[piotrus-g]

Quote:

I just got the SE5 today after some months of waiting and solving payment. One thing to say about this thing: WOW! Its been a while since I'm very pleased with what I hear.

Give us some pics!
 
Cloud you say something in comparision to ES5?

 

[Mini0510]

Quote:

I just got the SE5 today after some months of waiting and solving payment. One thing to say about this thing: WOW! Its been a while since I'm very pleased with what I hear.

 
Yes. Please give us some comparison with other IEMs that you own or have owned. Westone ES5, Westone ES3X, JVC FX700, JVC FX700, UE Tri fi, and etc.
 

 

[tupac0306]

Been waiting for your impressions forever man
 
 

 

[average_joe]

 
Quote:

I just got the SE5 today after some months of waiting and solving payment. One thing to say about this thing: WOW! Its been a while since I'm very pleased with what I hear.

Congratulations!  They are still tops technically in my chart and still extremely enjoyable for me. 
 
I too am looking forward to hearing from another owner!

 

[Bolardito]

This IEM seems very interesting..a real shame they are so far away..I wonder how it fairs against the JH3A system which I'm loving..all my other portable amps (Lisa III, Protector) and IEMS (JH13, UE11, ER4S, SE530) are getting dust since I got it.. I even prefer it in its newest version than the old one..

 

[Jazzyfi]

Here is a picture of my SE5. Impression will come later if I have time. One thing is for sure: balance. And if I'm not mistaken, I remember the bass in ES5 is more punchy. But this little thing is just insanely good!
 

 

 

[average_joe]

Quote:

Here is a picture of my SE5. Impression will come later if I have time. One thing is for sure: balance. And if I'm not mistaken, I remember the bass in ES5 is more punchy. But this little thing is just insanely good!
 

 

Thanks for sharing.  Interesting comment about the bass since for me, the bass takes on the character of the track and source so some songs are punchy while others aren't.  I find the bass to be all around the best I have heard with a combination of detail, texture, speed, control, depth, and ability to recreate high amounts of bass when powered by a good source.  I was surprised that the 5-way could output more bass than my LCD-2.
 
And I wanted to share an excerpt from an email between Grzegorz and myself.  We were discussing soundstage and treble and one thing that stuck out from Grzegorz's reply was that he tries to make the attack/decay the most realistic he possibly can, and this shows through as the 5-way has the best ability to change note type, anywhere from thick to thin depending on the instrument and recording.  Also the 5-way can sound very fast depending on the recording.
 
While that leads to the amazing performance of the 5-way, and maybe the most significant factor, the differences are most noticeable when comparing with my other custom IEMs as the notes always sound right!

 

[tupac0306]

god..cant wait for mine .. congrats! Joe. How the comfort of silicone shells compare to acrylic?
 
Quote:

Here is a picture of my SE5. Impression will come later if I have time. One thing is for sure: balance. And if I'm not mistaken, I remember the bass in ES5 is more punchy. But this little thing is just insanely good!
 

 

 
 

 

[Jazzyfi]

That is true that all the tone and notes are always right. I'm very satisfied with the bass because it is well controlled. If the ES5 is more punchy that doesn't make the ES5 more correct than the SE5. In fact I don't know which one is more correct because it is not my own music that I'm listening to. Punchy or not is really depending on people's taste.
Quote:

Thanks for sharing.  Interesting comment about the bass since for me, the bass takes on the character of the track and source so some songs are punchy while others aren't.  I find the bass to be all around the best I have heard with a combination of detail, texture, speed, control, depth, and ability to recreate high amounts of bass when powered by a good source.  I was surprised that the 5-way could output more bass than my LCD-2.
 
And I wanted to share an excerpt from an email between Grzegorz and myself.  We were discussing soundstage and treble and one thing that stuck out from Grzegorz's reply was that he tries to make the attack/decay the most realistic he possibly can, and this shows through as the 5-way has the best ability to change note type, anywhere from thick to thin depending on the instrument and recording.  Also the 5-way can sound very fast depending on the recording.
 
While that leads to the amazing performance of the 5-way, and maybe the most significant factor, the differences are most noticeable when comparing with my other custom IEMs as the notes always sound right!

 

 

[average_joe]

 
Quote:

god..cant wait for mine .. congrats! Joe. How the comfort of silicone shells compare to acrylic?
 

In general if the custom IEM fits perfectly there is no comfort advantage for me.  Silicone isolates better but is more difficult to take out than acrylic.
 
Quote:

That is true that all the tone and notes are always right. I'm very satisfied with the bass because it is well controlled. If the ES5 is more punchy that doesn't make the ES5 more correct than the SE5. In fact I don't know which one is more correct because it is not my own music that I'm listening to. Punchy or not is really depending on people's taste.

I find the JH16 and LS8 punchier than the 5-way, but they both have thinner notes than the 5-way also along with enhanced bass, but yes, it is a preference thing.  Also, it is something someone can get used to as when I switch to the JH16 I don't care for the punch, but after some time it becomes normal.

 

[NaSC]

From someone that listens mainly to electronica, but also listens to other genres (rock, indie, classical, etc) as well as studio mixing, would the SE5 be a good all-round choice? Or would I be better off looking more towards the JH16, SA43, NT6/NT6Pro?
 
Not discounting the rest of the spectrum, but detailed sub-bass is a big must. I like sparkle, but not overly so and too much presence would wipe me out (there goes the LS8). My concerns are; the JH16 is that the bass enhancements and sparkle may be overkill with other genres coupled with the lack of space, the SA43 although very versatile may not be detailed enough in the sub-bass area, and the NT6/NT6Pro may perhaps be too sterile. I've also considered the aud-5X but after customs and taxes I may be better off going top-tier.

