Rock Jaw T5 Ultra Connect- now reduced to £52.49

Takeanidea

Headphoneus Supremus
Pros: As of 05/03/20 reduced to £52.49.Decent sound from Gold Filters. Comply Foams. Padded bag. Latest Bluetooth. Decent battery life. USBC. Sweat proof.
Cons: Other wired IEMs have a classier sound. The fit is problematic for vigorous exercise. The other filters were too extreme.
Amazon has this for next day delivery as of 5th March 2020 at £52.49

Screenshot_20200305-134756_Amazon Shopping~2.jpg





Introduction

This latest offering from Rock Jaw has been sent to me in return for a review in such prestigious places as headfi. I have had them for a little while now and feel it's time for me to send my opinions out to the masses.
I must confess, it has been a little while since I auditioned a pair of Bluetooth IEMs. I have a Bluetooth cable for my detachables, and several full sized, including the Audeze Mobius, which many will know. I have also had a sneak preview of some TWS, or Truly Wireless In Ears,from HiFiMan. The Sennheiser Momentum TWS is pretty good too. No cables, as opposed to a weighted cable that sits on the shoulders for a conventional Bluetooth design, like the T5. So, which is better? This is the age old problem of balancing features, convenience, quality and value for money. Anyway, food for thought. This is Rock Jaw's first venture into the World of Wireless, and we can only assume that they are not ready to take the plunge into TWS just yet.

20190601_125300.jpg

Features/build

A magnetised gatefold box opens up to reveal a decent enough set of accessories. A 4 page booklet is the instruction manual and tells you in nice quick simple terms exactly what you can do with these and how to do it, from pairing your smartphone or DAP to using Google or Siri. There is a 3 button touch pad on the left side of the cable. Volume can be adjusted with 1 quick press left or right to adjust up or down accordingly. Long press and you will skip tracks back or forward. Middle press is for pairing mode, switching on or off, answers and stops your phone calls, pauses your music, redials the last number, or activates your untiring assistant. That is a lot of functionality for 1 button, but in practice it is easy enough to get used to and works as it should. The volume buttons, whilst out running, aren't particularly easy to adjust more than one step up or down, and USB Audio Player Pro does not pause with the middle button. Amazon Music works fine with the pause and skip functions, so I'd assume all the regular streaming software won't present too many problems either.
The Bluetooth lanyard is a stiff rubbery affair. It has a weight to the right hand side which balances the cable equally across the shoulder. The cable is a fixed design, the fittings look reasonably sturdy enough to support plenty of flex. The design is a down from the ear one, and necessitates an amount of work in choosing an ear tip that will keep these IEMs in your ear canals, especially if you are into vigorous workouts. I am a 20 miles per week runner, of average weight and skill. I run heavily, so I readily admit to being a match for portable kit when I'm out and about. Running lends itself to music; the rhythm and monotony is much helped by a decent setup, as long as it is up to the stresses that it will have placed upon it. This is where the design of a set of IEMs becomes so critical. Every step can dislodge the driver from the ear canal, send a vibration up through the cable, or cause dropouts with the wireless connection. I didn't find the T5's ideal for this task. The barrel size is reasonably long and wants to stick out slightly from the ear. It is also rather fat, and the nozzle is the same diameter; all things which are not helping the ear tips to stay in place when they are being pushed to the limit. Comply foams have been included, and as most readers will know, these will give a little extra grip when they expand inside the ear once pinched and pushed into the canal. The down from the ear design meant I was not able to wrap the cables around my ears. Around the ear designs can alleviate much of the weight and the strain of the driver shells. Many of the designs out there sit precariously in the middle part of the outer ear with no support towards the upper part of the ear lobe. The T5 is one such design.

