JVC HA-FXT90 Thread

[AngryBaconGod]

So is there any value in getting the more expensive shipping? The web site fails to mention. I did a bit of research and couldn't find proof that it would guarantee any faster delivery. To Canada, FWIW. EDIT: nevermind, it seem to be close to a week faster.


Not a fan of the Champaigne, ClieOS?

EDIT2: ... and ordered.

 

[ClieOS]

 
Quote:

Hi, ClieOS  what/how much of improvement do you think I can get with the FXT90 as compared to the CX300 and SE215.

Compared to CX300 -  a lot. Compared to SE215, not a lot but still very noticeable.
 
 
 
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Not a fan of the Champaigne, ClieOS?

Not a fan of random colored limited edition actually.
 
 

 

[AngryBaconGod]

I suppose it is a bit of a cash grab. But for some reason I didn't mind paying the extra ten bucks for a less boring colour.

 

[jjmai]

When I was in Japan few months ago, a brick & mortar store was actually selling the limited red edition at discount cheaper than the standard edition.  But then again, the red doesn't look as good as black or champagne, in my opinion.

 

[popejohnlarue]

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As a package, the FXT are every bit as good as the GR07, IMO.

Thanks for chiming in, Fly.  As someone who's heard three of the IEMs on my short list, your opinion is appreciated.
 
Does anyone else care to weigh in?  Are there any other sub-$150 I should be considering that don't require amping and offer an impressive soundstage, and a good blend of musicality + detail?
 
ClieOS: I was a bit put off to hear you say the FXT90s aren't a huge upgrade over the Shure215, as I've audtioned these for 5 minutes and felt they sounded pretty dull, all things told.

 

[AngryBaconGod]

ClieOS: I was a bit put off to hear you say the FXT90s aren't a huge upgrade over the Shure215, as I've audtioned these for 5 minutes and felt they sounded pretty dull, all things told.

FWIW, I find the GR07 to be a substantial upgrade over the SE215.

 

[popejohnlarue]

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FWIW, I find the GR07 to be a substantial upgrade over the SE215.

Cheers, ABG.  
 
See, most people would probably agree with that, but then to cross-reference your opinion with others--i.e. 'FXT90 is on par with GR07 in terms of SQ, but with a significantly different signature', and then 'FXT90 is not a substantial upgrade over the SE215', I'm back at square one!
 
Of course, I realize the folly in trying to establish a consensus opinion such a subjective issue, but I really do plan to buy just one set of phones and be done with it so the goal is to make the most informed purchase possible.
 
To give you an idea of where I'm coming from, the last time I bought a set of IEMs, there seemed to be about 3-4 companies manufacturing them (Shure and Ety being the big ones) and I settled on a cheap but effective (in its time) pair of balanced Sharp MiniDisc phones that I ordered from Japan.  That was the better part of a decade ago!  Suffice to say, I'm somewhat overwhelmed by the selection that exists today.
 
 

 

[i2ehan]

Quote:

Does anyone else care to weigh in?  Are there any other sub-$150 I should be considering that don't require amping and offer an impressive soundstage, and a good blend of musicality + detail?

If I may, the newly released ClarityOne earphones are a good consideration. I haven't completed my full review just yet, but they certainly do fit the above criteria. Feel free to PM me for further impressions, as I don't wish to derail the thread. 

 

[Varley]

Think I might drop the bomb on these, really wanna see how they compare to the GR07's

 

[AngryBaconGod]

Cheers, ABG.  

See, most people would probably agree with that, but then to cross-reference your opinion with others--i.e. 'FXT90 is on par with GR07 in terms of SQ, but with a significantly different signature', and then 'FXT90 is not a substantial upgrade over the SE215', I'm back at square one!

Cheers!

Yes, I feel your pain. I can't speak to the FXT90 for a little while yet, but that was the implication I was going for. Again, I feel your pain.

Of course, I realize the folly in trying to establish a consensus opinion such a subjective issue, but I really do plan to buy just one set of phones and be done with it so the goal is to make the most informed purchase possible.

That's the crux of it. ClieOS has a much more respected opinion on 'phones than I do, but I do think he is wrong about the SE215. But as you say, it's subjective.

Good luck on your plan to stick to one IEM. My advice is to delete your bookmark to Head-Fi after you make your purchase if you ever hope to achieve it!

 

[ericp10]

Well, my two cents. I agree with many of ClieOS' assessments of IEMs and think he is point much more than I think he's not. With that said, I totally disagree with his assessment of the FXT90 vs. the 215. I would say that the JVC is a substantial upgrade over the Shure. If I had to break it down in areas, I might give a slight edge to the Shure in mids (but I think it's more of a tie just with different ways of presenting the mids). Many head-fiers who have heard the Sony EX600 ranked it at about 85 to 90 percent of it's big brother, the EX1000. This is how I hear the FXT90 compared to the FX700. I would say it's 85 to 90 percent (maybe closer to the 85) of its big brother, the FX700.
Quote:

Thanks for chiming in, Fly.  As someone who's heard three of the IEMs on my short list, your opinion is appreciated.
 
Does anyone else care to weigh in?  Are there any other sub-$150 I should be considering that don't require amping and offer an impressive soundstage, and a good blend of musicality + detail?
 
ClieOS: I was a bit put off to hear you say the FXT90s aren't a huge upgrade over the Shure215, as I've audtioned these for 5 minutes and felt they sounded pretty dull, all things told.

 

 

[popejohnlarue]

Quote:

Good luck on your plan to stick to one IEM. My advice is to delete your bookmark to Head-Fi after you make your purchase if you ever hope to achieve it!

