[keanex]

 
 
Pros: Fit, isolation, build, variety of tips, soundstage.
Cons: Mid-bass is too present, sound quality is poor throughout.
Style: Single dynamic driver over-ear IEM with a medium depth insertion
Tonal Balance: Mid-bass heavy and thick
Listening Set-up: Musicbee -> Oppo HA-1, Sansa Clip Zip
Cost at Time of Review: $100 via Amazon or Mp4Nation
 

Reviewing Process

The S5 have had music playing through them for roughly 20 hours before usage. After burn-in I’ve had about 20 hours of headtime with the S5 in various settings, with various tips, and with various music. I feel that my experience with the S5 is enough to share my opinion of them publicly. The thoughts expressed in this review are simply my opinions and I always urge readers to check out other reviews as well as use their ears (when possible) before purchasing a new headphone.
 

Headphone Background

The Brainwavz S5 are the latest IEM from Brainwavz as well as the latest in their S line. The S line are tuned to be balanced with a good fit as provided by a large assortment of tips.
 

Accessories

 
Included with the S5 are two sets each of S/M/L silicon tips (grey and black), one pair of bi-flange tips, one pair of tri-flange tips, one pair of Comply tips, 1/4’’ adaptor, carrying case, and a 2 year warranty.
 

Build & Fit

 
 
 
Build
The housings of the S5 appear to be made from two pieces of sleek and well-built metal. The metal housing gives the S5 a sturdy feel at the cost of adding some weight to the housings. The housings feel well put together with the point of connection for the two pieces being slightly outside the range of hard stress. The nozzle features a wide bore, fitting the Comply T-400 series, and sports an unremovable mesh wax guard.
 
The rubber stress relief on the housing feels hard, giving only slightly under pressure, and connects to a flexible flat cable. The cable itself feels decently made, offering flexibility without coming off as flimsy. The cables meet at a hilariously large y-split before ultimately terminating in a 3.5mm straight plug that seems to provide adequate relief.
 
Overall the build feels solid from top to bottom. I have concerns about the adequacy of the stress relief coming from the housings, but the over-ear design should make it a non-issue. Other than that I could nitpick some design choices, but those would be purely subjective. These seem to be built well for the price and show no warning signs of premature wear.
 
Fit
With the stock mushroom silicon tips I find that the fit is secure and highly isolating. Microphonics are still present, despite the huge y-split and the over-ear design, but not enough to bother me while going on a walk. Comfort is slightly below average, while I get a great seal with great fit, the tips cause my ears to feel like rugburn after 20 minutes of use.
 
With the tri-flange tips I find that the fit is also highly secure with great isolation. Using a simple knock test I can’t tell if the tri-flanges provide more isolation than the mushroom tips though. Microphonics seem to be slightly less present than the mushroom tips while comfort is definitely improved over the mushroom tips.
 
With the Comply tips I also find that the fit is very secure with the best isolation of the three tip types tested. Microphonics seems to be the lightest here, but not by much while comfort seems to be barely better than the silicon mushroom tips.
 
Unfortunately I was not able to find success in getting the bi-flange tips on the S5.

Sound Quality

The review is written with the tri-flanged tips due to them having the best comfort and not based on any sonic preferences. The audible differences between the tips are very small if any at all.
 
TLR
Brainwavz claims that the S5 are tuned for a balanced sound, but the mid-bass is clearly boosted beyond any realm of calling these balanced. I find that the mid-bass ruins the balance of many songs and even with bass heavy songs I find that the sound is too thick to enjoy. I find very little I enjoy about the S5 sonically, the mid-bass simply dominates.
 
Bass
The sub-bass of the S5 extends as low as any song in my library will go, and they do it rather clean and powerfully. I threw bass heavy tracks from James Blake, Jamie xx and Jay-Z, among others, at the S5 and I admit that the S5 handled them with poise. The sub-bass carries weight with control, coming off powerful without feeling bloated. The decay time is bordering sub-par, but I find that it’s only a mild issue with fast moving sub-bass lines such as James Blake’s Limit to Your Love.
 
The mid-bass is is powerful and intrusive in many cases. I don’t find the mid-bass to be of poor quality, rather it’s simply tuned to be far too powerful and imposing. The bass guitar should never overshadow vocals in classic tracks like Bowie’s Moonage Daydream, Steely Dan’s Black Cow, or The Beatles Oh Darling, but the S5 unfortunately succumb to this fault. The mid-bass throws the tonal balance far off, enough to distract from the rest of the sound. I find that the mid-bass is too much even on liquid drum and bass tracks where I usually do want a slight boost in the mid-bass, the S5 push it too far.
 
The sub-bass is solid, it doesn’t compare to higher end IEMs, but it does hold it’s own for the price range. The mid-bass, however, is unacceptable to my ears. The mid-bass dominates every song that I’ve listened to on these to the point of not enjoying anything on them thus far.
 
Mids & Highs
Unless the song features no bass then the mids are pushed too far out of the mix to even get a feel for. The only time I can actually begin to evaluate the mids is while listening to acoustic songs and I can’t say that I’m impressed. The mids come off mildly grainy while instruments can sound blurred and lacking natural tone to them. Acoustic guitars come off plasticy while vocals come off a tad thin and dry. I feel no intimacy in the mid range, nor do I find any pleasure from the mids.
 
The highs aren’t as bad off as the mids are when it comes to presence, but they certainly aren’t shining through the mid-bass either. I find the upper mids and treble have more energy and presence than the mid range does though. While the upper mids and treble have more presence than the mids, they have the same flaws as the mid range. Cymbals sound smeared and slightly tinny while saxophones and trumpets have an artificial tone to them.
 
The mids and highs suffer from artificial tonation, lack of detail, slight congestion and sounding smeared at times. I’m thoroughly unimpressed with the quality of the mids and highs here, maybe it’s better that the mid-bass is so overly prominent.
 
Presentation
The soundstage of the S5 is certainly the strength of these. I find that the width of the stage is nearly around my entire head, instruments have their own sense of space and positioning, and there’s depth to the sound. For the price the S5 have a rather great sense of imaging and soundstage. I liken the presentation to an indoor/outdoor venue, there’s an air to them and a sense of the music surrounding you, it’s a shame I don’t enjoy other aspects of the sound.
 

Overall

If I had $100 and was looking for a new pair of IEMs the S5 would not be them under any circumstances. I think that the build quality is on par with any other IEM in the $100 range, I feel that these could take a beating and still hold up. The variety of tips is impressive and I feel that many people will find a great fit and isolation with these. Unfortunately I do not enjoy one aspect of the sound here, not for $50 and not for $20.
 
Brainwavz claim that these are balanced in sound is unfounded and misleading. The mid-bass is entirely too overbearing for anyone to make this claim. Even if the sound was, the mids and highs have their own set of problems that make these unenjoyable to listen to for me. The only redeeming factor in the sound is the soundstage, which I find to be rather impressive even in an IEM twice the price.
 
The short of it is that I do not recommend these IEMs to anyone, I don’t think they are a good value at all and I find it misleading for anyone to claim these are anywhere near balanced.
 
Come see more photos here.

 

[Kunlun]

Cons: "sound quality is poor throughout"
 
Ha ha, awesome. I like this review.

 

[keanex]

I have to be honest to the reader's and this is how I feel.