[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

for 70e you can't get better portable phones imo...

Sure you can. JVC HA-S500 are much better. Don't get me wrong, WS55 aren't bad....I had a pair for a while.

 

[milisav]

well i wasn't to specific xD at the local shops where i live i can't get anything better, im not a fan of purchasing over the net i like to audition  teh phones b4 i buy them  xD i was looking for the jvcs u mentioned but the only quality brands i'm able to get my hands on are grado,senn,akg,roland.sennheiser,shure,a&h,at mby some more that i forgot to metnion, as you see very restricted options xD

 

[jamie090]

Hi
Saw this is a couple of months old but would you mind giving me a bit more info on the JVC HA-S500? I'm choosing between these and the Audio technica ATH-WS55 but am struggling to find any direct comparisons. Unfortunately cant find either pair to audition at the moment either which doesnt help.
How does the bass compare between the two? And the comfort?

 

[Dongle]

Sol Republic Tracks are pretty good for bass. They were my favorite sub $100 headphone for a while (until I scored a M50 for $102 -- close enough).

One thing you might want to look into are EQs. Even the bass enhance mode on the E6 will make any standard headphone sound like a monster.

To my ears, the Digizoid does the absolute best job enhancing *just* bass and not messing with the rest of the range (it also amps as well in case you have high-impedance headphones).

I have a Z01 I could sell you. I plan on posting it in the For Sale forum as soon as I'm allowed to (my 30 days still isn't up). 

Seriously, I'll be able to sell the Digizoid no problem so even if you don't buy it from me, you've got to try one yourself. A Digizoid + ATH M50 sounds amazing. I don't even run the 'Zoid at full blast because there's too much bass if I do (it's not that it gets muddy, just tiring depending on the source. EDM = fatiguing). It sounds the way I always want home theaters to sound yet they often don't.

I had a Crossfade LP1. The ears were uncomfortable, but they were definitely basshead. The LP1 sounds like it's 3/4 the way to my M50+Digizoid setup without any amp. They're just uncomfortable on my ears. They also lack the "forwardness" and clarity of my M50

 

[jamie090]

Quote:

Sol Republic Tracks are pretty good for bass. They were my favorite sub $100 headphone for a while (until I scored a M50 for $102 -- close enough).

One thing you might want to look into are EQs. Even the bass enhance mode on the E6 will make any standard headphone sound like a monster.

To my ears, the Digizoid does the absolute best job enhancing *just* bass and not messing with the rest of the range (it also amps as well in case you have high-impedance headphones).

I have a Z01 I could sell you. I plan on posting it in the For Sale forum as soon as I'm allowed to (my 30 days still isn't up). 

Seriously, I'll be able to sell the Digizoid no problem so even if you don't buy it from me, you've got to try one yourself. A Digizoid + ATH M50 sounds amazing. I don't even run the 'Zoid at full blast because there's too much bass if I do (it's not that it gets muddy, just tiring depending on the source. EDM = fatiguing). It sounds the way I always want home theaters to sound yet they often don't.

I had a Crossfade LP1. The ears were uncomfortable, but they were definitely basshead. The LP1 sounds like it's 3/4 the way to my M50+Digizoid setup without any amp. They're just uncomfortable on my ears. They also lack the "forwardness" and clarity of my M50

Cheers for the info dongle. I'll have a look into the headphones you suggested. As a poor student I can only afford to look into the 'phones at the moment, but I'll definitely keep the EQ in mind for the future. I also live in the UK so not sure shipping costs would make it worth it for either of us! Out of interest does the EQ do anything to the sound apart from adjust the base? I've never listened to music through one before (this is my first set of decent headphones so I'm pretty new to this big scary world!). 

 

[Alexei23]

I got a pair of ws55's and liked them but they got into an unfortunately accident! So I decided to get another pair, as I was browsing I found a couple of reviews of the ws55i stating they sounded better and for and extra £8 I thought might as well, and its was true the bass was the same but a tiny bit tighter, and midrange was a tiny bit crisper and top end was brighter.  I was shocked that they had improved them while putting on a mic and volume control knob, but then the rrp price was £30 more.  I got mine on ebay for £62 inc shipping, and as far as I am concerned you will never find better phones for the same price or less, they perform to a imilar level of £100-£150 phones (bear in mind I am a bass head).  What I will say is that the bass does not overraw mids or tops, and doesn't come with that dull muffled sound that cheaper 'bassey' phones tend to produce which might be why the original poster thought the bass was weak. 
 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

