Interesting, although I would appreciate some feedback from Tom and yourself on how it sound
Interesting, although I would appreciate some feedback from Tom and yourself on how it sound
There are just too many choices in this price range...it doesn't make it an easy decision. :/
I'm SO SO CLOSE to hitting the "Buy It Now" button with these, but can't get myself to commit, d@mn it!
The most important factors for me are:
1. Fit & Extended Listening Comfort.
2. An overall "Balanced" sound signature.
3. Accuracy/Realism with Acoustic Instruments & Vocals. I'm a musician...drums/percussion, saxophone, and a bit of bass guitar. I also have a home recording studio set up and would also like to use these for monitoring while recording myself and as another reference when mixing, but also for casual listening.
3. Detailed & "Airy" but not harsh or fatiguing.
4. Tight, Accurate, Detailed Bass Response. Not bloated or over-exaggerated, but not too lean either.
5. Great Imaging & Sound Stage. I'm really into hearing/experiencing an accurate/wide/deep Sound Stage when the recording allows it.
Current Gear:
The most important factors for me are:
1. Fit & Extended Listening Comfort.
2. An overall "Balanced" sound signature.
3. Accuracy/Realism with Acoustic Instruments & Vocals. I'm a musician...drums/percussion, saxophone, and a bit of bass guitar. I also have a home recording studio set up and would also like to use these for monitoring while recording myself and as another reference when mixing, but also for casual listening.
3. Detailed & "Airy" but not harsh or fatiguing.
4. Tight, Accurate, Detailed Bass Response. Not bloated or over-exaggerated, but not too lean either.
5. Great Imaging & Sound Stage. I'm really into hearing/experiencing an accurate/wide/deep Sound Stage when the recording allows it.
Current Gear:
iBasso DX90
iBasso DX200 with stock Amp 1
HiBy R6 (on the way/not in hand)
Oppo HA-1
Audio-gd NFB-28 (sold but wish I hadn't!)
JBL LSR-305 Studio Monitors
Neumann KH 120 Studio Monitors
Infinity Beta 15x DIY Subwoofer
Mytek Brooklyn ADC (not DAC)
Audient iD22 & Arturia AudioFuse Recording Interfaces/ADC/DAC/Headphone Amps/Phono Preamp
ZOOM H6 portable Hi-Res recorder
Samsung Galaxy Note FE (Note 7) & Tab S2 8.0 LTE w/ USB Audio Player Pro app
Beyerdynamic T1 v1 SE & Balanced, with acoustic mods & Sonarworks calibration.
AKG K553 PRO with Sonarworks calibration.
Beyerdynamic DT-880 Premium 250 Ohm.
Grado SR125 w/ Senn. yellow foam earpads
Ora Sound Graphene Q Headphones (on the way/not in hand)
I really want to stick with universal IEMs and a ~$1,000 price range, though I've been contemplating the Noble Kaiser Encore universals, ha, but really Do Not want to spend that much!
Music/Listening Preferences:
Jazz Background, Be-Bop, Big-Band/Swing (more traditional "classic" stuff...think Miles' Kind of Blue)
Classical & selective Opera
Blues/Delta Blues
FUNK
Acoustic/Folk/Singer/Songwriter
A bit of Bluegrass & Americana
'80s/'90s/2000s Trip-Hop/Hip-Hop/Pop/New Wave/Alt. Rock/Grunge/Metal/Dance/Trance/Electronica/D'n'B
Selective Hard Rock & Prog Rock
So what ye say, Head-Fi'ers??? What other u-IEMs should I be considering in the ~$1,000 range?
My gut feeling is to go with the AKG's due to the work done by Dr. Sean Olive @ Harmon regarding Target Curve research and his involvement in the development of these u-IEMs. I've found that the Harmon/JBL Target Curve correlates extremely well with my preferences in both my home and car audio systems (the latter with a Helix DSP PRO MK2 for processing).
TIA!!!
B.B. 'da Noob
I'm SO SO CLOSE to hitting the "Buy It Now" button with these, but can't get myself to commit, d@mn it!
For the gentlemen & women out there that have these, BUT also have other Universal IEMs in the $1,000 range, would you buy the AKG N5005 again if yours were lost, damaged, or stolen???
The most important factors for me are:
1. Fit & Extended Listening Comfort.
2. An overall "Balanced" sound signature.
3. Accuracy/Realism with Acoustic Instruments & Vocals. I'm a musician...drums/percussion, saxophone, and a bit of bass guitar. I also have a home recording studio set up and would also like to use these for monitoring while recording myself and as another reference when mixing, but also for casual listening.
3. Detailed & "Airy" but not harsh or fatiguing.
4. Tight, Accurate, Detailed Bass Response. Not bloated or over-exaggerated, but not too lean either.
5. Great Imaging & Sound Stage. I'm really into hearing/experiencing an accurate/wide/deep Sound Stage when the recording allows it.
