TopPop
Headphoneus Supremus
Well, I spent the last few days burning in my HA-RX900s for the majority of each day plugged into a radio, turned up loud, and put under a pile of blankets. They're somewhere between 100 and 125 hours, I'd guess. Enough to take them out now and make some more definitive judgments, at least.
I have to say that these headphones are no joke. An extremely good value for the money, and I don't imagine that anybody would miss their money if they picked up a pair. My assessments are pretty much on par with what has already been noticed; to summarize:
Soundstage:
Very strong soundstage. Although I think the soundstage on my DT-880s extends further sideways, it can be fairly 2-dimensional. The soundstage on the RX900s, however, seems to spread around in a way that the Beyers just don't recreate; it sort of envelops my head more. It is nowhere near as refined as the soundstage on the DT-880s, lacking the "airiness" that make the Beyers my favorite phones, but it does provide a very strong, defined placement of individual instruments/voices in a 3-dimensional plane.
Bass and midrange:
The lowest of notes is where the RX-900s may, in fact, trump the Beyers, believe it or not. Bass is tight, and goes quite deep. Kick drums are not quite as snappy as on my MS-1s, but there is enough punch there to keep me very satisfied. However, it is in this strength of these phones where I also find their biggest fault (in my opinion): there is a midbass hump, windowed somewhere around 125-250 Hz (in my best guess), which colors much of the midrange, or at least recesses it by comparison to the point that it lacks prominence. Bass notes in this region begin to lose their tightness and become difficult to place in the soundstage. When eq-ed to compensate for this hump, the midrange opens up surprisingly well. I believe this is where the problem lies related to the recessed vocals that some have noticed with these phones. I would be extremely interested in trying to see if there is a way to mod them to get rid of (or, at least, lower) this midbass hump, as I can't have the eq on all the time on my dedicated music PC.
High midrange and treble:
Treble notes are not the strongest suit for these headphones, but I'm always trying to keep in mind that these only cost me $68. Not as extended as the Beyers, yet not as aggressive as the Alessandros. There is a slight edginess on some tracks with cymbols and higher guitar notes, however, this seems to reduce with burn-in. As I already noted, the midrange (including the higher midrange, i.e. female vocals) would open up significantly if a way could be found to reduce the midbass hump that seems to congest the rest of the spectrum. If this could be done, I'm fairly certain that these headphones would be taken more seriously, and would be strong contenders with other, more established, headphones.
Comfort:
Very comfy, yet fairly warm. This is my first set of closed phones, so I'm not completely sure, but I'm guessing that the heat comes with the territory. I can't listen for more than an hour without my ears becoming uncomfortable from the heat. The pads are wonderful, though, and cushion very well. The clamping force could be taken down a couple of notches for my head, however, but your mileage may vary.
Ultimately, though, I think that these phones are a good value because I keep wanting to reach for them. I've already purchased another headphone stand (a.k.a. Walmart wooden banana hook with the metal hook sawed off!) to match the others, and the JVCs are sitting well with Beyers and Alessandros. The music is accurate enough, but most important fun enough, to keep me wanting to listen to more, and I'd have to say that I wouldn't be the saddest person in the world if these were the only headphones I owned. Granted... I'd miss my Beyers and Alessandros... but I wouldn't feel that my listening experience would be missing something huge...
...but it's a good thing I get to keep all three!
Test equipment:
Uncompressed files through Keces DA-151 >>
Belkin PureAV Silver Series IC >>
Little Dot MKII headphone amp
I have to say that these headphones are no joke. An extremely good value for the money, and I don't imagine that anybody would miss their money if they picked up a pair. My assessments are pretty much on par with what has already been noticed; to summarize:
Soundstage:
Very strong soundstage. Although I think the soundstage on my DT-880s extends further sideways, it can be fairly 2-dimensional. The soundstage on the RX900s, however, seems to spread around in a way that the Beyers just don't recreate; it sort of envelops my head more. It is nowhere near as refined as the soundstage on the DT-880s, lacking the "airiness" that make the Beyers my favorite phones, but it does provide a very strong, defined placement of individual instruments/voices in a 3-dimensional plane.
Bass and midrange:
The lowest of notes is where the RX-900s may, in fact, trump the Beyers, believe it or not. Bass is tight, and goes quite deep. Kick drums are not quite as snappy as on my MS-1s, but there is enough punch there to keep me very satisfied. However, it is in this strength of these phones where I also find their biggest fault (in my opinion): there is a midbass hump, windowed somewhere around 125-250 Hz (in my best guess), which colors much of the midrange, or at least recesses it by comparison to the point that it lacks prominence. Bass notes in this region begin to lose their tightness and become difficult to place in the soundstage. When eq-ed to compensate for this hump, the midrange opens up surprisingly well. I believe this is where the problem lies related to the recessed vocals that some have noticed with these phones. I would be extremely interested in trying to see if there is a way to mod them to get rid of (or, at least, lower) this midbass hump, as I can't have the eq on all the time on my dedicated music PC.
High midrange and treble:
Treble notes are not the strongest suit for these headphones, but I'm always trying to keep in mind that these only cost me $68. Not as extended as the Beyers, yet not as aggressive as the Alessandros. There is a slight edginess on some tracks with cymbols and higher guitar notes, however, this seems to reduce with burn-in. As I already noted, the midrange (including the higher midrange, i.e. female vocals) would open up significantly if a way could be found to reduce the midbass hump that seems to congest the rest of the spectrum. If this could be done, I'm fairly certain that these headphones would be taken more seriously, and would be strong contenders with other, more established, headphones.
Comfort:
Very comfy, yet fairly warm. This is my first set of closed phones, so I'm not completely sure, but I'm guessing that the heat comes with the territory. I can't listen for more than an hour without my ears becoming uncomfortable from the heat. The pads are wonderful, though, and cushion very well. The clamping force could be taken down a couple of notches for my head, however, but your mileage may vary.
Ultimately, though, I think that these phones are a good value because I keep wanting to reach for them. I've already purchased another headphone stand (a.k.a. Walmart wooden banana hook with the metal hook sawed off!) to match the others, and the JVCs are sitting well with Beyers and Alessandros. The music is accurate enough, but most important fun enough, to keep me wanting to listen to more, and I'd have to say that I wouldn't be the saddest person in the world if these were the only headphones I owned. Granted... I'd miss my Beyers and Alessandros... but I wouldn't feel that my listening experience would be missing something huge...
...but it's a good thing I get to keep all three!
Test equipment:
Uncompressed files through Keces DA-151 >>
Belkin PureAV Silver Series IC >>
Little Dot MKII headphone amp
