Victor HP-FX500 Review: World's first Wood Canalphones - Page 9

shigzeo...

You can call me whatever you like, so long as it doesn't get blocked by the forums swear filter

Re the FX500/1000, I didn't realise that you sold them... for a while, you was the sole champion of them - I don't want to take over from that (even though they are a great product!!) so - I hope you get another pair soon...

...Especially after the newest member of the JVC Woodie club hears them (and - hopefully - loves them!!)

Gonna try the FX300's out? I had them myself and thought they were not as good as the CX95/NE-7/RE2. Maybe you can try and confirm. I thought they had good separation and some detail but weak treble extension and thick mid-bass that had a hump that never went away. Maybe I had some really good other earphones at the time and was too hard on them.

I would believe the FX500 is much better. I also experienced the cable hardening with the FX300 that Shigzeo also got with the FX500. They should have a better jacket on the cable. Wonder if the FX1000 might have changed that? With the grill in the back, the wood, and the cable the FX500 are more home phones than out exposed to the weather/cold temps, sweat/ moisture, loud noise. Like Shigzs says, not that practical/ limited in their usability a bit.

I tried the FX300, thought I skip the FX500, and maybe get the FX700. The FX700 never came. They came out with RX700/900 headphones and S700/900 portables headphones. They had the consumer level FX77 and FXC70 but still no 7 series on their higher end earphones. The original bi-metal press release called them a series but only two showed up. Maybe this year a 700 and/or 900 will show up.

Based on your assessment, no, not buying the FX300s. I have enough low-price stuff sitting around here (just check my sig and sale items). I've put the kibosh on spending for these under-$50 for now, even though it is fun. The ADDIEM and CX95 were my last two forays for now, though I paid $59 for the CX95s.

Any development on the FX500/FX1000 issue. Are they the same? Was about to buy the IE8 until I found out about the JVC Victor. Could get the latter and a portable amp for the price of the IE8...

Yes, the same JVC HA-FX300s

Those Bi-Metals are good... but these Victor HP-FX500's which now have about 80 hours on them are approximately 1/2 again the 'phone that those are... I likened them mostly up to differences:

The Bi-Metals sound a bit like Metal Bongo Drums in style, while the Victor HP-FX500 sounds more like a Japanese Tae Ko Drummer in your ear... with a refined smoothness and a surprising softness coupled with high resolution for a resoundingly intriguing ride: amped or not!

Back to the HA-FX300 for a moment, for tsarn06, please feel free to see these links Link to my Blog review of my initial impressions of the JVC HA-FX300 & the Mod I performed on them & some other IEMs I own

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/o...4/#post5660732

I hope that answers your question(s) adequately: Like I've said, the HA-FX300 was in my top 3 my 'holy triumverate' now displaced by the Victor HP-FX500 which takes the crown from all three... The Sleek Audio SA-6 (modded), The JVC HA-FX300 (modded), and the Phonak Audeo PFE 122 (modded) If I had to rank them. I'd give them that ranking even unmodded.

I think the only reason the JVC & Victor offerings aren't taken as seriously as the other boutiques and manufacturers is that they are a mainstream audio manufacturer who have economies of scale in place and manufacture to such; therefore they may make relatively fewer offerings... at a lower pricepoint than they would were they a boutique. So imagine they cost $100 to $200 more, and you'd take them more at the quality that they're worth.

My $0.02. Wish I'd found JVC & Victor sooner in a way but no, not really, the other 'phones have developed my Ear and sensibility for Sound in general, which I would NOT give up.

My Victor HP-FX500 came with an extension cable...

Did any of you get one??

I'm curious to know on that score. I know the actual cable is short, but mine have an included purpose-built extension-cable that makes it double the lenght approximately. It's quite a lot of breathing room. They're quite comfortable paired together.

I am liking the Victor HP-FX500 paired with an iBasso T4 and a Moon Audio Black Dragon interconnect or an iBasso CB01 IC

You could have QUITE a nice setup with those components for less than the cost of the IE8... and pocket the difference!

What do you use now?

I use Klipsch Image X10 with a sony 639. I have to say I absolutely love the klipsch for their bass energy and weight. They are also quite detailed and balanced for IEM tuned toward bass. I listen to lot of techno/ dubstep, and kept hearing about the great sub like sound of the IE8. Had the Denon c751 but after getting the klipsch I realised how bloated the bass was, and they can't compare detail wise. Some people commented about the victor bass that why I think I will try those.

I listen to Electro and Techno and the subgenres...

zenpunk:

...like Industrial, Synthpop, Dance Punk, New Rave, House, Garage, Breakbeat, Drum & Bass, Electro Bass & DUB (as in Deep Urban Bass)...

I've listened to Dubstep and like it, it's not very familiar to me though. But definitely intriguing. If you've any interest in Electro Bass, you could check out the Electro Showcase Showdown mixes which are freely available at www.vocode.com by vocode records. They're quite interesting I think...

They're high quality MP3, and some of it is quite nice... If you want to go on a bass ride.

I've been curious about the new Klipsch offerings... what are the good threads?? Do you think the Image goes down to reach a true 5Hz?

I am a big fan of Break, breakcore (DJ Scotch Egg, Aphex twins..) and electro bass (Tipper, Si Begg..). The Klipsch is pretty impressive for this type of music and anyting pounding really. Some on this forum also recommended it for classical so they must be pretty balanced and versatile. They hit really hard and very low but I doubt they reach 5hz . Is it possible for an IEM?
I only find they struggle a bit with very low frequency drone you can find in dubstep. But the bass is really fast and addictive. I often found myself uping the volume bit by bit. Slighty concerned about my hear drums...
Downloading some mixes from the website you gave me now.

