AKG N5005 Review – Engaging Detailed Desires
AKG n5005
$999
Pros
- Cables, tips and accessories included are fantastic
- Elegant non invasive design with an easy fit
- One of the best in the sub $1000 bracket. Versatile signature, deep engaging bass, strong staging
Cons
- Global availability a little limited
Science is about rationality, it is about a measurable, repeatable events that will produce the same outcome no matter where the test is carried or by whom it performed by.
Art is a free-for-all orgy of ideas, born out of the necessity to express what the artist feel inside. Traditionally, Art begins where Science ends. Art couldn’t care less on set rules, making sense or whether what it produces can be repeatable some other time, by someone else or even really make sense to anyone else.
Art is subjective, and yet art can move many, in fact far too many for us to dismiss it as just a subjective occurrence of an event applicable only to a small minority.
What would happen if we used an objective approach of Science to produce something subjectively beautiful, the answer is we get something like AKG N5005.
Specs and source matching
What are its specs? Google it or better look at the link provided somewhere at the end of the article. I dislike copy-pasting design detail for the sake of filling in space.
As I gain more experience in this hobby, I also tend to not to look into specs too much. I’ve come across so many “high end” product which looks very promising on paper only for me to be utterly disappointed upon extensive listening.
Specs purpose is to show whether what the device has to offer is what the end user wants, and that is all.
Before I start my critical listening the following burning processes is applied:
- 200 hour of burning in using random music set at medium volume using Lotoo Paw Gold
- 10 hour of burning in using chord-M burning in tunes, available on http://chord-m.com/
- 1 hour of burning in using ayre acoustic burning in cd, sorry you have to buy this one.
The purpose is to make sure the dynamic driver implemented in the IEM is mechanically as ready as it can be.
Before I continue, I need to mention my tonal preference. I believe personal bias will always play a role in reviewing products. And the source of such bias is largely to do with the sound signature the reviewer prefers.
I have a wide variety of sonic preference, ranging from the analytical sound of ER4S to the warm, smooth sound of Cardas EM5813. My journey in this hobby begun by ER4S and as a result such sound will always remain in my preferred tonal signature.
Recently I have favoured a warmer, spacious sound with a wide soundstage and an accurate imaging.
For my review I favored pairing Limited edition Venture craft Jazz (VC limited) and Chord Hugo, with VC limited winning due to its more favorable tonality.
VC limited has a deep bass, lush mids and a very extended and non-fatiguing treble. It has a very forgiving sound and when the recording allows it can produce all the micro-detail one would desire, or better say ones IEM can produce.
In contrast, HUGO is a relatively neutral, slightly on the warmer side of tonality, can be dry but very honest to the recording.
For sake of having a more comprehensive review, I also included a summary on how my experiences were with the other popular DAPs within my position.
- Sony WM1A: Wide, neutral sound, slightly on the warmer side of Neutral.
In terms of synergy with N5005, I found myself listening at high gain setting, almost always near 90/120 mark. The pairing was rather too smooth, lacking dynamic.
- Lotoo Paw Gold: Hard-hitting bass, rather engaging however only on high gain. Sadly, the hiss produce was too much for me to enjoy this combination especially when listening to a classical recording with numerous silent passages.
- Chord Hugo: Similar performance as Lotoo Paw Gold, with less hiss and more real soundstage. The bass decay and the sound was in a class on its own. For objectivist this is the ideal setup, however, I like a warmer tonality hence why I picked Vantam Jazz over this. But for my objectivist self, this was the top pairing.
- Onkyo DP-X1: This would have been another great pairing only if it didn’t run out of juice to power the N5005. By now you would notice one trend, N5005 require lots of power. And with the ‘High gain’ setting and using the 2.5mm balance out I found myself at the maximum volume at most tracks. There was far too many moments where DP-X1 did not have the power to drive the N5005
- Colorfly C4: Ignoring its old age, and its quarks, C4 produces an ideal soundstage for those who enjoy classical music and live recording. However, it is an old DAP that I use for the nostalgic purpose. I was not expecting it to pair well with N5005 however it did and I find myself using this pairing for my high recording PCM files almost exclusively. C4 was another DAP designed to sound good not just to measure good under a specific load condition. And it still can hold its own ground.
I’ve tested N5005 with other sources, however, they did not meet my liking, for sake of transparency I’ve named them below:
- AK K70
- AK 120
- Aroma Audio N10
- Hisound S6
- Chord Poly/Mojo
- Venture Craft Valoq (opa627 AU edition)
