[mho]

I love you too atrio m5

 

[subfocus]

Has anybody cut the memory wire off of their M5's as yet ? I found that wearing them over the ear is definitely the most comfortable and gives a great fit (they kinda seem designed for this) . But I also wear them with the wire down a fair bit as well , especially if i'm cycling in traffic ( just because its easier to get 'em in/out very quick) . So I figure that taking the M/W off would help me out. But would it then make the over ear fit ( as initially modelled by Mho/Warrior on this thread ; cheers guys !) too unstable? Any body got any thoughts/ experiences on this , before I go rummaging for my scalpel ?

 

[neoufo51]

Quote:

Originally Posted by warrior05 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Don't automatically dismiss the tips that come with the M5s.

Thanks, I'll check them all out first and I don't like them, I'll go for the Shure Olives first since they match well with the M5's

 

[shigzeo]

ill review more properly in a few hours or tomorrow, thus far: the best iem i have ever heard bar none.

 

[McCol]

I'm in two minds about ordering some replacment tips for my M5's. Found the foams to be a bit uncomfortable after a while, finding the medium flange is a good fit with good isolation. Tempted to try the shure foams or the comply's but would probably have to ship from the US.

 

[subfocus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by McCol /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm in two minds about ordering some replacment tips for my M5's. Found the foams to be a bit uncomfortable after a while, finding the medium flange is a good fit with good isolation. Tempted to try the shure foams or the comply's but would probably have to ship from the US.

You could try Idealsound (on Ebay UK) . They seem to be the cheapest for foams /complys etc. + shipping is free to the UK ...................................... Official suppliers to the Blue Brazil as well

 

[daveip]

just bought a set of these from the handheld audio website in the uk. looking forward to getting these after reading the posts here! will be hooking these up to a zune, and amped with a cmoy/portable pimeta/soha/ck2III and xp amp soon =)

w00t w00t!!!

 

[subfocus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveip /img/forum/go_quote.gif just bought a set of these from the handheld audio website in the uk. looking forward to getting these after reading the posts here! will be hooking these up to a zune, and amped with a cmoy/portable pimeta/soha/ck2III and xp amp soon =) w00t w00t!!!

Just spotted your thread and was gonna let you know about these , but McCol had already given you the nod . An excellent recommendation IMHO. (They get even better after burn in ! ) Enjoy

 

[Frostychrist]

I found that the large double flange works the best for me. It seems like the sizes of their tips are different from other brands. I have used mediums for all others. Also i have no idea who would be able to wear the small double flange. I out them in my 6 year old suns ears and they didn't seem to fit snuggly. Then again its hard to tell because i can't hear the sound he is getting. Ultimatly, I think I am going to foot for the customs when my wallet can take the hit. I personal fit seems very appealling to me.
I as well am in love with my M5's. I used my cheaper brands and I could not believe I settled for such a horrible sound. Even my CX300's, which I was begining to love sounded band i comparison.
With the memory wire I do find that they make them more comfortable using them that way but I still get a nice fit without them. The problem I am having is putting them in the case. Seems like when I fold up my phones to put them in there the ear pieces stick up. It loosened the memory wire on mine and now they turn on me and feel like they are gonna come off. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[ojyarumaru]

How do these compare to ER6's or Super fi pro 5's?

 

[daveip]

from what i can figure out from the reviews ... they're better than the er6s ... nearly on par with the er4s but different sounding animal .... not entirely sure how much they compare with the super.fi 5s but i'd have a bet at as good?

 

[shigzeo]

[size=medium]the background:[/size]
last year, i had stumbled upon the futuresonics site and was intrigued by a company that sold tweaked dynammics rather than balanced armature driver-based iems. head-fi is of course becoming obsessed with iem and for good reason - many of us live in large cities and it is nice to forget about that and just enjoy the music whilst walking about, travelling on trains, shopping etc. most of these new iems are balanced armature based and all are special phones that do what other phones cannot: bring out the fabric of the music.

perhaps i should explain my history with iems and with canalphones (and a site note about a realistic koss headphone).

i had begun my journey into headphone love at about 12 years of age when confronted by a pair of rebadged koss portapro headphones by the radio shack company realistic while demoing a cassette tape. they were comfortable, had large drivers and sounded phenomenal then and still do now after so many years. thus in 2002, when i found a pair of koss portapro, i bought them without thinking that 56$ CDN is probably too much - rather i was gripped with a need for better sound and a certain that twinge of nostalgia that would grip me every time i brandished these about my ears.

