I just received the HA-FW01 (darn Japanese brands and their marketing... Why can't you name your products so they're easier to refer to?)
I have to say that after listening carefully to these, they're a little different from what I expected, and here's why:
When I first tried them in the store, they were really nice. Rich sounding, detailed, and bassy. The bass is in abundance, and sometimes bordering on too much, depending on song. I've had to tone the bass down a tad bit (-2) with my Sony WM1A's EQ, but it's still incredibly detailed. The mids are great. Full, clear, and frontal. The trebles are nice, and not too much. I thought I had found the perfect IEM for my tastes, except for the bass.
Then I tried this combination:
Yep, those are the Sony OFC Kimbers with the JVCs. These opened up the sound of the JVCs considerably. Everything was a lot clearer, and more forward. It's almost as if the band was right next to my ear (more on this later). The stock cable, anaemic as it may feel, tends to round off the sound a bit. It's fine, until you hear it with a different cable and then you hear the differences.
However, after a little while (like 1 hr), I started feeling a little ear fatigue. I don't listen to music terribly loud. When I'm working, the music is almost soft by comparison, so it's not a volume thing. So what is it? Why am I getting a bit of fatigue with this set? It's not painful, but you do feel like your ears need a bit of a break. Whats more, the sound signature of the JVC is very attention-grabbing. When you have the music going on in your hears, you can't lay back and relax too much. Something will always call your attention to the sound. Again, I was perplexed as to why this was.
So I decided to whip out my favourite IEMs - the Sony XBA-Z5 (again, darn Japanese marketing...)
Note that these are paired with Norne Audio's Therium OCC Silver cables.
When I switched back and forth between the 2, I was surprised to find the the JVCs with the Kimbers were a brighter sounding set. Not only that, the sound staging was very close. Meaning, while the Sony's felt like you're listening to the band 5 to 10m away, the JVCs felt like you stuffed your head inside the PA system that's blasting what the band plays. The Sony is a little flatter and laid back in response, while the JVC sounds more lively.
With the Sonys, I can put them on for hours, relax and work with them. the music is there, and does grab your attention once in a while, but mostly, you just enjoy having music while you do something else. When you want to concentrate and focus on the music, the Sonys also present a larger and deeper soundstage, hence Sony's marketing tagline for these: "Feel The Air". The JVCs give you everything on a silver platter, but shoves it down your throat, platter and all. It's a very distracting pair of headphones. I think this "proximity" of source from the JVCs is what's causing the fatigue for me. It's so attention grabbing, that your body just does nothing but wants to pay attention to the sound.
Remember, the Sonys had silver cables, while the JVCs had copper.
I then switched back to the stock cables of the JVCs, and the effect was a little better. Still attention grabbing, but a little more mellowed. Not as aggressive any more. The detail was still there, but not as glaring. It's still upfront, but not as much as it was previously. I guess there is a reason for the 6N OFC cable it came with. Except... now it takes me 2 hrs or a little more to begin feeling the fatigue. I've used the Sonys in 6 hr stretches with no issues.
All in all, the JVCs have an amazing SQ character. The tonal balance is great, though I could do with a little less bass, as managed with the EQ. The flatness of the Sonys by comparison, is still manageable thru EQ, meaning I can salvage whatever I want from the Sonys. It is their "distance from source" that makes them very enjoyable. What I cannot do, is push the JVCs back more. As such, the Sonys are still my favourites, with the JVCs coming in second. I will definitely keep them as they are really very nice, and will rotate them often, but if Sony releases a successor to the Z5 anytime soon, these will be... expendable.
