Brainwavz HM5
Just got the HM5 which was held in customs for a week. The reason - nobody in their right mind would believe that a "USB drive" would be the size of a headphone
. It was opened and inspected - a rare occurrence for me, but all contents are in place, so never mind!
Can't believe that I've bought 3 headphones in the last 2 months. For the price I paid, I got a well built closed headphone, decent isolation and good set of accessories (detachable cables - both 3.5mm and 6.3mm, extra ear pads, airline adapter, case). As far as Comfort goes, I may need more time with it to have the final say. As of now, it clamps a bit on my ears and on my head, but that should get better with usage or a 'use-book-to-wide' headband "burn in". No disappointments on that front.
At head-fi, there's a small battle going over in the HM5 review thread. My initial take? It is no HD600 as claimed by one side nor do I "hear the
graph" and worry about the 300Hz dip. While I am only trying it out of my brick-stack, it does not evoke the same excitement as DT880 or HD600 - those two are definitely a tier or so ahead. It has bit more bass quantity than I remember with HD600, but quality is I suspect may not be at that level. The mid range is nowhere near how I felt with HD600. Treble is a rolled off as well and has no sparkle. The problem with HM5 is not that it does a few things wrong, but has nothing to highlight for itself. None of the ranges stand out greatly nor is it super-detailed or fast, which may or may not be a great thing depending on where you come from. It does not sound like something which 'punches above weight', but more like a good choice within it's price range. The only thing I can somewhat compare to HD600 is that they are both laid-back. But that's like saying M2 has bass, FX700 has bass, so M2 = FX700. This begs for comparison against MS1i, which is more in it's range in terms of price / SQ than HD600. It does score better on the value for money category if indeed FA-003 sounds exactly the same (but costlier by $50). As long as one keeps expectations in check to a realistic level, HM5 won't disappoint.
I will try that 200 hour 'burn in' and also try it out of Burson to see how it goes. Will this or MS1i be my third headphone? Interesting battle ahead after 2 weeks of burn-in.
Random thought of the Day
Looking back at 2011, the year in which I sold many and bought even more...
Best Buys - In terms of exciting me:
- The Brick Stack (QA350 Mod V2, Leckerton UHA-6S, Sys.Concept Mini to Toslink)
- Beyerdynamic DT880/600
- Sennheiser HD600
- Sony EX-1000
- Yuin OK1
Random Thought on New Year's eve
Looking forward to in 2012 - Upgrading to Arrow 4G (and/or may be 2StepDance?), Upgrading DAC for PC -> Headphone setup. Other than that, I should reduce inventory further only to those I use most.
Custom IEM is a long shot now with the INR depreciation. May be used headphones would offer a better upgrade path at an equal / lower cash outgo?