blackreplica
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2004
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Hullo everyone, this is my first post in this forum(what better way than to start it by contributing a review eh?)
Preamble: I started browsing this forum recently to research on a new pair of earphones. Not long ago i picked up a spiffy mp3 player to go with my gym routine and i thought i'd put a little money into getting something i can enjoy while i work out. My requirements were that they were the earbud type because its something i'm used to and i didnt want to go overboard on my first forage into the world of phones. Among the earphones i shortlisted which met my requirements(which included the Audio Technica CM7, CM5, and the Sony E888) i ruled out the CM7 because it was difficult to justify the price of it as compared to the other 2. I also ruled out the E888 because it seems it has a pretty long burn in time and its a phone which people seem to either love or hate. The audio technica was something new and interesting and since there wasnt much talk about it here in this forum i thought i would give it a try and post my opinions here.
I should state from the onset that i am pretty new to this, so apologies if my little review seems a little simplistic. Up till now, i have been pretty much in the realm of car audio(if you're bored you can visit my website in my profile to know more about my experiences there) . Now here's the review!
Packaging: The packaging for the CM5 was pretty nice, and made the earphones look a lot more expensive than they really are. The full package includes the phones as well as an extension cable. I noticed that the earphone cables are a little too short(about 60cm long) and using the extension makes the cable a little too long, which is kinda strange. If you want to use the phones on something in your pocket, you'll be pretty much forced to use the extension cable, and then you'll have quite a bit of slack wire to deal with.
Looks & Comfort: I must say, the earphones look fantastic. The shaft is long and narrow and extends down quite a bit to the base of my earlobe which makes it look really cool. I suppose if one is geeky enough(like me) to admire how earphones look on people's ears, this one would surely catch some positive attention. My CM5 is the black one BTW. All in all, it looks really good, and even better than the pictures you see on the audio cubes website(which are already impressive).
Confort wise, i am similarly impressed. Up till now i have never used earbuds that cost more than about 30USD so i've come to accept that earbuds just dont feel nice in my ear. But this one changes everything. It fits really snugly into my ear without pushing against it(the typical thing which causes discomfort). For the first time ever, i can actually wear phones without using those foam thingies! It feels even more confortable than my previous Phillips earphones with the foamies on! Overall i am very impressed here as well. Comfort is further enhanced by the sheer lightness of the phones(they weigh probably half of my old phones)
Sound: Ok here's the main bit. Bearing in mind i had about 20 minutes over lunch to analyse these phones, here it goes.
The player i used to test the earphones(my mp3 player):
http://www.iriver.com/product/info.asp?p_name=iFP-390T
Treble: Compared to my previous earphone(dunno what the model number is, sorry, i just found it the best sounding earphone i could get my hands on for cheap, and its a couple of years old), the CM5 has quite a marked improvement in detail in the upper octaves. There are sounds from the midrange up that i could never pick up on the old phones. Very impressive here. On the downside though, from initial listening, i find it a bit harsh and unpolished though it isnt something one would notice except from very critical listening. The extra detail is certainly worth it. At this point i must say its the CM5's treble detail that really makes it sound so much better than my old phones. I couldnt detect any sibilance from these phones.
Midrange: The vocal region sounded very similar to my old earphones at first. I struggled to find a difference between them. A few minutes later some differences started to appear. Vocals are a little more forward and involving whilst remaing smooth, where my old earphones sounded warm, albeit a bit diffused or muddy. The difference is not much however. Perhaps my ears are playing tricks on me, but it sure seems like the midrange seems to be getting better and better the more i listen to it(i am listening to it now as i write this review).
Midbass & Bass: At this point in time, this is probably the CM5's greatest weakness. Bass from the CM5 is pretty thin, almost nonexistent when compared to my old phillips, which probably due to its better bass response, had a warm character to its sound. The thinnness of the bass of the Cm5 may be the contributing factor to my opinion that its a bit harsh because i tend to jack the volume up somemore to get some bass out of it.One redeeming factor i can say is, however, that after listening some more, what little bass there is, is a lot cleaner than the bass i was getting from the phillips, which was muddy in comparison. I actually dont believe in excessive bass but i can tell from listening that the bass from the CM5 is proportionately less than what one would expect from a tonally balanced phone.
Overall, i would say that this is quite a good earphone, but whether it is 2.5 times better than my old earphones is something i am not quite sure about. theres no doubt that from the midrange and up, i am very very pleased. What worries me however, is the bass response. I would characterise this earphone as being detailed and forward sounding, with a medium-to-low bass response(this hopefully, will change as i listen to it more). Its not as fun as my phillips, but definitely a lot more 'hi-fi' in its delivery. Since i was after a phone that was 'fun' for gym use, i dont think i got what i wanted with this phone. If the sound doesnt improve over the next hours of listening time from burn in, then chances are i will relegate these phones to the 'listen in bed' role rather than gym role because i appreciate them so much more when i listen critically to these phones.
The only thing i am hoping is that this poor bass is the case simply because the earphones just havent been run in yet. Maybe after a few days listening to this phone the bass response will start to emerge. If the bass of the CM5 can even match my old phones(hopefully it surpasses it though!) then i'll definitely say its money well spent by far. If it doesnt change, then i'd have to say that although it is better than my 30 dollar earphones, it wasnt worth the upgrade.
Hope this review helps. Part of the reason i wrote it was because this forum didnt have a full review of the Cm5(something i tried to find but couldnt). Now that this thing is stuck in the archives i guess things will be a little different i hope!
