iandh
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2009
- Posts
- 21
- Likes
- 11
My boss sent me down to Fry's yesterday to pick up some things, including a set of headphones for use at my desk. I previously had picked up a set of Shure 440's, but returned them due to comfort issues. They were also extremely clinical. Great for recording/mastering, not so much for listening. I've gone through literally ten different pairs of over-the-ear cans in the last week trying to find something comfortable, laid back/and still crisp, easy to power, and reasonably priced.
I saw these gems last time I was at Fry's, but I couldn't quite convince myself to buy them. When they're in the package, they look very small, and it doesn't seem that they could possibly cover your entire ear without touching. That turns out to be completely wrong. These are some of the only (if not THE only) full-size over-the-ear/portable cans that I've used that actually go over your ears, are truly portable, and still maintain comfort.
These retail for $50, and IMO are well worth the money, as long as you understand what you are paying for, and what you are getting. They can be had in the $40 shipped range if you buy online.
Construction
The construction is very solid considering these are semi-portable phones. They are lightweight and slim, but not flimsy. The size adjustments are smooth, and have detents that firmly find their place with a nice click. The cups have a glossy black finish, with chrome accent rings. The earpads and headband pad are covered in the good pleather, not the thin cheap stuff (which I can't stand). The ear cushions are thin, but more than adequate (see below). The cord is on the thin side, but has good strain reliefs. The plug is very compact, but seems to be reasonable durability-wise.
The phones both fold and lay flat, which is great for two reasons... they can fit in smaller pockets in a backpack or in a glovebox, and they also can fit into a laptop bag, which is a HUGE plus for me.
There is a thin foam lining inside the earcup, which acts as a dust cover for the approximately 40mm driver within. That is a bit on the small side, but is right in line with the form factor of these phones.
Comfort
I mentioned above that I've been through about ten sets of phones in the last week. It's exceedingly difficult to find a set that fits. This is rather odd, considering that I have what you'd consider an average profile. Well proportioned head, average size and shaped ears that lay reasonably flat, and no areas of protrusion. I am, however, very sensitive to clamping force, especially on my jaw, and earlobes. Even phones that I've hear described as comfy, such as the shure 440, are an excercise in pain.
These phones are truly genius. At first glance, you'd think they fall into the same category as other "over ear" phones that also claim to be portable... they don't typically do either well. These phones do both exceedingly well. This is achieved through several excellent design decisions, many of which compare to some of the Bose units that some people also rave about (comfort-wise, at least
). Firstly, they have moderate clamping pressure. Secondly, they have multi-axis swiveling, so that the pads will lay flat regardless of your head shape. Finally, they have extremely deep ear cups for a headphone of this size, capped off by a very soft memory foam pad.
In addition, the cavity extends back beyond the edge of the earpads, so that your earlobe can rest inside behind the actual pad edge. That is the reason for the thin pads, and it works out extremely well comfort-wise, and gives huge size savings as well. To achieve a suitable driver chamber volume whilst still maintaining plenty of room for the ears, they angled the driver baffle, which also may help with imaging. Basically, if your task was to design the most compact closed ear cup possible, without actually contacting any part of the ear, this is exactly what you'd end up with.
Sound
Keep in mind, these are $50 cans, and they already excel in several other key areas (for me, at least). Even if they sounded mediocre, I'd still keep them as my laptop phones just because of their other design aspects.
As is typical to JVC's, these sounded somewhere between meh and so-so out of the box. I've made it a rule, especially with JVC and a couple of other brands, to never judge until I've done at least an introductory break-in. I've done about 8 hours on them, and they didn't start to sound even remotely passable until the 2 hour mark. If you do decide to give these a shot, please break them in for a bit before you do any real listening.
Overall, I would describe the sound as laid back, but with an edge. They seem to have a peak in the lower midbass that can make these a real kick for hard rock/metal. They have plenty of bass, but IMO they could do with a hair less, as it seems to muddy the upper end at time due to the smaller size of the drivers. Generally, though, it isn't an issue. The bass cleans up immensely after some break-in.