Ha!  Yeah, that's a lesson I learned a long time ago, thankfully.  I've since chosen to collect *one* great example of a variety of objects, rather than several good examples of the same object to spare myself from the inevitable "upgraditis".  But don't get me wrong--I love all you obsessive Head-Fi freaks for the invaluable data you provide.  This website is an incredible resource.  And I must say, for the borderline extreme level of nerding out that goes on here, it's incredible how friendly and accommodating everyone is.  There's nary a fragile ego to be found!  
 


Quote:

Well, my two cents. I agree with many of ClieOS' assessments of IEMs and think he is point much more than I think he's not. With that said, I totally disagree with his assessment of the FXT90 vs. the 215. I would say that the JVC is a substantial upgrade over the Shure. If I had to break it down in areas, I might give a slight edge to the Shure in mids (but I think it's more of a tie just with different ways of presenting the mids). Many head-fiers who have heard the Sony EX600 ranked it at about 85 to 90 percent of it's big brother, the EX1000. This is how I hear the FXT90 compared to the FX700. I would say it's 85 to 90 percent (maybe closer to the 85) of its big brother, the FX700.


 

Thanks for your 2 cents, Eric.  That's pretty much in keeping with the law of diminishing returns.  For that matter--and especially in terms of the 'musical' or 'fun' IEMs--I wonder what the appreciable difference is between a musical set like the FXT90 and the more budget-minded sets like the M2/3, CC51, XE200PRO, etc.?  Any of those would be a major step up from the Sharp IEMs I've been using for the past several years, and I'd be surprised if the FXT90s or GR07 sounded "twice as good" as them for the price...
 
Wow, I'm really beginning to see what a slippery slope this is.  With all the different price ranges and drastically different sound signatures, it's not easy to commit to just one, is it?  (Oh man, this is just begging to be turned into a love metaphor...)
 
 

 

[esanthosh]

There are many things at play when we talk about upgrades. Due to law of diminishing returns, the difference between IEMs reduces as we go up top - not in a bass vs bass kind of comparison, but in the overall sense, one would consider many IEMs as equals. Selecting one among them would be a matter of personal preference.
 
For instance, Xears XE200 is rated as 7.9 by Joker, M3 @ 7.7 and GR07 @ 9.1 (likewise with clieOS ratings). Between XE200 and M3, they belong to the same tier with XE200 being 'slightly better'. But, I feel that in general, an IEM rated 8.5 and around is already significantly better than something in the 7.x tier. Anything with 9.x belongs to the top-tier of IEMs. I would say that once you get used to IEMs with 8.x and 9.x ratings, it would feel slightly difficult to go back to the lower tier ones. You may appreciate it after listening on a stand-alone basis, but you would always want to go back to the better ones. I have only used Joker's SQ scores as a point of reference (+ something that more or less aligns with my thoughts), but I'd say our own subjective SQ scores matter the most. We may not be assigning numerical weights to what we hear, but I am sure almost every one here has something of that sort.
 
Coming to the question of "substantial", that again depends on one's own value system. For me, FX700 is 'much better' than FXT90, even though the difference may not be as huge as between FX700 and CC51. It all comes down to how you value that last mile of performance (subjectively). To break it down further, individual preferences really weigh in. To some, sound stage may be important, engaging mids could carry higher weight in some other's books, timbre could be very important for others. How you rank an IEM within the same tier and what you consider "equal", "better", "much better" or "substantial" comes down to how much weight you assign to each of the attributes.
 
So to answer your question, to my ears, FXT90 is a 'significant upgrade' to XE200, CC51 and M3.
 
Judging by clieOS' rating of SE215 at 4.5 and Tandem at 4.5, I would hazard a guess that FXT90 would not score significantly more, there's only so much more left out of 5.0

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[ClieOS]

Quote:

ClieOS: I was a bit put off to hear you say the FXT90s aren't a huge upgrade over the Shure215, as I've audtioned these for 5 minutes and felt they sounded pretty dull, all things told

 
Quote:

That's the crux of it. ClieOS has a much more respected opinion on 'phones than I do, but I do think he is wrong about the SE215. But as you say, it's subjective.
Good luck on your plan to stick to one IEM. My advice is to delete your bookmark to Head-Fi after you make your purchase if you ever hope to achieve it!

 
Quote:

Well, my two cents. I agree with many of ClieOS' assessments of IEMs and think he is point much more than I think he's not. With that said, I totally disagree with his assessment of the FXT90 vs. the 215. I would say that the JVC is a substantial upgrade over the Shure....

Wow, like I was stirring the hornet's nest on this. Guys, I don't think I am that far off from yours' opinion on FXT90 vs. SE215, and it is largely a semantic issue. As some of you might know I have ranked SE215 to be pretty high (4.5/5, an upper mid-tier), while my opinion on FXT90 (so far) places it at 4.6 or so (a lower top-tier). By all mean FXT90 is a class better than SE215 but to me, that is not a night-and-day difference. Personally I would think there must be at least 2 to 3 classes of difference (say lower top-tier vs. lower mid-tier) to justify my own reference of what is night-and-day ("a lot"). That is why I said FXT90 is 'very noticeably' better than SE215, but it is not 'a lot' by my scale.

 

[ClieOS]

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Judging by clieOS' rating of SE215 at 4.5 and Tandem at 4.5, I would hazard a guess that FXT90 would not score significantly more, there's only so much more left out of 5.0

.

Exactly, like you are reading my mind. That being say, I need to increase my ranking from out of 5 to out of 10 sometime in the near future to better fit in some of the score, hopefully early next year.