This isn't really a straight copy from my blog post here, but it still is a copy. More pictures and more in-depth look is in this 5-part review-journal.
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A huge thank you to Reid Heath Audio and warrenpchi for making this review possible, and moreso the person in charge of contacting me. Without them, I wouldn’t have heard this marvelous IEM: the MA350

Accessories and build quality

You can check out here for more meandering on the package, but it has the usual package of IEMs: two more pairs of tips at small and large size, and a cloth pouch. Build quality is actually good: aluminium shells and ample strain relief on the speaker end, cloth-sheathed cable that’s not memory-prone, but sometimes can tangle if you’re not using the pouch, and ending with a gold-plated straight jack; although I find that the strain relief on the jack to be too soft to my liking.

The IEM tips are very good actually but err on the side of caution when you’re taking them off, lest you’ll end up like me with a torn tip. I’ve mentioned this to them and it is by design. Thankfully they sent me another set of tips and also this picture on how they recommend to put in the tips back.

And as can be seen there, it also has a narrow nozzle and circular shell, making it possible either to wear it cable down or cable up, where you wound the cable up above your ear before putting it in. I recommend wearing it cable up since the microphonics is not too forgiving when you’re moving. More on the cable here.

Generally though, after fiddling for a seal and such, I find it quite comfortable to last me at least 2 hours before feeling the need to take it off. Quite the ways you can go in that time, I feel.

Sound signature

Technically, this is a very capable IEM for the price; heck, sometimes I favor this more than my FXT90.

Soundstage is quite good; can go head-to-head with my FXT90 on most occasion. On fast and complex songs though, it can get a bit congested, the soundstage collapsed a little bit, the imaging becoming a bit smeared. This is where my FXT90 rise up. Otherwise, imaging and soundstage is superb.

Isolation is above good at the best of times, mediocre at the worst. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being crap isolation and 10 is total silence, I’d place it on 7 for normal noise (conversations), and 4 for loud BG noise (subways, trains, etc.) with music running at approximately 80 dB.

To my taste, the MA350 works best with songs that employ double bass, bass guitars, kick drums, etc. but not really with artificial bass. The strength of this IEM lies at its subbass without sacrificing other frequency range. The other thing that I like is the generally warm sound. For example it can make a biting, sizzling metal song into a flurry of fast-paced punches of the snare drums, slightly stealing the spotlight from the electric guitar but .

Getting a bit more in-depth, this IEM is bass-focused with polite treble and clear mids. Mind you though the above paragraphs work better at conveying how it would be like out and about; the following paragraphs are when the environment is quieter.

The bass impact is strong; it’s a tiny bit flabby but not to the point of terribleness. The texture of it is also another plus point for the bass that works quite well with jazz and some classical like I alluded earlier. Not to forget is the depth and quality of the bass too. If you’re like me and listen to a variety of genre and there’s that one dubstep song that you like (with real subbass), then rest assured the lowest bass can still be felt. The subbass is quite strong and detailed; amazing bass on most songs I’ve listened to. In some instance there can be a slight change to the focus on some songs, I find it amusing and not for the worst. As a result of this bass focus though, the overall sound will be warm. Mind you though that I’m not a basshead in anyway, but this is easily what I love about the MA350.

Despite all of that, there’s no bleeding into the mids that I can detech. The mids are still clear-sounding and mellow due to the warmth; nothing shouty nor grating at all. Vocals all sound exceptional, esp. for female vocals, and the male vocals are still no slouch. Upper mids seem to be where the midrange shines; snare drums sounds fast and clear, and I can hear almost each beat on fast passages. Surprisingly, they are not recessed in any way, which is amazing I might add.

And then comes the polite treble. I’d say that it’s not as forward/focused as the bass and I assume it’s on the same level as the mids. Not to say that you will not be able to hear anything in the range though. The treble is still quite detailed and able to deliver a sense of air and soundstage, without losing the brightness of bright songs. No sibilance at all, but this is expected when the treble is polite.

Overall, it is a bass-focused IEM, but not in any way offensively excessive, with clear mids, detailed yet polite treble with a good enough soundstage and imaging for less complex and busy songs. Good genre width, works absolutely well straight out of my phone without going high on the volume with good isolation to block out the hubbub of a commuter’s life and comfortable to boot. All of that for $40 MSRP with 3 years warranty, I reckon that this is a great buy for anyone that’s looking to get better sound but not wanting to drop lots of cash.

 
Before I get into it, I'm going to list what I did listen to the most when I evaluate the JVC.
 
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei OSTs, an anime OST that features a myriad of genres, and songs that I have listened to so many times. This helps a lot because I can recognize any changes, most of the time.
Muse, mostly from the album "Black Holes and Revolutions" and "The Resistance".
A few other bands and artists on and off like Coldplay, Keane, Florence + the Machine, Adele, Bloc Party, and a few other anime OSTs like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann's OST and Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica's OST. As I have seen time and again, most of anime OST cover so broad a genre that I need to listen to them.
When I'm in front of my desk, I listen to them from my laptop using Foobar 2000 through a Fiio E10 USB DAC/amp device. When I'm out and about, I use my trusty 2-year-old Nokia N8. Music are mostly in .flac and 320 kbps .mp3 when on my laptop, and only mp3 on my phone.
 
While I'd like to start with the usual way people write reviews, I am not experienced enough to write that way. As such, I will try to write about what I hear separately by general frequency range, and will link to YouTube samples to some of the songs that truly highlights this IEM.
 
Bass is punchy and very impactful, but not boomy or flabby. Just enough amount of bass for a non-basshead to love it. I think the bass extension is quite low, but as I don't listen to many bass-heavy songs, the strongest I could think are from Muse, I can't really confirm this. It's not too overpowering, although when a particular song is mastered with gobs of bass, it will deliver gobs of bass, not more, not less. IMO they are also quite accurate, but as I said before, my lack of experience does hinder this a lot.
 
