My week with the Hisenior Mega5EST 7th Anniversary Edition. I LOVE THIS IEM!
Disclaimer: I bought these IEM’s with my own money. I’m not being incentivised to write this review and my thoughts are my own
Why this set? I bought the Hisenior Okavango 2 months ago and thought they were great value for money. There’s a review on these as well. Hisenior, being a smaller company, dedicated to making custom IEM’s for musicians, seemed a no brainer to try the next step up in the series.
1DD+2BAs+2Est (same as the Thieaudio Oracle MKII)
Configuration: 1Low + 2Mid-highs + 2S-highs
Tuning: 4 Ways/ Triple Bores/ 3 Dampers
Freq Response:10Hz-50Khz
Sensitivity: 110dB/mW
Impedance: 38Ω
Isolation: -20db
I bought this during the black Friday sale on Aliexpress from Angelears. 2 weeks later the set arrived
What’s in the Box: Hisenior use pelican like cases, see the photo. This set also comes with their highest quality cable, the White Whale. The cable is premium quality, silky smooth, lays flat and has premium hardware, with a 4.4mm plug. There are 4 sets of tips, but I put these aside and used both the Dunu Candy L and Divinus Velvet ML (more on that later).
DAP – Fiio M17, with FLAC Lossless Library, running through Poweramp
I normally Parametric EQ everything to the 5128 10dB target and bump up the bass 30%. I have the MMKIII, SA6 MKII, Performer8, Okavango, Heyday, Galileo, Phoenix Call, Hexa, Fudu etc. and I EQ them all.
I DID NOT EQ the Mega5EST. I tried, but quickly realised it didn’t improve the sound. I was Shocked! This set is as close to perfect, for my library and hearing preference, as I’ve every heard and it’s ½ the price of the Monarch MKIII. Punches way above its weight class!
Frequency Graph: There are only 2 measures on squiglink and they both look slightly different in the upper treble. What they both show is a signature that mirrors the Oracle at lower frequencies, transitions into the lower mids smoothly and has more extension in the upper mids, before rising, than most any other set I’ve listened to. This slightly later rise was a concern when I bought the set, but the graphs need a grain of salt. The treble and upper treble regions have modest energy and I know this set wouldn’t be too spicy.
Sub Bass: This set will rattle your teeth, handling rap and hip-hop with ease RATE: 8
Bass: The DD in this set does its job and does it well! Lots of slam and punch, but the bass doesn’t bleed into the lower mids at all. Best balanced transition of any set I’ve heard. RATE: 8
Lower Mids: Male vocals are clear and easily distinguishable during busy tracks, without being forward. Rate:9
Upper Mids: Female vocals are slightly recessed, but I like this. I find when the female vocals are slightly recessed the set is less fatiguing. Zero sibilance. Again best I’ve heard RATE:9
Treble Region: Balanced and detailed. The EST’s they’ve used are top quality. RATE: 8
I originally use the Dunu Candy L tips (love them), but the bore is narrow and added more bass to something that just didn’t need it. I swapped to the Divinus Velvet ML Tips, which match the nozzle diameter, and the sound balance was perfect and gave slightly more air.
Sibilance, Note weight, Slam, tonality, detail, balance, all Excellent. They are a bit hard to drive at 38 Ω.
At $500, with the White Whale Cable, this set is a bargain and rivals other “End Game” sets. I ranked the MMKIII as the best set of 2023, but this set without EQ is better. I enjoy the MMKIII equally, but only after EQ. 42/50 sound ranking. 4.5 Stars… S class.
Library: This was a full week of listening, so I’m going by artist only.
Peter Gabriel
Chicago
Chris Cornell
Soundgarden
Rod Stewart
Beastie Boys
U2
Sade
Smashing Pumpkins
Radiohead
Eagles
Duran Duran
Prince
Prodigy
David Bowie
The Cure
Depeche Mode
The Doors