[KSB1978]

   
HA MX10 vs MDR 7506 (or v6)
I can't wait for your next impression!

 
LOL no guarantee it will happen. But I'll give it a try!

 

[Yanec]

These monitors are not a hidden jam...they are very well hidden and forgotten jam! Japanese audiophile have love for them but this is just a local thing, mostly these remain highly unknown.

The short version: This is not a JVC home audio product, but a professional Victor Studios product and a serious one.

Construction: Sturdy, tough to break, durable and utilitarian. No detachable cable. The plastic is good and tough with no noises/sounds produced by the material or the construction.

Comfort: Once you put them on you will understand that they are shallow and the driver grill almost touches your ear. This might be unusual for a while and strange to some still it has no actual effect on the comfort and they can be easily used to work or enjoy music for long-periods.

Sonic characteristics:

Highs: The highs are extended and detailed. They are very fast but still polite and not harsh at all. this is due to their soft and easy roll. I believe this is achieved by the combination of the new driver diffuser and the roll-off. This was tuned with some very hard work but hits a great signature and balance! Overall the well thought and mastered high-definition driver, it's patented diffuser and carefully engineered roll-off make the highs spot-on.

Mids: Their strongest side. Very detailed still sounding sweet and musical. These amazing mids seem to be the result of combining reference level detail with forward presentation and sweet tone. The sweet tone and forward presentation are very similar to the mid-heads beloved iem - HiFiman RE-400, although the JVC excels in detail and accuracy.

Lows: Compared to most reference monitors these are more dynamic, even a bit heavier and more analogue sounding. Still they manage to keep it tight and deliver fast attacks really well.

Overall tonal signature: These are very seriously engineered and produced monitors. Still I believe that the time that was spent tuning and balancing their sound and their construction purely by listening makes them more fun than other technically brilliant monitors.

Dynamic range: Very, very good! IMO there is something very analogue about the MX10 dynamics...but I am no expert so lets consider this just my insinuation.

Imaging: Precise, not congested, available layers of instruments and movement of musicians and sound. All parasite sounds in the recordings are well located and defined too. You can definitely hear the player on the right turning the page or the one on the left breathing.

Stage: Neither too shallow nor too wide - the golden median, convenient for precise sound engineering. Good for wide range of music - from unplugged in a room to a string concert in a church hall. The depth and width of the stage are equal and feel balanced and proportionate.

Too positive perhaps but that is why I said these are hidden jams.

 

[nick n]

First of all I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the posters in this thread. Combined with the Kakaku and Amazon Japan reviews,  of course, but this was the thread that mattered the most in the decision.
 
I'd post some impressions here but it would simply be saying the exact same things as everything in this thread so far.
 One thing I should mention is to pay close attention to what they are saying. Think hard about what they are trying to tell you. It all makes perfect sense now. It's one thing to read impressions but actually listening to these is another thing entirely.
 
Simply amazing.
 
Wish I had bought these sooner honestly.
No wonder the Japanese fanbase is so positive.
 
I'll collect my thoughts over the next little bit and see about posting something up.
 
A few minor things I mentioned in a PM to someone tonight:
 
=Voices it might as well be someone right here singing to me.
=So clean and totally clear without clarity from extended trebles.( as in inflated highs ) 
=Some amazing tonalities and vibrations from the tracks.
=Fantastically detailed yet as they said no harshness from top end.  And also strangely not so overly detailed that it is a distraction.
=Could easily keep these as the one remaining set quite comfortably without regrets.
 
I was rather surprised at their smaller size, and so far zero issues with the shallow fit not uncomfortable at all.
 
Compared to a JVC 990 below ( 990 has 105mm by 85 mm pads for reference )
 

 

^^^^^ The larger end is an adaptor that simply pulls off to give you a smaller plug.
 
 
I'll have to see if these are discontinued and if so get a spare to put in the closet
 
*** right now using them off a Colorfly C3 fed to a C&C XO2 ( 1 watt per channel )  on high gain.
I'll try them with a few more portable amps/sources as well as a fullsized Dynamic Super-A Integrated.
 
 
****************There is a little link off the JVC Victor japanese homepage that may or may not have been posted here I forget. It can easily be overlooked .
It speaks about their development and tuning by firsthand trials from the Victor Studios engineers.
These were made to lessen the discrepancies between the performers and the engineers when going to and from the crazy studio monitor speakers ( Genelec 1035B ) and headphones. Tuned to approximate the presentation of those more or less, as far as I can understand it.
https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.ca&sl=ja&u=http://www.phileweb.com/jvc/report.php%3Fid%3D4065&usg=ALkJrhjgR1hat3KY5iY1YLMwBRIQCS6S8w
 
That's them .


 
 
==== forgot about this one here with pictures of the bass port inside and more development photos and engineers.
 

