AIDERLOT M5 – newcomer in high grade BA sound

Oh, how we like when the new companies step in with fresh look, full of motivation, creating lots of additional incentives to conquer and build its audience. First products are more likely to be revolutional while the following lineup growth regularly derives from the core or flagship products. It is quite common that any new brand starts with the aces since the public should be astounded with the virtues, superiority, experience or other model characteristics. Capturing the attention is vital for a good launch, much efforts are invested, a lot at stake, everything should be perfect – that is why we love to deal with such occasions.

The brand under our microscope today is Aiderlot with M5 IEMs. Here is a small quote from the company representative:

AIDERLOT is a company that provides better quality monitor headphones and headphone accessories for music-loving artists. The company was established in 2019 to provide high-quality products and services to customers around the world. The headsets sold by the company are guaranteed for one year. The company currently only sells on Amazon.

Not much of the information for now but the company is already listed on Amazon, Ebay and already has several reviews on Head-Fi. We are jumping into this train as well with this review of M5 – pure balanced armature IEMs based on 5 Knowles drivers which is already impressive.

AIDERLOT M5 specs:

• Type: 5BA IEMs (Knowles 22955 + 29689 + 30017 + 30095)
• Drivers: 1 Low +1 Mid + 2 High +1 UHF
• Shell material: Stainless steel + Resin
• Impedance: 26 Ω
• Rated power: 10mW
• Distortion: <1% (at 126 mV)
• Sensitivity: 110 dB ± 1 dB（at 1 kHz）
• Frequency range: 20Hz-40KHz
• Passive noise isolation: -25dB
• 4 crossovers, 4 separate sound tubes
• Cable: 4-strand 6N Oxygen-free copper silver-plated cable
• Cable connectors: MMCX

Packaging and design:

M5 has arrived in pretty large box that has outer cover containing lots of graphics and text (product picture, frequency response graph, specs, company information, etc).

Good that the graph describes the difference in the resulting sound with the variety of filters. Cover hides main leather-style cardboard box which retains closed with the help of several inbuilt magnets.

Under the hood, there are 3 layers of soft inserts: first one secures IEMs and has a decorative aluminum plate with the brand name and slogan, middle insert holds a lot of accessories, and finally – storage case and cables are stored at the lowest compartments.

Here is the full list of elements in this rich bundle:

• M5 IEMs with a pair of sound filters
• MMCX audio cable
• MMCX audio cable with remote and mic for a smartphone
• 3 extra pairs of sound filters
• 3 pairs of silicone ear tips
• 3 pairs of memory foam ear tips
• flight adapter
• storage case
• cable clip
• cleaning brush
• manual

Not bad at all. Such rich bundle is quite rare nowadays and this is definitely among the advantages of M5 IEMs. We also like how accurately all accessories are stored inside the box. Plus such elements as aluminum plate with threads and labels retaining and identifying additional sound filters. Nice!…

M5 shells have unibody construction, totally resin molded with two aluminum elements – brand logo and output nozzles. The whole shell is transparent which gives the possibility to see neat soldering of crossovers, accurate location of BA drivers and cable routing, as well as separate sound tubes from each driver to the output nozzles.

No compensational openings since there is no dynamic diaphragms that requires air and creates pressure. Output nozzles have a thread for sound filters that also protects IEMs from dust coming in. Although, even the manual states that you can try M5 with no filters attached to experience the full frequency range with no filter limitations.

Filters are provided in pairs, differ by the diameter and amount of holes and definitely impact the sound. They are easy to attach to IEMs but hard to place back on holder plate since the thread is tiny. We wouldn’t recommend keeping those without holder plate – too small and very easy to get lost.

Both stock cables are impressively good-built, both have stainless steel furniture all-around. Main audio cable is quite thick, made of OFC silver-plated copper wires, features channel indicators and carbon fiber elements. Second cable is equipped with the 3-button remote and mic and slightly thinner. Neither one has ear guides. Nevertheless, cables seem very durable, look decent and are build of high-quality materials.