Vocals are to die for with these, especially for female vocals. The way the vocals are presented through the JVC is just phenominal. While very slightly recessed compared to other elements of a song or instruments, they are not veiled and remain clear and detailed, even through a very busy song. I find the treble are not forward nor recessed. There is no sibilance that I could hear, and enough sparkle to brighten a song but not being painfully so.
 
Vocals more or less are centre, with it sounding like it comes from the back of your skull. They sound very intimate, and drowned out a bit when there's bass going on in a song. IMO the soundstage is fairly wide; I reckon it extends to 30 cm, half a meter or so left and right, but not a lot in front and behind. Instrument separation are superb; on busy tracks, such as some of the instrumentals from the aforementioned Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei OST, I can hear the different instruments playing quite well. But what's great about it is that it doesn't sound disjointed or too separate, all seem to be in sync with each other.
 
Overall though, I think the FXT90 is balanced on both ends in a very small 'U' shape frequency response, with a very slight bass forwardness. Also, I think this is a quite warm sounding IEM, but no 'veil' or anything covering the treble and mids.
 
For more thoughts, songs I find to be so perfect with these and pictures, you can check out my blog post.

 
This is my first 8 hours of my portapros impression (on a intercity bus, in less than ideal environment for an open can. EDIT 1: this was on the day of purchase).
 
First thing that stands out: separation of a song's different elements. Made me hear more, yet still sounds fun and engaging. Prominent trumpets, horns, cymbals, etc. Those high notes sounds almost intruding in certain parts of a song. Vocals are slightly recessed compared to other elements. Bass is adequate, but not always. Bass guitars and similar sounds (cello, etc.) sounds great, but kick drum, impact bass and the like almost as if its not enough for me, and I'm not a basshead in any way. String instruments sounds gorgeous, prominent in the songs I listened to.
 
For curiosity's sake, I listened to my SZS playlist, the whole Coldplay - Viva la Vida album, Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto album, Bloc Party - Intimacy, and Bloc Party - Weekend at the City albums. A 30 Seconds to Mars song (The Kill), and a HD video I downloaded of The Piano Guys song called "Jon Schmidt - Michael Meets Mozart".

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EDIT 1 (February 10, 2012): Now that I have listened to it more on my E10, I can say that the bass is overpowering, quite boomy and less punchy then I anticipated in the earlier stated environment. The highs are less prominent than I remember on the bus too, but is still adequate enough to be neither a bother or feeling inadequate. Vocals still sounds recessed to my liking.
 
Also the day before, I was using it on the Metro (subway), and certainly the boosted bass helps it sounds almost not bassy, as outside noise drowns out the bass. Of course, louder noise will drown out everything, but as far as I can hear in moderately loud noise, the boosted bass helps it sounds "balanced" for a lack of a better term and/or experience. I find it quite a similar experience as on the intercity bus.
 
Still haven't compared it to my CAL! yet.

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Now that I have done the quarter mod (where you cut a hole the size of a quarter on the ear cushions), I can say that the problems I had before (slightly boomy bass, recessed mids/vocals and "just-there" highs) are corrected to a degree. Bass is still very prominent, but not boomy, and rumbles deep. Mids and vocals now, to my glee, are forward and prominent, yet not overpowering. And the highs achieved a somewhat more vibrancy than before. 
 
And I also have compared to my CAL! also. Before and after the quarter mod, I can say that I prefer my PP more than my CAL!. I can't put a finger on why, but my guess is that while the PP are on-ears, the CAL!'s ear cup just exert pressure a little bit too much for prolonged wear, even after a long time stretched on books. Virtually to my inexperienced ears, they are almost the same. I feel that the PP have more deeper bass reach, but as far as I can tell that's it. Will update this after some more time.

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EDIT 2 (February 24, 2012): Finally I can agree with the majority who had used this headphone; that they are bassy 'phones. At first to my ears they are not as bassy as people here made out to be, and makes less sense after I did the quarter mod. But then tonight, after a long time of constant use (to the point of neglecting my CAL), I finally hear the bassiness of it. But I think Koss purposefully made them bassy because they are to be used primarily outdoors, where there are a lot of external noise to intrude in. While they do work for low level noise (just walking around, with the occasional cars passing by) and somewhat work for medium level noise (on a bus), that they sound almost balanced, IMO, but for high level noise (in the subway) they are drowned out by the noise. In a relatively quite environment, they are bassy. A bit boomy, not to my liking, but they are for the most part still punchy and delivers deep bass too. Otherwise, my views are still the same. To my chagrin, it's 2 of MUSE albums that showed me the bass.
 
Compared to my CAL, I can say I like my CAL better, just because the bass aren't as boomy as the PP. Maybe I need to listen to both of those albums again.

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EDIT March 5 2012
 
This may sound crazy, and this may just be some sort of placebo or something, but I just cut open a bit more of the earpad, and the vocals are now a little more recessed now, yet the bass and highs are somehow tighter now. Before the opening I cut out is 19. cm (0.7 inches) I expand the cut to 2.4 cm (0.9 inches).
 
Now I seem to slightly hate it now.
 
On the other hand, I have the HD414 pads incoming, so expect something updated by then.

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I will update this when I get more time on it and get more familiar to the sound. And I will also be comparing this to my CAL!. If I remember.
This will mostly be final. But if there are anymore revelations and hidden secrets, I will add below. Hope my eclectic impressions help someone made a more informed purchase.
I lied. Now I added a felt ring "acoustic bass lens" after changing the pads to the HD414 pads. I already did the write up on my blog, and I could use some views, so here it is.