jilgiljongiljing
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2006
- Posts
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I was in singapore recently and I needed a portable HP for my Zen sleek. Walked into one of the stores and grabbed the ES5's. I must say, these are really good for the money that I paid. They sell for a little more here, but I would still say its worth it. I am posting impressions after about 20 hours of burn in.
DESIGN:
The packaging is exquisite. I havent gotten any pictures yet, will update soon with a picture cos you really have to see how well this thing is packaged. The design is very different from most headphones and might not be to everyones liking. There are basically three points about which you can turn the headphones. As you can see from the picture, the first one is around midway on the headband. This is the toughest to snap out, and believe me, you will think you are going to snap the headphone in half the first time you try it. But the advantage however is that it stays in place once you snap it out and straighten it.
The second point is an axis along the headband for the earcups to face your ear. As you can see from the photo, during storage you can make the earcups flat, for easy storage. These simply turn towards your ear and once you put it on, since its not a fixed rotation (as in, the rotation is free, there is no tension about the axis) its very adjustable to the position and size of the ear. So instead of a full 180 degree rotation with the earcup lined up parallel to one another, your ears might be more comfortable with them leaning slightly towards one another (say a 160 degree rotation).
The third point is the most innovative and its axis is about the side of the earcup. The axis of rotation is about a point on the circumference of the earcup. Hence you can rotate it to get the earcups in front of the headband instead of the usual earcups under the headband or vice versa. The beauty of this system however is that it stays put at whatever angle you leave it at. This gives a level of adjustment not found on most headphones and it really works.
Maybe a set of pictures would explain these better, will post some soon.
The build quality is exceptional and I dont see how anything can stop functioning or become loose after lots of usage.
SOUND:
Now onto the sound. They are closed dynamic headphones and are very efficient and can pump out a really loud volume, louder than most headphones , and they dont sound closed at all. While the AKG k81's have that closed sound with the slightly nasal and narrow mids, these have a nice smooth although treble biased presentation throuought. The bass is there but not boomy like the K81's but at the same time, some might find it lacking. The bass extends very well but lacks fullness and warmth. Its punchy and fast, kinda Grado like.
The mids are very very good and the soundstage is surprisingly wide. In Tools song "Eulogy" the kind of width and space this thing put out was quite phenomenal. Overall very good presentation in the mids. Some might find it a little flat sounding or biased towards the upper mids. Especially since I come from the 650's, the lower mids lack warmth. But I believe this is something some ppl use against the 650's hence, its a toss up.
The treble extension is excellent and it has a sparkly nature. It can be a little fatiguing on songs that have a very dominant hi hat sound, or songs that are mixed with pronounced highs. But on most songs, its just about right.
I didnt find it sibilant or annoying, and a little bit of EQ can solve that.
Overall I would rank this higher than the K81's in just about every aspect except maybe bass for bass heavy songs. Hip hop, RAP, dance, techno...not sure these will satisfy they kind of bass those genres tend to use. But rock, metal, and pretty much all the other types, these should serve just fine. The treble and mids are significanlty better than the K81's.
Comparing these to my AT A700's, they actually have a similar sound in all ranges except bass. A700's bass is spot on.
COMFORT:
Comfort wise though these are way more comfortable compared to the K81's IMO. The ear cups are adjustable in just any way imaginable and you can easily find the perfect position. The cups are smaller than the K81's and hence they dont press on the back of my ears as much, which is a real big deal for me since the K81's would give me severe pain in an hour or two. I listened to the ES5 for several hours on my long flight back to SFO and I didnt have any issues.
The only other factor which can cause some concern is the difficulty is opening these HP's up from the storage position. If you are gonna leave these open, well and good. But if you are going to fold them up and store them on a daily basis, it might get on your nerves a bit, since the first axis especially is unusually tough to get open.
CONCLUSION:
So overall, I would definitely say, its a good buy. Anyone considering a Grado SR60, K81DJ or any similar priced/style portable headphone should definitely consider these as they are closed design, but dont have any of the disadvantages in sound that closed headphones usually tend to have.
