[Pianist]

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Looks like i am keeping my RE-252

 
(Still sure the one really good upgrade to my 252/262 will be the grado GR-10 - TOO EXPENSIVE THOUGH)

 
Well, if the GR10 sounds anything like the e-Q5, then it is in no way an upgrade over the RE252. If you can get a good fit with RE252, which I found impossible, then IMO you have what may well be the best universal IEM out there. Actually, when fitted in a certain way, I found RE252 also quite fun with some music, so they are not exactly plain cold and analytical. Now, the e-Q5 is neither analytical, nor fun. They are just meh - nothing special IMO. I don't know what Ortofon was thinking when they designed them. They are like the e-Q7 with all life sucked out of them and then some technicalities added that hardly do anything to improve the listening experience and still do not make the e-Q5 good enough to compete with RE262 or RE0 or most 2+ driver armatures in most technical aspects.
 
Listening to ELO's "Last Train to London" through the e-Q5, I can't help but feel sad - it does have the general character of the e-Q7 and other moving armatures, but what happened to the wonderful atmosphere and energy that the e-Q7 was able to portray in this recording? With the eQ5 I only hear a weak shadow of the beautiful sound that e-Q7 produced with this song - only a small reminder of the wonderful musicality of the e-Q7 that really makes me regret that I sold them, but also makes me feel sad that Ortofon got rid of that unique, beautiful sound with their e-Q5.

 

[goodvibes]

 Why would it? I think it's odd to pile them all into the same bag. Judging from your own comments comparing the 2 ortos, they're obviously different. I would think another maker's IEM with a completely different housing and by Grado's own account, unique driver, would be too and it's even more expensive that their 1st unit, not less. Grado's first MA was obviously very different than the Orto. Why wouldn't we take their word that they had a unique hand in their second? You may feel that it has the same flaws after a listen but without one, lets not speculate. I really don't understand the desire to pigeonhole everything. BAs don't have bass, Dynamics are more natural, BA's are more detailed. How about we just listen to stuff and stop letting our prejudices guide us. 
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Well, if the GR10 sounds anything like the e-Q5, then it is in no way an upgrade over the RE252.  

 

[Pianist]

Quote:

 Why would it? I think it's odd to pile them all into the same bag. Judging from your own comments comparing the 2 ortos, they're obviously different. I would think another maker's IEM with a completely different housing and by Grado's own account, unique driver, would be too and it's even more expensive that their 1st unit, not less. Grado's first MA was obviously very different than the Orto. Why wouldn't we take their word that they had a unique hand in their second? You may feel that it has the same flaws after a listen but without one, lets not speculate. I really don't understand the desire to pigeonhole everything. BAs don't have bass, Dynamics are more natural, BA's are more detailed. How about we just listen to stuff and stop letting our prejudices guide us. 

 
Actually, I heard the GR8 and I thought it sounded like the e-Q7 with less treble, which wasn't a good thing. I mean the less treble part. I think e-Q7 treble is already barely adequate, but the GR8 really sounded dull to me up top. Maybe that's because they are 100+ Ohm, so they need an amp.

 

[proedros]

@pianist
 
sell the eq-5 and get sth else man - no worries

 
as for the 252 question , their fit is fine and they make a nice combo with 262 , depending on what sq i feel like listening.
 
Cheers

 

[DJGeorgeT]

I think that you saved me $288. Thanks
 
I'll stick to my $65 im716, which rock.

 

[james444]

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Listening to ELO's "Last Train to London" through the e-Q5, I can't help but feel sad - it does have the general character of the e-Q7 and other moving armatures, but what happened to the wonderful atmosphere and energy that the e-Q7 was able to portray in this recording? With the eQ5 I only hear a weak shadow of the beautiful sound that e-Q7 produced with this song - only a small reminder of the wonderful musicality of the e-Q7 that really makes me regret that I sold them, but also makes me feel sad that Ortofon got rid of that unique, beautiful sound with their e-Q5.

Ok, so you just made me A/B the e-Q5 and e-Q7 again, even though it's middle of the night here. Result: these tired ears hear no significant difference between them. The e-Q7 are a tad more mid forward with ever so slightly more bass impact and the e-Q5 are a bit more airy. That's about it. Speed, separation and overall "beautiful sound" is the same to my ears with both models. Out and about in noisy surroundings I would most likely find them indistinguishable.
 
I honestly don't know what to make of this, but your impressions are puzzling. Maybe I'm missing some subtleties and you just have more analytical ears. But then again, your posts where not about subtleties...

 
Btw I possibly won't be able to contribute anything more to this discussion during the next week. I'm going skiing and don't know whether I'll have internet access there. Maybe other folks will chime in who've heard both IEMs.

