HIDIZS MS5 Dark Angel Review (1) – Venom Protection
INTRO
Ambitious and hungry, the HIDIZS MS5 Dark Angel flagship emerges with hopes and dreams of chanting hymns from the shadows. Utilizing four quality balanced armatures from Sonion combined with a custom liquid crystal kevlar fiber dynamic driver, the HIDIZS MS5 is designed to extract the finest essence from all your recordings like a vampire.
HIDIZS aims to be the one stop shop everything portable audio company with past excellent products we reviewed such as the S9 Pro DAC and the AP80 Pro X. The HIDIZS MS5 is the shot of Irish cream in your coffee with quick bass speed, a sprinkle of lively midrange and exacting microdynamics in the treble worthy of a premium title.
Disclaimer: HIDIZS provided these directly to Audioreviews prior to the pre-sale. We chose to skip the affiliate links, donating to any Super PACS, having wisdom teeth removed, and waiting in long lines. Pre-sale pricing is $379 directly from HIDIZS starting April 21,2023 12am EST, after pre-sale period ends retail is listed at $399 and will be available from other retailers.
PACKAGE CONTENTS
Inside the package of the HIDIZS MS5 Dark Angel you will get a premium accessory kit. The earpieces are a one piece anodized aluminum alloy shell designed to reduce fingerprints and maintain a long lasting durable finish. They are large and bulky which makes for handling easy, but those with smaller ears might find them too large.
The universal shape is not as tight fighting as the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk or the Shozy Form 1.4 which both fit me better. The MS5 right ear piece requires some readjustment from time to time. This is normal for me on a majority of sets. The Moondrop and Shozy tuck into my crevices better, where the MS5 floats. Fitment is an extremely personal experience.
Adorned on the outside for all the world to see, the dark angel panel face plate is made with a skin friendly resin, although the only time it comes into contact with skin is via fingertips from inserting into your ears. The Dark Angel nomenclature comes from this face plate, but I cannot help un-see a Venom Marvel character, or forgive me a bicycle helmet. Who knew we needed ear protection without the hearing protection.
Sandwiched between the aluminum cavity and the resin face plate is a rose gold colored mesh that is for decoration only. All venting is provided through a controlled vent port that is of exact size to make sure both earpieces have no discrepancy between sizing that would affect the bass response. The external vent port appears to be a white resistive balanced armature filter damper. Since it is molded in, modding with a different damper is unlikely.
Premium detachable cabling of the HIDIZS MS5 is made from a mixture of 504 strands of 6N single crystal silver plated copper and 6N copper braided to form a total of 8 stands of wires sheathed in black environmentally friendly PVC giving it a shiny darker appearance with a sticky feeling.
The cable is weighty yet flexible and combined with the formed ear hooks stays firmly planted. The chin slider is for decoration, if it were open completely instead of having wire channels it would freely move, but it binds against the cable too much so I opted not to mess with it.
This is one area that is somewhat problematic as the weight combined with the aggressive ear hook deforms my ear and applies extra pressure. For longer listening sessions users will find it irritating. I wish they would have opted for something lighter, but still of the same quality. Consider replacing it.
With a plethora of tuning options between the included library of ear tips for Balanced, Bass and Vocals, the HIDIZS MS5 also includes three pairs of tuning nozzles screwed into a piece of aluminum plate with laser engraved text to help identify.
I would have preferred the color name included on the plate and adding a spot for the balanced pneumatic gold colored nozzles. At least it was a much more premium way to include them as opposed to in a plastic bag or attached to a piece of plastic like the Drop JVC HA-FDX1.
The replaceable pneumatic sound tuning filter- as HIDIZS refers to the nozzles – have a piece of open-celled foam in the balanced and bass pairs, while the silver treble colored ones have none. The red bass pair contains a higher density amount to cut back on treble letting the bass become slightly more prominent. For those who really like to tweak, you can experiment with your own materials such as cotton, gauze, other foams, etc. You might want to consider a little removal thread locker to prevent them from unscrewing and getting lost.
As I peered into the open cavity while changing these sound tuning nozzles, I can see 4 guided tube openings via a plastic insert. One of those tube openings includes a white colored resistive balanced armature damper used to tune and tame resonances of the balanced armatures.
It uses 3 different balanced armatures from Sonion, the E50DT for highs, 2389 (dual armature) for mid/highs, and the 17A003 for the lower midrange. The combined dual armature is how they count four. The 10mm Kevlar center cone attached by a liquid crystal surround dynamic takes over the low end.
The three different sets of eartips for the HIDIZS MS5 each serve for different purposes. The Vocal eartips have a shorter thicker stem and a wider opening to allow more sound through at a closer point to the exit and allow for placement closer to your eardrum if allowed by fitment.
The ones marked Bass and Balanced appear similar for stem and opening sizing, the only difference I detect is the black bass ear tips have a thicker outer shell to better retain shape and to minimize sound leakage.
