As some of you might know, I purchased my very first pair of earphones during my Japan trip last month. Before that, I was using a pair of unhygienic, filthy in-ear earphones, so an upgrade to headphones was definitely a purchase that was most welcomed.
So why the ATH-SQ5?
I’m no audiophile, and neither do I have extremely sensitive ears. The thing that first caught my attention was the design. Audio Technica’s a Japanese brand, and we all know that the Japanese often come up with awesome designers. The SQ5’s no exception.
The fact that it can be swung 90 degrees and that most other headphones can’t is one unique selling point. After all, it’ll make the docking of your pair of cans on your neck much more different from other headphones. I tried to dock them without swinging the cans flat, and it proved rather suffocating. Utada Hikaru can dock them with ease though, since there’s no apple at her throat. Either that or she has a slimmer neck.
As for my choice of colour, I chose white rather than the black or red designs. The black one looked rather dull, and the red one was too bright for my liking. I have to admit though, my choice of colour was partially influenced by Utada Hikaru and her Heart Station PV.
I was rather worried that dirt and stains would appear obvious due to it being white, but apparently, it wasn’t much to worry about. Unless of course, you are a messy eater. I used to be one, but ever since I made my purchase, my eating habits took a turn for the better.
The comfort of the SQ5 was a little bit hard to get use to at the beginning. My right ear seems to have problems fitting into it, but my left ear fits just fine. However, after a few weeks of daily usage, I feel that I have somewhat gotten used to it. One thing that still bothers me is the heat. When I bought the SQ5, I was in Japan during Spring with the temperature hovering between 14 to 18 degrees. I had totally forgotten about the heat and humidity back home in Singapore. Still, I guess will eventually grow and get used to it. As of now, the discomfort starts to come in after an hour and a half to two hours of usage. That’s rather short, but I suppose it’ll increase with usage.
The sound leaking is nothing to be worried about, since the SQ5 is a pair of fully closed cans. Usually, when I put them on, it feels like there’s an A.T. field that instantly appears around me, as though I’m in a world of my own. I like that feeling, especially in crowded places when the volume of the human masses are a pain to the ears.
The audio quality is average, though not worth exactly the price of 7980 yen. I have to tune up the volume to 16 or 17 out of 25 before I can actually enjoy my music. Then again, it might be my failing sense of hearing. And to think I’m only 17. One big complaint the cracking/static sounds I hear when I turn on the audio equalizer. It’s all fine when I turn off the equalizer. Also, when I use my in-ear earphones, the audibility of the cracking isn’t there. Could it be the sensitivity difference between the headphones? I’m not sure what’s with that, but I certainly hope it isn’t a sign that my headphones degrading. It’s only less than a month of usage!
Overall, I think that the SQ5 is a rather average pair of cans. I shall not comment too much on whether it’s worth snagging, especially since factors such as comfort and design are all personal opinions, but personally, it was the design that made me part with my money.
I almost exclusively buy AT cans instead of other brands even though the sound quality mightn’t be as good as e.g. Sennheiser. It’s probably the fact that they’re a lot more compact (omg I love the swivel-fold function) than the others.
Hmm… the cracking could either mean that the connection between the cable and the audio-output of your audio device isn’t that good, or your cans aren’t broken in yet? But given that you bought these a couple of weeks ago, they should be well-loved already ne?
O: I dunno. You should ask TJHan. He’s the one with the huge headphone fetish right?
Hehehe, I’ve seen that music video on TV! Hoh hoh hoo.
Lol, you’d have to be one messy eater to get food on your ears
Didn’t seem like such a good purchase, but I admit I often overlook functional things for styles sake.
Personally I have a black pair of Icemat Siberia Headphones. Very good looking when your not wearing them, frankly I wouldn’t leave the house with them. They have very good quality sound and are comfortable. Feel quite flimsy though, but they’ve been workinng fine for a couple years.
Soshi > Yea the swivel-fold function rocks! And what’s this about the cans being broken in? I’m confused lol.
Sakari > Nah, I’m not talking about getting the headphones dirty when you’re wearing them. It’s about getting them dirty when your eating with them docked around your neck.
It wasn’t exactly a very good purchase indeed, but I’m rather pleased with it. At least I haven’t seen anyone who has the same set as I do ^^
Yeh at least nobody else can hear the sound quality ^^
About your crackling problem, you should try your headphones using different sources, like your comp, another mp3 player, or the a cd player or something. See if it makes a difference. Like what Soshi said, perhaps the audio output of your player is the problem. A reason for this might be that the inbuilt amp in your player just cannot handle the load given by your headphones, which explains why you have no problems with your in-ears, and why you have to turn up the volume so high on your player.
There are some fixes for this, namely changing your mp3 player, or getting a portable amp.
Also, are you using an ipod? I’ve heard that its equalizer function tends to create this crackling sound - here’s one of the links I’ve found - http://manishbansal.wordpress.com/2005/11/08/how-to-fix-ipod-eq-distortion/
As for what is burning-in, some believe that speakers, being mechanical moving devices, need time to break-in, much like a new car engine, so that they will work their best. It just means that they will use the headphones for a few weeks, with it running constantly, before judging the sound.
There are some local headphone enthusiast forums, like sgheadphones.net, and jaben.net, as well as the big-time sites, like head-fi.org, which you can visit to learn more.
Thanks for the whole bunch of information. I’m using a Creative Zen Vision which has been around for more than 2 years already.
I’d like to buy these headphones, but I’m affarid it’s too big for me.
What are the dimensions of headphones (mostly external)?
Thanks for your response.
The dimensions of the actual oval shape holes are approximately 2.5 inches by 1.25 inches.
Thanks. And what about the external dimensions of the earcups as shown on the last picture of your review?
Approximately 3.5 inches by 2 inches.
I have ‘em in black since I’m always dressed in dark colours. The design was what drew me in. The size is perfect for my big ears, but the pinch on my thick spectacle frame is a killer after a while. And yeah, your ears tend to sweat after a while too. It troublesome since I’m wearing ‘em for up to 8 hours.
Definitely takes time to break into the foam. It’s also a hassle to pack it in a bag since it can’t fold up into a ball. As some people say, “So hip, it hurts!”
Sound-wise, it’s average. The noise isolation is average too, unless I pump the volume to 19 or 20. (A Zen user too) My cheaper Porta-Pro open cans sounds better.