How a lot would you pay for sonic perfection? That’s the query poised by the AKG N5005 earphones. At $999.95 / £799.99 (round AU$1,115), they’re among the many priciest buds you’ll ever pop inside your ears. However you get what you pay for, with a premium bundle delivering very good sound high quality, good for pairing with high-resolution audio providers.

Design

The AKG N5005 oozes luxurious from the second you open up its field. Full with a numbered metal engraved token to indicate simply how unique a membership you’re becoming a member of by shopping for them, the froth padded inside, housing the numerous included equipment, speaks to precisely the kind of high-end expertise AKG desires you to get pleasure from. If you’ve dropped this a lot cash on a tech merchandise, you’re going to need it to really feel particular from the off, and the AKG N5005 presents itself nicely proper out of the gate.

The headphones themselves, as you’d hope, are of an equally prime quality. There’s just one shade available for purchase, a gloss black, however they’re constructed utilizing a sturdy, stylish ceramic. Although you’re going to wish to maintain a cautious eye on something you spend this a lot cash on, it’s reassuring to know they’re scratch resistant.

The buds sit on a comfortably-sized enclosure that sit comfortably within the inside ear, with rubberised corners that forestall an excessive amount of chafing when inserting and eradicating them. Replaceable cables might be yanked out of the AKG N5005 buds with a satisfying clip, whereas the equipped cables (barring the wi-fi Bluetooth choice) are braided, copper in coloration and of a high-quality.

Pull the eartips off, and also you’ll discover the place the interchangeable sound filters stay. We’ll discuss concerning the efficiency of those tiny round inserts in a while, however for now know that they simply eliminated and connected, screwing into place to customize the sound of the AKG N5005 to your style.

When you’ve performed round with the numerous a number of ear tip choices to search out those greatest suited to you, the AKG N5005 earphones are very snug. Weighing 114G, they’re a comfortable match, and by no means felt as if they’d fall out because of a curve that helps to hook across the high exterior of your ear.

Equipment

We wouldn’t normally dedicate a piece of a headphone overview to equipment, however the ones included with the AKG N5005 are so integral to the bundle – and to the customisation of the match and sound high quality – that they deserve their very own particular person point out.

First up: the fundamentals. Within the the field is a palm-sized arduous shell zip-up carry case for safeguarding your buds, completed in black leather-based with inside netting to maintain cables from getting tangled. You’ve then additionally received a two-pronged flight adapter to be used on a aircraft, and a cleansing software for getting any grime out of the earphones with out damaging them.

Then issues begin to get attention-grabbing. There are seven units of ear suggestions in whole – 4 common ear suggestions and three spin suggestions. You might have to attempt a number of totally different combos to search out probably the most comfortable match to your ears, however the many choices make discovering the appropriate pair for you very doubtless. And whereas there’s no Energetic Noise Cancellation inbuilt right here, they do an important job of blocking out exterior sound passively when cranked up a notch.

Three totally different cable choices come within the field, beginning with two normal wired units (a three.5mm one with in-line distant and an audiophile-friendly balanced 2.5mm one, every with braided cabling), and a wi-fi Bluetooth choice. Every clips and unclips from the earbuds with ease, making swapping them out for the popular listening session at hand straightforward. The Bluetooth set is especially helpful, providing you with eight hours of playback from a 2 hour cost. The flat cable, designed to take a seat on the again of your neck, might be pulled snug taut with a sliding fastener, whereas there’s a three-button distant with mic about an inch out of your left ear. Charging over an included micro USB cable, they’re comfortably weighted (an additional buttonless compartment sits on the appropriate facet, balancing the burden) and keep the good sound of the wired choices.

After which lastly what’s maybe probably the most attention-grabbing a part of the bundle, the filters themselves. 

For the file, we tended to stay with the Reference Sound filters for almost all of our time with the AKG N5005s, adopted by the Bass Increase choice. All of them admirably work as their names recommend – the Reference filters are your baseline AKG sound mannequin, with stable bass and clean mid vary, the Bass Increase filters dampen highs and mids, Mid Excessive Increase push again the bass whereas Excessive Increase deal with the treble and better frequencies. You’ll doubtless discover that you simply’ll land on a set of filters that fit your tastes greatest and principally ignore the remainder, however having the choice alone is a welcome alternative to customize your buds to your specific wants.

Sound

You’d hope for one thing heavenly-sounding from a pair of $1,000 headphones, and the AKG N5005 doesn’t disappoint. 

Supporting hi-resolution audio, the AKG N5005 make use of 1 dynamic (9.2mm) and quad balanced armature drivers for a hybrid five-way design, resulting in a wealthy and detailed sound. Bass is highly effective (when you’ve received a superb seal from the information) and midrange sounds are fantastically correct, pulling out element not often heard with in-ears, avoiding distortion. Highs took just a little getting used to, being extremely crisp, however once more it’s only a matter of being so true to the intentions of the unique recording.

We have been vastly impressed over a variety of various genres on the AKG N5005s at reference filter stage. Bjork’s All is Filled with Love rumbled with its deep base notes and shimmered as its processed harps swept via its electro heartache. The Stone Roses’ wavy hypnotic guitars for I Wanna Be Adored sound clear and distinct from the dream-like swagger surrounding them, whereas the bodily scratch of the strings may even be discerned nonetheless within the combine. Flip to beat-laden Planet Rock by Afrika Bambaataa and the slam of the drum machine lands with a snap, whereas the soulful vocals of Judee Sill on The Kiss lap warmly towards its delicate piano line.

Last verdict

Elite earphones for the extraordinarily rich, the AKG N5005 price the world however sound like heaven. From the premium packaging to the premium sound, they ooze high quality, and provide so many customisation and cabling choices it’s nearly like getting a number of pairs of headphones in a single field. Should you can afford them, they’ll make your ears quiver with pleasure.