[Noobmachine]

Personally I didn't enjoy the 850's, and I've never really bothered to try that many lower end IEMs (maybe the GR07 counts) but personally I think you may want to give them a try. I'm used to a certain quality of IEM ($600> snob here ) but I've come to appreciate that some cheaper models sound very good. As you've stated the balance on the 850 is terrible, maybe you might want to try these others:
1. Grado GR10, they're relatively neutral to my ears, with a slight tilt towards the higher frequencies, but overall what I'd call balanced.

2. Vsonic GR07, also very neutral, but rather thin in the highs, but otherwise very very good.

3. Final Audio Heaven V, I'm not sure if this counts in this price range, but they're a phenomenal and unique IEM, relatively fast and quite natural.

 

[omastic]

   
Funny that, after all the venting and ranting about v-shaped phones, your favorite "truly balanced" IEMs measure like....
 
... a v-shaped phone. 

 

 
 
Source: M.R.O.

The TDK ie800 are not that V shaped and are far less colored than anything in the JVC line IMHO. Yes it measures like a V shaped phone but only in relation to the BA200, which has a slightly watered down treble response and warmer than neutral sound signature IMHO. Just my 2 cents. 

 

[james444]

  The TDK ie800 are not that V shaped and are far less colored than anything in the JVC line IMHO. Yes it measures like a V shaped phone but only in relation to the BA200, which has a slightly watered down treble response and warmer than neutral sound signature IMHO. Just my 2 cents. 

 
Fair enough, though I don't think the relation to the BA200 is relevant in that context. But I'm sure you noticed that wink in my post, no?
 
Anyway, while I'm all for honest and straightforward reviews, IMHO if you're throwing around hyperboles and absolutes like the OP, you better get your facts straight. That's my 2 cents.

 

[jelt2359]

 
One of these is the FX850, the other is the IE800. Same site measuring both.

 

[omastic]

   
Fair enough, though I don't think the relation to the BA200 is relevant in that context. But I'm sure you noticed that wink in my post, no?
 
Anyway, while I'm all for honest and straightforward reviews, IMHO if you're throwing around hyperboles and absolutes like the OP, you better get your facts straight. That's my 2 cents.

 
Umm, exactly where did I throw around hyperboles and absolutes? I only mentioned that the ie800 are not as V shaped as the FX850, and I also mentioned that it is my opinion. Or am I not allowed to do that?
 
You are asking me to get my facts straight. I did not provide any facts. I only stated my opinion.  
 
Your reaction was uncalled for. 

 

[jelt2359]

   
Umm, exactly where did I throw around hyperboles and absolutes? I only mentioned that the ie800 are not as V shaped as the FX850, and I also mentioned that it is my opinion. Or am I not allowed to do that?
 
You are asking me to get my facts straight. I did not provide any facts. I only stated my opinion.  
 
Your reaction was uncalled for. 

OP means original poster, aka "ohcrapgorillas"

 

[james444]

OP means original poster, aka "ohcrapgorillas"

 
^ This. Thanks for clarifying!

 

[omastic]

   
^ This. Thanks for clarifying!

I apologize. I should have read your post more carefully. And thanks @jelt2359  for clarifying!

 

[Stuff Jones]

Personally I don't see how anyone would tolerate even a moderate V shape. Mids are where melody and harmony comes from (2/3 of music) and that's where the feeling or soul of music is from. How is that not the most important part? 
 
Bass is great for bobbing your and highs for audiophile detail, but isn't music first and foremost about feeling?
 
/rant

 

[wafflezz]

  Personally I don't see how anyone would tolerate even a moderate V shape. Mids are where melody and harmony comes from (2/3 of music) and that's where the feeling or soul of music is from. How is that not the most important part? 
 
Bass is great for bobbing your and highs for audiophile detail, but isn't music first and foremost about feeling?
 
/rant

Yup.
And honestly, boosted highs only give off the artificial feeling of detail. If anything sharper highs can veil the other frequencies.

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

  Personally I don't see how anyone would tolerate even a moderate V shape. Mids are where melody and harmony comes from (2/3 of music) and that's where the feeling or soul of music is from. How is that not the most important part? 
 
Bass is great for bobbing your and highs for audiophile detail, but isn't music first and foremost about feeling?
 
