[yello131]

Quote:

The e-Q5 is a pretty new model, I don't think anyone has owned one for more than 3-4 months. If it comforts you, the enclosure is made from a solid block of aluminium, should be pretty robust.
 

@db597:
got a question not related to the subject: You are from Tokyo Japan? how are things going there with the reactors?
 
 

 

[db597]

 
Quote:

@db597:
got a question not related to the subject: You are from Tokyo Japan? how are things going there with the reactors?
 
 

 
Physical damage from the quake in Tokyo was relatively minor - broken glass, falling tiles, etc. Thankfully no tsunami damage as Tokyo is in a bay. However, power cuts and radiation are a psychological drag. Restaurants see customers down 50%, it's dark as 2/3rds of street lamps are off, supermarkets are short on items such as water. People go home early, as train services are affected by power cuts. These are secondary effects on the economy.
 
Activity is not normal and a bit depressing. Radiation can't be seen, so a large element is how people react psychologically. However, it's amazing how calm and orderly the Japanese people are. No looting, just everyone trying to get over the hardship together.
 
We in Tokyo have little to complain. My heart goes out to people in the north. It's assumed Japan is rich and can cope easily - donations are much less than when disasters hit the developing world. But the truth for people on the ground is they have lost everything - homes,  families, jobs, entire towns and way of life. They can't rebuild either with radiation ongoing. It sometimes snows and the shelters have no power to keep warm. Some old people die as it's too cold, or their high medicine runs out.
 
Please help where you can (buying Japanese headphones helps create jobs too!).

 

[mywallethurts]

Quote:

 

 
Physical damage from the quake in Tokyo was relatively minor - broken glass, falling tiles, etc. Thankfully no tsunami damage as Tokyo is in a bay. However, power cuts and radiation are a psychological drag. Restaurants see customers down 50%, it's dark as 2/3rds of street lamps are off, supermarkets are short on items such as water. People go home early, as train services are affected by power cuts. These are secondary effects on the economy.
 
Activity is not normal and a bit depressing. Radiation can't be seen, so a large element is how people react psychologically. However, it's amazing how calm and orderly the Japanese people are. No looting, just everyone trying to get over the hardship together.
 
We in Tokyo have little to complain. My heart goes out to people in the north. It's assumed Japan is rich and can cope easily - donations are much less than when disasters hit the developing world. But the truth for people on the ground is they have lost everything - homes,  families, jobs, entire towns and way of life. They can't rebuild either with radiation ongoing. It sometimes snows and the shelters have no power to keep warm. Some old people die as it's too cold, or their high medicine runs out.
 
Please help where you can (buying Japanese headphones helps create jobs too!).

thats good to hear. i really admire you guys for being so composed in times like these. and yes ill continue to buy more japanese made headphones

 

[yello131]

 
Quote:

thats good to hear. i really admire you guys for being so composed in times like these. and yes ill continue to buy more japanese made headphones

Yes it is a good idea to support  Japanese economy by ordering from Japan based Musica Acoustics and such.
Dimitri has commented in his last email things aren't going well with Japanese sales...
 

 

[ichbinder]

Quote:

The e-Q5 is a pretty new model, I don't think anyone has owned one for more than 3-4 months. If it comforts you, the enclosure is made from a solid block of aluminium, should be pretty robust.
 

Ah, ok. Thanks! I can't really imagine that the headphone itself, the phones so to speak, would ever get really damaged. The problems - for me at least - have always been the cables. With cheap headphones at the connector to the music source, with my JHE-900 the connection of the cable with the phones. So, the stress relief for the cables might be the most important thing, I guess... Looking at pictures of the e-Q5, I can't see any real stress relief. Especially when I think of them as being worn normally, not over-ears, they look like they are made to cause cable problems...? :-/
 

 

[yello131]

 
Quote:

Ah, ok. Thanks! I can't really imagine that the headphone itself, the phones so to speak, would ever get really damaged. The problems - for me at least - have always been the cables. With cheap headphones at the connector to the music source, with my JHE-900 the connection of the cable with the phones. So, the stress relief for the cables might be the most important thing, I guess... Looking at pictures of the e-Q5, I can't see any real stress relief. Especially when I think of them as being worn normally, not over-ears, they look like they are made to cause cable problems...? :-/
 

 e-Q5 cables are not likely to fall apart, that should be your least concern, plus you get the warranty just in case.
Have you read James444  review/comparison thread?
 
