[brooksiehockey]

It turns out I am a basshead (a new term I learned from Head-fi) which resulted in my purchase of the JVC FX101s which have garnered unanimous praise for their bass.  However, I have found their bass inferior to my previous earbuds (Meelectronic SP51s) and even to my new Vsonic Gr02 BE(which I love!) Are my expectations too high for a $20 IEM or are they perhaps defective? If so, what would be the next bass monster upgrade? Sony XB90? Turbine? Hippo?  I mostly listen to rap and electronic music. I'm pretty sure they have a good seal. Thanks!

 

[PocketSmiley]

Quote:

It turns out I am a basshead (a new term I learned from Head-fi) which resulted in my purchase of the JVC FX101s which have garnered unanimous praise for their bass.  However, I have found their bass inferior to my previous earbuds (Meelectronic SP51s) and even to my new Vsonic Gr02 BE(which I love!) Are my expectations too high for a $20 IEM or are they perhaps defective? If so, what would be the next bass monster upgrade? Sony XB90? Turbine? Hippo?  I mostly listen to rap and electronic music. I'm pretty sure they have a good seal. Thanks!

 
Inferior in what way?
 
I haven't tried the GR02-BE nor the SP51, but I've tested the FX101 and while the FX101 bass distorts at dangerously loud volumes, it is very impressive with the depth, the size, and the punch. The bass is similar to that of the Sennheiser CX500 at normal listening levels, but the CX500 (which is the top of my list for basshead IEM's) can go louder without distortion. Also, Joker (the most prolific and most read head-fi reviewer) has reviewed both the GR02-BE and the FX101; Joker described the GR02 bass as "punchy, but not inaccurate and the earphone is not quite a bass monster" while the FX101 bass "puts it among the hardest-hitting in-ears on the market ... easily beats the MEElectronic M9 ... the FX101 probably won’t be purchased by those looking for anything less than a bass monster."
 
Also, can you post pictures of your headphones because there are so many "gorilla"/guerilla marketers in here with the sole purpose of disinformation. It may be too much of an inconvenience for you but you just joined and all and I've been seeing positive comments about the GR02 recently from suspicious new members. I might consider getting the GR02 to verify, as I don't mind being hyped--I believe that a product achieving hype is a feat in itself and deserves attention, given how difficult that is in a saturated market. I've also read positive reviews for the SP51, and have read an honest-sounding review that it was a mind-blowing upgrade from the CX300/EP-630 (the most popular classic and also my benchmark).
 
So yeah, your expectations might be "too high" if the GR02 and the SP51 indeed drop bass like bombs. But regardless of the price difference, I believe the FX101 bass should not be THAT inferior as how you make it sound. Or perhaps the bass timbre of the GR02 and the SP51 have a midtohigh-bass hump that you've grown to love, which sounds like "TOUG" and may appear to be "louder" with a "bigger" kick, but to me and some other bassheads consider "bloated". Again this might be a taste-difference. Or you could simply be right.
 
Also you should've just bought the FX101G for only $14 shipped from Amazon marketplace if you don't mind the color green haha.
 
 
BTW
 
I'm ALWAYS looking for the "next bass monster upgrade" and the current top of my basshead list is the already discontinued Sennheiser CX500/CX400. Last week I just spent almost $200 for 5 pairs of authentic CX400/CX500's which I'm going to keep with me for the rest of my life. I wish to try the SP51 and the GR02BE, and also the Sony XB500 and the Monster Turbine.

 

[brooksiehockey]

Thanks so much for the reply!!  Ya I suppose my post could sound like a Vsonic marketer. I was surprised by the hype as well which is why I bought them. Sure I'll upload a picture of the FX101s. They're at home and I'm at school.
 