As a summary to look and build quality – we would say that AIDERLOT M5 are perfectly crafted with quality of materials even excessing such of the famous respected brands. The only concern here is the choice of MMCX connectors over 2pin type which is more durable in a long-term perspective.

About the fit: as always with such custom-like shape and design – fit should be no problem for the most of the people, especially concerning the amount and types of ear tips in the bundle and long output nozzles.

Sound quality:

Testing setup: Hidizs AP80 DAP + xDuoo Xd05Plus DAC/AMP + AIRELOT M5

Lows:

Deep bass presence is moderate, with excellent texturing. As always, even the most capable armature driver would be able to deliver such deep bass in comparison to good dynamic drivers but at the same time would be much better on clarity and precise contouring. Good crossover in scheme aids a lot to keep it balanced to other ranges while delivering very smooth and delicate sound. The main difference to dynamic rivals is the amount of details M5 disclosing to a listener, rather than exposing the lowest registers. Midbass is perfectly articulated, rich, tight and powerful. It doesn’t tend to excessive crispness or brightness. Not much of difference to dynamic drivers except for the volumetric feel. Slight elevation in this range is inevitable due to the nature of BA unit but not causing any problems since it maintains good warmth.

Mids:

Mids resolve lots of details, making this region the most exposed and detailed. Slightly standing out, with rich vocal reproduction and slight emotional appeal in overall. Male and female vocals sound totally natural, rich, detailed and linear while having the appropriate warmth. Both have almost similar presence with only very small emphasis on upper portion. Mids do feel kind of mellow, velvet and smooth — very good character for this range. Resolution on string instruments and vocals is impressive and what is the most important – not sounding harsh, not producing any piercing and not tending to lisping. Very linear feel with large amount of details.

Treble:

Excellent resolution on treble and slight accent on this range. Very accurate and delicate approach on tuning would not let it influence the entire sound picture much. No huge and evident coloration to overall tonality. M5 treble, is, again, more about the resolution and extension with decent presence rather than excessively bright and crisp delivery. Feels transparent, relatively soft and shining with reasonable sparkles. Still impressive with its clarity but acts in smooth and weighted manner.

Soundtage:

Soundstage is moderate. M5 IEMs are capable of showing significant distance from the center to instrument distributed on stage in both vertical and horizontal planes only with good sound source. As a result, scene feels wider and taller and instruments don’t tend to mix

Sound filters:

3 pairs of filters provided with M5 really do the job (not subtle) in terms of change in treble performance. For us it was really better to use any of those filters rather than not having it attached at all, whereas the difference between them is more subtle. Anyway, the mot favorite pair was “bass” to increase its presence and volume in sound.

Sound signature:

AIDERLOT M5 sound can be described as balanced, highly detailed, neutral, with no evident coloration to the overall tonality. All frequency ranges are gently delivered and carefully tuned. Universal IEMs that would be suitable for any music genre except those that require large amount of deep bass presence.

Compared to LZ HIFI A5:

LZ HIFI A5 being hybrid type of IEMs have its advantages and disadvantages over M5. Advantages are that there is a dynamic driver which brings more extension and presence of lower bass and more width to the stage. Although, the tuning of BA unit is not that great and treble sounds less delicate, introducing sibilance, lisping and harsh notes. Sound if A5 is much brighter and crispy.

Compared to SHOZY & NEO BG:

Quite similar IEMs with neutral sound and very adequate tuning. We would say that the main advantages of M5 over more famous brand IEMs are slightly better presence of lows, possibility of using different filters and rich bundle. BG wins over M5 for the stock cable (very thick and durable) and slightly softer and delicate treble (but it is subtle).

Conclusion:

Just repeating ourselves: first products of the new brands do often become a bargain due to more efforts involved and additional incentives end customer gets after all. AIDERLOT with M5 is not an exception – rich bundle, great materials, perfect crafting, accurate sound tuning with filters for the further experiments and high quality set of Knowles BA drivers in its core. Just absolutely nothing to complain about as a result of a newcomer stepping into this market. It is better to grab such product while the offer is still here and hope that this brand would follow similar high standards in future.

AIDERLOT M5 available for purchase at Amazon: LINK