[baskingshark]

Why are these not available to usin the uk/eu at these prices ?? Seems grossly unfair

You can try using a forwarding service.

Or perhaps buy one thru a friend/relative who lives there, and they can forward it on to you.

 

[Turrican2]

You can try using a forwarding service.

Or perhaps buy one thru a friend/relative who lives there, and they can forward it on to you.

Unfortunately, shipping costs are fairly prohibitive. A kind headfier offered to buy and ship at cost but the shipping was extortionate!!!

 

[Daveshast]

I sold mine and now I miss them. They are a great buy under $300.

 

[Not so fat head]

All,
Don't know if someone pointed this out.
I was checking out the ear tips for my Bose SoundSports Free's, and noticed these might work for my 5005's...
Holy cow, they are perfect and the built in wing tips fit amazing.... These were an absolute steal now, and couldn't get any kind of good before this.. I'm listening to The Who's amazing journey and am floored...

 

[caracara08]

Listening via my Qudelix. Man… so good.

 

[emdeevee]

Can anyone comment on the effect (or lack thereof) of burn in with these? I just received my set and am tip rolling, but initial sound seems very thin with weak bass using the default, installed filter, with the 2.5mm balanced with 4.4mm cayin adapter. I will also try my other mmcx cables so I can avoid the adapter though that shouldn't be a huge difference.

 

[Not so fat head]

It took me so long to finally come up with the Bose tip solution. I was using straws with shrink tubing, while gluing tip.. basically anything to extend the stems.. That's the beauty of the Bose tips. They are not meant to be inserted down into the ear canal. They just seal the outer opening.. luckily the sound still fires directly down the canal...

 

[baskingshark]

Can anyone comment on the effect (or lack thereof) of burn in with these? I just received my set and am tip rolling, but initial sound seems very thin with weak bass using the default, installed filter, with the 2.5mm balanced with 4.4mm cayin adapter. I will also try my other mmcx cables so I can avoid the adapter though that shouldn't be a huge difference.

The N5005's bass is sub-bass focused, so u will feel (not so much hear) the rumble in bass heavy tracks. It has a scooped out mid-bass, so you don't get the thump in mid-bass heavy genres like EDM/hiphop. This is across all filter settings, the N5005 has a thinner note weight than the average IEM.

As a result of this, the bass is fast and quick and well-textured, but even if you use the bass filter, I think this is not a mid-bass forward set. The note weight is a bit thicker on the bass filter, but it is not a bonafide bass head set. Perhaps try using a warmer/bassier source, or use some eartips like Final E black tips/foam tips, which boost mid bass and tame treble.

 

[emdeevee]

The N5005's bass is sub-bass focused, so u will feel (not so much hear) the rumble in bass heavy tracks. It has a scooped out mid-bass, so you don't get the thump in mid-bass heavy genres like EDM/hiphop. This is across all filter settings, the N5005 has a thinner note weight than the average IEM.



As a result of this, the bass is fast and quick and well-textured, but even if you use the bass filter, I think this is not a mid-bass forward set. The note weight is a bit thicker on the bass filter, but it is not a bonafide bass head set. Perhaps try using a warmer/bassier source, or use some eartips like Final E black tips/foam tips, which boost mid bass and tame treble.

Thanks and this very helpful. When in doubt, I always can get a good fit and seal with foam which I'll try. I will dabble in EQ a bit as well. They are new and seem like they need time.

 

[bbfoto]

Can anyone comment on the effect (or lack thereof) of burn in with these? I just received my set and am tip rolling, but initial sound seems very thin with weak bass using the default, installed filter, with the 2.5mm balanced with 4.4mm cayin adapter. I will also try my other mmcx cables so I can avoid the adapter though that shouldn't be a huge difference.

I really don't think burn-in is a factor with these. It's all about finding the right EAR TIPS for YOUR ears with these. Why these are so finicky in this regard I do not understand, but they are.

And my thoughts are along those that @baskingshark posted regarding their Spectral Balance.

As with all IEMs, maintaining a consistent seal to your ear canals is mandatory. But due to the short but large-ish stem diameter, I found it very difficult to find tips that maintained a consistent seal while also having good comfort.

I also discovered that for the best spectral balance, and/or to achieve my preferred target curve, none of the ear tips with larger bores or openings worked. They always resulted in thin response that lacked any midbass or deep bass response.

However, most ear tips with smaller than average openings or bores (~1.8mm - 2.25mm diameter max.) resulted in excellent midbass and deep bass response. But you can imagine that these tips are a tight fit onto the larger stems, so a lot of these ear tips would become too deformed and be uncomfortable in my ears, and/or not maintain a good seal.

Note: all comparisons were always using the standard "reference" filters. I did try all of the other filters, but none of them worked as well with any of the ear tips I tried.

HOWEVER, once I found the proper tips for my ears, these IEMs became CRAZY GOOD!

ALL aspects of their performance come together when you find the right ear tips!...

There is extreme detail and resolution THROUGHOUT the frequency spectrum, from low bass to airy highs. And the imaging and soundstage became extremely focused, distinct, and multilayered (i.e. picking out all of the individual instruments from front to back and far left to far right in large orchestral performances that are well recorded, or live, small club jazz quartets, etc,)

Unfortunately for me, and it seems many others, even with the wide compliment of ear tips that were included with these IEMs, as well as the various "tuning" filters, finding the ideal ear tips is or was an arduous, frustrating task, and many would simply give up on these too soon and deem these IEMs as pure Rubbish. But I can assure you that they are not.