Current Gear:
iBasso DX90
iBasso DX200 with stock Amp 1
HiBy R6 (on the way/not in hand)
Oppo HA-1
Audio-gd NFB-28 (sold but wish I hadn't!)
JBL LSR-305 Studio Monitors
Neumann KH 120 Studio Monitors
Infinity Beta 15x DIY Subwoofer
Mytek Brooklyn ADC (not DAC)
Audient iD22 & Arturia AudioFuse Recording Interfaces/ADC/DAC/Headphone Amps/Phono Preamp
ZOOM H6 portable Hi-Res recorder
Samsung Galaxy Note FE (Note 7) & Tab S2 8.0 LTE w/ USB Audio Player Pro app
Beyerdynamic T1 v1 SE & Balanced, with acoustic mods & Sonarworks calibration.
AKG K553 PRO with Sonarworks calibration.
Beyerdynamic DT-880 Premium 250 Ohm.
Grado SR125 w/ Senn. yellow foam earpads
Ora Sound Graphene Q Headphones (on the way/not in hand)
I really want to stick with universal IEMs and a ~$1,000 price range, though I've been contemplating the Noble Kaiser Encore universals, ha, but really Do Not want to spend that much!
Music/Listening Preferences:
Jazz Background, Be-Bop, Big-Band/Swing (more traditional "classic" stuff...think Miles' Kind of Blue)
Classical & selective Opera
Blues/Delta Blues
FUNK
Acoustic/Folk/Singer/Songwriter
A bit of Bluegrass & Americana
'80s/'90s/2000s Trip-Hop/Hip-Hop/Pop/New Wave/Alt. Rock/Grunge/Metal/Dance/Trance/Electronica/D'n'B
Selective Hard Rock & Prog Rock
I basically listen to everything EXCEPT for Country music, most of the harder/modern Rap & Hip-Hop, and the harder Metal/Speed Metal/Death Metal, etc. Though there are occasions for a bit of all of these at times as well.
So what ye say, Head-Fi'ers??? What other u-IEMs should I be considering in the ~$1,000 range?
My gut feeling is to go with the AKG's due to the work done by Dr. Sean Olive @ Harmon regarding Target Curve research and his involvement in the development of these u-IEMs. I've found that the Harmon/JBL Target Curve correlates extremely well with my preferences in both my home and car audio systems (the latter with a Helix DSP PRO MK2 for processing).
TIA!!!
B.B. 'da Noob
Sounds like the CA Andromeda could be a perfect match/alternative for you! It s really as good as people say and fits very much to your description!
The AKG is fine, too! I have heard it for only for 10 minutes, but I really liked it.
It has a different signature than the Andromeda (that I own), though.
I`d definitely say that the Andromeda pronounces the mids more (good for acoustic), has more stage and a dryer bass.
The AKG in direct comparison sounded slightly (but only slightly) V-Shaped to me and has a different type of (but also really good!) bass - a little softer with longer decay (typical for dynamic driver/Hybrid).
I think in the end it`s a lot about whether you prefer BA driver sound or Hybrid.
Another IEM in that price range that I could definitely recommend is the Fidue Sirius (that I also own)!
It has similar specs like the AKG (Hybrid, too), but is leaning more towards pronounced mids, like the Andromeda. It sounds the fullest of the three IEMs, but also isn`t over pronounced in the bass department and is very airy!
But in the end they are all excellent IEMs, you can`t go wrong with non of them, imo...
I would really have loved to try a lot of these at the show and also maybe score a good deal there as well. Super bummed. It's very difficult to interpret everyone's subjective impressions on the qualities of sound or "sound signature".
For some reason it's hard for me to part with these types of things even when they've been replaced with something better. Having the N5005's, could you also live without the Flare Gold's or UM ME1's? Or are they just as good (or better), but just different flavours?Thanks for your time and suggestions. Greatly appreciated!
I live in SoCal but unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to CanJam.
I'm not really a fan of all the subjective terms we often use to "describe" sound characteristics. Warm, Punchy, Smooth, and so on... Everyone has different ideas of what these terms mean, and to what degree, and also vastly different preferences.
The best way I can correlate impressions of the characteristics of sound is to relate it to real, live, acoustic instruments that we all know. Violin, cello, grand piano, saxophone, trumpet, drums/percussion/cymbals, human voice, etc. IMO, if it sounds accurate, lifelike, and realistic, I know that it's doing what I want, or at least have a better place to start when describing what it isn't doing right.
Thanks! I'd say that's a fairly strong statement.
Also, does anyone have any tips on U.S. dealers that might offer a bit of a discount on these other than Audio46? According to their 15 day return policy you can't return IEMs. I understand why, but you get a 30 day return window if you buy direct from AKG. However, even with their $50 U.S. Discount & Free 2-day Shipping, that basically gets eaten up by CA taxes. 1st world problems, I know!