yet, love them as i did, they were not portable in the sense that i wished: they were much larger than my md portable recorder, player and any other luggable source i owned. true, they locked up in a nice and quiet circle for stowing and going, took some bumps quite well and absorbed sweat and rinsing showers - but they were huge and if i threw them in my bad - a bulge began that looked as if i were carrying an apple in my bag. i love apples, but that is not the image i was looking for.

i headed back to japan for a bit the next year and encountred the sony ex51 which was my first canalphone - and remained so for 3 years. it was great. the sound of everything about me was attenuated, i could listen to music at a reasonable level and it would pack up into my pocket along with my md player. of course, the cable tangled more than any other phone i remember and made noise, but nothing like some later iems and canal phones i tried.

as portable phones are concerned, that pair was the pinnacle of my experience until 2004 when i tried out some shure e2c - it was better everywhere yet it was big - and ugly - and for me, had no bass. i went on to creative ep630 and thence to the senn cx300 - loved them both, but founded i wanted more. both models sounded ever so much like the sound was reverberating inside of a thick gooey plastic shell - which in fact is exactly what was happening. the shure and sony did not give me this feeling and though it was not overpowering, i could not stomach it in the end.

[size=medium]the big step:[/size]
finally, with graduation money, a birthday dollar or two and a job bonus: a bermuda triangle of fortunate events, i was able to purchase the UM2 - the best yet. it is smaller than shure e2c, looks better, has a cable that makes no sound, hangs limply anywhere; it is comfortable, stealth, easy to insert and has chic factor as it is 300$ in your fist.

the bass is solid and does not waver - it is thick when it needs to be, but not overpowering nor bloated. the mids lick the ear with the sometimes savory tongues of singers the like of Madelein Peyroux - beautiful. what i have problems with is the highs. i must reply to those who think them subdued. i find all iems to be rolled off and have no extension whatsoever, but every single one i have had is sharp and if listening for longer than 30 min to 1 hour, painful. my ears ring and sometimes make fluttering sounds when in rest after spending lengthy time listening.

[size=medium]some other contenders to the trhone:[/size]
i demoed the shure e500 and it felt like a more controlled um2 with everything in balance. for me, it could not touch the um2 for overall musical quality however and i found it sterile and devoid of fun. i listen to headphones for fun and to relax. the e500 made neither possible.

the er4s was the next step in a logical procession. it is small, lightweight, looks to be made of the same stuff that german tanks are and shows the world exactly how much a geek you are. tight, extended, nothing left out yet nothing boring either. for sound, it was the proverbial bomb that everyone seems to talk about when i visit my sister in california. however, it too was too piercing in the high end - very un-headphone like, not natural. it also showed the e500 what truly lifeless is. it peers inbetween notes to find the hand that drew the notation on a particularly sad day.

it too, like every iem i have listened to is far from counterbalancing its sibilant top-end. that is, if i do not include the m5 in the group.

i have had it in hand for a while now, but knowing my atrocious appetite for poorly written and splittle infested dross, i waited for today to belch forth a small resume.
[size=medium]
the resume and review:[/size]
gentle reader, having read the load of goo before this, please consider that my iem and canal phone experience has been good yet very dissatisfied. all iems i had used except the er4s hissed loudly with any source expect my portable minidisk players. the um2 was unbearable and that lead me to purchasing the supermicro iv from dr. xin which greatly attenuated that hiss and made any souce listenable. the dynammic base of the m5 along with the slightly higher ohm of 32 and lower sensitivity were large contributors in the decision to purchase.

also, when i eventually chose the M5, it also was not becuase i expected a 'step up' from the vibes or cx300 - that i cannot disagree more with. they are mentioned only because i have demoed and/or listened to at great length these two phones. i am not much a fan of the vibes at all: the m5 is not in the same stratosphere. for this reason, i compare it directly to truly high end and high-performing iems: e500, um2 and er4s.

immediately after inserting the earpieces properly (more to come later) i found a wider soundstage, reminding much of a good pair of closed headphones, not to the eeriely spacious dt770 but respectably close for some songs. in yo-yo ma's appalacian album, voices drift in the centre whereas the cello hovers near the outer ear, to either the back or front of either canal. in other words, there is space and a stage. instruments too can be separated. i was not expecting this from a economical phone.

saying that, the plasticy sound i noted in my short synopsis of the cx300 and the ep630 is there, yet to such a small margin that it is entirely bearable and reminds me that this too is an iem.