/rant

 

  Yup.
And honestly, boosted highs only give off the artificial feeling of detail. If anything sharper highs can veil the other frequencies.

 
I agree with both of you wholeheartedly. Like I mentioned earlier in the post, yes exaggerated treble or bass can bring out hidden details that would be difficult to hear otherwise, but detail for the sake of detail is not why I listen to music. I'd rather have a realistic-sounding performance rather than being able to hear all the details. That's not to say I don't enjoy hearing details in music, I'm a freaking audiophile after all...

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

A few weeks ago I posted this short review of the FX850, and I've come back to eat my words for the record.

Although I gave these headphones a week, my judgment was premature in that I hadn't tried any other tips besides the stock tips. The stock tips of the FX850 are  "spiral dot"  tips, and to most people's ears they're spectacular and highly sought after. In my ears they're garbage despite what feels like a decent seal, and as far as I can tell they are almost wholly responsible for my initial negative impressions of the FX850 having blurry, peaky highs, and a muddy and heavily recessed midrange. I also tried the spiral dot tips on my TDK ie800, and while they weren't nearly as bad, they did bring the treble forward and make it much sharper, and usually not in a positive way.

 

I've never heard a change in tips make such a night-and-day difference in the sound of a pair of IEMs, but with a change in tips everything came into focus like spending a week without glasses and then putting them on again.

 

TL;DR the JVC HA-FX850 is a very good pair of headphones, and while the V-shaped tuning isn't my cup of tea, they are still quite enjoyable in the fact that they are extremely technically capable, with a realistic and spacious quality to the sound.

 

The bass is powerful, visceral and impressively textured. These are basshead 'phones, alright. I'm not exaggerating when I say that these are more resolving in the sub-bass than the HD650, or when I say that this is what I remembered the bass of the HE400 sounding like (take this with a grain of salt--it's been a year since I've heard the HE400).

The midrange is peculiar and difficult for me to describe. The FX850 thread likes the term "natural timbre" and I would agree with that; the mids have an impressively realistic quality to them, something that's really important to me in music reproduction. Is the midrange recessed? Yes, it is, but the combination of the quality and quantity of the mids makes for a surprisingly pleasing sense of space.

The treble is my least favorite thing about them. Although it's very detailed and still has the natural quality that I love, these are v-shaped phones and the highs can be pretty fatiguing and piercing (and that's coming from a Grado fan).

I'll likely end up selling these eventually, since in the end I prefer balanced sound, but in the mean time I'm going to play around with EQ and enjoy trying to rattle the eyes out of my head with bass (for reference see: OM - Thebes, Purity Ring - Cartographist, and Death Grips - Come up and get me).

Anyway, if you want to call me an ******* and never believe another thing I have to say about audio because of my initial review, that's fine. I wasn't exaggerating when I described how awful the FX850 sound to me with the stock tips; my $7 Philips SHE3590 outperform that sound... but still, I should have tried tip swapping before writing my review.

Happy listening

 

[leobigfield]

What kind of tips you were using on this second evaluation? 

 

[waynes world]

  What kind of tips you were using on this second evaluation? 

 
I meant to ask that as well.
 
And @ohcrapgorillas, kudos to you for the followup.

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

  What kind of tips you were using on this second evaluation? 

 

   
I meant to ask that as well.
 
And @ohcrapgorillas, kudos to you for the followup.

 
So, like I mentioned, the tips on these things make a huge difference all around.
 
My favorites so far are some clear tips that I think come from the Philips SHE 3590. They're a bit longer and slightly narrower than the medium spiral dot tips, and they're also smaller in diameter which means they're kind of a pain to get onto the nozzle. The smaller diameter helps shave the treble down a hair while preserving the rest of the sound. I still think they're just a bit much in the treble. My second favorites are Comply isolation-style foam. They look really great together--the cream color of the foam and the wooden/golden housing of the units themselves takes the HD598 look to the next level. These foam tips bring the bass and the treble down so that they almost sound balanced, if not mid-forward. The issue is that they also nuke the sub-bass almost entirely and soften up the bass a little bit.
 
I also tried normal style Comply foam tips and they sounded very warm and muddy... MH1 tips choked the treble and lower mids in a bad way.
 
I think that's all I've tried with them so far. Currently have the Comply isolation foam in and having a great time listening to older godspeed you black emperor