Disclaimer:
I purchased the EPZ Q5 in the recent 11/11 sales through the official EPZ store on AliExpress.
I wasn't payed for this review.
All thoughts and opinions on the Q5 are my own.
Introducing the
EPZ Q5:
The Q5 has an all resin build, a single 10mm Carbon Nano Dynamic Driver, the Q5 connects via an MMCX cable, with a standard 3.5 termination, also comes with a pocketable case, and two sets of S/M/L silicone tips.
Has 109db of sensitivity
25 Ohms Of Impedance, and 20-20khz frequency response.
Additional Sources, Cables and Tips Used:
Xduoo XP2 BAL
Xduoo XQ50 Pro2 DAC
SMSL HO100
Xduoo MT-602
Truthear Shio DAC
Fiio BTR3k
Stock MMCX cable from the Lun Sheng YE02
Tips,
Large Feaulle H570
Large Kbear 07
Large white stock tips from the Simgot EA1000
The Sound..
The EPZ Q5 has a rolled off sub bass, a light lower mids presentation, and a thin upper mids and lower treble, with the upper treble being more the star of the show.
Moving into the sub bass, mids, and treble
Sub Bass:
The sub bass is rolled off, with little impact or presence, which doesn't really give the Q5 any real sense of depth, or weight to the sound.
There's slightly better presence in the lower mids, but they aren't all that prominent either.
Mids:
The Mids are also thin, but are still somewhat natural, with female vocals sounding a little better than male vocals.
There isn't a lot of warm in the mids either.
They're not too forward, so they're not going to be fatiguing either.
Definition and detail is okay, average, but could be better.
Treble:
The treble is a little better than the lower mids and upper mids, giving some clarity to vocals and instruments, but they are still on the thin side, but with a bit of air, which gives female vocals a nice presence, but male vocals still come across as thin.
Comparisons:
The EPZ Q5 vs TRN Conch (stock red nozzles, with a 1.5mm square of foam in the nozzles), Simgot EA500 (stock red nozzles)
Vs TRN Conch,
The Conch is a little warmer, with the roughly 1.5mm square of foam I put in the stock red nozzle of the Conch, otherwise it is very similar to the Q5.
The lower mid bass is a little thicker, warmer and has slightly better texture, and gives more authority to kick drums, a little better clarity to base guitars.
The upper mids and lower treble are similar to the Q5, although vocals sound a little warmer on the Conch.
Upper treble is pretty well the same on both the Q5 and Conch.
Vs Simgot EA500,
stock red nozzles.
The EA500 has better all round technical ability, better detail resolution, better imaging, better tonality, and more impact than the Q5 when it comes to drums, and more clarity and detail in base guitars, better vocals, it's just flat out a better IEM all round.
Conclusion:
The EPZ Q5 is a pretty reasonable IEM at its price range, but it isn't the best I've heard within the $20-$100 range, not by a long shot.
Also with more new options available like the ARTTI R1, which is also a far superior IEM in every way to the Q5, as well as others like the Juzear Clear, I think the Q5 has a lot of competition, that is miles ahead of the Q5.
It isn't going to be among my top 5 recommend IEM's in the $20-$100 price range, but it's still an okay IEM, if you are more into genres like
k-pop, and want a little bit of air with female vocals.
Anyway, that's my review and comparisons of the EPZ Q5, so thanks for reading my review, you can see a more in depth comparison of the Q5, with IEM's such as the Simgot EA500 Kiwi Ears Cadenza, Fiio FD11, and Moondrop Chu II on my YouTube channel,
youtube.com/@AudioReviewsDownunder