Aune AR5000's Review - New contender in town!
General/Build/Comfort/Packaging
Aune is well known for their dac/amp products, they produce desktop dac/amp as well as portable source which are quite well received. I have owned their older DAP with Class A Amp, the M2, a very musical sounding device but fall short on battery life, i have also tested the X1s GT and remember myself quite liking the sound signature.
Today I have the AR5000 headphone with me, Aune’s entry into the headphone space. I must say, the outlook, build quality, as well as packaging are very impressive.
Let’s talk about the build quality, the whole unit is mostly made out of metal, hence it is very solid, not to mention it is also very lightweight. Packaging is also very good, very premium-ish packaging style, purely nitpicking here, it would be good to have a storage case included.
In terms of comfort, the clamping force is just right, not too tight nor loose, the earpads are also very soft and have the properties of memory foam. I have no issue listening to it for several hours.
Gears used for this review
Earmen Tradutto DAC + Earmen CH-Amp
Earmen Angel
Fiio Q15
iFi HipDac 3
Aune AR5000 with AR3 4.4 Balanced Cable
Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far
Sound Impression
AR 5000 to my ears has a neutral and a slight warm sound profile. The sub bass is quite linear, you can’t really hear it, but rather feel it when the track calls for it, mid bass has good enough punch without bleeding into the mids. The timbre sounds natural to my ears and it doesn’t have any metallic sheen to it.
Bass
Starting with the bass, it’s safe to say the bass has very good speed, linear sub bass extension
It has a good punch, Slipknot’s People = Shit!, especially during the intense drumming during the opening, AR5000 has no sweat in keeping up
The sub bass has very good extension, although it doesn’t extend that deep, but considering it being an open backed, it is really impressive
The bass response is not basshead kind of presentation, but to my ears, they are sufficient and will present themselves well when the track calls for it
Bass has good texture overall and doesn’t sound thin
The bass doesn’t bleed into the mids at all
Mids
The mids are quite detailed and lush
Vocal for both male and females has good enough textures
Female vocal has a bit more energy compared to male, but on certain tracks, the female vocal sounds a little unrefined (A Mei’s Vocal on 记得), not as smooth as i’d remember it to be, but this is purely me nitpicking
Upper mids are generally safe to my ears and not shouty even on higher volume
The mid range is good overall, but i do find it to lack a little body at times, but again, this is me nitpicking
Treble
Treble response has plenty of energetic yet it is not harsh nor sibilant, but do bear in mind that everyone has got different level of tolerance for treble, to my ears, they are not harsh nor anywhere near sibilant
Fast and snappy transient response
Very good resolution
Good detail retrieval, micro details can be picked up easily
Soundstage/Imaging
Soundstage is very wide and has good height perception, but slightly lacking in terms of depth perception,
Instruments can be picked up easily where it is coming from,
Good separation and layering
Very good soundstage and imaging overall
Driveability
The AR5000 is not hard to drive, but it does scale very well with amplification
Pairing it with the HipDac3 seems to give more body overall, but this pairing of course is quite colored and some might not like it, especially with the xBass on, it turns the AR5000 into a very fun sounding headphone, yet it doesn't compromise the mids and highs that much
Pairing it with a more powerful portable dac/amp the Q15, with AKM’s flagship dac, the imaging, especially separation and layering is excellent, same goes to soundstage
Using the full desktop stack, Tradutto+CH-Amp, the experience is taken a step higher, better control in terms of the bass, slightly better texture, the highs are somewhat a little smoother and refined
Just some interesting things that i have done to test, using Apple Dongle Type C to iPhone 15, the AR5000 can be driven to about 80% of its potential, that’s just how efficient and scalable it is, and i am not even maxing out the volume, roughly at 5/10 volume step
Comparison (Sennheiser HD660s)
First, the build quality, AR6000 definitely runs circle around the 660s in terms of build quality and comfort
Both are open back dynamic driver headphones, in terms of tuning, the 660s has a somewhat more safer approach to the tuning
Bass is light in terms of quantity, sub bass extension is not as good, it does roll off quite early, but mid bass is quite punchy and has good speed and texture
Perhaps the strong point for the HD660s is the mids, they’re lush and full bodied, vocals for both male and female has good texture
Treble for the 660s is also safe in general, good detail retrievals
Soundstage is rather 2D-ish, just slightly out of your head, but separation and imaging is rather good
At 150Ω, they definitely needs some amping, although not really hard to drive, but amping is still required to get the best out of it
Sound Impression on stock cable vs AR3 for AR5000 (This is highly subjective and if you’re not a cable believer, skip this section)
Bass doesn’t extend that much vs AR3 that gives a slightly better bass extension, perceivable especially on the sub bass
Soundstage is slightly smaller on stock cable vs bigger soundstage on AR3 cable
Mids seems to have better note weight on the stock cable vs slightly thinner note weight on the AR3
Treble is smoother on the stock cable, and sounds warmer vs AR3 which has a little more energy, and also more air which contributes to a slightly bigger soundstage
Overall, i would say pairing it with the AR3 gives the AR5000 a slightly different sound signature, a more energetic AR5000 whereas the stock cable would render the AR5000 a tamer and smoother signature overall
Final Thoughts
The AR5000 is definitely one of my favourite dynamic driver headphones that I have tested other than the Grados which I have owned. For a company’s first headphone, they are really good and definitely up to the expectation in terms of sonic performance as well as build quality. and I'm really surprised by its capability in terms of the sonic performance as well as its technicalities. Not to mention that the price is highly competitive as well given what it has to offer. It doesn't require a beefy amp to sound good yet it does scale with better source and amplification. Priced at 299$, the AR5000 offers a very good value in terms of price performance ratio, this is a highly recommended headphone from me!
*The Aune AR5000 was sent over by Aune for the purpose of this review, I received no monetary compensation nor was I influenced in any way to produce this review.
If you are interested in getting a pair, head over to their official store to grab one now!
Aune AR5000 Introduction Video
Aune AR5000 Store Link - Non affiliated
Aune AR3 Upgrade cable Store Link - Non affiliated
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