[OmniscientNihilist]

I did not experience microphonics with EM5, so my post was not ‘false’! Clearly you are having a different experience.

i dont hear it as much when im chilling in the mall, the extra noise of the mall and volume of the music blocks more of it out, and im not moving as much

its a very subtle ticking sound as the rubber cable kinda sticks or grabs the resin housing a bit as it touches it when you move your head. im wondering if it the moisture in the air right now due to rain being here when i bought them recently. maybe as it dries up it might improve i dunno

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

No microphonics with my cable. I'm generally not moving when listening, which I find is really the only way to listen listen to earbuds anyway due to the loose fitting. Try listening with them over ears and see if this helps your situation. Improves fit for me.

the em5 fits like a glove for me. very good fit, with the foams on or off, i use them on which makes the sound signature better

one benefit of the classic style buds is they are so easy to put in and out

im very happy with the fit and the sound on the em5, with balanced foams on im only reducing 100hz bass by 5% (bass texture on hiby MSEB) and increasing soundfield (virtual surround sound) by (0.12, it goes from -1.00 to +3.00 and im using 0.12) i think, on my ap80, to simulate larger sound stage, sounds amazing, practically as good as my large 40mm over ear headphones

i listen to rap, pop, edm, rock, metal, etc.. so i like my sound signature reasonably flat so it covers all types

 

[Sphere 57]

For me with EM5, or any other earbud, a chin slider is essential to keep them in place. EM5's slider is a bit sticky but at least it has one, with some of my MX500 types I have to improvise one (I usually use the twist tie that bundles up the cable).

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

For me with EM5, or any other earbud, a chin slider is essential to keep them in place. EM5's slider is a bit sticky but at least it has one, with some of my MX500 types I have to improvise one (I usually use the twist tie that bundles up the cable).

its ridiculous how good these em5's fit in my ears. the speaker is literally pressed against my ear hole perfectly, and they never come loose or fall out

great fit and also great sound

i hope they last for at least 5yrs. im tempted to buy another pair as a backup but it seems they have been discontinued??

 

[Sphere 57]

its ridiculous how good these em5's fit in my ears. the speaker is literally pressed against my ear hole perfectly, and they never come loose or fall out

great fit and also great sound

i hope they last for at least 5yrs. im tempted to buy another pair as a backup but it seems they have been discontinued??

I was really impressed with the EM5 when I bought it a couple of years ago, it is the only flathead earbud I've ever spent more than £20 on and it has dynamics and detail beyond any of those I have (VE Monk, Yincrow, Faaeal, KBear and others). I love how they look, the case, the lifetime supply of foams and the modular cable. Although the sound is impressive for an earbud, I was never fully satisfied, it sounds a bit too rough, vocals can be scratchy.

My criteria for using earbuds instead of headphones or IEMs is when I care more about comfort than sound, or when I don't want to be isolated from outside noise. I recently acquired a pair of Final Audio E3000s, it is an IEM not a bud, but it is so small and light that I find it as comfortable as any bud, and it is open enough to mean there is no chance I will miss the doorbell or someone trying to talk to me. I get IEM sound quality with earbud function. I'm considering buying other Final E series to get the same thing with different tuning.

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

I was really impressed with the EM5 when I bought it a couple of years ago, it is the only flathead earbud I've ever spent more than £20 on and it has dynamics and detail beyond any of those I have (VE Monk, Yincrow, Faaeal, KBear and others). I love how they look, the case, the lifetime supply of foams and the modular cable. Although the sound is impressive for an earbud, I was never fully satisfied, it sounds a bit too rough, vocals can be scratchy.

My criteria for using earbuds instead of headphones or IEMs is when I care more about comfort than sound, or when I don't want to be isolated from outside noise. I recently acquired a pair of Final Audio E3000s, it is an IEM not a bud, but it is so small and light that I find it as comfortable as any bud, and it is open enough to mean there is no chance I will miss the doorbell or someone trying to talk to me. I get IEM sound quality with earbud function. I'm considering buying other Final E series to get the same thing with different tuning.

some questions about the final audio e3000

the speaker is only 6mm or something and goes into your ear canal, but the speaker on the em5 is 14mm and stays more outside your ear canal, so im guessing the em5 would have better soundstage

also the final audio has the rubber plug so that means it will transmit cord noise into the sound, so you have to run cord over the ear to stop that noise. most iem's are a hassle to take in and out, but classic style buds like the em5 are so easy and dont transmit those cord microphonics into the music

bass looks too heavy on the final audio sound signature, big V curve, which i dont like, also treble drops way off after 10khz

for some reason the sub bass combined with noise isolation is causing me migraines when im around anyone thats talking. but with the em5 i dont have that issue because it has no specific noise isolation and also the sub bass volume starts dropping off past 40hz. i can listen to them in public with no migraines or annoyances. If someone is using noise isolation it creates greater immersion but talking from someone around you can break you out of that which agitates the mind. by having no noise isolation the mind stays in one place and doesnt get moved in and out of immersion.

i think only some darkwave, trap, and new RnB, that specifically use sub bass for relaxing effect. otherwise its hardly needed. the punchy bass is around 60hz

on youtube tests wearing the em5 i can hear from 30hz to 15khz, but fiio claims 10hz to 20hz

 

[Sphere 57]

The E3000 has good soundstage. It is just as wide and layered as the EM5. The E3000 sounstage is based on a line that sounds as if it runs between my ears, while the EM5 soundstage is a bit further forward, seeming to sit just in front of my nose, so the EM5 stereo image is more 'outside of your head'.