 
 
https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.ca&sl=ja&u=http://www.phileweb.com/news/d-av/201102/07/27853.html&usg=ALkJrhibpSLKFjdSWRxbMw2f_TkeBW0Phw

 

[waynes world]

Awesome nick n, you KNOW I want them!

When you have time, I'd love to know how you feel the MX10's SQ compares to the almighty 810's and 990's

 

[nick n]

I'd be more interested what you think in comparison to your MT220 ( shhh no 810/990 talk

)... could very well be an uber synthesis of the two. I'll need some time and may or may not post that

 

[waynes world]

Originally Posted by nick n 
/img/forum/go_quote.gif
I'd be more interested what you think in comparison to your MT220 ( shhh no 810/990 talk

)... could very well be an uber synthesis of the two. I'll need some time and may or may not post that

 
Yeah, I'd be interested in that as well. I must admit that I've become pretty addicted to listening to the mt220's. We need a meet!

 

[waynes world]

 
The long
 
The sound in general: Very musical and engaging but not overly so  just right it seems. Very neutral across the board but a very detailed and natural sound. Very clear and ridiculously revealing. (my source is being torn to bits hardcore and the phones show it) but there still so easy on the ears i just get lost in the music now and not listening to how the phones are sounding.
 
Treble: Sweet extended fast and soft not harsh at all very easy on the ears
 
Mids: liquid smooth or rough completely depending on the recording. VERY transparent and very layered and fast
 
Bass: Rich and detailed. Just enough weight to hear it all but not enough to blow your brains out unless you crank up the volume...then it will. 
 
sound-stage: a good deal bigger than the S400 it feels and very accurate gaming is very precise on all axis its just weird how i know were gun fire is coming from or where teammates are moving and music sounds spaced out a little not just a wall of sound in my head.
 
Imagery: layered and with depth i can easily just pay attention to a particular sound in a song or part of it and just listen to the whole very nice separation.
 
detail: good very good definitely too good. I can see how bad my on board audio is and my phone that once sounded good sounds thin now hile the computer seems veiled i can hear the "jitter" that the comes with a noisy source now and i can tell that these need a much better source to shine but they still sound excellent with what i have.
 
timbre: Very natural. Strikingly real sounding and not at all artificial. Cymbal and drums have a very real sound to them along with every instrument and note. Videos sound natural with definition
 
build: solid and they feel well made the cups are part tough plastic and some kind of metal. The leather band is nice not to firm and not to soft the pads feel cheap though and squishy ill need to get some thicker ones. The drivers have a weird metal housing which is marketed as a sound diffuser(had to dig DEEP into google to get that info). These are not CNT drivers as i once thought but run of the mill material just insaine tunning it seems.
 
comfort: way better that  the S400 the ears get a little hot after along time but that normal with fake leather. The ears do hurt a little after long use since the cups are very shallow i feel the thicker pads will fix this. Not a deal breaker for me though still pretty comfy

 
Nick let me borrow his for a little while. Everything you're saying above is spot on - they are remarkable cans. And I've never been much into caring about how cymbals sound. Now I care - I want them to sounds like they sound out of the mx10 lol.
 
I think they are very attractive and well built as well. I wish that they were more portable (ie shorter cable and fold up in some manner), but those are my only niggles so far.

 

[ourfpshero]

got mine today. found the highs a little harsh, dont like the earpads (same as their smaller sibling the ham1000) I put some skullcandy dj pads i had on them and the bass came right out!

 

[nick n]

So does that drop much off the top or basically the  exposure/transparency?
I've got a few other pads to try out not had time.
 
Any idea roughly the measurements on those pads
 
Thanks for the reminder.
 Keep an eye on the stock end it'll need DeOxit from time to time.

 

[ourfpshero]

The pads are about 3.5 inches across. Drops very little off the top end

 

[nick n]

Thanks. For some reason the stock pads seem to seal up ok for me here, though one would not think that from looking at them.
BUT as with many things there is always room for improvement. I'd guess the decreased inner opening might bump things up , as will as some  slight distance from the ears as they basically rest pretty much on or close to the driver

 

[KSB1978]

  found the highs a little harsh

 
I found the treble harshness is very source dependent. It's a little harsh with Fiio X5 and very harsh from a thinkpad. No such issue using a Yulong U100 or Marantz DAC1... but I'm not particularly sensitive to harsh treble, it seems.

 

[nick n]

I did try it on a portable DAP which is not weak by any means (Ihifi 812v2  with a C&C XO2 amp ) , then switched to the big A-X55  Dynamic Super- A amp and the whole sound bulked up noticably.
Back to stock pads now also.

 

[ourfpshero]

Picture is worth `1000 words'

 

[KSB1978]

  Picture is worth `1000 words'

 
So that's the Skullcandy DJ pads?
I might have to give it a go.