What flagship IEM would not be complete without a protective carrying case, and the HIDIZS MS5 provides a roomy premium leather zippered case. Inside it is coated with a fleece material to prevent moisture build up. Plenty roomy, the mesh pocket can hold some of the accessories. It’s large for a pants pocket, but fine in a coat or bag. It’s the same size as the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk carrying case.
SOUND
Tested primarily with the HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X , SMSL DO100/HO100/SU-9
Seems fitting to pair the HIDIZS MS5 with the HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X for excellent power output, however I also tested with the LG G8. One thing to consider is that this is a low impedance earphone spec’d at 5.3 ohms, it does dip further to ~4 ohms around 1khz. That might be hard for some devices to drive properly in a different sense as output impedance of the device can impact high frequency response roll-off.
The overall sound signature of the HIDIZS MS5 is balanced with medium levels of boosted bass and elevated pinna gain. For once I get to not call this a Harman tuning, as they notch out an area that can be sensitive to some around 4Khz, and also ease into the upper midrange pinna gain instead of a straight climb to the peak and keep it fairly level out to 9khz. For the bulk of my listening I selected the balanced ear tips and balanced nozzles.
The bass nozzles soften the treble giving a more relaxed and non-fatiguing listening session, but the bass is more dominant and fuller. The treble nozzles allow free flow of everything the Sonion balanced armatures have to offer and really bring orchestral works to life with their light and airy capabilities.
Bass is full and warm, extension reaches the bottom and feels centered to provide nice balance between mid-bass and sub-bass. They have similarly wonderfully tight and controlled bass as the Shozy Form 1.4, but with the sub-bass of the Blessing 2 Dusk. The elevation avoids sounding too boomy and coming from some recent sets that boosted only the lowest last octave that could present as thin sounding, the HIDIZS MS5 is anything but. The tapering off is gradual but not bleeding, blending with the Sonion BA well. For me it tapers off before vocals start sounding too muddy and honky, instead a little chesty. If I EQ out around 250Hz it sounds closer to the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk.
Vocals deliver all the nuances and never sound strained unless the recording was over-driven. I definitely recommend using the vocal ear tips, as the upper registers are tamed with the smaller bores. Since it eases into the treble, the vocals feel a bit pulled back. The lower mid-range upper mid-bass tends to pull forward the staging. It is noticeable when switching back and forth with the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk.
Sliding into the treble, the HIDIZS MS5 delivers all the nuances you expect out of a flagship. While it may not have the air like qualities of the 7HZ Timeless, it delivers a superbly brilliant upper end. Listening to Queen’s Crazy Little Thing Called Love, you get a real sense of space as the drums sticks tap the edge of the drums, something the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk is also capable of.
One of my other favorite hybrids the Shozy Form 1.4 does not deliver that kind of technical ability to resolve that level of detail. I can really pick out the nuances of the different cymbal strikes, or the fluttering of the pads and levers opening and closing in a solo saxophone.
TECHNICALITIES
For classical fans or even acoustic rock fans, height information comes through excellent as I listen to Georgia Peach Acoustic Alchemy when the chimes in the beginning come in, the higher chimes propagate higher. The HIDIZS MS5 is a high resolution set without feeling over-blown or fatiguing sound wise. For those that find it to have too much presence might actually want to use the bass tuning filters.https://www.audioreviews.org/hidizs-ms5-review-2-review-ap/
When comparing the HIDIZS MS5 to the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk, they are nearly identically wonderful. The difference between the two becomes apparent in the staging. Since the HIDIZS MS5 has more upper mid-bass, the staging feels U shaped, with the extra bass pulling some instruments closer around the edges hence what I call U shape not to be confused with U shaped frequency tuning.
The Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk has a more even or straight position. As a result overall the HIDIZS MS5 sounds wide and forward, with depth front to back good, but overall the whole stage is closer.
Layering front to back is excellent with nothing ever feeling congested. Microdynamic detail retrieval is excellent. Nothing ever feels out of place. HIDIZS utilized excellent drivers and implemented the Sonion to their fullest ability. The multi-BA budgets do not even stand close, and I would hope not at this mid-tier pricing level ($150-500).
A HAPPY ENDING
The HIDZS MS5 Dark Angel swoops in and steals my attention away from my other favorites. The resolution and brilliance is superb. The use of the excellent Sonion balanced armatures combined with the fullness of the dynamic driver is a good match. The things some might not find appealing are the thicker lower midrange/upper midbass transition, forwardness of the stage, the heavy weight of the premium styled cable, and the bulkiness of the size.
Sometimes less is more, but overall I give it an A/B in tuning and an A- in technical abilities. One of my only favorites from HIDIZS. For those that prefer a diffuse field tuning from Etymotic or the Harman tuning, you will find these more energetic, but in my opinion in all the right places.
SPECIFICATIONS
GRAPHS
- Left vs Right
- Tuning filter comparison
- HIDIZS MS5 vs Shozy Form 1.4 vs Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk
- Impedance Plot
DISCLAIMER
Get it from the HIDIZS store.
Our generic standard disclaimer.