It looks like I need to get better at describing the sound  ie. punchy, sub-bass, mid-high bass hump, etc. I read all of Joker's reviews for those headphones (I also have the FX40 btw.) He has quite the gift. That's why I waited to read his review on them before I questioned whether of not they were defective. As soon as I saw his review that he posted  I knew that something must be wrong because the bass is not that heavy. I did read another post where someone had a similar problem. I'm going to fiddle with the tips when I get home but I feel like they must be defective. The SP51s were great (coming from a non-audiophile) until they stopped working after about 14 months. The GR02 BE and the SP51s both had a more "boomy" bass. It felt more powerful. I don't really know how else to describe bass.
 
Anyways thanks so much for the reply. I'm definitely not looking to spend a bunch of money on headphones right now, which is why I bought the FX101s after I already had the GR02 BE and FX40s. I just wanted more bass. I've heard good things about the CX500 on the forums. Can you still get legit ones online? Hopefully Joker will review the Sony XB90s soon because they seem to be the best sub $100 bass heavy IEM on the market according to the forums (also the hardest to get lol)  Thanks again!

 

[PocketSmiley]

Quote:

Thanks so much for the reply!!  Ya I suppose my post could sound like a Vsonic marketer. I was surprised by the hype as well which is why I bought them. Sure I'll upload a picture of the FX101s. They're at home and I'm at school.
 
It looks like I need to get better at describing the sound  ie. punchy, sub-bass, mid-high bass hump, etc. I read all of Joker's reviews for those headphones (I also have the FX40 btw.) He has quite the gift. That's why I waited to read his review on them before I questioned whether of not they were defective. As soon as I saw his review that he posted  I knew that something must be wrong because the bass is not that heavy. I did read another post where someone had a similar problem. I'm going to fiddle with the tips when I get home but I feel like they must be defective. The SP51s were great (coming from a non-audiophile) until they stopped working after about 14 months. The GR02 BE and the SP51s both had a more "boomy" bass. It felt more powerful. I don't really know how else to describe bass.
 
Anyways thanks so much for the reply. I'm definitely not looking to spend a bunch of money on headphones right now, which is why I bought the FX101s after I already had the GR02 BE and FX40s. I just wanted more bass. I've heard good things about the CX500 on the forums. Can you still get legit ones online? Hopefully Joker will review the Sony XB90s soon because they seem to be the best sub $100 bass heavy IEM on the market according to the forums (also the hardest to get lol)  Thanks again!

 
Okay sounds legit LOL (I'm the bigger sucker 'cause I tried hundreds of dollars worth of headphones hyped in here and only FX101 satisfied me bass-wise, but still it could not top my CX500/CX400). Yeah, I'll just PM you the store since it's extremely rare to find a trusted seller of authentic CX400's/CX500's. I guarantee that they're genuine as they sound exactly the same as my authentic CX400 I got from Newegg some years ago. They easily pass my Simple Bass Test (turning on multiple bass boost filters and raising the volume up to my loudness threshold, which is dangerously loud) that even the FX101 failed to do. Anyway, it seems that your claim is reasonable given the GR02-BE and SP51 reviews, especially when I saw the  bass plates in the SP51. I can't guarantee you that the CX500 is better than your current headphones but it is definitely the top of my list, so I appreciate info about anything that can outperform them basswise. (As you can see, have seen, and will see in my headphone writings I generously interchange the plurality of headphones in subject-verb agreements, like, there are times that I refer to them as plural and sometimes I treat it as singular, as a pair of headphones. This confusing pair-plurality needs a thread of its own haha.)
 
BTW, I'm not one for audiophile jargon myself as I'm no audiophile either, but ever since I started "testing" headphones for bass I needed to distinguish between different kinds of bass timbre (harmonics/what makes a musical instrument sound different from another at the same fundamental frequency; although the beat produced by a bass drum is considered noise by physicists). For example, I tried the Luda SL99 from a recommendation in here and while they can drive bass loud, the timbre is not for me as the bass sounds "bloated" with the boosted midtohigh-bass. I can only communicate bass timbre through onomatopoeia, e.g. the midtohigh-bass hump sounds like "TOUG" (like the SL99) and the midtolow-bass hump which is my preference is "TUUD" (FX101 at normal volume) and then there's the low/sub-bass hump that sounds like "tUud" (Sony MH1-C; notice how the U goes deeper with a sub-bass rumble). Imagine melodic bass drums arranged from low to high, and then figure which drum is played louder when listening to your headphones. At least that's what I do.
 
