Napilopez
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2009
- Posts
- 1,025
- Likes
- 294
[size=small]A Noob's Review[/size]
Hey guys, just thought I'd contribute back to this community that helped me tons. In another thread I asked for advice as to which headphones to get my sis as an early Christmas present. My sister has had the ATH-FC700A s for a week now, and I've had the HA-RX700 s for a couple of days. While my sister tends towards rock, I listen to pretty much everything you can think of, and at balanced proportions... You name a genre, chances are I have it on my playlist.
I'm not knowledgeable enough to give the best assessment, but I am quite enjoying these headphones, easily the best 2 we've had(previous best were old bose QC1s... lol). I'm really new to all this, although I've done quite a bit of research, so forgive me as I will probably sound very noobish. My set up is extremely basic: me and my sister's integrated sound cards in our laptops, and my sisters iPod Touch. Almost everything I listened to was 256-320 kbps mp3s, with a couple of Vorbis and Flac files.
[size=x-small]Comfort[/size]
Comfort wise, they are both pretty comfortable. The FC700A is supra-aural, while the RX700 is circum. I have heard people mentioning discomfort with the ATs, but neither I nor my sis have felt any after hours of listening. The JVCs are quite comfortable as well. Neither are the most comfortable headphones I've ever tried, but they are still very wearable. I actually pefer the ATs, if only because I can rest on my side or lean my head on my arm if I'm laying on the bead or something, because they are smaller.
[size=x-small]Size[/size]
Speaking of size, the HARX700s are HUGE,the press pictures don't do them justice. It might be also jus the wide headband giving that impression, but, yea its a pretty large set. The FC700 in it's folded form is only slightly bigger than a single RX700 earcup. The RX700s actually look a good deal nicer than I expected though, the construction is quite nice for almost fully plastic. Just the pads aren't as squishy as I'd like =P
[size=x-small]Sound[/size]
Now what matters, the sound. Unfortunately, this is the area I can detail the least, since I just don't know my ways around the terminology much yet, but I'll try. I don't own any uber awesome headphones or other audio reference point, so I will compare the phones to eachother. It should go without saying they are light years better than my Gummies or my sisters stock iPod phones. I have however been able to try out a few other headphones at J&R, just I can't really compare because they were short listening sessions.
[size=x-small]ATH-FC700[/size]
The ATH-FC700s were impressive from the start. Big, punchy bas, but detailed mids and highs. The only stand-out issue was excessive sibilance, which got pretty annoying and which I've seen in other reviews. Luckily, a week after purchased, this problem seems to have pretty much disappeared. The big bass makes this great and fun for movies or movie soundtracks, I find. They also have impressive soundtage imo. I find it harder to decide whether it has better soundstaging than the JVCs or not. Overall, there seems to be a bit of emphasis on the lower end, but it does not really sacrifice the highs for this. It definitely sounds great for much contemporary music.
[size=x-small]HA-RX700[/size]
The JVCs are very dissapointing when you first try them. They sound muddy, the bass too boomy, and there is a lack of detail overall. If I hadn't read about the burn-in times needed to get these headphones at optimum(about 150 hours, but they start sounding a lot better by 10 hours), I would've been quite sad. After 6 hours of continuous play or something, I noticed a substantial improvement in clarity and balance, and really it's only gotten better from there. There was still a small, but noticeable, muffling of the mids and highs. Fortunately I found a found a mod for the RX900 which was applicable to the RX700 that worked wonders, involving removing some felt above the drivers. http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/jvc...-about-381303/
I only did the first mod because I was fine with the bass one the RX700, which is already smaller than that on the 900s, it seems, so no need to subdue it even more. The mod I did perform though totally cleared up the mids and highs, things sound much more natural, and soundstaging was seemingly much improved as well. It wasn't necessarily bigger or smaller, but less "blurry" if that makes any sense.
[size=x-small]Comparison, Conclusion, and Other Thoughts[/size]
Comparing them to eachother, the RX700s are the more balanced and detailed sounding headphones imo, but the FC700s might be more fun for things big on bass. They both have quite nice soundstaging, and burn in helps them both a good deal, though moreso on the JVCs(like seriously, the effect is amazing). I prefer the JVCs though, they are comparable to many headphones I've heard costing multiples of its own price. If anything they blow the Dr Dres and anything bose I've heard out the water, all for 34 bucks XD.
As for leakage, both keep sound in decently. They aren't totally devoid of leakage, but good enough for me. The FC700s leak less. They won't block out noise by only having them on, but once the music starts, they both do this quite well.
Well, hope this is helpful to someone, I'm very happy to have joined this community, I'm enjoying music like never before! My only regret for having bought the RX700s is that I've heard many accounts of them being better than triply expensive headphones, which will make it hard for me to choose my next set of cans unless I save up for HD800s or something!
Any questions, ask away.