i am truly and thoroughly a headphone man. iems have their place, but they are not overall special in separation and smoothness like a full-size good headphone. i too am a dt880 lover which as a full-size is considered by some thin, weak and too expressive of faults. i find it in some places thin and warbly, but overall, find it solid in all presentation of every genre. i find its speed perfect for electronic and yet it still has grace to pull from the stage singers to utter avatarship. i listen to many genre forms with them from classical, folk and jazz to the occasional rock'n roll and pop album but mostly as is my taste, to trance.

with every single iem i have tried, i do not feel comfortable enough to take such a lifeless instrument and work on a different genre. trance is 24/7 as it were when considering iem usage as it requires no emotion.

when i first tried the m5, naturally my first reach was for paul van dyk and politiks of dancing. yet, within in 5 minutes i found myself reaching for other genre such as classical and loving it. something was different this time and had the somewhat awkward feeling of my ear canals being forced open by flanges not everypresently been there, i would have thought i were listening to a more respectable setup including an hd600. to me, the strength of the hd600 - weighty yet softer edges to notes are comfortable. i was surprised to find that these m5 did that same thing - it massaged rather than hammered music at me.

some describe the um2 as a foot-tapping iem - it is. you have to. they are for an iem of armature driver perhaps somewhat slower and some might say sloppier, but still they are tiring. the m5 relax when they need to and so can i. i actually am prefering to wear them around the house as i read, study and do some chores. prior to this, my dt880 and supermicro would plug into my d2 to keep me safe from tears.

when i plugged a recently eac'ed depeche mode album (violator) into my ears, i was greated with a new meaning to the band's dubbing of 'depressed mode' by a friend of mine. the music was precise enough to satisfy the dt880 in me, yet betrayed the low notes as chosen by mood rather than just by effect on the listener. next, black celebration (my favourite) pleaded with me in 'this is the house' to feel the extacy in love-making and the safety of a familiar place. prior to this, i had only bothered to listen for the electrical riffs that kept me on a high.

i have made no secret of the fact that i love trance and in fact have been on a constant and growing love trip for the genre since 2001. i came originally from the dullest period of rock'n roll as a fan (1990's) to find u2, then depeche mode and abc, new order, duran duran but to settle finally on what inspired me the most from each of them, electronic music. eventually, i abandoned guitar music completely for the much more revolutionary computer based instruments as i was not to be done in by the oldies with their guitar picks and tattoes yelling at us youngies that electronic music is rubbish.

how do the atrio m5 perform on this genre? what i have mentioned before has been that they have emotion that i do not find in other iem phones. this holds truth to every genre. trance is however, a genre where detail and as much as possible is important to me essentially as it is supposed to in ways simulate the drug experience. the er4s despite a certain lack in bass output compared to all the other phones mentioned in this article were my favourite as they never hit a bad note or beat in trance. they are in effect, for every genre - emotionless - dead phones that speak in monotone and cut what they do not like from the music.

for trance, this is a strength as it to me is devoid of emotion and full instead of physical reactions, stimuli and mental trips. the m5 perform well in this genre, about as well as the um2 as they do not hurt in the upper register whereas the um2 are stronger in their tightness. the bass is big, i can still hear any click in all important areas, but what lacks is a certain sparkle in the treble that would make these phones perfect for this genre. they remind me more of the dt770 versus the dt880 for this genre. big, boomy and somewhat unchained. they are admirable but they miss the beat.

for instance, when the announcer for a state of trance introduces armin van buuren before the show opens, his voice rolls forward rather deeply on wheels rather than cogs, presenting a liquid music soundstage rather than a non-organic metallic warehouse full of sensation. the m5 is too smooth here.

it hasn't the absolute resolution of any amature phone i have tried. it is warm, balanced across the treble to bass, yet lacks the blue face of death that is needed to make this genre truly chilling and high.

indeed it is the only area that i find to fault these phones as far as sound is concerned. please remember that trance is not all about the bass. it must be plentiful, but not overpowering and must remained chained to all other elements to effectively simulate a drug-high.

in absolute terms:
high - very nice, not thin. voiced softly. this non-harsh presentation lends well to every genre that requires smoothness - a hd600 comrade. hasn't the detail for hard music.

mids - not overstated. they blend well with bass and high and sometimes sound distant but never out of place nor deemphasised. for this reason, they remind me somewhat of the dt770, yet have a slightly sweeter presence.

bass - big but not bloated. it smears a bit with trance yet still naturalises to the point of presenting a in-the-club like experience. it is natural with folk, classical and adds weight to strings.

it is the first iem that has impressed me as having non-iem sound.

