JVC HA-RX900 modifications, a picture tutorial. (56k, forget about it...) - Page 5 - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

j2kei · #61 (**permalink**) 03-01-2009, 09:41 PM

i tried it slightly stuffed (if i stuff too much, i feel a lot of pressure toward the front) , still no go

it is really interesting and depressing that the 900 pads darkens and actually worsens the sound quality on the 700. i think the best way for me to say the sound characteristic is that it sounded very much like an atrio m5 with the 900 pads, whereas the 700 pads would be more of a clearer slightly brighter sound (can't think of comparision, maybe imagex10).

Panda` · #62 (**permalink**) 03-01-2009, 11:01 PM

I can't wait til I get my RX700 so I can try these mods!

j2kei · #63 (**permalink**) 03-02-2009, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Panda`

I can't wait til I get my RX700 so I can try these mods!

you'll definitely like it. definitely balances out the sound a lot. still got bass on songs that are made to have bass. i just had a friend who is a "balance" freak try the 700, and he was amazed that for the money how a decent headphone can be obtained.

Aita · #64 (**permalink**) 03-02-2009, 10:52 PM

lol I just laugh when i remember how i used to shy away from JVC and buy panasonics and Aiwas so long ago, then I got my first taste of real heaphones with the JVC HD-810s and now here i am back with the X900s jamming out( after buying poratpros,px100,HD202s,K26ps, and denon AH-D550s and not being satisfied)

Panda` · #65 (**permalink**) 03-03-2009, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j2kei

you'll definitely like it. definitely balances out the sound a lot. still got bass on songs that are made to have bass. i just had a friend who is a "balance" freak try the 700, and he was amazed that for the money how a decent headphone can be obtained.

Which mods benefit the phones the most? Is it worth getting dynamat? Me being a teen, it is hard for me to get a hold of dynamat and etc

TopPop · #66 (**permalink**) 03-03-2009, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Panda`

Which mods benefit the phones the most? Is it worth getting dynamat? Me being a teen, it is hard for me to get a hold of dynamat and etc

In my opinion:

felt removal > cup stuffing > Dynamat

So, Dynamat made the lease difference, but it was still a good and noticeable one.

j2kei · #67 (**permalink**) 03-03-2009, 06:57 PM

im not exactly sure which made the most difference. all i have to say was that at first i was afraid that i might have killed off too much bass doing dynamat + stuffing, but i can confidentally say that it doesnt. definitely try doing stuffing first since its so cheap (went to joanne craft store, was like $5-7 for a HUGE bag).

Dutchess of York · #68 (**permalink**) 03-03-2009, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TopPop

In my opinion:

felt removal > cup stuffing > Dynamat

So, Dynamat made the lease difference, but it was still a good and noticeable one.

would this hold true for the rx700s as well?

TopPop · #69 (**permalink**) 03-03-2009, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutchess of York

would this hold true for the rx700s as well?

Not sure, but I would guess so. Also, YMMV on that order... that's just what my impressions were.

Plus, for what it's worth, the stuffing mod can be done for REALLY cheap. Just go down to your local thrift store and get a small stuffed animal. What, like $0.50? $1.00, at the most? Pretty cheap.

You may want to wash it first, though.

j2kei · #70 (**permalink**) 03-03-2009, 07:40 PM

the mod holds true for the 700. definitely makes more less boomy and tighter bass. experiment around first with the stuffing mod since its cheap.

Nugu · #71 (**permalink**) 03-03-2009, 09:17 PM

Disclaimer: I'm coming from HD201's as my best set. I got them + a Zune 8gb from the Pepsi Stuff promotion. Bet you can guess how I ended up here.

Just thought I'd say thanks for the mods. I ended up buying the 900s (55$) and some Dynamat Extreme (17$) (As of last week, the only original I could find costed 3$ more than extreme) instead of blowing the cash on a HD600 after drinking a few bottles of liquid courage thanks to this thread + the other. Got a 1.25$ stuffed animal from the clearance bin for the stuffing.

Comes out in my favor really, since I don't listen to music a *whole* lot (But what I do listen to work amazing with these (Electronica mainly). These make pretty amazing movie/TV cans esp after modding. They're the first ones I've ever owned that allow me to hear the ****ty noises (interference of some kind? pretty bad when the hard disks are working hard) coming from my computer's speaker out in addition to being able to tell how crappy low bitrates make some songs. Oddly enough this is driving me nuts enough that I've been thinking of getting a hold of a desktop amp/dac (Like the Zero?) to use with my computer's S/PDIF out.

