[breezy_amar]

im thinking of getting a pair of m5's, but i 1st need to be sure of a few things before i part with my money. i mostly listen to hard rock/ metal.
1.i had a pair of vibes, but returned them becouse the snare drum was not loud and defined enuff, it didnt have that sharp 'snap' that cuts through the music. also crash cymbols where not loud enuff and had no impact. do m5's have this problem?
2.how far do these stick out of your ears? i plan on wearing these out and about so do they stick out more than vibes? does anyone have a pic of themselves wearing a pair they could show?
thanks.

 

[neoufo51]

I'm a Vibe to M5 user to I can answer that.

1) The M5 has MUCH clearer bass. You'll be able to hear low frequencies with much more detail and with more detail across the whole frequency range. Going from the Vibes is like night and day. You go from a muddy bass with average detail with harsh sound to a clear bass with good detail and a warm sound.

2) They stick out way more than the Vibes. Don't plan on sleeping with the M5's as its like stacking 2 Vibes on each other in your ear. It's a major difference. You can get them in further with the Shure Olive foamies but its still sticks out way more than the Vibes.

 

[dap_pad]

Wow, really? I planned on using them right before I sleep... is it not possible even with the Shure olives? Crap... is it really that bad?

 

[neoufo51]

Yep.

You see, the Vibes are just barrel shaped with a wire sticking out near the rim, but M5's are like black tadpoles stuck in your ear with the wire coming out the tail. The Vibes body goes almost completely inside the ear, while most of the body of the M5's is outside the ear, resting across your ear cartilage. You can't sleep with them comfortably. You actually risk breaking them if you fall asleep.

The sound however, is much better.

 

[warrior05]

I beg to differ in regards to the obtrusiveness of the M5s. In regards to aesthetics, I don't think they stick out at all. If you have medium to large ears, the body of the M5s will be totally within the plane of the ear. It is shaped quite nicely for this. I fall asleep with mine all the time (at least 4 nights a week).

They are definitely a full step if not two above the Vibes. However, I cannot speak to your desire about the snares and cymbals since I don't tend to listen to nor concentrate on that kind of music and musical presentation.

 

[retic3nt]

anyone have a picture of their ear+m5?

 

[subfocus]

I beg to differ in regards to the obtrusiveness of the M5s. In regards to aesthetics, I don't think they stick out at all. If you have medium to large ears, the body of the M5s will be totally within the plane of the ear. It is shaped quite nicely for this. I fall asleep with mine all the time (at least 4 nights a week).

Got to agree with warrior05 regarding the fit.....I wear mine with the memory wire over the ear and find that if I insert them correctly, then they really don't stick out at all...... and I also fall asleep with them in on a regular basis. I do think that the over ear fit is much less obtrusive....and (at least with my ears) it does seem like the Atrios are perhaps designed to be worn in this way. I get a perfect seal like this (using the supplied flanges or Shure olives) and the fit is so comfortable , that after my music has stopped I can easily forget I've got 'em in ......

 

[breezy_amar]

thanks for the answers guys. one more thing, im not worried about the bass on the m5's, im sure thats gona be great. but its more the treble im a bit worried about. iv heard m5's have a dark sound. i like to have be trebles high and crisp, that cut through rather than stay in the background. THAT was the problem i had with the vibes (latest gen), the high frequencies just didnt cut it. i just need to know if the m5's also have this problem? or are they crisper/more apparent than the vibes. Thanks guys!

 

[cn11]

Quote:

Originally Posted by breezy_amar /img/forum/go_quote.gif thanks for the answers guys. one more thing, im not worried about the bass on the m5's, im sure thats gona be great. but its more the treble im a bit worried about. iv heard m5's have a dark sound. i like to have be trebles high and crisp, that cut through rather than stay in the background. THAT was the problem i had with the vibes (latest gen), the high frequencies just didnt cut it. i just need to know if the m5's also have this problem? or are they crisper/more apparent than the vibes. Thanks guys!

I also had the Vibes, and I can say that the treble with the M5's is much more present. The Vibes sounded almost under water with the treble presentation when I compared them. I think the people that have said they are dark are more used to IEM's like the Ety 4's, Shure e4 & e5 series, Super.Fi 5 pro, etc. Those may have a more forward treble presentation, but in the Atrio there is still no lack of treble detail... it's just that they present it more smooth and refined. I had a chance to demo the Super.Fi 5's and the Atrio's and there was no comparison whatsoever. There was perhaps a little less treble detail in the Atrio, but it wasn't anything to detract at all from the music. I'd say that there was around 90-95 % of the treble compared to the Super.Fi's. But the bottom end is sooo much more there making any genre of music seem completely natural and effortless- something the Super.Fi couldn't pull off.