Yes the cord is very microphonic if you don't run it over your ear. The wire is very light and soft though, I often forget which way I'm wearing it until I move. If you use the supplied earhooks, you can pull out the earphone and it will dangle there in place until you want to stick it back in. I get noise from the EM5 cord above the split. I find the EM5 only marginally better for microphonics than the E3000 (worn over ear).

The E3000 is bass heavy, that's why I'm thinking of buying the E2000 or E4000 as well. I chose the E3000 because I don't have any IEMs with a lot of sub-bass in my collection, I like it so much I'm eyeing the rest of the range.

The E3000 doesn't really isolate, it's pretty useless on the street, it's an indoor earphone for me, I use it at home where I don't always bother looping the wire over my ear, or a few times in the supermarket where I want to be aware of people around me. The back of the IEM is like a sieve with lots of little holes, there's probably some kind of acoustic damping inside, I doubt it is truly open-back, but it isolates less than some of my open-back headphones.

Because it doesn't have a distinct nozzle, when you put it on it just follows the angle of your ear canal, so it slides in and out very easily. There is no pressure build up, no 'pop' when take it out. It inserts deeper than any other IEM I have (it is the only one that I use small tips for), I didn't like the idea of this, but in practice for me it is more comfortable than a shallower nozzle that wants to impose it's own angle of entry. The supplied tips are some of softest and most comfortable I have used, as nice as spinfit, although I'm actually using KBear 07 tips because they give a brighter sound.

I really do believe that this (or the other Finals which are the same shape) is an IEM that earbud fans would like. This is probably enough of praising another company's products on a thread started by FiiO, I feel like it's a bit rude.

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

i think im still getting some small electric ESD static shocks on my em5's - usually only if i move my clothes around. i walk around the mall and every 15 minutes i can touch the metal trash can and it gives a static shock of my finger. so ii dont know if i have more static then the average person

apple talks about it here

much worse on the chrome fiio ff3's - used to actually be so bad it would buzz out my music and i had to unplug the headphone jack and plug it back in

i think im getting 3 different sources of a similar type sound, static shocks, cord noise, and my ears my themselves. almost like a small occasional tick sound

i put some wd 40 silicone lubricant on the cord where it meets the bud and it seemed to dampen out the cord tick a bit. i ordered some 100 percent pure silicone lubricant, they call it treadmill lubricant. i will put a drop of that on. i think it will mostly remove any cord tick

so basically after that i just have to do a bit more to reduce any static

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

hasnt anyone online posted a sound signature graph for em5 yet?

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

im gonna get a spray bottle and put 90% water, 5% rubbing alcohol, and 5% unscented natural fabric softener and spray my clothes and coats

that should fix the static shock issues.

i havnt had much static shocks on the em5 maybe because its made of resin and i have foam tips on, but i actually wrecked a pair of ff3 from static shocks, and i get them a bit on my ff5 too even with foam tips on

so hopefully the spray solves this, i really dont want to blow out a pair of em5's since they are expensive

 

[yaps66]

im gonna get a spray bottle and put 90% water, 5% rubbing alcohol, and 5% unscented natural fabric softener and spray my clothes and coats

that should fix the static shock issues.

i havnt had much static shocks on the em5 maybe because its made of resin and i have foam tips on, but i actually wrecked a pair of ff3 from static shocks, and i get them a bit on my ff5 too even with foam tips on

so hopefully the spray solves this, i really dont want to blow out a pair of em5's since they are expensive

Now that is an uber audiophile solution!

 

[digititus]

im gonna get a spray bottle and put 90% water, 5% rubbing alcohol, and 5% unscented natural fabric softener and spray my clothes and coats

that should fix the static shock issues.

i havnt had much static shocks on the em5 maybe because its made of resin and i have foam tips on, but i actually wrecked a pair of ff3 from static shocks, and i get them a bit on my ff5 too even with foam tips on

so hopefully the spray solves this, i really dont want to blow out a pair of em5's since they are expensive

If it works, I'm sure you'll be ex-static

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

FF5 sound better than ff3 in quiet settings, but worse in noisy settings

due to the open back i think

ff3 or em5 with foams on would block out the most outside noise

ff5 with no foams lets everything in

ff5 with no foams i will use at home

i notice the eq changes alot from foams on or off on any of these. foams on increases bass alot and reduces treble

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

using fiio em5 with balanced foams with 2.5 inch plug with blue ap80 pro-x - for my current setup

pro-x puts out 190mw+190mw@32ohms on the 2.5 port and 70x70 on the 3.5 port

also using 0.13 soundfield increase which is 13% soundstage increase

MSEB MageSound 8-ball settings on ap80:
0 -Overall Temperature tilt of whole line to treble(cool) or bass(warm)
+4 -Bass extension 70Hz and below
-2 -Bass texture 100Hz (medium)
-3 -Note thickness 200Hz (wide)
+1 -Vocals 650Hz (very wide)
-6 -Female overtones 3kHz (tight)
0 -Sibilance LF 5.8kHz (medium)
0 -Sibilance HF 9.2kHz (medium)
0 -Impulse response 7.5kHz (very wide)
0 -Air 10kHz sloped all the way to 20kHz


seems like em5 sound signature might be similar to the one that was charted out for ff3

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

actually we dont need the red and blue marks on the em5 because the bass tube always goes facing the front

so we can just use those obvious bass tubes on them for the left right