My impressions for the etymotic hf5 are as follows.!
Build quality is very good with very less microphonics.
Although the l-connector at earbuds sometimes makes me nervous but its actually not bad!
You can wear these for gym too, no issue with fitting i can bet about it but you may wanna wear the add-on clip to avoid some sweat-induced microphonics!
The carrying pouch also gives you a premium feel and its actually very useful.!
Now the sound.!
Its as sweet as it can get for this price if you want a balanced sound.!
It may not have super bass but has got tight bass.!
It can produce those diaphragm vibrations and sudden room-filling booms in a way that feels quite what artist intended them to be!
You can even say its emphasis is quality but for a normal listener bass feels nice but bass headed listeners should go for monster turbines.!
It may seem to be cold to some but thats actually its analytically balanced strengths but even then if you want some warmth and "fun" from these you can try the mushroom buds that are supplied with it. The best detailing is produced by the supplied propritieary tri-flange earbuds but even mushroom ones provide better than a lot isolation and fit and also a very fun sound which has better bass quantity than analytical tri-flanges!
The balance in sound is amazing.even with a powerful bass song you can hear the simultaneous lyrics.!
The detail it reveals is in a way addicting.!
You maybe can update but you wont be able to go back to your normal earphones.!
but one thing is missing - 3D soundstaging.!
Dont mistake it for layering. It produces that very very well but i would say that etymotic went literal when they said they sound what artist intended the music to be and the sound they give, gives you a studio experience rather than concert ones(except when song is specially recorded to produce that).
Also they have got amazing left and right separation.!
You can listen to slipknot to observe that easily
Although a personal remarks for newcomers to detail oriented IEMs like this one that sometimes with low frequency notes of piano you may notice some hissing even in lossless variety. Dont worry these reveal the diaphragm vibrations those notes are actually meant to produce!