 

[average_joe]

I would think the JH16 has too much bass for studio mixing, but the SA-43 and NT-6 have something to offer in that regard.  However, the 5-way is very true to the source and it comes down to how you want to hear it as the 5-way is more liquid vs. the more analytical sound of the NT-6.  While I find the SA-43 neutral, it isn't something I would call reference and the NT-6 would fit that bill the best of the CIEMs you mentioned.
 
I can see why the JH16 is in there with the sub-bass detail, but the NT6 does just as well without the enhancement while the SA-43 trails the others in sub-bass detail.  Here is an excerpt from my upcoming NT-6 review comparing the NT-6 and SE 5-way:
 
 
 

Both are in the upper echelon of what I have heard as they both sound very natural and have high technical ability.  While they are fairly balanced, the NT-6 has more of an emphasis on the upper registers giving it a brighter presentation that sound more forward with most songs while the 5-way has more of a bass emphasis and is about bass power.  The presentation space is large for both and the proportions are very similar, but the 5-way can present a larger overall space.  There is slightly more note thickness the 5-way in general, but the bigger difference is the ability of the 5-way to recreate notes with more duration a bit better. This results in the 5-way never sounding slow in comparison with the NT-6, but sometimes the NT-6 sounds slightly too fast in comparison.  Both offer great transparency and clarity, however the clarity is different, with the NT-6 offering a very apparent clarity and at first listen I would say the NT-6 has better clarity, but the SE 5-way has equal technical levels of clarity, but it is presented via resolution, layers, and ambiance.  The 5-way is a little more forgiving of poorly mastered/low bitrate tracks.  Source dependence of the NT-6 is less than that of the 5-way, but the 5-way improves more with better sources.
 
The 5-way has amazing bass, with the ability to deliver more quantity than anything else I have and do so in a clean and controlled way.   The NT-6 is equally impressive even though it doesn’t output the same amount of bass as the 5-way since the 5-way bass sounds enhanced in comparison.  Both have bass that goes all the way down, both can rumble, and both have great texture. With that being said, the 5-way is a little thicker and warmer and puts more emphasis on the bass than the NT-6.  The midrange of both is exceptional and while the 5-way is liquid, smooth, and rich the NT-6 has a similar sense of liquidity and somehow even with a presentation that is on the analytical side, it is still somewhat rich.  Presentations are fairly close, but the 5-way has a slightly more mid-forward presentation.  The upper midrange on up the two diverge in frequency response as NT-6 has a more forward and emphasized upper midrange and treble leading to a brighter sound while the 5-way pulls that area back a bit and gives better depth of the presentation.  Both extend the treble quite a bit and have an air about them, but the NT-6 is a little flatter throughout the treble.  Both are smooth and liquid, but since the NT-6 is flatter in frequency response and equal in detail and dynamics, the NT-6 treble rates slightly higher than the 5-way treble.  However, Grzegorz (the maker of the 5-way) said my fit issues may be a cause for the less than perfectly flat treble.
 
As stated at the beginning of the comparison, these two are very close in overall performance and the NT-6 was the first custom IEM that allowed me to hear that the 5-way wasn’t perfect.  Both have similarities in presentation, however the 5-way technically is overall more capable.  The differences really come down the frequency response and presentation as the NT-6 has less bass emphasis with more treble emphasis and the NT-6 is on the analytical side while the SE 5-way has a thicker natural note with better capacity to handle any attack/decay.  But you will get amazing performance with either.

 

 

[NaSC]

That's a great help...thank you very much! I've read your reviews and found them very informative. This is my first dip into the CIEM waters, so I really want to get it right first time. I was initially pretty set on the JH16s after all of the number of positive comments that I've read, but thankfully I've realised that they would've been a mistake in the long run.
 
You've certainly given me a lot more to think about. While I'll be using them more for recreation, I'll still be wanting to use them for mixing on occasion. This is where I see one seperation, especially if the SE5 will be more forgiving with poor mastering, which is potentially not such a good thing for mixing...not the end of the world though. Another is source independence and their ease to be driven. I'll mainly be using a Samsung Galaxy S2 and also have a Samsung YH-J70, but an upgrade isn't out of the question. I'm sure my audio interface will be suitable for studio work and double as an additional source when not mobile too. Maybe the DSP of the SGS2 / YH-J70 would make the NT6 sound less analytical when I wanted - although probably I'd be inclined to use DSP as little as possible.
 
I think as I'll be using them more for recreation than for mixing and with dealing within Europe, the SE5 may be the better option for me. I have until Thursday to finally decide, which will be when I'll get my impressions made. It would suck though if I went for the SE5 and I was incompatible, potentially throwing around £50 away on the impressions and postage.

 

[Claus-DK]

I am thinking about cutting off the memorywire, as it really annoys me, I am using mine at work so I move around a lot, which do make a small pull on the cable (I use a clip to minimize it, but still the meorywire will be bent a bit and they hurt the front of my ears, because once it is bent it does not let go again, so it press on my outerear, not much, but after 6-7 hours it hurts quite a bit..
 
I never got that problem with my other IEMs and none of them has memeory wire, so I think the solution would be to just cut the pesky thing off..
 
Any input would be greatly appreciated..

 

[NaSC]

If you mostly use them as ear defenders, would it not be better to get a dedicate a pair? I would think that the time you keep them in on a daily basis, it would not be doing them any good in the long run. I'm thinking about ear fluids in that respect in addition to adding wear to the non-replaceable cable.