in, and unlike claimed by some others, it failed to even out the frequencies for me in ranges where it would be considered to be a problem, although I can't claim to have done this test very scientifically.  It should also be noted that this is all based on listening using the stock medium-sized silicone tips with which they arrive, which are perfect in terms of comfort/size for me (and I imagine is likely the same for most).  Lastly, the music this was tested with was largely varied to encompass the full spectrum of sound including time and frequency; this includes the best produced and recorded pieces of Classical music, Dubstep, other forms of Electronic music, Hard Rock, Metal, Pop, and other genres and unique artists (obviously, all with different production styles).
 
It was apparent to me from the start the signature which the S5's impart onto the signal.  After about two songs, everything I further listened to pretty much served only to reinforce my impressions or otherwise increase the degree to which I was able to recognize the projected response onto the music.  I was actually a little surprised that the time they burned in didn't make much of a difference (whether for better or for worse) because my feeling was that the issue here was specifically the drivers.  In any case, what this immediately meant, at least to me, was that regardless of your preferences, their sound would grow tiresome/boring after a while since the sound of every song greatly conforms around them (which if I'm honest isn’t that much different from what I find the problem to be with most headphones/earphones).  In my opinion, the degree to which this is the case here is too much for earphones in the $80+ category.
 
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Taking note of the good (with exception)-

Starting off more with some of the good however, the soundstage I noticed to be slightly better than what you would typically expect from IEM's (though it didn't differ much from what would otherwise be familiar to most) due to noticeably good separation found between frequencies in the mid and lower-mid range.  This also lends itself well to clarity, with exception to certain frequencies in the upper-mid range or perhaps upper treble frequencies even (~4.5 KHz-6 KHz and/or 10 KHz). 
 

Additionally, apart from the mentioned range above, highs appear to be well extended, so e.g., cymbals tend to sound pretty clear on these.  These IEMs certainly wouldn’t be considered to be in any way dark/veiled. 

 

Also quite good I’d say is the bass.  Though it doesn’t extend quite as far as I would’ve liked, where it hits it is clean and accurate.  It is rather neutral I would say but it may not appeal to bass enthusiasts.

 

On another point, transient response is excellent on the S5’s.  Many IEM’s fail to deliver a clear and fast transient response and therefore lend themselves poorly to long listening sessions.  If not for maybe other reasons, the S5’s certainly wouldn’t be fatiguing in this regard.

 
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Taking note of the bad-

The increase in separation may be the illusion of a fault however, which is that the lower-mid range is predominantly missing/scooped out compared to everything else.  In one word, if I were to describe their main fault, it would be their lack of fullness.  This impression can be gotten due to many different reasons, but in this case, it's simply the fault of the relative response of the frequencies (rather than simply sounding overall thin, cheap, underpowered, and/or distorted).  I therefore have a strong feeling this can well be compensated for with some EQ, so if you are an owner of a PMP/DAP with a high quality built-in EQ or your primary use would otherwise be using a media player like Foobar2000 which has the ability to implement all manner of VST plug-ins (out of which there are definitely some great EQs out there), I wouldn’t rule this pair of earphones out just yet. 
 

Apart from essentially the entirety of the lower mid-range being attenuated and the perhaps briefly inferred lack of hard-hitting lows, the extremity of the upper mid-range is rather accentuated.  It falls victim to the quite infamous problem with many IEMs which is sibilance, particularly S’s and T’s pronounced in vocals.  It is to the point of even narrowly sounding distorted in that range.  One thing that’s predominantly noticeable and perhaps more understandable to those less fine-tuned to the implication of certain exaggerated frequencies, in this case specifically, the snare drum in many tracks harshly cuts through practically everything else and is obviously therefore skewed in its relative AND individual balance.  Perhaps this is the thing I found most annoying.

 

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Ultimately, if I were to choose from headphones which perhaps purposely emphasized/deemphasized frequencies for the purpose of emphasis of more fun and/or pleasing frequencies, this would almost be the inverse of what I would consider a nice balance in that regard.

 

If I were to recommend these earphones, it would be to those who perhaps value clarity above all else and prefer the opposite of a signature which may be considered muddy or in any way boomy sounding.

 

 

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*This review will be updated with picture(s) and a description of screenshot(s) of the iZotope Ozone 5 Master Suite plug-in, primarily focused on the EQ section, the purpose of which will be meant to demonstrate the areas which I feel ultimately needed compensation/correction.