[Ryujen]

Hey everyone! I've been lurking Head-Fi (and this thread) for a long time now and finally decided to join in the chit-chat.
Like some of us here I also preordered the HM5 and they are on their way as I type. Initially, I had my doubts about whether these cans would be a definite upgrade compared to my ATH-M50 but after reading almost every single review and opinion about the HM5/Fa-003/Lindy I went ahead and preordered them. Now don't get me wrong, I love my M50's. They excel at delivering that delicious bass texture and do present quite a lot of detail (compared to majority of consumer speakers). Pretty good cans in every aspect for the price....... or so I thought. After months of critical listening, I realised that there was something with the sound of the M50's that irked me quite a bit. Namely, the harsh artificial female vocals, unsatisfying mids and cramped soundstage. With that, I went on to mod my M50's (pad peeling) and use a parametruc eq to fix things and boy they do sound good now. Still not perfect or natural but better.
Fast forward into the future, I'm eagerly waiting for my HM5's to arrive and based on the majority of comments I have high hopes for these to best my modded M50, my only slight bit of lingering doubt is whether I should have saved cash for a srh940 instead (auditioned them before and absolutely loved the vocal presentation). Oh well, too late now, as long as people say that the HM5 is better than the srh840 and can be considered as a poor man's HD600, I think I can be happy. =D

 

[openwheelracing]

agreed! I tried using open headphones but to me they just don't make sense because I already have a hi-fi stereo setup.
I am still looking for a pair of good sounding closed headphones....
 
I just used Bose QC15 on a long flight. Although the sound is sub-par and too warm for me, the noise canceling worked wonders.....
Just ranting!

 

[elecsheep9]

So what exactly is the deal with wood cups?  Is there a dramatic improvement in the sound?  And more importantly, I am planning on using the HM5s in a portable setting.  Can you use wood cups in a portable setting?  Will they withstand the elements, especially light rain?  Or are they really only meant to be used inside?

 

[manveru]

 
Quote:

So what exactly is the deal with wood cups?  Is there a dramatic improvement in the sound?  And more importantly, I am planning on using the HM5s in a portable setting.  Can you use wood cups in a portable setting?  Will they withstand the elements, especially light rain?  Or are they really only meant to be used inside?

You'd have to go check out the FA-003 thread to find info on this. Try using the "Search This Thread" function.

 

[keanex]

Quote:

So what exactly is the deal with wood cups?  Is there a dramatic improvement in the sound?  And more importantly, I am planning on using the HM5s in a portable setting.  Can you use wood cups in a portable setting?  Will they withstand the elements, especially light rain?  Or are they really only meant to be used inside?

The wood might change the sound a bit, but it's most aesthetics than anything. 

 

[jorjjamur]

For the wood cups i would sayit has dramatic improvements on the visual. For the sound itself it will make some subtle improvement like on the extension and gives a more natural presentation. Spent enough time with the wood cups and when u go back to the original cup u feel like missing something.

 

[TheJT]

Quote:

Hey everyone! I've been lurking Head-Fi (and this thread) for a long time now and finally decided to join in the chit-chat.
Like some of us here I also preordered the HM5 and they are on their way as I type. Initially, I had my doubts about whether these cans would be a definite upgrade compared to my ATH-M50 but after reading almost every single review and opinion about the HM5/Fa-003/Lindy I went ahead and preordered them. Now don't get me wrong, I love my M50's. They excel at delivering that delicious bass texture and do present quite a lot of detail (compared to majority of consumer speakers). Pretty good cans in every aspect for the price....... or so I thought. After months of critical listening, I realised that there was something with the sound of the M50's that irked me quite a bit. Namely, the harsh artificial female vocals, unsatisfying mids and cramped soundstage. With that, I went on to mod my M50's (pad peeling) and use a parametruc eq to fix things and boy they do sound good now. Still not perfect or natural but better.
Fast forward into the future, I'm eagerly waiting for my HM5's to arrive and based on the majority of comments I have high hopes for these to best my modded M50, my only slight bit of lingering doubt is whether I should have saved cash for a srh940 instead (auditioned them before and absolutely loved the vocal presentation). Oh well, too late now, as long as people say that the HM5 is better than the srh840 and can be considered as a poor man's HD600, I think I can be happy. =D

nice but did you ever consider soundstage, alot of people say that the HM5 has one of the best soundstages for closed headphones.
 

 

[Ryujen]

Quote:

nice but did you ever consider soundstage, alot of people say that the HM5 has one of the best soundstages for closed headphones.
 