(Opinion after ~80 hour burn in + mods)
Overall I really like them. They cut off into the highs pretty annoyingly though, I mainly noticed it on a few songs with female lead vocals (Kittie). But that's about the only flaw I see in them. Bass is extra strong un-modded, even modded with a layer of stuffing it's still crazy powerful. I'm considering adding another half-layer or layer in to see how it sounds.

Amazing set for bass lovers, even after layered (recommended for the clarity improvement). At a reasonable volume (to me anyway, some find it a little loud) you can actually feel the air being hammered out the vents.

I'd comment on my impression of the sound stage but seeing as I lost a screw to the "lenses" and haven't been able to use them since I got the phones (dark carpet + small screw = not even a magnet worked) I won't say anything.

Edit: In regards to comfort, the HD201s were better. But that's due to glasses & harder head clamping, if not for glasses the JVC's would win. I find that wearing the cups down low (so my ears touch the top & back of the cup is the best spot for comfort - for me.

TopPop · #72 (**permalink**) 03-03-2009, 09:20 PM

^Sweeet! Thanks for the impressions... and a first post, at that! That's a whole lot more contribution than the first post I made...

Let us know what happens when you add more stuffing. I don't think we have too many impressions from users who have tried different amounts of stuffing for any extended period of time between trials.

Nugu · #73 (**permalink**) 03-03-2009, 10:16 PM

Just did it, added another layer of stuffing.

Apparently when I first did the mods I didn't make very even coatings in both sides (Right had a good bit thinner layer than the left) which isn't surprising since I did all the mods in one shot instead of sleeping before work.

I must emphasize this, MAKE SURE YOU LAYER BOTH SIDES EVENLY. I was blaming this on likely damaged hearing, but I kept swearing the right side was louder (and looser) than my left.

The extra stuffing had the effect expected (Less bass, seems more controlled - whether that's true or it's due to the effect of the bass coming in at a lower volume due to stuffing, I'm not sure), and I think I got the sweet spot (for me) this try. (Basically the entire cup is full of loosened fill now - not packed, I made sure it was light and airy. Whether this will matter much, I don't know as I haven't tried it.)

Opinion: STUFF EVENLY, I just want to make this point again as it provided a notable improvement to my ears. Even unevenly stuffed the sound was great, but now that things are a lot more even - it just sounds so much better. At my current level of stuffing my bass exists, but it isn't amazingly powerful (to get the vents to shoot out air I'd probably have to up the volume to pain levels now) - which is fine with me since it DOES exist (way more than my HD201s).

I don't know how it works, but stuffing has made me up my volume to get the same level of sound as I was previously using. The main thing though is as I crank it up everything else (mids/highs) is louder. I won't say more defined - they were there and detailed before but so hard to hear. (esp the strings in "The World", now I hear them quite well with all the detail still intact).

Familiar Songs tested on:
Gorillaz - Kids With Guns 320kbps (Bass)
.hack\\SIGN soundtrack lossless .flac
-The World (Strings - mids/highs)
-Magic and Sword (detail [morrocca? strings, few other instruments I can't name offhand], Bass)
+others

micmacmo · #74 (**permalink**) 03-03-2009, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TopPop

In my opinion:

felt removal > cup stuffing > Dynamat

So, Dynamat made the lease difference, but it was still a good and noticeable one.

I definitely agree about the felt removal being the single best mod for the RX900. But for me, Dynamat was number two. I really didn't like the upper-bass hump and I think it was the Dynamat that got it under control. But stuffing the cup was important in terms of getting the whole lower end of the spectrum to a level that didn't overwhelm the treble.

As a personal opinion, I think all three mods were vital to my listening enjoyment.

Nugu · #75 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 07:22 AM

I'm actually of the opinion that stuffing > all. Even after the felt, Dynamat, and 1 layer of stuffing the bass was so loud I lost a lot of detail just because it was so mids/highs were so silent due to the boomy bass.

I'm actually wishing I hadn't lost the screw to a acoustic lens so I could test that out now that the mids and highs are powerful enough to be heard. With the bass tamed I think the lens could actually *possibly* do some good.

However, ignore my opinion if big bass is your goal. To each his own.