Simgot EP5

[FTB]

Hi there !

We started to talk a bit about the Simgot EP5 here : https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-like-amir-to-measure-next.17117/post-2400383

Oh boy, the audio quest is amazing !
My daily headphones are the famous AKG K371.

The first days I received the EP5, as I alas don't have any measurements tool, I only made several direct comparisons between the Simgot and the AKG (fast switching on the same track on the same player). The EP5 sounded more full with more bass and good extension in the high frequencies.

It was without counting the adjusting of the hinges of the AKG was not good since several weeks and I didn't notice that as I gradually became used to it.
So, with this bad seal on the AKG (lack bass so had to put higher volume then mids/highs became aggressive), the Simgot sounded overally better.

As it looked too easy that budget headphones like the Simgot beat the AKG, I tried again comparisons today with the correct set-up of the AKG.

This is now obvious and we can see that on some graphs available here and there (there is a lot of variations depending on the reviewer) : the Simgot have bloated bass, sounding congested, voices sound dull and there is a bit of peaking in higher frequencies.
The AKG still have the right level of bass with extended sub-bass, sounding more open with more air and globally more "neutral". I am not sure of what means "neutral" but as I am a guy liking the Harman curve, let's say this is neutrality.

I know all this is a bit of risky arguments as it does not rely on measurements then I asked Oratory if he would be interested in measuring the Simgot (I live in Europe, sending these to Amir would cost more that the headphones themselves).

No matter how hard I try to find headphones reasonably priced sounding better than the AKG, I never find... These are gems at good price. I can't imagine how new models from Dan Clark sound...

Anyone having an experience with the Simgot ?

 

[Robbo99999]

I really like this headphone with an EQ to Harman Curve based on following measurement:

And EQ'd like following:

I do convert the above further to "latest Harman Curve" (not official) based on some work done by Sean Olive and reported by ASR here:

AES 2025 Paper: New targets for the B&K 5128 GRAS 45CA-10

There is a new AES paper published by Dr. Sean Olive @Sean Olive and Dan Clark @Dan Clark on potential targets for GRAS 45CA and B&K 5128: A Preferred Headphone Target Curve Defined for the B&K 5128and GRAS 45CA-10 Test Fixtures ABSTRACT The Harman around-ear and on-ear headphone target...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Quite a good headphone subjectively without EQ and to me very good with EQ, really nice bass and just a good representation throughout. I do a channel matching EQ too based on my miniDSP channel matching measurements (ignore how strange the graph looks above 1kHz it's just because it's measured on miniDSP EARS rig):

For me it's an easy/light/comfortable headphone to wear that sounds the same each time I wear it. Ear cups relatively large for a closed back, bigger earcups & more room for your ears than say a NAD HP50 which was more difficult to wear properly.

I would like to see this headphone measured here on ASR. Would also like to see it measured by Oratory too. (Yeah & why not by Resolve's crew too.)

 

[FTB]

They are interesting headphones for sure, especially for the price.
I finally returned them cause without EQ (I can't always put an EQ when I'm listening to headphones) the bass is too elevated at 100 Hz. It lacks neutrality, even a non bassy track sounds bassy...

I think the rest of the FR is good and doesn't need necessarily to be EQed.

The comfort is good and it stay well on the head as you said.

Yes it would be great if we have precise measurements from Amir or Oratory.

 

[Robbo99999]

They are interesting headphones for sure, especially for the price.
I finally returned them cause without EQ (I can't always put an EQ when I'm listening to headphones) the bass is too elevated at 100 Hz. It lacks neutrality, even a non bassy track sounds bassy...

I think the rest of the FR is good and doesn't need necessarily to be EQed.

The comfort is good and it stay well on the head as you said.

Yes it would be great if we have precise measurements from Amir or Oratory.

That's a pity you had to return them, but like you say if you can't EQ. They've got good potential in my experience, I like them.

 

[FTB]

Yep, when I play on my keyboards, no EQ available or graphic EQ only, it's very limited...

 

[Robbo99999]

Yep, when I play on my keyboards, no EQ available or graphic EQ only, it's very limited...