P.S. Sorry for the image quality, my celphone was the best I could do.
Hey guys, just thought I'd contribute back to this community that helped me tons. In another thread I asked for advice as to which headphones to get my sis as an early Christmas present. My sister has had the ATH-FC700A s for a week now, and I've had the HA-RX700 s for a couple of days. While my sister tends towards rock, I listen to pretty much everything you can think of, and at balanced proportions... You name a genre, chances are I have it on my playlist.
I'm not knowledgeable enough to give the best assessment, but I am quite enjoying these headphones, easily the best 2 we've had(previous best were old bose QC1s... lol). I'm really new to all this, although I've done quite a bit of research, so forgive me as I will probably sound very noobish. My set up is extremely basic: me and my sister's integrated sound cards in our laptops, and my sisters iPod Touch. Almost everything I listened to was 256-320 kbps mp3s, with a couple of Vorbis and Flac files.
[size=x-small]Comfort[/size]
Comfort wise, they are both pretty comfortable. The FC700A is supra-aural, while the RX700 is circum. I have heard people mentioning discomfort with the ATs, but neither I nor my sis have felt any after hours of listening. The JVCs are quite comfortable as well. Neither are the most comfortable headphones I've ever tried, but they are still very wearable. I actually pefer the ATs, if only because I can rest on my side or lean my head on my arm if I'm laying on the bead or something, because they are smaller.
[size=x-small]Size[/size]
Speaking of size, the HARX700s are HUGE,the press pictures don't do them justice. It might be also jus the wide headband giving that impression, but, yea its a pretty large set. The FC700 in it's folded form is only slightly bigger than a single RX700 earcup. The RX700s actually look a good deal nicer than I expected though, the construction is quite nice for almost fully plastic. Just the pads aren't as squishy as I'd like =P
[size=x-small]Sound[/size]
Now what matters, the sound. Unfortunately, this is the area I can detail the least, since I just don't know my ways around the terminology much yet, but I'll try. I don't own any uber awesome headphones or other audio reference point, so I will compare the phones to eachother. It should go without saying they are light years better than my Gummies or my sisters stock iPod phones. I have however been able to try out a few other headphones at J&R, just I can't really compare because they were short listening sessions.
[size=x-small]ATH-FC700[/size]
The ATH-FC700s were impressive from the start. Big, punchy bas, but detailed mids and highs. The only stand-out issue was excessive sibilance, which got pretty annoying and which I've seen in other reviews. Luckily, a week after purchased, this problem seems to have pretty much disappeared. The big bass makes this great and fun for movies or movie soundtracks, I find. They also have impressive soundtage imo. I find it harder to decide whether it has better soundstaging than the JVCs or not. Overall, there seems to be a bit of emphasis on the lower end, but it does not really sacrifice the highs for this. It definitely sounds great for much contemporary music.
[size=x-small]HA-RX700[/size]
The JVCs are very dissapointing when you first try them. They sound muddy, the bass too boomy, and there is a lack of detail overall. If I hadn't read about the burn-in times needed to get these headphones at optimum(about 150 hours, but they start sounding a lot better by 10 hours), I would've been quite sad. After 6 hours of continuous play or something, I noticed a substantial improvement in clarity and balance, and really it's only gotten better from there. There was still a small, but noticeable, muffling of the mids and highs. Fortunately I found a found a mod for the RX900 which was applicable to the RX700 that worked wonders, involving removing some felt above the drivers. http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/jvc...-about-381303/
I only did the first mod because I was fine with the bass one the RX700, which is already smaller than that on the 900s, it seems, so no need to subdue it even more. The mod I did perform though totally cleared up the mids and highs, things sound much more natural, and soundstaging was seemingly much improved as well. It wasn't necessarily bigger or smaller, but less "blurry" if that makes any sense.
[size=x-small]Comparison, Conclusion, and Other Thoughts[/size]
Comparing them to eachother, the RX700s are the more balanced and detailed sounding headphones imo, but the FC700s might be more fun for things big on bass. They both have quite nice soundstaging, and burn in helps them both a good deal, though moreso on the JVCs(like seriously, the effect is amazing). I prefer the JVCs though, they are comparable to many headphones I've heard costing multiples of its own price. If anything they blow the Dr Dres and anything bose I've heard out the water, all for 34 bucks XD.
As for leakage, both keep sound in decently. They aren't totally devoid of leakage, but good enough for me. The FC700s leak less. They won't block out noise by only having them on, but once the music starts, they both do this quite well.
Well, hope this is helpful to someone, I'm very happy to have joined this community, I'm enjoying music like never before! My only regret for having bought the RX700s is that I've heard many accounts of them being better than triply expensive headphones, which will make it hard for me to choose my next set of cans unless I save up for HD800s or something!
Any questions, ask away.
P.S. Sorry for the image quality, my celphone was the best I could do.