So bottom line- I wouldn't worry at all about the Atrio not being able to do treble, unless you really prefer your music bright hyper-detailed.

Hope this helps.

 

[breezy_amar]

thanks cn11! ur a good salesman lol. well im pretty sure im gona buy these now. can they be worn straight down as well as around the ear? and where can i get these 'shure olives?' iv found the 'black foam sleeves' on shure's website, is that them? im getting these cos i dont want the m5's to stick out too much. the sound quality will be the same with the olives right? cheers!

 

[LaBreaHead]

"can they be worn straight down as well as around the ear?"

Yes -- that's how I and several other posters on this thread wear them.

"iv found the 'black foam sleeves' on shure's website, is that them?"

Yes.

"the sound quality will be the same with the olives right?"

Yes -- should be at least as good (some prefer the sound with the Shure foams!). If you're worried about which size to get, here's something I've noticed -- "reversing" the Shure foams makes them seem almost a half size larger ... so if you think you've gotten a size that's too small, try reversing them so the "flattend off" end (vs. the tapered end) goes in the ear first ... for many, this increases isolation, and if nothing else, I think you might find that it "fills the ear up" more.

Edit: Just this morning I "unreversed" them, as I had gotten the larges and when reversed they had seemed almost too big ... the smalls are quite small, and the larges are larger than normal. Any other Shure foams I would get for these earphones might well be medium (in which case I might "reverse" them again). Hope this isn't too confusing. By the way, the Future Sonics foams that come with them fit me quite well ... they won't last as long as the Shures (they'll get dirty), but you might want to try them, too.

I went out for a walk last night with the M5s in, and I kept them in and listened to my portable music for another hour and a half after I got back inside -- that's how fun they've been so far. They make my 2nd generation iPod Nano (not a bass monster) sound richer and fuller ...

 

[dap_pad]

Wow... it seems like I have really small ears then, since I got the small and even then the smalls were really too big for me. After they expanded I felt the foam was pushing against my ear canal...

Oh this may seems like a stupid question but I really want to ask it anyways LOL Does the M5 stick INTO your ear canal like for example the E4s or ER4Ps or just in your ear like canalphones ie. JVC Marshmellows, Sennheiser CX300

 

[warrior05]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dap_pad /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow... it seems like I have really small ears then, since I got the small and even then the smalls were really too big for me. After they expanded I felt the foam was pushing against my ear canal... Oh this may seems like a stupid question but I really want to ask it anyways LOL Does the M5 stick INTO your ear canal like for example the E4s or ER4Ps or just in your ear like canalphones ie. JVC Marshmellows, Sennheiser CX300

The M5s are IEMs - meaning they insert deeper into the ear canal then canalphones.

 

[breezy_amar]

could someone posta picture of themselves wearing the M5's, prefrebly hanging down, not around the ear. and prefrebly with the shure foamies. cheers

 

[only500made]

I started listening to the M8s yesterday and here are my initial impression:

There's a good thing and a bad thing about these babies.

+ -is its strength in the low end part. It performs very well in presenting bass and drums. It can go as deep as you want it or if the songs asks for it. Sergio Mendez's Magdalehna sounded really good in these phones with the emphasis of the drums, etc. The bass (or any low instruments) does not drown out the song itself, it's very well separated from the other instruments-which for me as a basshead likes.

- -is clarity. I'm having clarity issues with these phones so far. Alicia Keys (If I aint got you)sounds like she has a cold. I tried switching the tips from M to S for a minute and I got some clarity, but it severely lacks the low end. I tried the foams too and no change at all. Vocals seems to be like at the back (I even have my ipod set to acoustic EQ for more vocal presentation).

Another issue is the electric guitar doesn't sound right to me. again, it sounds like its at the back of the song. what's prominent are the drums and the bass as I said.

Other songs were: googoo dolls - Iris, Jay-Z - show me what you got

I know this is just the initial part of my review and I'm aware that it should change as time moves on (and I hope it does show its clarity when Sunday hits).

PS

how do you guys wear these things? I didn't find any changes in wearing it the traditional way or the over the ear way (ala super fi pros). I know the memory wire serves for the over the ear way though...