Ortofon e-Q5 Review

[dfkt]

On the frontest of all pages: Ortofon e-Q5 Review

[CrowdAds]

[Marvin the Martian]

Looks like Ortofon made a believer out of you.

[lestatar]

Excellent review, as expected dfkt...I ask this on the comments. Can you shed a little light on how you find these e5s in terms of overall sound signature to the Panas?

[The Larch]

I wondering where they will land on the iem spreadsheet.

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by lestatar

Excellent review, as expected dfkt...I ask this on the comments. Can you shed a little light on how you find these e5s in terms of overall sound signature to the Panas?

The frequency response of both is of course very different, with the HJE900 having way more bass, and a more recessed midrange. The e-Q5's treble lacks the spikes that are found in the HJE900, so the Ortos lack that certain harshness that can be heard with the Panas (without some foam stuffed in their nozzles). Both have excellent dynamics and speed - that's one of the things I find so remarkable about the Panas, especially considering their low-ish price and being a dynamic driver design.

Originally Posted by The Larch

I wondering where they will land on the iem spreadsheet.

Right above the e-Q7. Almost the same sound, better cable, cheaper.

[Jaigoda]

Hey dfkt, I was just wondering what you considered "soft-as-a-whisper night time listening levels." Could you give some examples of what volume level you listen to on your J3 with the Panasonic HJE900's?

[lestatar]

Thanks dfkt. Hmmm, in some ways, for what I think may be my perceived sound preferences, these Ortofons sound nearly ideal. Though I seem to have some latent basshead tendencies as a result of hanging around here I personally find the Pana mids quite pleasant and have never noticed the high end harshness - must be these old ears of mine.

Are you sold on this "new" moving armature design? Think it'll catch on somehow?

thanks as always.

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by Jaigoda

Hey dfkt, I was just wondering what you considered "soft-as-a-whisper night time listening levels." Could you give some examples of what volume level you listen to on your J3 with the Panasonic HJE900's?

That would be around volume level 1-3 for me at night.

Originally Posted by lestatar

Thanks dfkt. Hmmm, in some ways, for what I think may be my perceived sound preferences, these Ortofons sound nearly ideal. Though I seem to have some latent basshead tendencies as a result of hanging around here I personally find the Pana mids quite pleasant and have never noticed the high end harshness - must be these old ears of mine.

Are you sold on this "new" moving armature design? Think it'll catch on somehow?

thanks as always.

I guess the SM3 would be a better choice then, for an upper class IEM that might suit your taste. Their bass is more substantial than the e-Q5's, but they're still well balanced. Of course the SM3 look like something that fell out of a box of cornflakes, compared to the shiny Ortos... But then again, their treble is a tad recessed compared to both the Panas and Ortos. So I guess the JVC FX700 would be the right ones for you - but those don't isolate. Dilemmas, dilemmas...

I sure hope those moving armatures catch on - they definitely can achieve the best of both worlds, something that would need two or three regular armatures (but definitely not eight or fifteen, as JH and UE wants us to believe).

[james444]

Originally Posted by dfkt

Right above the e-Q7. Almost the same sound, better cable, cheaper.

I don't think you could find a pair of IEMs that would fit between the e-Q5 and e-Q7 on your spreadsheet. They're really pretty close. Excellent review, thanks!

[Daanish]

Hi dfkt, excellent review! I posted on the article but thought I would ask here as well. Do you eq these with your j3? Could you share your settings if you do please

[The Larch]

Originally Posted by james444

I don't think you could find a pair of IEMs that would fit between the e-Q5 and e-Q7 on your spreadsheet. They're really pretty close. Excellent review, thanks!

Logically the e-Q6 will fit right between

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by Daanish

Hi dfkt, excellent review! I posted on the article but thought I would ask here as well. Do you eq these with your j3? Could you share your settings if you do please

I mostly used them with the Clip+ on the go, where I just upped the Rockbox bass dial some 3-6dB.

With the J3 I used them sometimes in bed, at low listening levels, so I gave them quite a bit more bass, a general loudness contour, and all the other BBE shenanigans. This might be too much for louder listening levels, though:

e-Q5:

80Hz Narrow +4
385Hz Wide -2
780Hz Wide -1
3.0kHz Wide 0
6.9kHz Wide 0

BBE 3
M3B 8
3DS Off
MPE Off
SE 6
Rev Off

[nodirectionhome]

Nice review!

I still want another set of iems that has a different sound to my ie8s, if not the SM3 then these Ortofon or something similar in that price range.

[dfkt]

Some more sleuthing on Yashima's (the driver manufacturer of the Ortofons and Grados) website made me snicker a bit. Behold the Yashima N20 - reading Grado's silly "family values" advertising about their Grado GR8 after that is just wrong, in my opinion. Seeing that they're just rebadged OEM phones makes their $300/$400 (GR8/GR10) price even harder to swallow, compared to the slick Ortofons... now I wonder how the original N20 sound, and how much they cost.

[Marvin the Martian]

Grado should never have gotten into the IEM market anyways.....their whole line was always open 'phones, and they should stick to that. (whether you are a fan of their sound or not, and many people here are not, I think that is a fair point).

[james444]

Why not? Their GR10 sound every bit as brilliant as the e-Q5 and can keep up with pretty much any other $400 IEMs I've heard. And considering their significantly lower production cost (compared to the Ortofons) and $120-150 higher retail price they're making Grado good money. A good many US audiophiles I've talked to don't feel comfortable about importing phones from Japan themselves, so they'd rather pay premium for a *homemade* product.

[lestatar]

^^ Hmmm, that is quite cheesy of Grado...Sorry Marv, this one is tough to defend Busted ! lol

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by lestatar

^^ Hmmm, that is quite cheesy of Grado...Sorry Marv, this one is tough to defend Busted ! lol

Sounds like if james444 is correct, that it was a smart business decision for Grado then. It's hard for me to imagine an IEM sounding as spacious and open like a big open-backed headphone, but I never got to hear a decent IEM, either, before I discovered how unpleasant they were for me to use.

We'll know the apocalypse is coming the day we see dfkt sporting some Grado IEM's.

[keiiferrer]

Originally Posted by dfkt

The frequency response of both is of course very different, with the HJE900 having way more bass, and a more recessed midrange. The e-Q5's treble lacks the spikes that are found in the HJE900, so the Ortos lack that certain harshness that can be heard with the Panas (without some foam stuffed in their nozzles). Both have excellent dynamics and speed - that's one of the things I find so remarkable about the Panas, especially considering their low-ish price and being a dynamic driver design.

personally, which do you prefer, and why? i really got interested on the q5's or q7's if the budget allows, i'm currently using panas

[dfkt]

Hard to say which one I prefer. They both work well with many different music genres, they both are great in their own ways. Without any doubt, the e-Q5 is the more refined sounding one, the HJE900 is the more exciting one. The HJE sound better to me at quiet listening levels, the e-Q5 at louder levels. The HJE I usually prefer with bassy electronic music or heavier rock and metal - the e-Q5 with acoustic music, jazz, classical, soundtracks, and so on.