[Review] Brainwavz HM5, A New Neutral Champ
May 1, 2013 at 8:11 AM Post #1,516 of 1,750
I wonder if there's something wrong with my pair. I really want to love these, but the mids are just dark and muddy compared to all my other headphones. Vocals seem veiled and congested, almost buried in the mix. Also I don't hear that "open" soundstage everyone talks about... My AKG K240s sound way bigger and airier (they're semi-open).
The bass on these is excellent and controlled though. Good lean body with refined sub-bass.
 
May 1, 2013 at 10:35 AM Post #1,518 of 1,750
Quote:
I wonder if there's something wrong with my pair. I really want to love these, but the mids are just dark and muddy compared to all my other headphones. Vocals seem veiled and congested, almost buried in the mix. Also I don't hear that "open" soundstage everyone talks about... My AKG K240s sound way bigger and airier (they're semi-open).
The bass on these is excellent and controlled though. Good lean body with refined sub-bass.

 
Well, if you really want to like them, I suggest giving them one more chance by getting the: Shure HPAEC940 Velour Ear Pads.
 
$17 well spent IMO.  For comfort and helps clean up the sound as well. 
 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005OM06RG
 
..
 
May 1, 2013 at 12:13 PM Post #1,519 of 1,750
MY HM5s are supposed to come in tomorrow! i cant wait! ohhh the suspense! :D

where can i get wood cups for these?


Looking forward to see your impressions vs the LP2 and the M100. ^^
it would be nice for some other HP to compete with my twin babies..... so far nothing Ive herd satisfies my bass hunger like VMODA, i will compare them though. i will mostly use them for video editing/ post EQ for huge ballrooms with lots of resonation. really hoping that they will satisfy for EDM
 
May 1, 2013 at 1:04 PM Post #1,521 of 1,750
ROFL speak of the devils! they just hit my desk! wooooooTTT
first 5 second impression... some mean headclamp

OK so its still a little early but i was just listening to my m100 for 45 min so i could be off. but after some headband yoga the headclamp is better(at first it was unbearable) now they are 9/10 comfy. so far it seems to have liquidy mids and like everyone eltse mentions that they lack "sparkle" in the highest range... i dont think this is the case i find them to have the perfect amount of sparkle and high hat sounds are very accurate on these cans. the bass impact is great with a quick decay with zero bloaty boom to it. synth sounds are very surreal sounding with a ton of headspace in it. musical clicking noises can get a little lost in deeper female vocals(could be that they need to be broken in more). so far the best sound stage ive herd in a closed can! very good instrument separation and they give all the rhythm enough "space" so im going to say they have really good PRAT. build quality is superb and the cables are better than i expected. these impressions are made HM5>E17>Macbook Pro W/retina 320kbps mp3s and WAVs.
will do further impressions with the E09k
 
May 1, 2013 at 10:15 PM Post #1,524 of 1,750
Quote:
I wonder if there's something wrong with my pair. I really want to love these, but the mids are just dark and muddy compared to all my other headphones. Vocals seem veiled and congested, almost buried in the mix. Also I don't hear that "open" soundstage everyone talks about... My AKG K240s sound way bigger and airier (they're semi-open).
The bass on these is excellent and controlled though. Good lean body with refined sub-bass.

I had a very similar issue with the soundstage when comparing them to the AD700.
 
If you're purchasing from Jaycar I can understand, for $70 there is very little competition. They may not be the best in every aspect but they are well rounded.  In this price range other headphones will do certain things better than the HM5, but will fall short in others.
 
For the $99-$135 HM5 I honestly could not recommend these, there are simply better options available.  For example, the A900X often sells for $130 + 2-day shipping at Buydig.com (Authorized Reseller).
 
May 2, 2013 at 2:39 PM Post #1,525 of 1,750
I wonder if there's something wrong with my pair. I really want to love these, but the mids are just dark and muddy compared to all my other headphones. Vocals seem veiled and congested, almost buried in the mix. Also I don't hear that "open" soundstage everyone talks about... My AKG K240s sound way bigger and airier (they're semi-open).
The bass on these is excellent and controlled though. Good lean body with refined sub-bass.

I had a very similar issue with the soundstage when comparing them to the AD700.

If you're purchasing from Jaycar I can understand, for $70 there is very little competition. They may not be the best in every aspect but they are well rounded.  In this price range other headphones will do certain things better than the HM5, but will fall short in others.

For the $99-$135 HM5 I honestly could not recommend these, there are simply better options available.  For example, the A900X often sells for $130 + 2-day shipping at Buydig.com (Authorized Reseller).

you cant compair open air to closed back when talking about soundstage. try using an open back in a noisy environment it will fall flat on its face.
not saying your wrong just saying its not fair.
 
May 2, 2013 at 3:02 PM Post #1,526 of 1,750
besides, if you want that, go for beyerdynamic custom pro one's a pair that can change to suit you, this is almost an appreciation thread so please, stick to the appreciating, not to criticize and everyone has their own tastes but keep comparisons to their own grouping, e.g. etymotic hf5 vs akg k271-mkII... get the idea?
 
May 2, 2013 at 3:26 PM Post #1,527 of 1,750
Quote:
For the $99-$135 HM5 I honestly could not recommend these, there are simply better options available.  For example, the A900X often sells for $130 + 2-day shipping at Buydig.com (Authorized Reseller).

 
Cool, I've been checking those out a couple of times before. Sounds like an awesome deal. Their open-backed sibling AD900X seem interesting too.
 

you cant compair open air to closed back when talking about soundstage. try using an open back in a noisy environment it will fall flat on its face.
not saying your wrong just saying its not fair.

Yeah I know I know, but a lot of people have been saying it sounds like an open headphone. Anyway I've heard closed headphones with *much* greater sense of space, like the Ultrasone HFI-580.

 
May 2, 2013 at 5:47 PM Post #1,528 of 1,750
the thing about hm5/jaycar/lindy/yoga/fa 003 is you need like a 100 hours of burn in until the sound really settled.. somehow the headphone's sounds signature can change quite alot during the burn in process.
 
also cable upgrade affect the sound quite a bit, also if you can get your hand on some woodcups, that would improve the sound also.. and the soundstage as well.. 
 
May 2, 2013 at 6:08 PM Post #1,529 of 1,750
the thing about hm5/jaycar/lindy/yoga/fa 003 is you need like a 100 hours of burn in until the sound really settled.. somehow the headphone's sounds signature can change quite alot during the burn in process.

also cable upgrade affect the sound quite a bit, also if you can get your hand on some woodcups, that would improve the sound also.. and the soundstage as well.. 
where can i get wood cups!? #takemymoneynow:D
 
May 2, 2013 at 8:00 PM Post #1,530 of 1,750
Quote:
where can i get wood cups!? #takemymoneynow:D

lol... my friend at work made them for me using merbau wood, not exactly cheap either since he need to use a cnc milling and made em one by one. mine cost me about 75 bucks.. and I live in Indonesia.. so that's adding another 10-20 bucks to send them to USA.. (well haven't check the shipping cost so those are just estimate). 
 
check out page 91 if you wanna see what my hm5 looks like..
 

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