Sennheiser HD560s New Version is what I recommend for you, it's what I use for same purpose (& other purposes).

 

[FTB]

I had the HD560S when they came out but didn't keep them. I tried them again a few days ago as I wanted to hear the new version.
A bit too bright to my taste (in the treble) and not enough bass even they have more of them than others open headphones.

I'm still with the K371 as I found nothing better yet (recently tried this Simgot, the Beyer DT270, the Adam H200). Good without EQ, a sensation of neutral balance and the bass "seat" well.

 

[Robbo99999]

I had the HD560S when they came out but didn't keep them. I tried them again a few days ago as I wanted to hear the new version.
A bit too bright to my taste (in the treble) and not enough bass even they have more of them than others open headphones.

I'm still with the K371 as I found nothing better yet (recently tried this Simgot, the Beyer DT270, the Adam H200). Good without EQ, a sensation of neutral balance and the bass "seat" well.

Yes, with most open backed headphones there's a limit to how much bass you get (at stock without EQ) - I do find New Version HD560s to be neutral sounding / well balanced though, but yeah it doesn't have Harman bass.

 

[FTB]

Hi,

As I am a curious guy, I tried again the EP5 to be sure, or not, of what I heard the first time... always with fast switching from my daily K371 for a bit of a basis in this test, as I know them well (not totally blind).

First the bit of boost around 100 Hz is finally pretty enjoyable, nice enough to not be EQed, to my taste. Bass don't bleed in higher registries.
The interesting thing are the mids of the EP5. In direct comparison the 4 kHz dip of the AKG is obvious, they are pretty dull, lacking brightness and sparkle... what the Simgot have at a good level, enough and not too much, rightly bright.

It is very different of my first listenings when I found the Simgot congested.

I guess that is the limit of psychoacoustics with the need of measurements to see clearly (maybe I wanted the AKG was better this day, to fit my beliefs).

IMHO the FR graph provided by Simgot is pretty honest :



Still curious to see measurements from Amir or Oratory for a proper review.

 

[Tito]

I had the HD560S when they came out but didn't keep them. I tried them again a few days ago as I wanted to hear the new version.
A bit too bright to my taste (in the treble) and not enough bass even they have more of them than others open headphones.

I'm still with the K371 as I found nothing better yet (recently tried this Simgot, the Beyer DT270, the Adam H200). Good without EQ, a sensation of neutral balance and the bass "seat" well.

adams are very good, but get hot really fast, they are bit smallish, shallow.., and clampy (which can be reduced a bit tho).
is simgot more comfortable and less hot?

 

[FTB]

I didn't try the Adams long enough to compare both but for the short time I'm using the Simgot, no problem with comfort and heat.

 

[CiX]

They are interesting headphones for sure, especially for the price.
I finally returned them cause without EQ (I can't always put an EQ when I'm listening to headphones) the bass is too elevated at 100 Hz. It lacks neutrality, even a non bassy track sounds bassy...

Maybe I saw this post too late : /

If you feel the Simgot EP5 bass too excessive and a bit dull,
you might want to check the “bass quality improvement” method mentioned at the very bottom of the JT1 review:
https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/measurements/jadeaudio/jt1/

It suggests placing tape over the vent/port,
which may improve certain aspects of the frequency response.
but it could also slightly affect distortion and group delay.

It is very different of my first listenings when I found the Simgot congested.

After using EP5 for about four months,
I’m still satisfied with them after EQ correction.
However, compared with other higher-end headphones ( FiiO FT3 with EQ and Dan Clark Audio EXPANSE ),
the soundstage does feel more congested.
Maybe using this headphone for mixing could actually help me create a wider soundstage.

 

[FTB]

Hey,

I now stick with the Simgot.
The little bass boost is finally not a problem as it is at a pretty low frequency (around 80/100 Hz) so it doesn't bleed into mids around 200/300 Hz.
This little boost is in fact very pleasant.

After my second try (firstly my impressions was not so good) these headphones are very good to my ears.
I think they follow pretty well the Harman target according to measurements we can see here and there.



At least I found better than my daily AKG K371 at half the price (80 € versus 150 €).

In direct comparison, the AKG is duller and darker due to the large dip around 4 kHz.

