[mekanoplastik]

JVC HA-D990 opinion.

First of all I like to say this is not really an audio-review, it is more of a list of impressions I have collected about this headphones after a week using them. I just hope the most experienced people with better equipment that bought the cans will follow this thread and expand it with better and more accurate views.

1/ out of the box and first impressions: hehe..

i thought about skipping this step but I think it is important too…the first impressions couldn’t be worst for the reason we all know. The box was dirty and very badly packaged. Once the can’s box was out and only after I checked nothing was liking from the box or about to bite me I decided to open the box

… I found a nice yellow cloth package surrounding the cans, rescued the headphones from the box and looked them see their condition.

(I had to do some light cleaning in order to get them to be nice, I already explained it so I will skip that point…)

2/ Headphone construction: The first thing that I noticed was the cool deep black color of the bowls, nice touch. The pads are oval and they are just enough size to surround my ears, pretty comfortable I have to say. They overall feel well constructed and strong, The bowls are made of metal and pads of artificial lether, the main casing is hard plastic. There is only one cable coming out the left side. The headband if comfy and adjustments are pretty easy to make. The only think I didn’t like was the lettering, made with gold color over black….tacky I thought…I removed it using some rubbing compound and now they are just shinny black….much nicer….

3/ Sound…when I first received them i plugged them in my roommate’s stereo (some old denon) I remember they where very bright, almost painfully bright. I am definitely not a bass head but it was too much, the highs were too dominant. SACD lover told me later this could because of the pads im using are not the factory ones. ( I replaced the foam foil with a very similar one…slightly thinner). I decided to burn them in and see if they will change…after some 40 hours I can really notice the difference. Now the bass is more active and defined, it can be very powerful (sometimes I am listening and when the bass kicks in and the whole headphone shake…amazing…I have to lower the volume) I can not (should not) really express any other opinions since I have no other cans to compare (my ksc35 are just a different league to even mention them in a comparison..)..but I can definitely say this cans do not sound like 20$ !!!!!!!!

Now..i would love to read some other people opinions about this cans and how they compare to let say….v6..

so far...the best 20$ i've spent in a long time...

*Please, remember I am not a English speaker so do not be too hard with my writing….

 

[sacd lover]

Glad you like them. Now get those earpads.

 

[shstrang98]

I had a pair of those JVC's.  They were on Stereophile's recommended list and I can clearly see why.
 
 
I only wish I could find another pair of them somewhere because mine have broken.  I thought there might be some around as NOS but no luck.
 
 
After a break in they did indeed sound better.