Are they supposed to be worn over the ear or straight down?
Are there better tips available for those?

RE: the Victor HP-FX500 earphone tips/sleeves...

Hi Jazz9,

I've tried a couple of different tips/sleeves now:

Victor Large Silicone Rubber, Victor Memory Foam, JVC Large Silicone Rubber, Comply Foamies, v-moda BLISS Silicone Rubber, Phonak Audeo PFE Silicone Rubber, even some Shure Olive Medium Foamies (de-tubed & then re-tubed onto the center of what's left of trimmed down v-moda BLISS Silicone Rubber sleeves.

Of all those, I venture a guess that the very top was the Victor Large Silicone Rubber, followed by the v-moda BLISS Silicone Rubber, the Phonak Audeo PFE Silicone Rubber, then the Shure Olive Medium Foamies, followed by the Comply Foamies (T-200 to be exact).

The v-moda were from the bass freq: ---> v-moda Shop, The Phonak Audeo PFE are availabe as accessories from: ---> Audeoworld, SoundEarphones Shop, for both the Shure Olive Medium Foamies and the Comply Foamies.

RE: The JVC Silicone Tips and Memory Foamies... Just ignore them... Not worth the bother unless you have dinky ear canals. LOLZ! :-D

I do not have first hand experience pairing other tips/sleeves with the Victor HP-FX500, so I shall allow another to step up to the plate with their reccomendations regarding yet other tips/sleeves... I hope this is a wide enough variety for you!

As for the style of wearing, they have a thick and sturdy segment of reinforced "post" that just out at the bottom that functions as "handles" to position and put them into and remove them from your ears, so the answer is that they hang down like normal earbuds...

Get a pair, and HAVE FUN!!

What's the difference between the jvc and victor's tips? aren't they the same?
Are the victors the ones supplied with the fx500?

Aphex Twin is nice... I'll check out the others you mention. Go ahead and download the vocode records official releases ... vcd-001 thru vcd-004... Gruppe 909 has a killer bassline in "Mad Science", as well as "Variations on a Meme"; get Wazo... their "99 Years" was so captivating and celestial that the first couple times I heard it while feeling lonely I got all emotive. Good thing I was alone, huh? xD

As for another bass selection let me steer you toward Space Monkeys vs. Gorillaz "Laikia Come Home" thats some beautifully recorded, mixed, & mastered bass-laden & layered DUB stuff. Even the MP3 download album I own from amazon.com is one of my better sounding pieces of music. I know, go figure!

Back to 'phones... 5 Hz you should just _feel_. You should just _feel_ everything below 10 Hz. You can hear 10 Hz IF I'm not mistaken (please correct me if I'm off on my memory) but FEEL say, 8 Hz... which is why the Victor HP-FX500 has a subwoofey feel to them, and the bass is layered on so densely. Well, that and the fact that they are built like big beautiful breathing bassy bodacious {enough with the b's already bedambedly} honkin open back grille Tae Ko drums!

So yeah, I just got excited, because I realized I have 80+ hours of burn in on my Victor HP-FX500s and they've cooled off for a while, so I can auditon them at this point with some "relatively" threshold-shift-free (joking!) (and I do NOT have tinnitus, thank my LUCKY STARS!) ears... I personally think that your eardrums need exercise like to build up elasticity and resilience in the membranes. Although you don't want to ShOcK your EaRdRuMs with varying or Staccato like free-range noise like hair dryers, jack hammers, car horns, jet airplane engines, screaming girlfriends, wives, mothers, sisters, (hopefully not hoes, *sigh*), or shrieking youngsters. Free-range noise is the ruiner of good hearing.

Even, stable, moderate volume levels, preferrably album-normalized is less jarring to the ear. Well, I'm not making a scientific statement, lets get that clear. I'm just making an observation from my 30 years of listening habits as a human being. I welcome any scientific support or disproving on the issue its kind of interesting me at this point in my life. I'm a reforming former Speaker Whore. You know one of those guys from the Live shows you'd see with their heads up agains the Speaker... absorbing FREAKQuency Tans?? I still have my hearing intact, and its doing quite fantastic to tell the truth. Anyhow I was just expressing a curiosity of mine...

Back to the HP-FX500s for a sec then on to the Klipsch to close...

These things are exceptionally well put together. I was on the Japanese Victor site yesterday and while I don't read Kanji characters (I guess it was Kanji, they have like multiple alphabets If I'm not mistaken...) the graphics on the site was rather revealing and easy to follow visually regarding the structure of how the HP-FX500s are designed. I'll look it up and post the link when I get it off of Mom's machine, where I was the day I looked it up when I was over there spending time.

So, if 10 Hz is the "end" of the audible spectrum and the dawn of where the subwoofing spectrum & lower begins, 10 Hz and south to 8 Hz is 2 Hz of bandwidth, for the HP-FX500s to communicate physical vibration energy and sound waveform; whilst the Klisch Image has from 10 Hz to 5 Hz which is a bandwidth of 5 Hz total... That's 1.5 x again the size of the bandwidth available to "bass hum" or physical vibration energy and sound waveform for the Klipsch Image to project into the eardrum, canal, ear, and surrounding tissue to construct a very vibrant and believably deep and meaningfully impactful bass-heavy experience. Nice. I'm in wonder, because of how moved my head is by both the modified JVC HA-FX300R Bi-Metal, and the Victor HP-FX500 (which, like a fine museum piece I don't want to damage) at least, not until I can "collect" a "in the box" pair. Yeah, that'll be quite some time...

Oh these wonderful early morning musings... Well, I bid you all a good day! Hope this was interesting or at least amusing...