BTW, I just read that you got the FX40? The FX101 should be superior to the FX40 bass-wise (as assured to me by head-fiers when I asked), so you can at least verify if you did get a defective pair with that.

 

[JK1]

" As soon as I saw his review that he posted I knew that something must be wrong because the bass is not that heavy."
 
Sounds like  you aren't getting a good seal. Perhaps you need different tips. Which player are you using?

 

[PocketSmiley]

Quote:

" As soon as I saw his review that he posted I knew that something must be wrong because the bass is not that heavy."
 
Sounds like  you aren't getting a good seal. Perhaps you need different tips. Which player are you using?

 
I was just talking to him privately and he tried the FX101 again and compared them with the GR02-BE and he had a change of mind. He said he was spoiled by his car subwoofer before trying the FX101 and it's been a long time since he heard the GR02-BE. It should be about time that he tells the details of this plot-twist himself d:
 
Hey Brook could you please update your original post with what you just told me? Thanks.

 

[brooksiehockey]

Quote:

 
I was just talking to him privately and he tried the FX101 again and compared them with the GR02-BE and he had a change of mind. He said he was spoiled by his car subwoofer before trying the FX101 and it's been a long time since he heard the GR02-BE. It should be about time that he tells the details of this plot-twist himself d:
 
Hey Brook could you please update your original post with what you just told me? Thanks.

Sure thing.
 
UPTDATE:
Okay so I tried some new tips with the FX101s and compared them to the GR02 BE and kept switching back and forth. I think I'm going crazy because this time the FX101s seemed to have a stronger bass with some songs. Sometimes I could not tell a difference. Still, the 101s  seem better than the last time I tried them. I think I've been spoiled by a huge sub in my car and expected too much from the FX101s because of exaggerated reviews like "the bass is almost too much to handle" and "the most extreme bass ever." I guess there's only so much bass you can get from IEMs, or perhaps I just need to spend more money haha. Thanks again!

 

[brooksiehockey]

I tried new tips and it seemed to help thanks. Player? I just use either my ipod touch or laptop with itunes or spotify premium. I'm guessing there's a better way to go that I don't know about....

 

[brooksiehockey]

Quote:

" As soon as I saw his review that he posted I knew that something must be wrong because the bass is not that heavy."
 
Sounds like  you aren't getting a good seal. Perhaps you need different tips. Which player are you using?

I tried new tips and it seemed to help thanks. Player? I just use either my ipod touch or laptop with itunes or spotify premium. I'm guessing there's a better way to go that I don't know about....

 

[Bassheadspl]

The FX101 can only provide so much bass. If you after big quantity of bass that you can feel all over your head, i would suggest you the Sony XB500 headphones. With a good headphone amp like the digizoid ZO2, the XB500 headphones will satisfy your bass cravings.

 

[JK1]

If you are serious about wanting plenty of deep bass, then you need an IEM with larger drivers. Try the Sony MDR-XB60EX($35 on Amazon) for example, which has 13.5 mm drivers. The JVC HA-FX101 has 8.5 mm drivers. There is even the Sony MDR-XB90EX which has 16mm drivers, but is around $100 and needs to be ordered from Japan.
I have the Sony MDR-EX210B which has 13.5mm drivers, and its bass reaches much deeper than the HAFX101. The EX210B isn't even listed as an extra bass earphone. Its bass is strong though and reaches deep. I imagine the XB60Ex might even have the same 13.5mm drivers as the EX210B, however their enclosures are very different. I guess the bass on the XB60Ex does sound exaggerated, although many are looking for that. The HAFX101 boosts the upper badd and midbase, but is lacking in deep bass.