AKG N5005 Reference Class In-Ear Headphones

Which iem headphones are best for fps gaming to hear footstep directions

Literally anything just pick a cheap chifi set and give it a shot.

If you need some suggestions: Tangzu Wan'er, Moondrop Chu 2, Truthear Hola, 7hz Zero II... there are so many. Any of them will have the resolution needed to pick out footsteps and ascertain their direction.

Reread what you just posted and think about that. It's a standard mmcx terminal. The only way a given mmcx cable/ wireless adapter wouldn't fit, is if it was too wide to clear the shell (which *very* few are).

With that said, these are overpriced, and anyone saying otherwise is a shill. The iem/tws market is wildly different than it was 12 mo ago, let alone 6 years ago when these first released. Iems that went for 500 then are readily outperformed by sets in the 50 usd price range today.... and it's ongoing (a race to the bottom).

Subjectivity is 9/10 of the law when it comes to enjoying something like this so more power to anyone that paid for them and thinks "wow, these are the best things I've ever heard"... just don't be surprised when someone asks "compared to what". It's crazy what you can get for 150, wireless or wired (or combined going the wired iem/ wireless adapter route)

got any suggestions for earbuds? not iems. $100 range?

I've seen multiple posts saying regular cables won't work for the n5005 without an adapter. I don't care whether you believe it or not.

I promise I'm not trying to actually you, but "earbuds" are iems.

I'm going to assume that you're talking about wireless/ bt/ tws earphones (feel free to correct me). If that is correct however, the answer is really kind of dependent on your use case. For the most part the questions are going to be things like:

-where are you using them
-what are you listening to
-do you require anc
-do you require a good mic
-(and though you probably don't need it.... it's a question that needs asked) do you require multipoint pairing - as in the ability to connect to more than one device simultaneously)

My general recommendation these days at or under 100 however, is Moondrop Space Travel [a.co]. They're really basic, they can't multipoint, the mic is slightly thin... but they sound GREAT, better than wireless sets I've tried in the 200 range, and they even compete with a lot of wired iems I own (which I don't ever say about tws sets)

Pros:
-Punching 100 bucks or so above their weight sound wise (default dsp setting is v shaped... bass shelf... also has a neutral setting that flattens the eq and a bass setting that just sounds muddy imo, available through the optional app)
-good battery life (I get about 5 hours with the anc off, and the case will fully charge them like 5-8 times before it needs a charge itself
-solid anc (35db.... I wear them at the gym and I only ever hear through the anc if someone drops a bar)
-good range (they're rated for 10m of clear unobstructed space but I find it's probably better than that...if my phone is in the kitchen I can go a few rooms away or into the garage and not drop signal whatsoever)

Cons
-Passthrough mode (conversation mode) is dodgy (it picks up male voices well but female voices get dropped a lot, causes hiss in whatever you're listening to because the mics are picking up background noise floor)
-app is trash (I mean it's really bad)
-Case is open top (this isn't an issue for me personally... I keep them in my pocket all day... they pick up some lint that is easy to blow out and the magnets keep the earphones in place... but some people say they have problems with them staying put)
-slightly non standard tip size... you can fit most made-for-tws tips on them (like spinfit cp360) but it's going to change how they fit in your ear in my experience.. which leads me to
-shallow fit (also not an issue for me but they're meant to rest on your ear canal not in it... so the best bet is to move to the biggest included tip you can tolerate which is counterintuitive)

Once you get a good fit and seal they sound fantastic though. Lots of "outside-the-head" stage and bass slam. Imaging is mid, detail retrieval is mid.... but they're 25~ dollar tws earphones so I dunno what more to expect)

Most people would never need more than they offer, but again I don't know your use case.



Cool cool. The problem is that you chimed in to correct me after I corrected another comment saying it's "proprietary"

You could literally point to 100+ forum threads that corroborated your claim they don't accept most mmcx cables... it wouldn't matter *because* the cable that is included with them literally fits any mmcx terminal... *WHICH MEANS* it's not proprietary. K?

I promise I'm not trying to actually you, but "earbuds" are iems.