Absolutely, I forgot to mention that I do appreciate soundstage when I'm gaming. My M50's soundstage initially felt very cramped and near but after the pad lifting mod, it added a sense of space and distance (albeit what you would call an artificial soundstage?). In the meantime I've been checking my order status for my HM5 everyday (or every few hours) and the wait is killing me!

 

[129207]

Quote:

Absolutely, I forgot to mention that I do appreciate soundstage when I'm gaming. My M50's soundstage initially felt very cramped and near but after the pad lifting mod, it added a sense of space and distance (albeit what you would call an artificial soundstage?). In the meantime I've been checking my order status for my HM5 everyday (or every few hours) and the wait is killing me!

Let's not get carried away here. It's still a closed headphone so the soundstage isn't spectacular. It's decent for a closed headphone though but it's no DT880 or AD700.  
 

 

[elecsheep9]

So I noticed in my tracking information is says to check it through the hongkongpost.com website.  The tracking number begins with an EA.  They also say that tracking information may not be available for 5 business days.
 
However, I paid extra for EMS shipping.  Is EMS related to Hong Kong Post?  I thought it was like a FedEx courier service, and that it should take 3-5 days.  I'm worried that MP4Nation may have sent my shipment via free shipping method, not the expedited that I paid for.
 
To all of you who opted for expedited EMS shipping, did your shipping notification direct you to HongKongPost.com as well?

 

[Llloyd]

Just a hunch, but a huge batch may have been sent together, and then when they arrive overseas, will be sent to their individual locations.  I've seen this done with other products sent from china.

 

[Ryujen]

Quote:

Let's not get carried away here. It's still a closed headphone so the soundstage isn't spectacular. It's decent for a closed headphone though but it's no DT880 or AD700.

 
 
Well yes, a closed back design can only go so far.
 
By the way, I'm still rather perplexed as to whether the HM5's are really going to sound neutral or good in general. I'm just being skeptical here but having looked at numerous FR graphs for the Fa-003/Lindy/HM5, I noticed that they were actually rather volatile beyond 6kHz. They also have a large 300Hz dip alongside a bass/mid-bass hump. Overall, not a very smooth curve compared to the likes of srh-840, AH-D2000, MDR-V6 or HD600 for that matter. Now, I know that FR curves are not always a definite indicator about how a pair of headphones sound but they should have some degree of credibility. I'm just striking up opinion out of curiosity here. So question is, are any of these so could flaws with the Frequency Response present when listening to the real deal? And even if they are, would you still regard these headphones highly?

 

[129207]

Quote:

 
 
And even if they are, would you still regard these headphones highly?

What a coincidence... http://www.head-fi.org/t/109756/rank-the-headphones-that-you-own/2115#post_8256961

 

[keanex]

Quote:

For the wood cups i would sayit has dramatic improvements on the visual. For the sound itself it will make some subtle improvement like on the extension and gives a more natural presentation. Spent enough time with the wood cups and when u go back to the original cup u feel like missing something.

 
A lot of weight for sure! Seriously though I've never heard the wood cups so I don't know how much they change things if at all.


Quote:

Let's not get carried away here. It's still a closed headphone so the soundstage isn't spectacular. It's decent for a closed headphone though but it's no DT880 or AD700.  
 

Honestly I prefer the HM5 for gaming over the Ad700. The soundstage is more accurate, I noticed this immensely in the opening of Skyrim by turning my mouse as the characters were talking at the start. With the Ad700 it was rather accurate, but it was as if there was 3 areas of direction for the voices, left, right and center, depending on where I had my camera turned. The sound would hard cut from left to center then to right with no gradual increase/decrease in channel. With the HM5 it was very smooth and natural in how the direction of the voices came. Both were tested under the same circumstances as well.

 

[129207]

Quote:

 
A lot of weight for sure! Seriously though I've never heard the wood cups so I don't know how much they change things if at all.


Honestly I prefer the HM5 for gaming over the Ad700. The soundstage is more accurate, I noticed this immensely in the opening of Skyrim by turning my mouse as the characters were talking at the start. With the Ad700 it was rather accurate, but it was as if there was 3 areas of direction for the voices, left, right and center, depending on where I had my camera turned. The sound would hard cut from left to center then to right with no gradual increase/decrease in channel. With the HM5 it was very smooth and natural in how the direction of the voices came. Both were tested under the same circumstances as well.

Interesting. Gonna fire up Skyrim and get back to you on this.