[size=medium]Enter the supermicro iv - m5 snake effect (hiss)[/size]
as i stated above, i use the supermicro essentially before this to attenuate noise from my shuffle, meizu m6, cowon d2 etc. it does wonderfully. for the um2, i cannot say that other than that i find a great difference with sound other than perhaps some fringe benefits: the music soundstage extends out slightly more. great job dr. xin

the hiss on the m5 is as i expected, present yet insignificant compared with the hiss that rushes through the um2 and e500. the meizu is now listenable with just the headphone jack and the shuffle: very nearly. the d2 fairs about as well as an ipod: i hear hiss, but only barely and nothing at all to bother me. the supermicro has its own noise, but it is regular and very quiet, much quieter than the hiss from the d2 when listened throgh the um2. when through the m5, if it is there, i must strain to hear it.

Hiss rating: 1 equal bad
1 um2 - hates almost any source - cobra.
2 e500 - is kinder than the um2, but still a mothe goose.
.
.
.
6 m5 - wind in the grass, just listen for it and maybe placebo will take over instead.
.
.
8 er4s - hisses with home-amplifiers.

[size=medium]Fit and finish[/size]
the m5 is truly wonderful, but the fit is somewhat less convincing. the m5 sits out of the ear much further than e500, um2 and any of those innear ear shelf iems. it is not uncomfortable, but to give it a good isolating grip to the ear without danger of movement is not so easy. i have now tried all flanges from the box as well as my shure double flanges and the spongies.

i am not a spongie fan, so that may show fault in this part of the review, but i could not get a very good fit nor isolation without much work. currently i am using the m5 flanges large size (usually i am medium) as they do not go too far in for comfort and do not allow the constriction of the iem canal.

as for longevity is concerned, i am somewhat worried at the memory wire that hangs above the ear. it is inserted merely 1-2 millimetres into the soft rubber sleave from whence the cable protrudes. i can imagine this causing at some point a rupture in the rubber or at least a rift forming in the seals.

[size=medium]fit scale 1-10 (1 being best)[/size]

um2 2: - fits well, but hugs sometimes too tightly
e500 3-4: seems bulkier and the memory cable is annoying and painful if positioned improperly yet overall wearable.
m5: 3-4: they are not uncomfortable and in fact, feel better than the um2 agains the skin, but they are hard to position and the memory wire is annoying. i have long hair and this gives trouble when situating them for use.

e2c 6: just so big and heavy
er4s 7-8: i worry that anything even a breeze with touch these and move the pilons slightly so that they need repositioning. if something presses against the skull, might they like a bullet plunge through my head?

[size=medium]placement of headphones by price:[/size]

e500 399$
um2 299$
er4s 169$
m5 159$

[size=medium]placement of headphones by overall sonic preference:[/size]

m5
er4s
um2 > e500, yet similar

this review had many elements that were not directly affected by the m5, yet showed the careful reader my preferences and the correlation with my final analysis. the m5 is worth every penny, pence, yen, ore or whatever you save up in order to make purchases.

thank you for your time. cheers.

 

[Frostychrist]

well put shigzeo. I agree with you on many points. As to it adding feeling to the music, totattly. I listend to some of my Doom metal albums which I absolutly love and never fully experienced the dark broding these albums had until i got my m5's. I really does make me feel the music both viscerally and pohysically (I love fill slight vibrations around my ears depenednfg on bass placement). As for the fit, it took me a while to get these to fit the way I want but now there just another part of my head. Sometimes I will be jamming out to a song, just thinking it was stuck in my head, then I realize that I am listening to it at this moment. One thing though, because they do stick out farther when I am outside and the wind is blowing it tugs on the plug a bit. I also have long hair and a beard and it doesn't bother me in the least, Well, sometimes when I am putting them in I have to make sure my hair is out of the way so I don't put my hair in my ear.
Thanks for a pretty in depth review. I haven't used any high end models but was so impressed with how relaxed and natural they sound that I don't think I will have to worry about it for a while.

 

[shigzeo]

yes, please do not worry about it. these are a gem as they are so un-iem like. and i have spent $ on some high end models or demoed them for unnatural lengths of time ~2 weeks or so. i think that essentially the point of my review is that for headphone lovers, these iems will be a hit. for iem lovers and detail freaks, probably looking elsewhere might be better.

for me, they are nothing short of heaven. also, it looks as if our definition of long-hair is different! cheers

 

[PeterDLai]

Hmm, your review might have done it for me for IEMs. If these are truly the most full-size sounding IEMs out of the ones you listed, then I might as well declare that I am not an IEM guy and I should stick to portable closed options for portable 'phones. I am apparently one of the very, very few that was unsatisfied with these.

Or maybe I'm a detail freak and I just don't know it? Argh, choices choices choices...