 

[yello131]

Prior I ordered e-Q5,  I questioned Dimitri  in regards to  both e-q7 and e-Q5 and how these two differentiate. Dimitry's answer was not detailed but clear enough; Both models have very similar sound attributes both being at the same level with very subtle nuances here and there, and unless you have some super out of ordinary hearing abilities, it will be very difficult to notice the variations..
James comments pretty much coincide with Dimitry's description. That says a lot to me. Now I do not know what kind of ears Pianist has, but it is obvious perhaps his expectations were too high and on top, Pianist does not own a pair of e-Q7 so why don't he get a pair and compare this just like James did? I saw FS here juts few days ago for e-Q7 for 250$

 

[ClieOS]

From my own experience, I agree with James on e-Q5 vs. e-Q7. In fact, when I first listen to e-Q5, my impression is that it sounds very similar to e-Q7. It was not till a much closer A/B'ing that I can tell the subtle difference between them.

 

[goodvibes]

Quote:

Quote:

 Why would it? I think it's odd to pile them all into the same bag. Judging from your own comments comparing the 2 ortos, they're obviously different. I would think another maker's IEM with a completely different housing and by Grado's own account, unique driver, would be too and it's even more expensive that their 1st unit, not less. Grado's first MA was obviously very different than the Orto. Why wouldn't we take their word that they had a unique hand in their second? You may feel that it has the same flaws after a listen but without one, lets not speculate. I really don't understand the desire to pigeonhole everything. BAs don't have bass, Dynamics are more natural, BA's are more detailed. How about we just listen to stuff and stop letting our prejudices guide us. 

 
Actually, I heard the GR8 and I thought it sounded like the e-Q7 with less treble, which wasn't a good thing. I mean the less treble part. I think e-Q7 treble is already barely adequate, but the GR8 really sounded dull to me up top. Maybe that's because they are 100+ Ohm, so they need an amp.

That's kind of the point. They're not identical. And type of driver can be bright or dull. I haven't listened to the Ortos so I can't comment but perhaps Pianist's setup has a sig that works a lot better with one than the other. Sometimes subtleties become less so when reinforced.

 

[Redmetal1897]

ClieOS, how does the e-q5 sound compared to the RE262? Thoughts from anyone else who has heard both would be appreciated as well!

 

[ClieOS]

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ClieOS, how does the e-q5 sound compared to the RE262? Thoughts from anyone else who has heard both would be appreciated as well!

 
e-Q5 is technically slightly better, quicker and less color. RE262 is more spacious, laid back and musical, effortless in drawing the listener to the music, which is where I think that RE262 really wins over e-Q5. Other wise the two are quite close in performance and excellent in their own right.
 

 

[Dekimasu]

I have been noticing an improvement in the bass lately... but I suppose it is probably my ears finally getting used to these, and not actual burn-in.

 

[ValSic]

Hmm from the Ortofon EQ-5s would a Grado GR10 or dare I'd say... a Westone 4 be an upgrade from these?

 

[brendon]

I tried the Ortofon e-Q5 on loan from my friend and frankly I did not find them anything special. They sounded airy enough with good amount of fine detailing but the bass sounded rather shallow with a mid range bump. Mids were all right but the treble again was a bit harsh for my tastes.
 
There was sibilance if I didn't get a good seal and I was about to pronounce these earphones as crap. However I did read through this thread and realised it could be because of a less than ideal seal. So I tried various tips and found a combo that provided a good seal & then the sibilance almost vanished. But I still heard some harshness in the upper mids/treble region which I admit I am very susceptible to. So I could never really enjoy them as I would sometimes start to cringe if there was a lot of stuff happening in that said region.
 
Now I had a Hippo VB which had sibilance in addition to some peaks in the upper mids but they at least had some amazing bass to compensate for their weakness. The e-Q5 IMO simply doesn't have any stand out feature that wows the listener. Compared to my RE262 I found the e-Q5 to be more airy but other than that the RE262 has smoother but equally detailed treble, better mids (probably among the best in any universal IEM) and the bass had better texture and impact. (All IMO).
 
Soundstage was where the e-Q5 put up a good fight as the layering was excellent and they had a good soundstage height. However width and especially depth was IMO lacking. The RE262 had a slightly wider soundstage but it was very natural and had better imaging/positioning.
 
I preferred my RE262 to the e-Q5 but that is more down to a matter of preference over anything since the e-Q5 definitely has a very capable driver and build quality was leagues ahead of the RE-262. But at the end of the day I found nothing special in the sound and they never sounded engaging enough to make me want to spend $250 on them. But as always with everything on head-fi YMMW.

 

[ClieOS]

If you like RE262, than almost nothing will sound quite as lively and musical in comparison. I too prefer RE262 slightly over e-Q5, but technically speaking they are both top-tier with different flavour / strengths of their own. So it is down to preference instead of which is superior than the other.