Like others have said, if you can aquire these anywhere under $300 they are an absolute steal, IF you are able to find ear tips that work for you. I agree that this really shouldn't be an issue, and I wouldn't blame anyone in the slightest for giving these a pass.

I jumped in on these quite early, shortly after they were announced, and so I paid much closer to the initial MSRP. IIRC, I paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $800, which is a hard pill to swallow considering what you can aquire these for now. Even so, I am completely satisfied with them, and I still own them after all this time, so there's that. I've even considered buying another pair as a backup if I found them for $250 or less.

 

[emdeevee]

I really don't think burn-in is a factor with these. It's all about finding the right EAR TIPS for YOUR ears with these. Why these are so finicky in this regard I do not understand, but they are.

And my thoughts are along those that @baskingshark posted regarding their Spectral Balance.

As with all IEMs, maintaining a consistent seal to your ear canals is mandatory. But due to the short but large-ish stem diameter, I found it very difficult to find tips that maintained a consistent seal while also having good comfort.

I also discovered that for the best spectral balance, and/or to achieve my preferred target curve, none of the ear tips with larger bores or openings worked. They always resulted in thin response that lacked any midbass or deep bass response.

However, most ear tips with smaller than average openings or bores (~1.8mm - 2.25mm diameter max.) resulted in excellent midbass and deep bass response. But you can imaging that these are a tight fit onto the larger stems, so a lot of these ear tips would become too deformed and be uncomfortable in my ears, and/or not maintain a good seal.

Note: this was always using the standard "reference" filters.

But when I found the proper tips for my ears, these IEMs are CRAZY GOOD!

ALL aspects of their performance come together when you find the right ear tips!

There is extreme detail and resolution THROUGHOUT the frequency spectrum, from low bass to airy highs. And the imaging and soundstage became extremely focused, distinct, and multilayered (i.e. picking out all of the individual instruments from front to back and far left to far right in large orchestral performances that are well recorded, or live, small club jazz quartets, etc,)

Unfortunately for me, and it seems many others, even with the wide compliment of ear tips that were included with these IEMs, as well as the various "tuning" filters, finding the ideal ear tips is or was an arduous, frustrating task, and many would simply give up on these too soon and deem these IEMs as pure Rubbish. But I can assure you that they are not.

Like others have said, if you can aquire these anywhere under $300 they are an absolute steal, IF you are able to find ear tips that work for you. I agree that this really shouldn't be an issue, and I wouldn't blame anyone in the slightest for giving these a pass.

I think this is a part of the game with all iems. Fit, seal, isolation all rely on using the right tip for your ear...it's so frustrating to hear how Spinfits, or AZLAs, etc. work great for one person but not for you.

Some iems are easier in this respect than others, and this sounds like one of those. I'll keep rolling

 

[emdeevee]

I think this is a part of the game with all iems. Fit, seal, isolation all rely on using the right tip for your ear...it's so frustrating to hear how Spinfits, or AZLAs, etc. work great for one person but not for you.

Some iems are easier in this respect than others, and this sounds like one of those. I'll keep rolling

Found that Azla xelastec is working well for me and now I'm hearing a lot more of what you describe and feeling like I got a super deal on these. They sound much more than $175!

Now those mmcx connectors...argh...3 cables in house and none worked. I got a good fit with a tripowin cable but no sound even after playing with them. So stuck with stock which sounds great though I needed a 4.4mm adapter to play thru my balanced outs on my DAPs.

I do have 2pin to mmcx adapters that I've used with the Z1R so I might try that out and see if I can use some of the higher end cables I have.

 

[Not so fat head]

My backup set arrived, I'm good to go.
Thanks AKG!!! I've bought many AKG's and they always deliver great sound..

 

[Donbonus]

Picked these up last month for $199. Listening through a MacBook Pro (Mid 2012)->SMSL SU-9 DAC->iFi Zen Can amp. I like the Bass Boost filter on the N5005 the best. The "Tube 3" Sound Color filter on the SU-9 blunts the harshness from the top end of the N5005. Very nice.

 

[dosley01]

Cross posting from the Deals Discussion thread because getting it to work is not straightforward. Below is my explanation of how I go it done (hope this helps):

Hey, I actually was at the online chat at the AKG site. That's why it is so confusing. I'm guessing because they are owned by the same parent company or something like that, their chat support is cross platform. What happened to me was I was at the AKG site, went to the support chat (link below), and asked nicely if there was any current discount code. The support rep came back with a one time use courtesy code for harmanaudio.com. I was confused but said OK. I initially went to harmanaudio.com, used the search tool and looked for N5005 and couldn't find it, and they were not under the IEM section either. I was disappointed but thought "oh well." The promo code also did not work on the akg.com site. I then went to google and typed in AKG N5005 to read up on more reviews and at the top under shopping ads, I saw a link for them at the harmanaudio.com site. I clicked on the link and it took me right to them. I was able to use the promo code there.

Link to chat at akg.com
https://www.akg.com/support-knowledgebase.html
PS- Your mileage may vary depending on the support rep. Some people said they got 20%, 25%, etc. I think I was fortunate to get the 30%.

They only offered me to sign up for the newsletter to get a promo code which is $10 off 150.