The three main review categories I handle here—audio, keyboards, watercooling—have tons of smaller brands that many people have barely heard about. Watercooling has matured significantly over the years to where very few outfits are even around, let alone profitable. But somehow the other two fields have gone the other direction with more new companies popping out of nowhere than ever before. Many of these are sub-brands or sister brands of established companies and others are simply a a group of enthusiasts who wanted to try their shot at it. The IEM space just happens to be the most competitive audio market given the fast pace of R&D and product releases these days—especially out of China—to where you have essentially one shot at getting enough people talking about your product to make an impression as a new company.

AFUL seemingly decided to play on a handicap with its brand name and justifying three years of R&D is also not easy to do. Indeed, there's not much in the IEM world I can think of which released in 2018/2019 that is still hotly discussed today. Whatever AFUL Acoustics was targeting back then was already a dead target given how fast the standards rose—the Performer 5 sure had its work cut out for it! I had a pre-release unit provided by HIFIGO for early impressions but decided to hold out until I knew what the cost would be. I was generally impressed with the product although hearing that the domestic Chinese market was praising this as a great set under $500 (in equivalent currency) made me pause, given it was not a $500 set in my books despite some of the most intriguing acoustic engineering in IEMs I have seen to date. To know then that AFUL priced the Performer 5 at $220 was a pleasant surprise and now most of the issues I had with the set can be easily swept under the rug given the standards for IEMs aren't as high in this price range.

Indeed, this is not to say the AFUL Performer 5 is a must-have set. It has deficiencies in the technical performance, many of which are self-induced owing to the overly intricate electronic filter system in place. It somewhat reminds me of the DCA Aeon Closed X in IEM form, in being extremely well tuned and providing a smooth sound while being overly dampened to the point of hurting the technical performance of the drivers. Here it's most felt with the BA drivers, to where I can't really recommend it for those who prioritize instrumental music, but it sure sounds nice pretty much everywhere else. Indeed, the AFUL Performance 5 does meet its own standards in providing a generally smooth treble response to where the frequency response is quite similar to some tribrids including the ThieAudio Monarch MKII and XENNS UP, although the presentation is still quite different from the EST tweeters there. There is a strong place for the AFUL Performer 5 as a general all-rounder, given the pressure relief system and ergonomic size/shape resulting in a set that rivals CIEMs for comfort. Since there are far more positives than negatives, I will give it a recommendation. Just be aware that it might end up quite hyped up and read/watch different reviews to make an informed purchasing decision, should you be in the market for new IEMs.