Rooth Lab LS-X5

Preamble
 
Singaporean. I'm an 18 year old with great love in my music. My father has an extensive collection of home stereo equipment and have exposed me to good music since young. I have realized that I have a skill to recognize sound signatures and am able to express my ideas coherently. My favourite genres are Rap, R&B, Pop and some Rock, along the lines of Avenged Sevenfold and Fall Out Boy. However, I do not have much experience owning high-end iems. I have tried a few but never owned one.
 
My reviews are my honest opinions and I am not affiliated with any company that I may review.
 
Let's Start!
 
Product Info:
4 Balanced Armature and 1 Dynamic Driver with Passive 3 way Crossover. 1 Low, 2 Mids, 2 Highs.
 
I bought this off another person for a good price as there is a crack on the left side. However, there is no difference between the two sides. It does not have the original cable. Instead I'm using it with an Effect Audio SPC cable. Tips I'm using are my go to tips with almost every iem. They are the RedGiant Eartips. They have generous depth and insert pretty deep without getting uncomfortable. Further more I prefer to use smaller tips for good insertion and these have a wide bore even with their small size. Truly great. 
 
Gear:
iHifi 770C . Bright Output
Iphone 6
 
Build+Comfort:
Unfortunately, as I have mentioned, there is a crack on the left shell.
 
However based on the right side, they have a very very good build. There are no sharp edges and are rounded all the way. Furthermore, the nozzles are metal which is the first I've seen and i truly appreciate it. It feels very sturdy and have enabled them to create a smaller nozzle so that normal eartips can easily fit on them.
 
Comfort is good but it isn't the best. I love the fit of Aurisonics 1.3 as they fill up the whole ear. The Rooths have a smaller size lengthwise but are deeper and thus sit further out of the ear. They need some adjustments to sit well but from there it's all good. You won't be able to lie down with these and I have no intention of doing so. They have a good with and thus they will not disappear and some part will touch the rim of your inner ear. Despite all that, comfort is still a strong point as it does not shake much and are very light.
 
Isolation:
As expected, isolation is very good. Not on the level on customs as it will still depend on your tips. However using my favourite tips they block out most noise. I cannot hear the keyboard typing sounds.
 
Sound:
Overall, the sound signature is that of a very wide v-shape where the ends have ample boost. However, the earphones do lean towards the bright side (I hoped I could have said Dark Side with the Star Wars craze in full effect). There is good extension at both ends but treble may be peaky and it lies with your tip selection.
 
Bass
 
I am probably a 80% basshead and 1 thing i know is that i adore the bass on these. Even more so than that on the bass-focused ASG1.3. I would describe them as special. The bass, sub-bass and mids have very good balance across it. The sub-bass extends very deep and the rumble is oh so satisfying.
 
When i first listened to them, I had Dr Dre's new album Compton on repeat. First thing i thought was, where is the bass? Am i too used to bass monsters? I just came from a RockJaw Arcana V2. However as adjusted my tips and fitting, it all came clear to me. The upper bass on the iems are punchy with just enough decay. As it gets lower, the decay get longer and the force hits you like a ton of bricks. It's as though on the upper-bass right under the mids, the BA's were in charge. It was by no means thin but it was faster than the usual dynamic. Then, it goes deep, wayy deep. It was apparent that the dynamic driver was pumping out the raw, brute strength needed for bass. There were notes accompanying my music that i did not hear before that made listening much more interesting and satisfying.
 
The bass position seems to change with how deep it is. With the upper bass it sits in front of the mids and provides a nice toe-tapping beat. With deeper bass notes, it sits at the back and gives a fantastic supporting bass line with great detail and rumble. The bass is as weird and intriguing as it is amazing.
 
Mids
 
Mids are impeccably balanced. They are behind the bass and treble most of the time and takes a backseat but when they come out to play they are capable of handling anything. However, lower mids sounds lacking as compared to upper mids.
Usually I will judge the mids according to vocals as I find that this range is where the vocals play.
 
Lower mids sound slightly recessed and lacks the lushness that is to be expected from the bass quantity. They are by no means bad. For example, Dr Dre's voice sounds less full than usual. I know that in this album he adopted a different style, but some tasteful spillage into the mids would have better conveyed the energy in his voice.
 
Upper mids are truly the star of the iems. They are so sweet and smooth like honey or maple syrup. There is no graininess or peaks here. They have good air and fluctuations in the voice comes out perfectly. The Weeknd's voice is out of this world on these. He has a higher singing voice and it comes out perfectly on these iems. Songs like Wanderlust(Pharrel Remix) and Angel are truly magical as the iems brings outs both the amzing vocals and the complex instrumentals.
 
Treble
When I first heard them, the treble was going haywire, on some tracks they seemed to drown out everything else and it hurt to some extent. Positioning of the earphones and tip selection is very important to avoid this. Also reducing the volume helped greatly.
 
After a while of adjusting volumes and positioning the earphones, the treble was laid out as intended. They are at the forefront on the sound. Extension was good with a nice long roll off at the end. There was almost zero issues with sibilance anymore. They are bright, sparkly and most of all, they brought out details in the music. The air between the notes is substantial. 
 
I feel that the treble was bright and sparkly when called for. However, they were more present in the upper mids as they are well-meshed with the upper mids for that sweet upper mid delivery.
 
Imaging+Details+Soundstage
Personally, I found this to be their strongest point.
 
First of all the imaging is spectacular. There is good positioning of instruments. In more electronic laden sounds, there is very good separation between the sounds without any muddling whatsoever. Each note is delivered personally and individually. You could pick these notes out of the fish pond.
 
Usually I would not comment on details as they are often perceived by the treble. However, these phones has some of the best clarity across the spectrum. This is largely due to their great imaging.
From the bass to the treble, you could hear separation. The bass becomes more textured and layered, the fluctuation in the mids became more apparent and the treble has more air than a bag of Fritto Lays. What I loved is that I learned the complexity of music producing. The intricacies makes me appreciate the effort and work put into music so much more.
 
Soundstage is not the greatest but it still is above average. They are larger than average and well-rounded. The width is less than the depth. Sounds seemed to travel not far from your ears but from front to back it is nicely layered and well-placed.
 
Overall:
The Rooth LSX5 is by far the best earphones I've heard although i have not tried much. 
Their sound signature works very well with most of today's popular artists, Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift. Singing voices are pushed forth with their full potential. 
Also instrumental wise, they are fantastic. As mentioned the layering and imaging creates new discoveries and makes instruments much more enjoyable.
The v-shaped sound signature, sparkly treble with deep reaching bass makes the LSX5 a very exciting listen.
As always, at higher volume levels they may get slightly fatiguing but I've found them enjoyable for long periods of time
 
That's all folks. Hope you've enjoyed the review. It would be great to receive objective feedback and also some comparisons between your impressions and mine about this wonderful earphones.
Sorry that I do not have much gear but I'm saving up and will hopefully continue creating reviews with more scope and depth. Till next time, don't listen at high volumes!