Victor HP-FX500 Review: World's first Wood Canalphones - Page 11

Yeah I bought it from Seyo. It's in transit and it's the weekend! blah!!
Reading up on it and all it's characteristics, it looks like the perfect IEM for me. I am fussy when it comes down to things like vocal positioning (laid-back vs. up-front) and soundstage in IEM's.

repost as I know people are lazy and they skip to the last page:

Hi there CN11, WHAT TIPS // Sleeves are those, and WHERE do I acquire them, would you mind reviewing their qualities for Your Truly????? and all of us?? I will try to take some notes about the v-moda BLISS tips and do them justice.

OH, and btw, if anybody else has the nerve to make their HP-FX500 sound even sweeter, you could have them "'vested" if you have a spare pair of busted bookshelf speakers or just buy a pair of drivers from the auto store or fry's or wherever I've used SONY and Sanyo on my IEM for the Speaker Driver Fabric Diaphragms (the rubbery coated reflex stuff) to replace the "filter" material that Victor - JVC places at the front of the opening of the IEMs... The FLACvest Mod as my buddy Archimdae / Zrynn (on iAUDIOPHILE.net) has coined the mod: can be read about here:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f6/fab...6/#post5657497

ENJOY... and... about the Sound Quality Enhancement... I dont' have a single STOCK IEM anymore. Period. "." 'Nuff Said.

RE: the Sound Quality: The IEMs now all sound about $100 clams more expensive, more refined basseyer treble, richer mids, bigger bass... its akin to the resonating chamber (air chamber) in a subwoofer or those X-Mini Capsule speakers... Gadgets Page » Review: X-Mini Capsule Speaker needless to say it makes them sound bettah. And if you use a glue like Liquid Skin, for instance, it is removable. Though after auditioning the mod, and getting them 'vested, Im sure you won't WANT to reverse it!! LOL.

I own a pair of these, and now that i listen to them again, i find they're very flat don't really have anything special to offer. The bass is rather slow and not tight, mids are okay, vocals kinda laid back, and highs aren't sparkly. Resolution isn't bad, though. I think for around the same price, sony EX500 would beat the FX500s hands down.

however, i've heard that FX500 sounds much better amped!

Don't let the Anti-EQ Gods strike me down but I Like to EQ my cans a bit. As I sit here typing, I'm listening to my FX500's straight out my 80 gb Ipod video with the "Loudness" EQ setting. If I run them "Flat" or with the EQ off, they are quite flat and lifeless, with Muddy uncontrolled bass, forward mids, sibilant highs. I have many different IEMs and full sized cans, so EQ'ing is the only way I can get away without thousands of dollars in amps.

FANTASTIC amped. I never listen to them unamped, although I consider anything output from a COWON O2PMP to be "amped" because of its rather hight mW rating. Plus the BBE effect and Mach3Bass and the TI DaVinci Chipset is rather like an opamp to be completely honest about the player. Much more amp-ey than say a COWON D2.

The body of the HP-FX500 amped is ANYTHING other than flat. Smoothe maybe, nonfatiguing yes. boring and flat? maybe if you have some loss of hearing. Perhaps you just have different tastes? Perhaps you just need to "forget" the HP-FX500 "sound signature" for a day or two and return to it so it will be fresh and then enjoyable again. (BTW, I mean NO DISRESPECT, I WAS ONLY *joking* LOL!!! :-D )

What DO you use for an amp? I'm curious? Even with a FiiO E3 at the least they pick up on the "Fun"ness factor, with an E5 its very good, with a T4 it's great, and when daisy chaining amps its stupendous!!

Peace!

