widds2v
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2004
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Repost of my sharkyforums post, figured some of you might like a read & visual pleasure. Fair warning, I'm not a true audiophile, I have no clue about the meaning of the different hz and khz that people put in their reviews, so this is a plain language impression
Have had my E5s for over a week now, and I must say I am still very impressed. The "wow" factor of the bass has lessened I guess, which has made the buds feel less boomy, but there is still plenty of bass when compared to the etys. Trance/Techno tracks seem to play along the best with the E5s, which would lead you to believe that Hip Hop/Rap type tracks would also sound nice, but their overexagerated bass kind of ruins it. Darude's "Rush" CD I mostly used to test the waters of what these buds were capable in the lows/bass department. Everything sounded wonderful... like I said these are really Techno buds, the amount of bass they put out is perfect, and on some tracks you get the "ear shaking" effect (although there really is no vibration of your ear, just feels like it). For some reason the bass on Techno/Trance just works better, like I said the overexagerated bass of Rap makes the E5s sound a bit like E2s (with more bass of course, just that sort of muddyness)... it's not as bad as the E2s, but you can tell the difference. Tools Lateralus CD sounds amazing in Apple Lossless with my iPod + E5s, the seperation of guitar & drums is astonishing, soundstage is unbelievable (moving over to their AEnima CD real quick, there's a song called (-)ions, an ambient track, I actually believe that the electrical zipping noise is going around in circles around my ahead, it's unbelievable).
Build quality they really do feel tougher and better built, the clear plastic shows off just enough insides to look cool, but is cloudy enough that it doesn't look like you just have a pcb board in each of your ears
I'm simply amazed they fit 2 drivers in there as well. Memory wire... I know there is mixed feelings on it, some people hate it, some people love it. I'm stuck in the middle I guess. I like it because it simply just stays, and I don't have to wrap wire over my ear everytime I put them on. I lean towards the dislike because they require adjustment a lot, which almost negates the fact they stay in one place
Plus for physical activities, the wire is more likely to stay above your ear with the memory wire versus a cord. The crossover is a bit on the heavy side imo, while it is very light in reality terms, it tugs, and I find myself draping it over my shoulder or something to keep the weight from pulling on the V behind my neck.
Tip selection! Definatly beats ety out here... the E5s came with all 3 sizes of clear sleeves, all 3 sizes of the softer black sleeves, 1 set of tri-flanges, and a set of foamies. Initially I found the foamies the best, since I had used them in every inner-ear I've owned since the E2s (well only the etys came after that~), but have recently came to like the large black sleeves, easier to get in, provide a bit better isolation imo... comfort is maybe 90% that of the foamies but I'm sure I'll get used to them. I tried the tri-flanges, since reviews say that overall those are the best. Initial impressions were bad, they wern't comfortable, they didn't isolate, and they didn't fit right. I've since learned that Shure doesn't remove the stalks from their tri-flanges, and that you need to cut them back for a "custom" fit which I will try out one of these days and see if there's any improvement. As with the E2s, I find the clear sleeves to be way to uncomfortable for any kind of lengthened wearing, my ears and them just don't mix. Must give a mention of the box the E5s came in, was almost worth the price for the packaging alone. Brushed aluminum cube like the iPod, nice foamed inside with laser cutouts where the buds fit perfectly... very nice touch to make you feel like you're getting $$ worth.
Now on to what everyone wants to see, pictures!
Quite a few of them so 56k bewarish. They may look a bit out of focus on some spots, I'm still learning how to use my camera, and unfortunatly it isn't the best for close up macro shots (Pentax Optio S40) so I have to tweak a lot, combined with an unsteady hand = bad. Box shots are the worse >< Enjoy.. (ps: yes those are scratches on my ipod, I don't baby it. tried a silicon case for it but hated it, didn't slip in and out of pocket, collected dirt and lint like crazy. i dont plan on reselling my ipod so its pretty beat up, sounds the same!)
Have had my E5s for over a week now, and I must say I am still very impressed. The "wow" factor of the bass has lessened I guess, which has made the buds feel less boomy, but there is still plenty of bass when compared to the etys. Trance/Techno tracks seem to play along the best with the E5s, which would lead you to believe that Hip Hop/Rap type tracks would also sound nice, but their overexagerated bass kind of ruins it. Darude's "Rush" CD I mostly used to test the waters of what these buds were capable in the lows/bass department. Everything sounded wonderful... like I said these are really Techno buds, the amount of bass they put out is perfect, and on some tracks you get the "ear shaking" effect (although there really is no vibration of your ear, just feels like it). For some reason the bass on Techno/Trance just works better, like I said the overexagerated bass of Rap makes the E5s sound a bit like E2s (with more bass of course, just that sort of muddyness)... it's not as bad as the E2s, but you can tell the difference. Tools Lateralus CD sounds amazing in Apple Lossless with my iPod + E5s, the seperation of guitar & drums is astonishing, soundstage is unbelievable (moving over to their AEnima CD real quick, there's a song called (-)ions, an ambient track, I actually believe that the electrical zipping noise is going around in circles around my ahead, it's unbelievable).
Build quality they really do feel tougher and better built, the clear plastic shows off just enough insides to look cool, but is cloudy enough that it doesn't look like you just have a pcb board in each of your ears
Tip selection! Definatly beats ety out here... the E5s came with all 3 sizes of clear sleeves, all 3 sizes of the softer black sleeves, 1 set of tri-flanges, and a set of foamies. Initially I found the foamies the best, since I had used them in every inner-ear I've owned since the E2s (well only the etys came after that~), but have recently came to like the large black sleeves, easier to get in, provide a bit better isolation imo... comfort is maybe 90% that of the foamies but I'm sure I'll get used to them. I tried the tri-flanges, since reviews say that overall those are the best. Initial impressions were bad, they wern't comfortable, they didn't isolate, and they didn't fit right. I've since learned that Shure doesn't remove the stalks from their tri-flanges, and that you need to cut them back for a "custom" fit which I will try out one of these days and see if there's any improvement. As with the E2s, I find the clear sleeves to be way to uncomfortable for any kind of lengthened wearing, my ears and them just don't mix. Must give a mention of the box the E5s came in, was almost worth the price for the packaging alone. Brushed aluminum cube like the iPod, nice foamed inside with laser cutouts where the buds fit perfectly... very nice touch to make you feel like you're getting $$ worth.
Now on to what everyone wants to see, pictures!