20190601_125444.jpg

Because of it's metal construction the shell is weighty for it's size; inevitably this tugs on the cable when things start to get serious. Thankfully, the cable is not microphonic, so no noise is transferred to the driver. The cable is pulled together with a small plastic clip that can be slid up and down the centre of the lanyard. This creates an oval shape which between the shoulder blades. The lasso shape can cause a decent bit of flapping against the back of the head when running hard. Ultimately, I have taken the T5's out for several runs. The Comply Foams have mitigated many of the above issues. The drivers have fallen out of my ears once or twice, and the vibrations may have caused 1 or 2 seconds of dropouts in an hour. I felt some flapping against the back of my head but soon stopped being aware of it. The Ultra T5s are sweat proof; in fact they are IPX4 rated, so please don't blame me for putting them through their paces, quite literally! I know that this particular piece of long winded analysis will not be relevant to many of my fellow headfi brothers out there. But let me tell you this; the only time I saw no other runners out there when I am on the road is when I do a run on my night shift, and that is because it's 3 am. I hope that I can tempt at least some of you to put their own IEMs, or perhaps these T5s, to the ultimate test, and tell us what happens...
Isolation is average for an IEM. The barrel shape does not completely cover the inside of the ear. So some leakage is going to get in there. The comply foams help to mask some of this effect, some quieter classical tracks were lost amidst my groaning and puffing and panting (no, I was running before your minds start wondering!) and the articulated lorries not only obscured some birdsong; they made Meat Loaf flinch a bit as well....
We learn here that the Ultra 5 uses BT 5.0 technology. This is the newest Bluetooth update, reportedly more efficient, needing less power to run, resulting in a higher battery life, 11 hours in the case of the Rock Jaw Ultra. I am also assuming that the Ultra part of the brand name comes down to the battery life. The 5.0 also gives a higher range, said to be 10 metres. There is no way of me telling whether the Ultra 5's are running out of battery - I have put it on charge for an hour or so every so often, when I remember, it simply hasn't run out of battery yet.
The charging is done by USBC, and a reversible short cable is supplied as standard, as is a fetching looking padded black mesh drawstring carry bag. 3 sizes of silicon and comply tips are provided, all of which will affect the isolation and sound signature of the T5. A more radical tuning of the T5 Ultra's sound is possible; 3 different filters are available out of the box.

20190601_125519.jpg

Sound Quality

Silver (Bass) filter
This bloats the bass and turns these into a set of Beats earphones, maybe even bassier! Needless to say, they were not for me. For running, where the feet are causing constant low frequency vibrations a little extra bass is always welcome. The silver filter was unlistenable, even in those circumstances. These may suit a basshead, or someone into drum and bass, hip hop or club, but I'm afraid I can't answer for you, because these are not genres I enjoy.

Black (treble) Filter
Not discouraged, I tried the black filter. If there were any sacrifices to be made in a sound signature, then I would choose more detail in my music over more beat or power or rhythm or whatever. What I don't do, is harsh. And these push the upper range into the danger zone for me. Simply put, these filters produce too much treble energy.

Gold (natural) Filter
The Gold Filters are the nicest looking ones and these are what come pre fitted to the T5 Ultra. I am happy to relate that the Gold Filters sound just great! There is a balance to the sound, with a slight lift in the bass, enhanced with the Comply tips, and higher mids, which give an airy, spacious quality to the sound whilst retaining a warmth overall. More importantly, there is no steeliness or ringing effect in the upper frequencies. Loud metal, busy passages where everything is in competition with everything else, all can be tolerated with the Rock Jaw T5.
I have no wireless IEM to compare these to. This makes comparisons with other IEMs problematic. One has to accept that all the technology packed into 1 of these devices encompasses a large proportion of the cost. One of my favourite budget IEMs is the Venture Electronics BIE. This retails at $20. It does nothing other than to be a listening device through a 3.5mm headphone jack. If sound quality alone is what you would choose above all else, then you would have to spend more money than the £70 that Rock Jaw will charge you for a T5. What I am saying is that I prefer the sound of the BIE as compared to the T5. The BIE gets more resolution from the music; it hits harder in the lower regions and has a hint of magic in the upper frequencies that belies it's retail price. For running, it's a no no. But if we are talking about sound quality, then it's a yes yes! Not to say that the T5 is any slouch with those gold filters, it has a good sound for a wireless, in my opinion.

20190601_125534.jpg

Conclusion
I have given these wireless debuts from Rock Jaw the thrashing of their lives! Thankfully, they survived. I was able to get everything working very quickly, it all seemed like I would be things us headfiers would be using regularly enough to remember how to do it when we needed to. The T5 has a balanced sound through it's Gold Filters, I found the other 2 over the top with their alteration of the sound. You can work out with these; they are better suited to the gym than to the track, but they can, with perseverance, handle both. You can also sit down and listen seriously with these; they don't have the resolution of some wired IEMs, but if you've got this far you are most probably looking for a wireless product that approaches rather than surpasses that level. So in those terms, I am sure the T5 should do the trick.
Last edited:
Back
Top