[all999]

Very bad picture but gives an idea of the issue.

Oh man, this is bad. So I'm gonna temporarily stop my purchase for couple months and see what other's experience will bring.

Thanks

 

[McCol]

Oh man, this is bad. So I'm gonna temporarily stop my purchase for couple months and see what other's experience will bring.

Thanks

I wouldn’t stop your purchase, the part is not broken as such it has just come away. Probably due to a lack of adhesive/glue. The other earpiece has no movement suggesting no issue.
These things happen sometimes.

 

[Trebor1966]

I wouldn’t stop your purchase, the part is not broken as such it has just come away. Probably due to a lack of adhesive/glue. The other earpiece has no movement suggesting no issue.
These things happen sometimes.

The N5005 is a development from Samsung and have no relationship with the famous AKG K3003.
The K3003 had been developed in Vienna, Austria an launched in 2011.
I personally know one member of the developer team.
Sadly last year AKG in Vienna closed and the employees lost their jobs.
I asked my friend from AKG about N5005 - he never heard in his active time from a "successor" over K3003.
Nobody of the original development team was ever involved - this product is a follower of N40.
I am still waiting for the first objective comparisons between K3003 and N5005.
I will wait with buying a few months until the production and quality gets stable.

 

[McCol]

The N5005 is a development from Samsung and have no relationship with the famous AKG K3003.
The K3003 had been developed in Vienna, Austria an launched in 2011.
I personally know one member of the developer team.
Sadly last year AKG in Vienna closed and the employees lost their jobs.
I asked my friend from AKG about N5005 - he never heard in his active time from a "successor" over K3003.
Nobody of the original development team was ever involved - this product is a follower of N40.
I am still waiting for the first objective comparisons between K3003 and N5005.
I will wait with buying a few months until the production and quality gets stable.

That’s fine, I never bought these thinking they were a direct successor of the K3003. The different driver set up and shape of the earphone would suggest they aren’t a successor, I also knew about the production process and the changes to AKG as a company.
In terms of objective comparison, granted I no longer own the K3003 but the N5005 are from memory an improvement in most areas, more detail in the treble and mods and a bass response that is more in sync with the BA drivers.

Fair enough on waiting but I don’t think you can gauge production and quality on one example, all products have a return rate.

 

[all999]

That’s fine, I never bought these thinking they were a direct successor of the K3003. The different driver set up and shape of the earphone would suggest they aren’t a successor, I also knew about the production process and the changes to AKG as a company.
In terms of objective comparison, granted I no longer own the K3003 but the N5005 are from memory an improvement in most areas, more detail in the treble and mods and a bass response that is more in sync with the BA drivers.

Fair enough on waiting but I don’t think you can gauge production and quality on one example, all products have a return rate.

Yeah, but it's still disappointing to breaking so fast and this way. Still a fan and owner of K3003 and they're different beasts on InAirs, both soundwise and ergonomic. Still beating Andromedas and Oriolus, to name few I had lately. So I'm gonna pass it for now.

 

[Scblacksunshine]

Interesting are you saying k3003 is better than Oriolus and Andromeda? I was interested in Oriolus from all the positive reviews. In what way is the. K3003 better?

 

[all999]

Interesting are you saying k3003 is better than Oriolus and Andromeda? I was interested in Oriolus from all the positive reviews. In what way is the. K3003 better?

Every aspect, but mostly bass. Oriolus is warmer and it's mid is charming but I prefer more linear presentation. K3003 is tip dependent and with InAirs it sounds superior.
Tighter subbas and more refined and 3D highs with great holographic in K3003.

 

[Turrican2]

BT module is a really nice addition to the package, sounds very good

 

[Dr. Udo Brömme]

My N5005's will need to go back for an exchange. Whilst taking a tip off the nozzle came away from the body of the earphone. AKG in the process of sorting a return hopefully.

Hopefully a one-off but be careful changing those tips!!!

I am sorry to hear that, hopefully you will recive an exchange unit immediately.

 

[Dr. Udo Brömme]

This Weekend was way too short. I only had about an hour of time listen to the N5005. But I don't want to deprive my first brief impression.

First the packaging is Impressive. Unboxing was a real joy! The build quality looks awesome too.
After looking through the plenty of accessories, I quickly attached the standard cable and started to listen. Prejudged by McCols review (https://www.head-fi.org/threads/akgs-new-flagship-iem-n5005.869344/page-9#post-14104699) I was underwhelmed by the bass. After a couple of tacks, I changed the default ear tips to the spin fit tips and finally there was the was the bass.
My first Impression is that the N5005 sound very neutral, with the right tips they have plenty bass, but only where it belongs it is not too dominant. The highs are very accurate and never harsh. The separation is great and has a nice sound stage. Overall I am impressed after the first hour.