Any comments are welcome!
Preamble: I started browsing this forum recently to research on a new pair of earphones. Not long ago i picked up a spiffy mp3 player to go with my gym routine and i thought i'd put a little money into getting something i can enjoy while i work out. My requirements were that they were the earbud type because its something i'm used to and i didnt want to go overboard on my first forage into the world of phones. Among the earphones i shortlisted which met my requirements(which included the Audio Technica CM7, CM5, and the Sony E888) i ruled out the CM7 because it was difficult to justify the price of it as compared to the other 2. I also ruled out the E888 because it seems it has a pretty long burn in time and its a phone which people seem to either love or hate. The audio technica was something new and interesting and since there wasnt much talk about it here in this forum i thought i would give it a try and post my opinions here.
I should state from the onset that i am pretty new to this, so apologies if my little review seems a little simplistic. Up till now, i have been pretty much in the realm of car audio(if you're bored you can visit my website in my profile to know more about my experiences there) . Now here's the review!
Packaging: The packaging for the CM5 was pretty nice, and made the earphones look a lot more expensive than they really are. The full package includes the phones as well as an extension cable. I noticed that the earphone cables are a little too short(about 60cm long) and using the extension makes the cable a little too long, which is kinda strange. If you want to use the phones on something in your pocket, you'll be pretty much forced to use the extension cable, and then you'll have quite a bit of slack wire to deal with.
Looks & Comfort: I must say, the earphones look fantastic. The shaft is long and narrow and extends down quite a bit to the base of my earlobe which makes it look really cool. I suppose if one is geeky enough(like me) to admire how earphones look on people's ears, this one would surely catch some positive attention. My CM5 is the black one BTW. All in all, it looks really good, and even better than the pictures you see on the audio cubes website(which are already impressive).
Confort wise, i am similarly impressed. Up till now i have never used earbuds that cost more than about 30USD so i've come to accept that earbuds just dont feel nice in my ear. But this one changes everything. It fits really snugly into my ear without pushing against it(the typical thing which causes discomfort). For the first time ever, i can actually wear phones without using those foam thingies! It feels even more confortable than my previous Phillips earphones with the foamies on! Overall i am very impressed here as well. Comfort is further enhanced by the sheer lightness of the phones(they weigh probably half of my old phones)
Sound: Ok here's the main bit. Bearing in mind i had about 20 minutes over lunch to analyse these phones, here it goes.
The player i used to test the earphones(my mp3 player):
http://www.iriver.com/product/info.asp?p_name=iFP-390T
Treble: Compared to my previous earphone(dunno what the model number is, sorry, i just found it the best sounding earphone i could get my hands on for cheap, and its a couple of years old), the CM5 has quite a marked improvement in detail in the upper octaves. There are sounds from the midrange up that i could never pick up on the old phones. Very impressive here. On the downside though, from initial listening, i find it a bit harsh and unpolished though it isnt something one would notice except from very critical listening. The extra detail is certainly worth it. At this point i must say its the CM5's treble detail that really makes it sound so much better than my old phones. I couldnt detect any sibilance from these phones.
Midrange: The vocal region sounded very similar to my old earphones at first. I struggled to find a difference between them. A few minutes later some differences started to appear. Vocals are a little more forward and involving whilst remaing smooth, where my old earphones sounded warm, albeit a bit diffused or muddy. The difference is not much however. Perhaps my ears are playing tricks on me, but it sure seems like the midrange seems to be getting better and better the more i listen to it(i am listening to it now as i write this review).
Midbass & Bass: At this point in time, this is probably the CM5's greatest weakness. Bass from the CM5 is pretty thin, almost nonexistent when compared to my old phillips, which probably due to its better bass response, had a warm character to its sound. The thinnness of the bass of the Cm5 may be the contributing factor to my opinion that its a bit harsh because i tend to jack the volume up somemore to get some bass out of it.One redeeming factor i can say is, however, that after listening some more, what little bass there is, is a lot cleaner than the bass i was getting from the phillips, which was muddy in comparison. I actually dont believe in excessive bass but i can tell from listening that the bass from the CM5 is proportionately less than what one would expect from a tonally balanced phone.
Overall, i would say that this is quite a good earphone, but whether it is 2.5 times better than my old earphones is something i am not quite sure about. theres no doubt that from the midrange and up, i am very very pleased. What worries me however, is the bass response. I would characterise this earphone as being detailed and forward sounding, with a medium-to-low bass response(this hopefully, will change as i listen to it more). Its not as fun as my phillips, but definitely a lot more 'hi-fi' in its delivery. Since i was after a phone that was 'fun' for gym use, i dont think i got what i wanted with this phone. If the sound doesnt improve over the next hours of listening time from burn in, then chances are i will relegate these phones to the 'listen in bed' role rather than gym role because i appreciate them so much more when i listen critically to these phones.
The only thing i am hoping is that this poor bass is the case simply because the earphones just havent been run in yet. Maybe after a few days listening to this phone the bass response will start to emerge. If the bass of the CM5 can even match my old phones(hopefully it surpasses it though!) then i'll definitely say its money well spent by far. If it doesnt change, then i'd have to say that although it is better than my 30 dollar earphones, it wasnt worth the upgrade.
Hope this review helps. Part of the reason i wrote it was because this forum didnt have a full review of the Cm5(something i tried to find but couldnt). Now that this thing is stuck in the archives i guess things will be a little different i hope!
Any comments are welcome!