Amir wrote in his review that they lack sparkle and I agree.
The Simgot have more brilliance and details in this region, it's more vivid.

The EP5 seem to be the banger in the budget category. Waiting for a review on ASR although I trust the measurements by UnheardLab.

I don't know the Fiio FT3 nor DC Expanse as I never tried them but the Fiio are at least 3 times the price and it's needless to say the Dan Clark are in an other price galaxy

 

[Robbo99999]

Hey,

I now stick with the Simgot.
The little bass boost is finally not a problem as it is at a pretty low frequency (around 80/100 Hz) so it doesn't bleed into mids around 200/300 Hz.
This little boost is in fact very pleasant.

After my second try (firstly my impressions was not so good) these headphones are very good to my ears.
I think they follow pretty well the Harman target according to measurements we can see here and there.

View attachment 506033

At least I found better than my daily AKG K371 at half the price (80 € versus 150 €).

In direct comparison, the AKG is duller and darker due to the large dip around 4 kHz.
View attachment 506034
Amir wrote in his review that they lack sparkle and I agree.
The Simgot have more brilliance and details in this region, it's more vivid.

The EP5 seem to be the banger in the budget category. Waiting for a review on ASR although I trust the measurements by UnheardLab.

I don't know the Fiio FT3 nor DC Expanse as I never tried them but the Fiio are at least 3 times the price and it's needless to say the Dan Clark are in an other price galaxy

Still hoping Oratory or Amir will measure them!

 

[FTB]

Yep.
Idk why I didn't like them the first time but now they are my daily ones.

 

[Robbo99999]

@FTB & any others that are interested, I don't think this has been done before but I took the frequency response shown on the manufacturers website that looks like it's probably a GRAS measurement and then I did an EQ based on that. So I used ChatGPT to interpolate the frequency response based on me giving it the Harman 2018 curve and telling it that the dashed line in the pic is the Harman 2018 Curve and it was able to interpolate the frequency response from that data eventhough the y-scale is not listed in that pic. I then used REW to smooth the frequency response to Psychoacoustic Smoothing and then EQ'd to the Harman 2018 Curve from there. Following are the pics of the frequency response from the manufacturer, then a pic of the smoothed version EQ'd to Harman, and also find attached the EqualiserAPO config file that contains the EQ (along with a Negative Preamp that gives 3dB of headroom for intersample overs, etc). I did sanity check the frequency response that ChatGPT was able to pull from the image and in terms of eyeballing I think it makes sense, but I haven't tested this EQ yet - I just enjoyed the exercise of using ChatGPT for it and I'll test the EQ at some point, but I figured people would find it a useful EQ given it comes from the manufacturers actual measurement.

 

[FTB]

Interesting work around the EQ

I went back to the AKG. It is very hard to understand how headphones sound only by hear.

I have to admit the Simgot sound a bit congested on difficult tracks with a lot of instruments. On "lighter" trackers, the boost is ok.
Plus I have better sub-bass feeling with the AKG, I think the 80-100 hz boost of the Simgot mask a bit the frequencies under also.

The AKG still sound darker, the Simgot have sometimes the proper briliance in mids/highs, sometimes too much.

We need proper measurements !

 

[Robbo99999]

It's somewhat normal that you're flitting around between headphones, it's not all that easy to find one that consistently pleases you, and generally you can be pleasantly surprised for a while when you switch back to your "other" headphone, and then likewise when you switch back to the "original". To me the best headphones I have are the ones that I most often come back to.

Last night I did test that EQ posted up (in my last message) for the EP5, and I enjoyed it. I didn't flip between headphones or EQ's, just listened to some of my tracks I use for EQ testing. Seemed like a good EQ for it on the surface, felt like everything was about in the right place in the mix.

 

[bugis]

Hey everyone, I’m trying to decide between Sennheiser HD560S and Simgot EP5 mainly for gaming, especially competitive FPS (CS2, Valorant, Tarkov, etc.). Which one is better for gaming?

 

[FTB]

You will have more bass with the EP5 as they are closed headphones.
HD560S are open, less bass.

I guess the low-end is important for gaming.