The JVC HA-S500.. Appreciation, fan thread. - Page 315

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dsnuts 

How can you not be a fan of the 80s?

What about Manowar?! Iron Maiden is also one of my favorite bands lol. I love Kiss as well, but I thought they were more 70s.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7S Cameron 

What about Manowar?! Iron Maiden is also one of my favorite bands lol. I love Kiss as well, but I thought they were more 70s.

Hail Gods of war!

Thanks for the IEM suggestions, guys. I'll be looking into those soon.

I just left these burning most of the day yesterday and overnight. I have to say, from a complete noob who knows nothing about hi-fi and doesn't consider himself an audiophile, I can definitely notice the harshness settling down. I can listen to the same song I was having problems with, at a much higher volume, and it already sounds way smoother and actually fairly pleasant now (when it would nearly pierce my ears at a lower volume before). I'll leave these burning for the rest of the weekend and give my impressions then.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CapitaFK 

Thanks for the IEM suggestions, guys. I'll be looking into those soon.

 

I just left these burning most of the day yesterday and overnight. I have to say, from a complete noob who knows nothing about hi-fi and doesn't consider himself an audiophile, I can definitely notice the harshness settling down. I can listen to the same song I was having problems with, at a much higher volume, and it already sounds way smoother and actually fairly pleasant now (when it would nearly pierce my ears at a lower volume before). I'll leave these burning for the rest of the weekend and give my impressions then.

That's exactly what happened with my S500's after burn in as well

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spider fan 

Wow listening to these for the first time in awhile except for an occasional movie. Mumford and sons sounds so amazing on these.

I can't hear them without automatically thinking of this.....

I am a new owner of these, and I'm not a big fan yet. I bet they just need burn in, but there's this airy feeling that feels like it's overpowering the detail, and the soundstage/imaging seems a lot less accurate/pinpointed and as a result feels smaller/narrower (but I think it's actually similar/slightly larger if you look at only how far things appear on the left and right). Comparing to my Klipsch Image S4 IEMs FYI.

One other thing I noticed that is making me want to return these,

They're backwards. Like, you know how they fold flat? If I have them oriented correctly with the right on my right, they fold flat AWAY from me. What gives??? 

This 99% ruins the exact reason I wanted full cans: to keep something around my neck all the time without worrying about the tips falling, pulling off (like my IEMs) and not having them dangle/swing everywhere. Plus when I fold them flat against me (flipping the L and R), they pinch my neck. I might be able to get used to that, but if they don't fold flat correctly, there's no point anyway.

Is this a defect, or just something I have to accept? Maybe I could figure out how to flip L and R in my settings on my iPod Classic since I have Rockbox...

Still confused on the L/R folding thing but I'm starting to like these a bit more, the bass is loosening up and I'm liking it for hip hop. I'm used to 650s so it's nice to have. Still has a bit of that airy feeling it seems, if I look for it. Vocals still have that sheen or sorta dullness. Not this extreme but slightly similar to holding your nose and talking. I'll give it a while, let them burn in overnight hoping my amp doesn't get too hot (it's SS though; this would be my first time burning in headphones off of my head).

Edit (like updates while still writing): Just added some EQ, seems to be OK, I might play around with it a bit. Adding some treble seemed to help with that dullness, and I upped the bass a bit too but not as much as the treble. Soundstage has opened up too (not affected by EQ fyi), it's good when it's called for, like I heard a bomb go off a bit like towards my upper left and it was a bit far away, in front of me. Never even heard that from main cans, excellent! I'll start comparing to my S4 after a couple days use.

Update on comfort: my ears are starting to hurt after around, eh, 30min straight? Hmm..I'd wanted to try a pad mod or something too to try changing the sound a bit, might as well factor in comfort too. But I'll try to get used to it, break them in.

Also, I can just put them around my neck oriented correctly without folding them flat and it's actually more comfortable, less tight. Still a bit weird, though.

I'll hold off on posting and let some others come in too so I don't monopolize the thread, that's not my intention, just sharing. But I could probably make a few posts a day if I don't hold back. I'd love to hear your responses. Peace...

Quote:

Originally Posted by WAYNENUMM 

Post away... all the way until you get to the recommended 500 hours of burn in lol! A simple mod is the HM5 pads, which balances out the sound, and enhances the comfort greatly.

That's what I'd had in mind. gopanthers1 is my mentor in all this, he recommended them with saying they have a slightly larger soundstage and a bit more bass, nothing else sound wise (from what I remember). What are some others' opinions? So far a 4.5dB EQ up on bass and 6 on treble in Rockbox on my iPod has me where I want (except the current hip hop album, bass is starting to hurt a bit, I'll play around with it). And sorry if I misquoted panthers...

This JVC HA-S500 has really restored my faith in the sub-$100 realm of headphones.  I've owned more expensive headphones like the HE-500, HD650, and LCD-2 but I have no hesitation using these HA-S500 w/ HD-25 velour pads.  Technically the other headphones are probably better but in terms of enjoyment these S500 are a blast.  My guess is I'm enjoying the return to forwardness and the boom.  Best $55 I've spent in my two years of Head-fi followed by the $45 HifiMeDIY Sabre DAC.      

Oh yeah, could someone link me to some pads and diff. attributes of each? At least HM5. That'd be so awesome :)