I am really looking forward to spend more time with them and try the different filters.

 

[james444]

The N5005 is a development from Samsung and have no relationship with the famous AKG K3003.

Samsung? Omg, their IG900 hybrid was one of the worst IEMs I ever tried. Much lower price point, I know. But still... <shudder> hope there were different people at work this time.

 

[McCol]

Well that’s my N5005’s all boxed with return label, going to drop off tomorrow, probably looking at 10 day turnaround.

 

[McCol]

Should be a quicker turnaround than I thought. Seems that as soon as my return is scanned at the UPS pickup point this morning then the replacement is sent out, should be sent today or tomorrow - good service by AKG.

This got me thinking though about UK prices after brexit. With Sennheiser and AKG seemingly sending their oriducts to UK customers direct from the EU there could be quite a hike in prices after brexit if the UK introduce VAT and customs as they do with sales from around the rest of the world.

 

[Turrican2]

Been using these for almost a week now. A few thoughts.

Comfort - VERY comfortable, you forget they're in after a while. The K3003 used to work their way out of my ears which meant I had to re-position them every now and again. These are solid, no problem walking or moving around.

Tips - There's a fair amount of tips supplied, including spinfits but none of these work for me, instead I am using the TS-500 from Comply. I'm also using the medium-high boost filters, they seem to sound about right with the complys as they tend to muffle the treble a little. Would like to have seen foamies included.

Cables - Firstly, Zero microphonics with the included cables, which are also well made and quite tangle free. I mainly use the 3.5mm cable as my Sony WM1A has the 4.4mm balanced connector. I will likely re-terminate the included 2.5mm to 4.4mm once I find a good jack. The bluetooth cable works ok and sounds good, for it's use-case it's perfect, well done AKG for including that. As a bonus it also fits my Beyerdynamic Xelentos. Speaking of compatibility (or lack of) it seems that the pots in which the MMCX connectors sit on the headphones has a collar which is too large for any of my 'standard' MMCX cables, including the Sony Kimber cable. This annoys me. Ok, good that the cable is replaceable unlike the K3003 but why on earth would they make the connector too deep for a standard cable?

Filters - I have tried all the filters and they do all sound different but as mentioned above the Medium High boost filters sound the best to me with my setup..

Sound - To me the balance is spot on. Nothing particularly out of place and no peaky treble (even with the high boost filters!), I think AKG have been smart with their tuning of these. They sound great with every genre I've listened to so far. I prefer the Xelentos for Electronica (love the sub bass) but the N5005 are much more flexible in this regard, these will become my every day phones.

 

[613x]

Been using these for almost a week now. A few thoughts.

Comfort - VERY comfortable, you forget they're in after a while. The K3003 used to work their way out of my ears which meant I had to re-position them every now and again. These are solid, no problem walking or moving around.

Tips - There's a fair amount of tips supplied, including spinfits but none of these work for me, instead I am using the TS-500 from Comply. I'm also using the medium-high boost filters, they seem to sound about right with the complys as they tend to muffle the treble a little. Would like to have seen foamies included.

Cables - Firstly, Zero microphonics with the included cables, which are also well made and quite tangle free. I mainly use the 3.5mm cable as my Sony WM1A has the 4.4mm balanced connector. I will likely re-terminate the included 2.5mm to 4.4mm once I find a good jack. The bluetooth cable works ok and sounds good, for it's use-case it's perfect, well done AKG for including that. As a bonus it also fits my Beyerdynamic Xelentos. Speaking of compatibility (or lack of) it seems that the pots in which the MMCX connectors sit on the headphones has a collar which is too large for any of my 'standard' MMCX cables, including the Sony Kimber cable. This annoys me. Ok, good that the cable is replaceable unlike the K3003 but why on earth would they make the connector too deep for a standard cable?

Filters - I have tried all the filters and they do all sound different but as mentioned above the Medium High boost filters sound the best to me with my setup..

Sound - To me the balance is spot on. Nothing particularly out of place and no peaky treble (even with the high boost filters!), I think AKG have been smart with their tuning of these. They sound great with every genre I've listened to so far. I prefer the Xelentos for Electronica (love the sub bass) but the N5005 are much more flexible in this regard, these will become my every day phones.

How can these be compared to K3003 soundwise (detailing, separation, soundstage etc) please?