 

 

[db597]

It's not a normal type of stress relief, but there certainly is some sort of mechanism there. The manual says this about the cable:
 
The Ortofon designed unique structure of the earphone cable rear bush made of an elastomer with just the right degree of hardness protects the engine/cable connection and prevents the cable from kinking or braking.
 
There is a cross section view that seems to show some sort of rubber plug at the end of the aluminium cylinder.
 

 

[ichbinder]

Thanks db597. That's interesting...
 
Quote:

 

 e-Q5 cables are not likely to fall apart, that should be your least concern, plus you get the warranty just in case.
Have you read James444  review/comparison thread?
 
 

Couldn't find a specific review/comparison thread by James444, he did too many. Can you point it out a bit more for me? Maybe with what he compared them or so?
Well, I thought the same about my JHE-900 calbes as they looked very robust and both connectors to the speakers themselves looked pretty robust, too... But you are right about the warranty...
 

 

[db597]

Quote:

Couldn't find a specific review/comparison thread by James444, he did too many. Can you point it out a bit more for me? Maybe with what he compared them or so?

Search for his review shoot out... "Ortofon e-Q7 versus 3 new Final Audio IEMs (FI-BA-A1, FI-BA-SB, FI-BA-SS) "
 

 

[goodvibes]

Joker has also reviewed a most of those.

 

[james444]

Quote:

 
Couldn't find a specific review/comparison thread by James444, he did too many.

 
I've linked most of my reviews to the IEMs in my signature

 

[db597]

I've had the e-Q5 for a few weeks now. Here's my layman's assessment after about 100hrs of use:
 
Size of the box, tin and IEMs are all smaller than expected. Photos made them appear larger on the net. Having said that, the point going into the ear is definately not for smaller ears. I find they're easy to get a seal (for my ears), but my ears start to get sore after a few hours. Perhaps Sony hybrid tips might help, I have that on my list to try.
 
Cable microphonics are fine (tested it while jogging), but I don't like the Y splitter. When wearing it behind my neck, it gets caught on my scarf too easily, leaving me with an uncomfortable taughtness tugging on 1 ear. Wearing it over ears didn't work for me - comes off my ear too easily as there are no guards to keep it there. I also don't like the termination plug - an L shape would have been preferrable.
 
Bass is very enjoyable - "textured" as someone put it. They convey very well the timbre of those bass strings and drums. Very well controlled and defined, making my Senn CX300 sound boxy and coloured in comparison (and rightly so they are!). It's no bass monster, yet not bass light either - well balanced is probably the best word to describe the level. Definately a step forward compared to my Ety ER6i, which I found too light in that department. Bass heads would probably still want to something dynamic for a weighter slam.
 
Treble is well detailed yet not sharp, the clarity is what you'd expect of a BA headphone. I find sharp treble to be fatiguing, but with the e-Q5 I'm happy to go on for hours (more likely to get sore from the fit before having issues over treble). Let me put it this way - on some headphones, the musicians turning the pages of their scores, the airconditioning of the room, etc are very prominent. The e-Q5 does reproduce these details if you make an effort to listen out for them. But this is done in a subtle way, it doesn't try to highlight them to your attention. Depending on what is your cup of tea, ultimate detail fans might feel the treble presentation is easy going.
 
Mids are the sweet spot where this really shines. I can hear clearly backup singers on some recordings where I hadn't noticed them before. With my CX300 I hear the vocals muddled into a single voice with the tell tale sign being some echo. On the e-Q5 I can hear 2 distinct voices as it resolves them apart. Probably no need for me to elaborate much more - there's already plenty of good comments on their mids by other owners and I concur with their experience.

 

[blackcoffeex1]

Can anyone tell me how these compare to the Etymotic HF5s? Or any other Etys?

 

[db597]

Latest update... I just swapped the stock e-Q5 mylar ear tips for Sony hybrid ear tips (EP-EX10M). A great upgrade - everyone should give this a try, especially if you're finding it hard to get a good seal. The hybrid tips were just a few bucks for 2 sets - practically nothing if you're already shelling out the price for a e-Q5.
 
I've not had problems getting a seal with the stock mylars, but it involved a bit of fiddling around while pulling my ear back when I inserted the tips. The Sony hybrids makes it fuss free with less fiddling. I was expecting an improvement in the bass with a better seal, but the bass is pretty much the same (which probably means I was already getting a decent seal on the mylars). However, what I noticed was the treble improved with tighter spatial focus of the instruments. Add to that, the new tips are more comfortable to wear too.

 

[JosephKim]

oh man it must be fun going from an IEM like the cx300 (utter crap) to the e-q5. Its harder to get that wow effect once you start hearing more phones.