AKG’s Flagship N5005 In-Ear Monitor Lets You Customize Its Sound

When Samsung announced in 2016 that it planned to purchase Harman International, the South Korean electronics giant raised a lot of questions (and quite a few skeptical eyebrows) in the audio world. What would become of Harman’s iconic brands, such as Infinity, JBL, and Mark Levinson? Would the respected loudspeaker manufacturer Revel be reduced to building laptop speakers? Would AKG, the Austrian headphone and microphone specialist, start churning out cheap, crappy earbuds? The purchase of Harman International was completed just over a year ago, so it’s still early days in the Samsung administration, but so far, things aren’t as dire as some audiophiles may have feared. Yes, your new Samsung smartphone might come with a pair of relatively inexpensive AKG-branded earbuds, but that doesn’t mean the Austrian company has abandoned its high-performance roots. If you want proof, you need only glance at the company’s new flagship in-ear monitor, the N5005. This five-driver, $1,000 headphone means business.

The AKG N5005 is a five-way hybrid design that combines a single 9.2-mm dynamic driver (for bass) with four balanced armature drivers (two for midrange, and two for high frequencies) in each earpiece. The scratch-resistant glossy black ceramic outer shell appears to be similar to the material used in Sennheiser’s equally pricey in-ear flagship, the IE 800 S. The N5005 is packaged with two detachable cables for critical listening (one 3.5-mm unbalanced and one 2.5-mm balanced), but also includes an interchangeable bluetooth dongle for convenient wireless listening on the go. The bluetooth dongle provides 8 hours of battery life after a 2-hour charge, and is equipped with a 3-button remote and microphone. In order to ensure a perfect fit, AKG includes 7 different pairs of ear tips.

Like other recent AKG headphones, the N5005 benefits from the pioneering research into headphone frequency response being conducted by Sean Olive and his team at Harman. But AKG knows that one sound may not suit every listener in every environment, so the N5005 was designed with four interchangeable sound filters that allow you to customize the sound to suit both personal preference and the ever-changing atmosphere of mobile audio. These self-explanatory filters are labelled Bass Boost, Reference Sound, Semi-High Boost, and High Boost. This design is an audio tweaker’s delight. You might prefer the Reference Sound filter in your bedroom, but need to boost the bass to overcome the low-frequency noise on an airplane. Your audiophile recordings might sound sound best with one filter, while your grungy rock and synth pop (or whatever else you’re into) might be better suited to another. Sound quality doesn’t have to be one-size-fits-all with the N5005. AKG is currently selling their flagship N5005 in-ear headphones on the Samsung website.

Will Samsung allow AKG and the other Harman International companies to continue developing high-end audio products for a relatively small customer base, or will these legendary brands be steered toward the mainstream? Share your thoughts in the related forum thread below.

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