Edit : Heres another pic I found of the ES5's
http://www.zalmar.com/images/ath-es5sv.jpg
Edit:My girlfriend just read this and told me she didnt find them comfortable at all, since they pressed on her ears quite hard and it was impossible to wear them with ear rings
Ah well...
DESIGN:
The packaging is exquisite. I havent gotten any pictures yet, will update soon with a picture cos you really have to see how well this thing is packaged. The design is very different from most headphones and might not be to everyones liking. There are basically three points about which you can turn the headphones. As you can see from the picture, the first one is around midway on the headband. This is the toughest to snap out, and believe me, you will think you are going to snap the headphone in half the first time you try it. But the advantage however is that it stays in place once you snap it out and straighten it.
The second point is an axis along the headband for the earcups to face your ear. As you can see from the photo, during storage you can make the earcups flat, for easy storage. These simply turn towards your ear and once you put it on, since its not a fixed rotation (as in, the rotation is free, there is no tension about the axis) its very adjustable to the position and size of the ear. So instead of a full 180 degree rotation with the earcup lined up parallel to one another, your ears might be more comfortable with them leaning slightly towards one another (say a 160 degree rotation).
The third point is the most innovative and its axis is about the side of the earcup. The axis of rotation is about a point on the circumference of the earcup. Hence you can rotate it to get the earcups in front of the headband instead of the usual earcups under the headband or vice versa. The beauty of this system however is that it stays put at whatever angle you leave it at. This gives a level of adjustment not found on most headphones and it really works.
Maybe a set of pictures would explain these better, will post some soon.
The build quality is exceptional and I dont see how anything can stop functioning or become loose after lots of usage.
SOUND:
Now onto the sound. They are closed dynamic headphones and are very efficient and can pump out a really loud volume, louder than most headphones , and they dont sound closed at all. While the AKG k81's have that closed sound with the slightly nasal and narrow mids, these have a nice smooth although treble biased presentation throuought. The bass is there but not boomy like the K81's but at the same time, some might find it lacking. The bass extends very well but lacks fullness and warmth. Its punchy and fast, kinda Grado like.
The mids are very very good and the soundstage is surprisingly wide. In Tools song "Eulogy" the kind of width and space this thing put out was quite phenomenal. Overall very good presentation in the mids. Some might find it a little flat sounding or biased towards the upper mids. Especially since I come from the 650's, the lower mids lack warmth. But I believe this is something some ppl use against the 650's hence, its a toss up.
The treble extension is excellent and it has a sparkly nature. It can be a little fatiguing on songs that have a very dominant hi hat sound, or songs that are mixed with pronounced highs. But on most songs, its just about right.
I didnt find it sibilant or annoying, and a little bit of EQ can solve that.
Overall I would rank this higher than the K81's in just about every aspect except maybe bass for bass heavy songs. Hip hop, RAP, dance, techno...not sure these will satisfy they kind of bass those genres tend to use. But rock, metal, and pretty much all the other types, these should serve just fine. The treble and mids are significanlty better than the K81's.
Comparing these to my AT A700's, they actually have a similar sound in all ranges except bass. A700's bass is spot on.
COMFORT:
Comfort wise though these are way more comfortable compared to the K81's IMO. The ear cups are adjustable in just any way imaginable and you can easily find the perfect position. The cups are smaller than the K81's and hence they dont press on the back of my ears as much, which is a real big deal for me since the K81's would give me severe pain in an hour or two. I listened to the ES5 for several hours on my long flight back to SFO and I didnt have any issues.
The only other factor which can cause some concern is the difficulty is opening these HP's up from the storage position. If you are gonna leave these open, well and good. But if you are going to fold them up and store them on a daily basis, it might get on your nerves a bit, since the first axis especially is unusually tough to get open.
CONCLUSION:
So overall, I would definitely say, its a good buy. Anyone considering a Grado SR60, K81DJ or any similar priced/style portable headphone should definitely consider these as they are closed design, but dont have any of the disadvantages in sound that closed headphones usually tend to have.
Edit : Heres another pic I found of the ES5's
http://www.zalmar.com/images/ath-es5sv.jpg
Edit:My girlfriend just read this and told me she didnt find them comfortable at all, since they pressed on her ears quite hard and it was impossible to wear them with ear rings
Ah well...