The highs have just enough edge to be crisp, but don't have that sparkle that you get with higher end kit. The mids, surprisingly, are not as recessed as you'd normally find on cheap cans... and they aren't one bit obnoxious. You do get a touch of sibilance on some high notes, but nothing out of the ordinary... in fact I've heard much more expensive heaphones with a greater issue in that department than these.
These phones do the best (IMO) with hard rock/metal and electronic. They are laid back enough and have enough of their own personality to make those types of music listenable. They don't have quite enough crispiness to get real interesting with jazz and classical, but they still are listenable in those areas. One thing they do have trouble with is very busy mid-90's alternative, when you have multiple layers of obnoxiously distorted guitar, obscure chords, and poorly engineered drums. These cans do NOT do well covering up messy engineering.
They are very easy to drive, but tend to distort at higher listening levels when being powered by devices such as an ipod. They are most at home with a computer soundcard, or some other mid-level power source. I can't really say an amp is necessary or even recommended at all, but if you want to pull off moderate-high listening levels on a device with a wimpy output, you'd probably be money ahead amping them.
Why is this? I assume it's very similar to running a small subwoofer in a small sealed box in car audio... even though the sub is small, being in a small sealed box gives it the power handling of a larger driver due to reduced compliance. Furthermore, trying to get high output without adequate power will result in distortion. Due to the small cup size (and therefore smaller chamber size) on these phones, I believe that the 40mm driver has more power handling than would be typical.
Not surprisingly, these have a similar sound signature to the HARX700/900's. They aren't quite as full sounding, but they are still quite enjoyable. What is a surprise, is that they actually have very good imaging and soundstage for a closed can. I actually can hear instruments floating around somewhere in the region of my frontal lobe at times. That was the very last thing I expected on phones of this type.
Conclusion
These aren't "change your life" cans. They are very solid at $50, and considering their other advantages, I will be recommending these to friends and family. If you can snag them close to the $35-40 range, they are a no-brainer. They are the only over-the-ear cans I've ever seen that successfully mix full size and portability. Regardless of sound, that in itself is a feat.
These phones are obviously targeted towards the portable/consumer mid-fi market, and they hit the nail on the head in that aspect... what's impressive is that they successfully fill that niche and price bracket, whilst still being tolerable by a hi-fi enthusiast like myself.
I think this may be one of the only phones that could be legitimately posted in both the full-size section and the portables section. They fill both categories flawlessly. If you're in the market for something like that, and aren't expecting a miracle for $50, these could be well worth a try.
I saw these gems last time I was at Fry's, but I couldn't quite convince myself to buy them. When they're in the package, they look very small, and it doesn't seem that they could possibly cover your entire ear without touching. That turns out to be completely wrong. These are some of the only (if not THE only) full-size over-the-ear/portable cans that I've used that actually go over your ears, are truly portable, and still maintain comfort.
These retail for $50, and IMO are well worth the money, as long as you understand what you are paying for, and what you are getting. They can be had in the $40 shipped range if you buy online.
Construction
The construction is very solid considering these are semi-portable phones. They are lightweight and slim, but not flimsy. The size adjustments are smooth, and have detents that firmly find their place with a nice click. The cups have a glossy black finish, with chrome accent rings. The earpads and headband pad are covered in the good pleather, not the thin cheap stuff (which I can't stand). The ear cushions are thin, but more than adequate (see below). The cord is on the thin side, but has good strain reliefs. The plug is very compact, but seems to be reasonable durability-wise.
The phones both fold and lay flat, which is great for two reasons... they can fit in smaller pockets in a backpack or in a glovebox, and they also can fit into a laptop bag, which is a HUGE plus for me.
There is a thin foam lining inside the earcup, which acts as a dust cover for the approximately 40mm driver within. That is a bit on the small side, but is right in line with the form factor of these phones.
Comfort
I mentioned above that I've been through about ten sets of phones in the last week. It's exceedingly difficult to find a set that fits. This is rather odd, considering that I have what you'd consider an average profile. Well proportioned head, average size and shaped ears that lay reasonably flat, and no areas of protrusion. I am, however, very sensitive to clamping force, especially on my jaw, and earlobes. Even phones that I've hear described as comfy, such as the shure 440, are an excercise in pain.