I'm going to assume that you're talking about wireless/ bt/ tws earphones (feel free to correct me). If that is correct however, the answer is really kind of dependent on your use case. For the most part the questions are going to be things like:

-where are you using them
-what are you listening to
-do you require anc
-do you require a good mic
-(and though you probably don't need it.... it's a question that needs asked) do you require multipoint pairing - as in the ability to connect to more than one device simultaneously)

My general recommendation these days at or under 100 however, is Moondrop Space Travel [a.co]. They're really basic, they can't multipoint, the mic is slightly thin... but they sound GREAT, better than wireless sets I've tried in the 200 range, and they even compete with a lot of wired iems I own (which I don't ever say about tws sets)

Pros:
-Punching 100 bucks or so above their weight sound wise (default dsp setting is v shaped... bass shelf... also has a neutral setting that flattens the eq and a bass setting that just sounds muddy imo, available through the optional app)
-good battery life (I get about 5 hours with the anc off, and the case will fully charge them like 5-8 times before it needs a charge itself
-solid anc (35db.... I wear them at the gym and I only ever hear through the anc if someone drops a bar)
-good range (they're rated for 10m of clear unobstructed space but I find it's probably better than that...if my phone is in the kitchen I can go a few rooms away or into the garage and not drop signal whatsoever)

Cons
-Passthrough mode (conversation mode) is dodgy (it picks up male voices well but female voices get dropped a lot, causes hiss in whatever you're listening to because the mics are picking up background noise floor)
-app is trash (I mean it's really bad)
-Case is open top (this isn't an issue for me personally... I keep them in my pocket all day... they pick up some lint that is easy to blow out and the magnets keep the earphones in place... but some people say they have problems with them staying put)
-slightly non standard tip size... you can fit most made-for-tws tips on them (like spinfit cp360) but it's going to change how they fit in your ear in my experience.. which leads me to
-shallow fit (also not an issue for me but they're meant to rest on your ear canal not in it... so the best bet is to move to the biggest included tip you can tolerate which is counterintuitive)

Once you get a good fit and seal they sound fantastic though. Lots of "outside-the-head" stage and bass slam. Imaging is mid, detail retrieval is mid.... but they're 25~ dollar tws earphones so I dunno what more to expect)

Most people would never need more than they offer, but again I don't know your use case.



Cool cool. The problem is that you chimed in to correct me after I corrected another comment saying it's "proprietary"

You could literally point to 100+ forum threads that corroborated your claim they don't accept most mmcx cables... it wouldn't matter *because* the cable that is included with them fits any mmcx terminal... *WHICH MEANS* it's not proprietary. K?

Semantics. I was just pointing out it is possible that not all Mmcx connector cables will work on these. I am done here.

I consider earbuds to be nonsealing and don't go into the ear canal. Airpods vs airpod pro.
Wired is preferred. Used to use sennheiser mx500s.

Lmao? I mean honestly, I really doubt it. Most people underestimate the force it takes to connect or disconnect MMCX. There is a removal tool for a reason. You weren't just trying to point that out though, you specifically called out a comment that denied the claim they're proprietary lol.

Regardless, they aren't even worth the trouble, 5005's are actual dogwater compared to what's available out there now.


Lol you're talking about flatheads (that's what they're called, so you know).

I would recommend Yincrow x6 [aliexpress.us] (they're only available on Aliexpress, afaik, but they're 11usd and use the same shell as the mx500... excellent sound- v shaped, lots of sub bass, good slam, decent details), high quality (but non-detachable) cable

FAAEAL Snow-Lotus is a good option if you prefer clarity over fun (and they're available on amazon) also about 10 usd. Decent (non-detachable) cable

I tried Fiio ff5's and ff3's... didn't really care for them, too bass lean for me but good build quality and a detachable cable



If you have a big enough ears, and deep pockets you could try Dunu Alpha 3 (I really like them, but I have a couple of friends who tried them and couldn't seat them deep enough so they sounded thin).... 100~ usd...VERY premium feeling, very high quality (non-detachable) cable.. available in 4.4 or 3.5 termination. (Feels on par with Dunu's 300-kilobuck iems in terms of quality overall)

...Again though, it's totally dependent on whether your ears can accommodate them. Truthfully, going into more expensive (100-500 usd flatheads) you're only going to get maybe 20% better sound than the yincrow at best. They're that good.

i've been away from the headphone community for a few years and haven't heard of the term flathead either. lol
i'll keep referring to them as earbuds. https://static.slickdealscdn.com/ima...ies/tongue.gif