Sorry to reply Yet Again... However somethg else struck me about your post. I actually LIKE the Slow and Loose i.e. LaRgE RoOm WaReHoUsE echoant sound that reverberates for like a gosh darned country MILE. Thats the SQ _CHARACTER_ that _defines_ this particular Headphone. Its the wood doing its particular magic smoothe-ening thing to sound. I also have the similarly designed Victor - JVC HA-FX300R Bi-Metal IEM, which have a metal evaporation diaphragm, and that is much quicker and tighter in the bass and just about as high in resolution, but not as sharp / bright as the HP-FX500 to do an A/B comparison. The HA-FX300 sound more like a steel bongo drum, the HP-FX500 like the largest wooden Japanese Tae Ko Drum IMHO.

So back to the OTHER thing that caught my eye... you mention the SONY EX500, I had my eye on their bigger Bro, the EX700... what can you tell me about these phones, the ones you have and do you have any experience with their big brothers??

Very Qrious

One More Note These really like a tube amp. I run at home off of my Little "Indeed" tube amp, but I must use a 50ohm attenuator.

Sorry to threadjack... please see this post on my Head-Fi blog and...

...Let me know of the proper way to go about doing this, and voice your interest, expecially since you are all invited to "team wood-fi" being that you are woodie owners!

How does one start up a TEAM here on Head-Fi.org?? - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

I hope i'm not getting out of line by suggesting this, or being too much of an "upstart whippersnapper!" LOL...

They are the Sony hybrid silicone tips. With these Victors they are awesome. I'm using large with these, when I normally take a medium. This helps get a better seal, and therefore the entire frequency range gets more extended. Wait till you hear what these do for the bass over other brands' stock silicone tips.

EP-EX10A/BLK | Replacement Ear Cushions | Sony | Sony Style USA

@boomy3555: Could you post pics and links to your Little "Indeed" tube amp and attenuator please? I was getting interested in the Darkvoice 3322 myself...

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/rev...3322-a-406368/

Its really a SUPER SLEEK AND SEXI AMP... Im hoping to let myself afford it next year, along with the Moon Audio Interchangable Cable Dragon Series Beyerdynamic DT770 600 Ohm Cans but want an iBasso D10 Cobra amp/Dac and an iRiver iHP 120 or 140 with optical out and rockbox for FLAC this year. I already have a COWON O2PMP but would like Optical.

Anyhow... Just thought Id share while asking you to do same...

Here's a thread...

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/new...ok-fun-412353/

The attenuator is a standard in-line 50 ohm that comes with the UE SF5Pro

Sorry to disappoint you, but i don't use an amp hehe. Thats why i said i 'heard' they sound better with amp. I play them directly from my Sony A728. If you've heard any other phones that are higher up the ladder, say, TF10, SF5/p, CK100, then u'd know what i mean by flat. The depth of soundstage produced by those headphones is completely out of FX500's league.. i'm not being biased here, just objectively describing what i hear. And i'm sure i don't have problem with my hearing

I do agree these phones are pretty smooth, but i think the slowness of the bass takes away the impact and excitement from the music, especially for rock and dance music. However, i find fx500 are pretty good for orchestral music. I like how u compare them to the Taeko drums, i think thats a pretty good comparison .

I've not heard the EX700, but from what i've read, it has very harsh highs will *finally* disappear with about 1000 hrs of burn in....
EX500 is in ear monitor, so treble, mid, bass are all fairly balanced. The mids are about the same level as FX500, but highs are brighter, and bass tighter. It's a bit colder than FX500, but I think they have better clarity. Detail-wise FX500 is better. I acutally immediately liked the EX500 when i auditioned them, maybe because i really enjoy clear, transparent sound signature.. and thats why i love my ck100 so much!

HAHAHA!! I am a recovering Speaker Whore, meaning I used to put my face in the loudspeakers which banged out like 120 dB at rock and techno concerts and my hearing is fine. Once i even sat in a carpeted bass cabinet for like an hour and a half. Thats how I got addicted to bass. Thats why I absolutely adore these phones... they sub-woof. That's also why I'm interested in those SONY FX700 cuz they go down to 4 Hz if I read their specs right.