Intro
Let’s skip the obligatory joke about the company name…I mean, who comes up with these things anyways?
So on to it – the Aful Performer 5 hit peak hype at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023. I’ll admit, it seemed a little too good to be true that this is the company’s first IEM as it’s absolutely gorgeous, it packs new technology (a circuit board inside), and reviewers seem to completely love it.
I was on the fence for a very long time about spending my hard-earned money on this mysterious unicorn. Eventually, I broke down and bought it. After months of listening to the Performer 5, I’m ready to review it.
Did the Performer 5 justify the hype? Was it all propaganda or was it something special that deserved the praise? Find out here.
Tech Specs
Driver Configuration: 1 Dynamic Driver + 4 Balanced Armature Drivers
Sensitivity: 110db/v@1kHz
Impedance: 35Ω
Frequency Response: 5Hz- 35kHz
Connector: 0.78mm 2 Pin
Price: $220
What’s in the Box?
Something that is notable about the box of the Aful Performer 5 is that it does not have any anime children on it. The design is simple and professional, if not slightly boring. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a waifu hater (or lover), but it really doesn’t appeal to me and feels a bit strange in the North American market. The minimal design fits my personal preference for overall product design much better than scantily clad cartoon children.
The Performer 5 doesn’t come with a whole hoard of accessories, but what it comes with feels intentional and well done. In the box is a puck-style case, which is neither cheap or luxurious – it just exists. I chose to use other cases that I have around, but if I didn’t have those, this puck case would be perfectly acceptable.
The cable is very nice, especially for the overall asking price. It’s somewhat thick, but has a soft texture and virtually doesn’t have any memory. This is the nicest stock cable that I’ve come across so far in my audiophile journey – it even tops the Moondrop Kato’s cable, which was very nice.
There are also 6 pairs of ear tips. They’re pretty basic and are similar to ear tips that come on a lot of ChiFi IEMs. However, they come in two inner colors: Blue and Red. It’s subtle, but I really like being able to look at the IEMs themselves and see which ear they go in (Blue = Left, Red = Right). It’s small, but that kind of detail improves the overall experience.
The IEMs themselves are absolutely gorgeous. From a short distance, the faceplace looks exactly like the Thieaudio Monarch mkII, a $1,000 set of IEMs. They are totally stunning and pretty lightweight (4.8 grams). The build quality is top-notch and there isn’t a hard edge to be found.
Fit, Comfort, & Isolation
The shape is very ergonomic and fits my ears incredibly comfortably. They give the Shozy BG a run for their money in terms of comfort – which is saying something. Isolation is above average and blocks out most outside sound.
Sound
Overall
This is where things get interesting. The Performer 5 has a very interesting sound signature that is slightly different from most IEMs out there. The frequency response graph looks like a neutral style with a sub bass boost. However, the pinna gain is where things get different. Instead of rising from around 1kHz to 3kHz, it levels off a little bit around 2-3kHz. This style of upper mids is similar to the Dunu SA6 (and all their variants) as well as the newer Aful Performer 8. But more on this later.
I found the Performer 5 to be super smooth between the 5 drivers. It feels very unified and each driver works together as part of a cohesive whole. The overall timbre is natural and makes the listening experience very easy to listen to for long periods of time. In fact, there were many times that I forgot that I was listening to this IEM and just enjoyed the music! This alone is quite an achievement.
Bass
Because the upper mids are recessed a little bit, the bass becomes a little bit more emphasized than what the graphs would indicate, making it feel a little heavy-handed. However, this contributes to a slightly fun style of sound and adds a little bit of warmth to the signature, rather than cold and analytical.
If I had to really dig in and find fault in the bass, it’s that the driver can feel a little on the slow side – it can be more soft than sharp. The bass isn’t the most detailed out there, but I feel like it is slightly above average in this price range.
Tracks like Massive Attack – Angel and most Radiohead with droning sub bass are absolutely fantastic and the slightly overemphasized sub bass is welcomed.
A word of warning though, the Performer 5 is very sensitive to ear tips. With the wrong ear tips, the bass can become very boomy, bloated, sloppy, and can bleed well into the mids. With the right tips, the bass is much more balanced, sounds faster, is more detailed and textured, and the bass slides incredibly cleanly into the mid range. So if the bass sounds bloaty and terrible, switch ear tips!
Mids
As previously mentioned, the mids are handled slightly differently than most tuning styles. Because the pinna is slightly more reserved in its approach, vocals aren’t quite as “in your face,” but at the same time, they’re not held back either. The upper mids still have energy, details, and natural timbre – again it’s just a different approach to the tuning. I found that this helps the music sound less fatiguing in that area, which is why I can listen to these IEMs for very long listening sessions. If you’ve never heard this style of tuning, it really is something to try out.
Treble
There’s not a whole lot to say here other than, it’s really good. The Performer 5 has great extension without being too airy or affecting timbre negatively. It’s never too sharp or sibilant and sounds perfectly balanced. It is so darned easy to listen to. The only downside I can think about the treble is that it might sound slightly too bland and have less crispness or attack for the treble-head.
Technicalities
The Performer 5 has great detail retrieval in the mids and treble – almost as good as many planar drivers, if not at that same level. Bass detail is perfectly average and acceptable, however it’s nothing to write about. The staging is average if not slightly better. Certain tracks can sound up to 8 inches outside of head in terms of width. Height is pretty darn cozy at only a few inches, and depth is almost non-existent, but this lack of depth is fairly typical for most IEMs. Imaging and instrument separation are definitely above average, if not very good – but the Performer 5 can’t compete with the Truthear Hexa or planar drivers in this category. Overall, the technicalities are well above average and border on great for this price bracket.
Conclusion
Without repeating what’s already been said too much, the Performer 5…well…performs very well and is easily one of the few standards in the $200 price range.
Only a handful of years ago, an IEM with this great of tuning and technical abilities would have been easily over the $1,000 mark. Two to three years later and something like this was in the $350-$500 range. Now it’s $220.
The only real fault I can give it is that the bass can be a hair too much at times and that it’s so easy to listen to that it could come across slightly boring (although nothing like the Truthear Zero:Red – foreshadowing here).
While the hype-train (choo-choo) might have slightly overpromised on the Performer 5, it really is an amazing IEM and it is easily and highly recommended.