After 5 or more hours of listening today and yesterday here are my impressions of the HF5's:
The HF5's came packaged with 4 different ear tips. It included a small and standard flanged tip, a foam tip the shape of a cylinder, and a semicircular foamy/ rubbery tip. I am using the smaller flange tip with them as the larger flange tip seemed to be a bit too large. I never bothered with the other two tips since I found a comfortable tip that seals well. These things provide AMAZING noise reduction from the outside world. It is just like a pair of earplugs that play music. This has both its pros and cons... I was able to focus at work without any outside noises from coworkers which was nice. However, My computer faces away from my office entrance and I could not hear anyone that was trying to talk to me, even with the volume super low. I plan to get a small mirror to hang above my monitor so I can see people who come in to talk to me. There is some cable noise for sure when moving around but I don't find it overly distracting. I was able to wear them during my workout without too much problem, but having the ears sealed wasn't very comfortable when lifting heavy weight.
The HF5's sound very good and are a definite step up from the supplied iphone earbuds I have been using. Music is straight forward with an excellent midrange. Lows are nice and tight and not the least bit over emphasized. The highs are decent, but these definitely sound a little "laid back" compared to my Axiom M80's.. not in a horrible way but they are missing the "livenliness" that I get from my axioms for sure. Cymbals aren't as crisp and clear, but vocals and acoustic guitar are perfect.
Overall, I am very pleased with these earphones. They seal extremely well in my ears and are pretty darn comfortable to me. I would say these get me at least halfway or more to the sound of my m80's at about a tenth of the cost, and in an extremely portable version. I would recommend these to anyone in the market for IEMs at the approximate $100 price point. Hearing how good these sound does have me chasing for something even better but I'm afraid that I'd need to venture into the $300+ price range for that.
