Quote:
Originally Posted by kojebee /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Hi james444,
A short comparison with the Ortofons would be great!
I notice now that the Panasonics can be bought for $110 now, which is indeed a steal.
They have been keepers for me. Drums, cymbals etc sound so realistic to me. Timbre is a word I like to use for these phones. Musical and fun, which get my toes tapping. I've bought and sold many more expensive phones ($110+) because I've been disappointed in some way.
They have a warm and lushious bass. If the recording has bass, the Pannys will bring it to the table. Only yesterday I was listening to some phones, and for example, the Dr. Dre phones had too much bass compared to what should be in the recording imo. It detracted me away from the music, rather than pull me in. I listened to Etymotic ER4S again (previously owned them), and still thought that the bass is lacking on some recordings.
The build quality is second to none. So they are great for everyday use.
The Panasonics are and have been keepers. The question I would now ask myself is this: For $110, what could I replace them with? I also enjoy the RE0, although they have a more of an Ety sound signature, but reach for the Pannys about 80% of the time. Easy to drive, and imo, a nice match for the Ipod Classic.
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Hi kojebee, thanks again for bringing these to my attention! There's a lot to like about the Panasonics and for $110 they should be up among the best bang/buck phones currently available.
Funny you ask about A/Bing with the Ortofons, because my first impression out of the box was "poor man's e-Q7". Not meant in a derogative way, more like "if you can't afford the Ortofons these would be an excellent and cheaper alternative".
Anyway, this morning I took some time with them and here are my impressions:
The highs on both IEMs are very good, extended and detailed. Sparkle is about the same too, I think they have both equally good highs, better than most other IEMs I know. In the midrange differences become more obvious, both stay kinda relaxed and don't over-emphasize voices, but the HJE900 are a bit warmer. Which brings us to the lows, where I think the HJE900 have some similarity to the IE8, a bit of an upper bass/lower mids hump. Not nearly as enormous as the Senns' but it's noticable and while it doesn't
invade the midrange it surely adds to a warmer presentation. The e-Q7 are more neutral, pretty much linear and stay very controlled down to the lowest frequencies. Bass reaches quite low on both, not FX500 or Atrios territory, but both have sufficient output at 30-40Hz. The Panasonics have typical DD punchy bass, but a bit faster and better controlled than most dynamic driver based IEMs I've heard. IMO the e-Q7 are in their own league basswise, presumably due to their special BA-driver. It's really hard to describe if you haven't heard it yourself, but let me put it this way: Imagine the clarity/transparency of the Panasonics highs extended way down to the lowest lows - this is how the Ortofons sound to me. Soundstage and imaging is a tad better on the e-Q7 but in no way bad with the HJE900.
Overall these are both very good phones and their differences in sound quality are far more subtle than in price, which makes the Panasonic HJE900 the clear bang/buck winner IMO.
Edit: Sorry to the OP for elaborating that long on specific IEMs, but maybe this is usefull for you, too. However, next time I'm gonna bump that old Panasonics thread...
I would definitely be grateful.
