JVC HA-M5X - Another Budget Basshead's Review

[Dsnuts]

Just got both the portable HaS4X and these HAM5X on order.. Great review of em.. Oh by the way the HAFX1X the earphones are GREAT!!
 
Comparable to the XB500s.. Yup I am in..Will chime in once i get em.. I don't know about the headphones but I will tell you guys. The earphones are outstanding.. They sound like $150 headphones to my ears.. No joke. They sound like you have sub woofers implanted in your ears.. I have them burning in as I type.. Full mids and highs to compliment the big bass they have.  Will chime in on the headphone once I get em.. JVCs just don't get enough love around here. IMO..

 

[courtoreillejm]

RPGWiZaRD, you are the best! Thank you for the EQ setting diagram! I have the EQu app on my iPod Touch and I put the EQ settings in that you posted and now these headphones sound waaaaaaaaaaay better than they do on a flat EQ! Better treble and a nice balanced sound! Thanks again!

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Nice, glad to be of help. I might have to listen to these for a little while, they've been sitting a shelf pretty much now as XB500 have a bit better sound quality than these but the M5X is like even more "fun" sounding though due to the very up-front soundstage, vocals are so "in-your-face" as it gets. Without EQing they are pretty much a muddy mess though and sounds like a small kid wanting to get subwoofer kind of sound out of a headphone.
 
EDIT: So took a listen with them after a long time, with my current EQ setting it sounds quite good, very listenable.
 

 
 
 

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
I was just looking at these and thinking of picking them to test as just straight basshead headphones on the cheap. Been having fun with some hidden gems lately. Thanks for the detailed review, these could be fun and interesting.
 
Very best,

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

I don't think you would like them, only with heavy EQing I'd think you'd say they'd be worth the asking price or so, nothing special and quite bad out of box without any EQing (muddier than XB500). They do have strong bass and great extension (XB500-like) though...

 

[Dsnuts]

This is the way I would rate these  Xtreme Xplosive phones from JVC..
 
HAFX1X >>>>>HAS4X>>HAM5X..
 
Here is the shocking thing. The earphones are superior to the headphones in every way.. They are on another level vs the headphones.. If you guys want to try a real gem of an earphone that will surprise you in a good way.. I would say try the HAFX1X..$20 bux and my favorite on the go earphone..These would be the earphone equivalent to the Panasonic HTF600-S. Not quite as good but just as fun to listen to..
 
Another surprise.. The 40mm portable version the HAS4X actually are better sounding overall than the Big 50mm HAM5X..I don't know if it is because the HAS4X has lesser bass they sound more balanced while having out of the ordinary full BASS for a portable.  These surprised me more so than the big boy HAM5X
 
The HAM5X.. It is all about the BIG Bass.. I havn't messed with these as much as the recent discovery of the Panasonic HTF600-S has taken about all my headphone time but I will have to get back to these and see what some eq  can do for these.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Yea well I prefer using over-the-ear headphones. I definitely wanna try those Panasonics and I believe it would be just the perfect headphone for me but I'm pissed off about the availability in my location.

 

[Dsnuts]

Ya sorry to hear that.. It seems amazon.co.uk is the way to go..Get them Asap so it will get to you sooner. Believe me it will be worth the wait. Glad you are getting these.. If there was anyone here at headfi that are gonna love these it will be you.. The Bass of the XB500 with clarity and similar balance of the XZ700 and wider stage than any of them...Wait till G3nral Karl gets his. He is going to poo his pants hahaha.
 

 

[mechamits]

Great review, I have the XB500 and saw the HA-M5X heavily discounted and wondered if it was worth picking up, but I'll stick with the Cushy Sonys

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

Great review, I have the XB500 and saw the HA-M5X heavily discounted and wondered if it was worth picking up, but I'll stick with the Cushy Sonys

Yea XB500 are better phones, the M5X are way too unbalanced especially too recessed in the highs and the midrange doesn't seem to be very balanced either.
 

 

[DexterMorgan]

A low cost deal for European bassheads: JVC HAM5X for £21.67 at amazon.co.uk. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004W73TCI/ (this is the lowest price for this headphone in Europe, ever, I think)

 

[Jack54]

Thank you so much for your advice on the equalizer settings regarding the JVC HA-M5X.

Could you (or anyone else) have quick look at my equalizer setup below, my soundcard's equalizer looks different from yours (numbers are different?) and my knowledge of audio is almost none existent. I tried my best to get it to look like yours visually, is that all that matters?..
 
I cant upload actual picture because I'm a new user but its like this:
 
60   170   310   600   1k   3k   6k   12k   14k   16k

 

[DisCHORDDubstep]

You might want to redo your review of these again Rpgwizard. That model that you have is the older one that has been discontinued by JVC. The new HA-M55X's are an outstanding improvement.