These phones are truly genius. At first glance, you'd think they fall into the same category as other "over ear" phones that also claim to be portable... they don't typically do either well. These phones do both exceedingly well. This is achieved through several excellent design decisions, many of which compare to some of the Bose units that some people also rave about (comfort-wise, at least
). Firstly, they have moderate clamping pressure. Secondly, they have multi-axis swiveling, so that the pads will lay flat regardless of your head shape. Finally, they have extremely deep ear cups for a headphone of this size, capped off by a very soft memory foam pad.In addition, the cavity extends back beyond the edge of the earpads, so that your earlobe can rest inside behind the actual pad edge. That is the reason for the thin pads, and it works out extremely well comfort-wise, and gives huge size savings as well. To achieve a suitable driver chamber volume whilst still maintaining plenty of room for the ears, they angled the driver baffle, which also may help with imaging. Basically, if your task was to design the most compact closed ear cup possible, without actually contacting any part of the ear, this is exactly what you'd end up with.
Sound
Keep in mind, these are $50 cans, and they already excel in several other key areas (for me, at least). Even if they sounded mediocre, I'd still keep them as my laptop phones just because of their other design aspects.
As is typical to JVC's, these sounded somewhere between meh and so-so out of the box. I've made it a rule, especially with JVC and a couple of other brands, to never judge until I've done at least an introductory break-in. I've done about 8 hours on them, and they didn't start to sound even remotely passable until the 2 hour mark. If you do decide to give these a shot, please break them in for a bit before you do any real listening.
Overall, I would describe the sound as laid back, but with an edge. They seem to have a peak in the lower midbass that can make these a real kick for hard rock/metal. They have plenty of bass, but IMO they could do with a hair less, as it seems to muddy the upper end at time due to the smaller size of the drivers. Generally, though, it isn't an issue. The bass cleans up immensely after some break-in.
The highs have just enough edge to be crisp, but don't have that sparkle that you get with higher end kit. The mids, surprisingly, are not as recessed as you'd normally find on cheap cans... and they aren't one bit obnoxious. You do get a touch of sibilance on some high notes, but nothing out of the ordinary... in fact I've heard much more expensive heaphones with a greater issue in that department than these.
These phones do the best (IMO) with hard rock/metal and electronic. They are laid back enough and have enough of their own personality to make those types of music listenable. They don't have quite enough crispiness to get real interesting with jazz and classical, but they still are listenable in those areas. One thing they do have trouble with is very busy mid-90's alternative, when you have multiple layers of obnoxiously distorted guitar, obscure chords, and poorly engineered drums. These cans do NOT do well covering up messy engineering.
They are very easy to drive, but tend to distort at higher listening levels when being powered by devices such as an ipod. They are most at home with a computer soundcard, or some other mid-level power source. I can't really say an amp is necessary or even recommended at all, but if you want to pull off moderate-high listening levels on a device with a wimpy output, you'd probably be money ahead amping them.
Why is this? I assume it's very similar to running a small subwoofer in a small sealed box in car audio... even though the sub is small, being in a small sealed box gives it the power handling of a larger driver due to reduced compliance. Furthermore, trying to get high output without adequate power will result in distortion. Due to the small cup size (and therefore smaller chamber size) on these phones, I believe that the 40mm driver has more power handling than would be typical.
Not surprisingly, these have a similar sound signature to the HARX700/900's. They aren't quite as full sounding, but they are still quite enjoyable. What is a surprise, is that they actually have very good imaging and soundstage for a closed can. I actually can hear instruments floating around somewhere in the region of my frontal lobe at times. That was the very last thing I expected on phones of this type.
Conclusion
These aren't "change your life" cans. They are very solid at $50, and considering their other advantages, I will be recommending these to friends and family. If you can snag them close to the $35-40 range, they are a no-brainer. They are the only over-the-ear cans I've ever seen that successfully mix full size and portability. Regardless of sound, that in itself is a feat.
These phones are obviously targeted towards the portable/consumer mid-fi market, and they hit the nail on the head in that aspect... what's impressive is that they successfully fill that niche and price bracket, whilst still being tolerable by a hi-fi enthusiast like myself.
I think this may be one of the only phones that could be legitimately posted in both the full-size section and the portables section. They fill both categories flawlessly. If you're in the market for something like that, and aren't expecting a miracle for $50, these could be well worth a try.
