Sound Impressions
The Neo5s deliver a bouncy, energetic L-shaped sound with superb dynamics and epic amounts of bass.
Let’s begin with bass because that’s definitely what you’ll notice first. It is unashamedly elevated far beyond neutral, and despite not being the fastest I’ve heard is definitely not the slowest – this isn’t bass that struggles to catch up with the rest of the music, nor is there any lack of cohesion because one driver is working out of sync with the others.
Instead there’s a huge volume of bass quantity that’s biased more towards sub rather than midbass, but the rest of the frequency spectrum feels impressively unaffected. You’ll occasionally notice a little bit of bleed into the midrange, but ISN have a done an excellent job of preventing the rest of the presentation from being overwhelmed.
In fact rather than sounding like a blunt instrument the Neo5s come across as surprisingly clean, with instruments like acoustic guitars & string instruments portrayed with the sort of delicacy one does not expect from a set of bass cannons. Make no mistake though, the Neo5s are all about the bass – it will grab your attention through sheer volume, at times when other IEMs would encourage you to focus on different instruments. In many ways the Neo5s feel like going on a diet consisting solely of chocolate cake – the lurking sensation guilt only seems to amplify my enjoyment.
The Neo5 midrange hasn’t been forgotten, and is quite forward and resolving considering only 4 BAs and no ESTs are present, and indeed I seldom listen to them with the feeling additional detail is required. That said, midrange instruments can feel a tad small and a modest amount of grain is present. This helps create a feeling of rawness I quite enjoy, but may bother you if you’d prefer to prioritise refinement.
Treble lies somewhere in the goldilocks range for my taste, being neither annoyingly forward or so recessed that details are being obscured. I would say the Neo5s lean somewhat dark, with more upper midrange being needed if you prefer a brighter presentation – something perhaps achievable by swapping to a pure silver cable.
Though treble is resolving enough and won’t cause fatigue, I do at times miss the added sparkle & effortless silkiness provided by EST drivers, an area the Neo5s have compromised to maintain their small shells & modest price.
Technical Performance
The Neo5 soundstage is impressively wide for such a modestly-priced IEM with a low driver count, and I suspect that’s largely thanks to its’ silver-plated stock cable which excels in this regard. Unfortunately stage depth is not up to the same level, though there’s enough depth that the horrible feeling of a ruler-flat stage many cheaper IEMs portray is thankfully absent.
Dynamics are superb, which is a real strength of the Neo5s – this is a quality I value extremely highly, and though they can usually be improved by swapping to a beefier cable it’s always nice to start with impressive baseline performance as is the case here.
Other technicalities are about what you’d expect from an IEM in this price range, neither dramatically impressive nor unimpressive. Resolution is quite decent without being outstanding, imaging & separation are fairly average and in general I find the Neo5’s technical chops rarely call attention to themselves, but aren’t so deficient that they prevent me enjoying the music either.
Page 1 – Introduction, Packaging & Ergonomics
Page 2 – Sound Impressions & Technical Performance
Page 3 – IEM Comparisons
Page 4 – More IEM Comparisons
Page 5 – Cable Comparisons
Page 6 – Conclusion
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