I got a pair of ws55's and liked them but they got into an unfortunately accident! So I decided to get another pair, as I was browsing I found a couple of reviews of the ws55i stating they sounded better and for and extra £8 I thought might as well, and its was true the bass was the same but a tiny bit tighter, and midrange was a tiny bit crisper and top end was brighter.  I was shocked that they had improved them while putting on a mic and volume control knob, but then the rrp price was £30 more.  I got mine on ebay for £62 inc shipping, and as far as I am concerned you will never find better phones for the same price or less, they perform to a imilar level of £100-£150 phones (bear in mind I am a bass head).  What I will say is that the bass does not overraw mids or tops, and doesn't come with that dull muffled sound that cheaper 'bassey' phones tend to produce which might be why the original poster thought the bass was weak. 
 

 
Thanks for confirming that WS55i is indeed different than WS55 as many people doesn't believe it. I remember seeing WS55i very heartedly recommended by a "headphone enthusiast" selling headphone site in Finland. It said something along the lines among the very best headphones money can buy for the price, available for demo at the shop.

 

[ninjikiran]

Bass is bad, Isolation is bad, Comfort is bad, Overall sound signature is abysmal.  I bought them believing they would be decent portable headphones but they  were not~  Even at home in a quiet environment they still sounded meh.  The sound was coherent, but weak.  It did not sound like a muffled mess of bass like some beats and fanny wangs but it still wasn't good.  A similar headphone that is fairly tiny and portable is the MDR-v6 (or the 7000 model variant), its cheaper~ and slightly better.  Especially with velour pads if you mod em. (still would not recommend if your ears are tuned to a higher quality of sound)
 
That sums up my feelings about these headphones, I dont need volume control, hell I don't even need absolute comfort but I do require a sound out of them thats good.
 
For a similar price if you can handle IEM's I find the brainwavz M3 to sound very good(Satisfying enough that I won't miss my higher end system while not home).  Though there are a few IEM's in price range that outpace full sized.

 

[Dongle]

Quote:

Cheers for the info dongle. I'll have a look into the headphones you suggested. As a poor student I can only afford to look into the 'phones at the moment, but I'll definitely keep the EQ in mind for the future. I also live in the UK so not sure shipping costs would make it worth it for either of us! Out of interest does the EQ do anything to the sound apart from adjust the base? I've never listened to music through one before (this is my first set of decent headphones so I'm pretty new to this big scary world!). 

I'm not sure how the Digizoid works. I've read the entire thread about it and I'm still uncertain. In my experience, it only seems to affect bass. It goes WAY further than the built-in EQs can in Foobar2000 or iTunes (they seem to distort easily and one band affects the whole range). Apparently the Digizoid is doing something to clean up the "digital" nature of sound and make it sound more analog (by smoothing out the sinewave?)  but that could just be marketing hype. It certainly does amp the incoming signal. I know this because you only have to use like 1/8th of the source volume to achieve the same listening volume.

The only other "amp" I have to compare it against is the Fiio E6 and although I liked EQ2 on the Fiio, even "contour 4" on the ZO hits way harder.. and there are 32 contour levels. I usually run it at 100% or 75%, depending on the headphone I use. It seems to make things sound "fuller" as most amps do. I think that's a result of not having enough current coming out of a given source (iPod, PC). In my view, if you can get one of these 2nd hand for ~$50 and you love bass, it's a no-brainer. It made my M50 go from sounding somewhat bass-weak to nearly basshead. No joke. It makes earbuds suddenly have more bass than you thought they could physically make. 

I love it. And maybe I should never listen to a more expensive amp just in case they show me what I don't know I'm missing

 

[spitf1r3]

bought them 3 days ago paired with Fiio Andes. I love the sound and confort. If you think the confort is crap try Senn HD 205.

 

[WantCowNow]

Hey cmon I have a pair and they aren't that bad, but the highs can become a little harsh sounding and hurts my ears to the point where I have to stop.

 

[CMLNTC]

Guys. Can ask what dap-amp combo would be best for ws55? Headphones are really expensive here so i have a budget of 100$ for the dap-amp combo...

 

[hassankhan]

I too have a atg ws55 but it doesn't sound too loud with my amazon fire phone... audio quality(loudness I guess) improves a bit with my iPhone 5s... so if I buy fiio e3 .... will it improve sound quality/bass/loudness with my amazon fire phone??? Please do reply as I can't get to a conclusion by just watching your video