This is basically my first time writing a review, so I hope most would be able to excuse my poor writing and formatting. I had not planned to even write one, but after giving these a relisten, I personally feel the MK5's are quite an underappreciated set, and I'm hoping my amateuristic review could at least serve them some justice. This could also be considered as me having a space to pen down my own thoughts, while sharing it with everyone, so there's likely a sort of subjectivity that will be present in the review.
Fit
They sit quite nicely in my ear, they're secure unless pulled out forcefully. However, my ear canal is quite small, and I therefore can't put it as deep as I'm likely supposed to, but regardless, they seal and sit in quite nicely. I could wear them for a few hours possibly, due to them not having much wiggle room to irritate the walls of my ear canals, and also impart physical stress on them. All in all, while it can be scary for some, after getting used to it, it's nothing to worry about(as long as you get your ears cleaned, if not, earwax might be shoved deeper in, which could cause problems.)
Build
They're made of plastic, so it's relatively durable and light, nothing to complain about, espescially at this price(although, by 2023, metal shells have become a prominent sight, but a plastic shell still has it's own pluses, mainly weight wise.).
The non detachable cable is quite a let down though, it's Microphonic, thin, and does tangle here and there, so it's far from the best option in this price range.
Overall, nothing has failed me yet since my purchase 4-5 months ago, so that's a good sign
Sound
This is the most daunting part to write, as it's the section that's the most important to get accurate. I still lack confidence in my ears, so I apologise if my general descriptions are slightly restrained in a sense. One thing to note however, I will be mostly avoiding using terms like detail and resolution, as I have close to 0 confidence in determining such aspects, so I once again apologise for doing so.
Source: SoundCloud or Spotify-> MBQuart MB21P->Etymotic MK5
Genre(s): Predominantly EDM, but there are some others sprinkled here and there, with too many to list.
Bass: Flat and clean, to be expected from an Etymotic. They seem to hold up pretty well with most tracks I throw at it.
They lack weight or impact in majority of tracks, and EQ does not seem to help much, so it's likely a limitation of the drivers themselves. Subbass appears very sparingly, and midbass does present itself, but you only ever hear either, but not actually feel them. They do seem to have a very snappy nature to them, but I am unsure if it's due to the aforementioned characteristics, their flat signature, or that they have good transient response. Due to one or more of these characterstics however, they lack any bass bleed, so the overall response between the midbass and lower mids remain clean.
Mids
Clear as day, however, lacks any body or warmth, so those seeking clarity, espescially in vocals, should have these for consideration. As mentioned previously, a lack of bleed has kept the sound here pretty clean. The lack of body in the vocals however, does make certain instruments and male (and even some female)vocals sound unnatural by not giving them a fuller tone overall. It is possibly slightly shouty, but nothing too much to the level where it's a glaring flaw. There is also hints of nasal vocals, but it doesn't affect all of the tracks, generally only those sung by female Japanese artists in my playlist.
Treble
It lacks sparkle and extension, likely the biggest weakness of this set. Certain aspects of the song that I expect to be there are muted. There is also, however, slight sibilance. Personally, there isn't too much to talk about here, it's not impressive by any means, possibly poor even.
Timbre
I don't have too much to say here either, but everything in general sounds how I expect them to sound, espescially on tracks that don't rely on synthesized tracks and instrumentals. There might be a slight grain in the sound, but seeing as generally everything has a natural tone to them, I think it's quite minor
Technicalities
This portion encompasses more concrete aspects of an IEM, but I struggle to define alot of the concepts here, so it's likely going to be a short comment for each aspect. Staging has width, quite a decent bit, but height and depth is small. Imaging is sufficient, most instruments have their own spot with sufficient breathing room, which leads to my next point of instrument seperation, which is quite great, with nothing clashing with each other on space. "Detail" wise, it does display quite abit of information, but I can't say for sure how much better it is compared to other sets I have, so all I can say is, it's nothing to complain about, although, it's lack of upper end extension does pull back it's capabilities on allowing hihats and the like to come across clearly.
Isolation
They isolate great, nothing to complain about by any means, unless the user prefers spatial awareness.
Driveability
They work from my phone, which is a POCO X3, so I don't think requirements are particularly high.
Conclusion
Overall, they're a set that gets pretty overlooked in a period where chifi reigns the market, paired together with their age, uncomfortable looking fit, and unfavourable tuning, they've basically been forgotten by most in this hobby. It's a set that should be considered by those who either wants the leader of isolation at a sub 50 price bracket, or is interested in a tuning style that falls into neutral. I'm curious to see if Ety every releases another set like the MK5, but I really doubt that'll be coming anytime soon. Once again however, I would like to apologise if this review seems rough and poorly written, but I'm hoping this might help me take a step forward in learning and exploring more in this hobby. There is a possibility that I will make comparisons between this and my other sets I have, notably the Chu and ER3XR, but I'll have to see if I have the time and motivation to do so. If someone does end up reading this however, I hope this has at least garnered your curiosity for this set, as I'd like to hear more opinions on them.
