[LaPierre]

  The SZ2000 against the M50 is a different animal. The M50 is a lot more V shaped than the SZ2000, but it doesn't have the same amount of bass. Comfort-wise, i prefer the M50 over the SZ2000, they're a lot lighter, and with a pad change they can be really comfortable (though, depends on the pads, i use the DT250 pads, with tape on the back to enhance the bass). The SZ2000 is a great headphone, but usually for desktop, the weight does play against it. If you don't mind the planar-like weight, it's an awesome headphone, that everytime i use it (despite the signature change after the mod), brings a smile to my face on most of my music. The soundstage is amazing, the low end is great for heavy bass music, or movies (who needs to go to the Cinema when you get subwoofer quality bass for all that Bayhem or Marvel's explosions), but it doesn't affect the rest of the frequencies that much.

There is a veil though, and it does give this headphone a "darker" quality at first, then you can swap pads and start EQ'ing to take away "some" of that veil off, and from there you can start modifing the SQ as you please. You might need an amp, but it's not really that necessary, if you have a decent source (i use these with my laptop, and they sound just fine, though i wouldn't mind trying the Cayin with my X1). These hp can take a sonic beating, but not a physical one. the construction quality varies a lot from headphone to headphone (i compared my pair, to a close friend, and there were differences, small, but they were there). 

If it's about price, i'd go M50, you'll get a decent headphone with great SQ for the price. You might even get some of the sub-bass of the S500 on the M50. But i'd go for the SZ2000, the M50 is a very good, but old model, that got a very nice upgrade (M50x), but the SZ2000 is a lot more fun to listen to, despite the weight and the mods you might need to do. 

Comparing the SZ2000 to the M50 makes me lose confidence. I found the M50 to sound not much better than the M35, I have the A900x which is a decent step up from the M50 but costing 250$ on amazon I'd expect the SZ2000 to be at least a couple steps up all around, even regarding its bass oriented signature.

 

[Kukyo]

  Comparing the SZ2000 to the M50 makes me lose confidence. I found the M50 to sound not much better than the M35, I have the A900x which is a decent step up from the M50 but costing 250$ on amazon I'd expect the SZ2000 to be at least a couple steps up all around, even regarding its bass oriented signature.

You have to consider that the M50 did cost around 300 back in the day (i bought my pair almost two years ago, and i only spent $99), and it does have a couple of years on it. The M50x costs 240, which is around the same price tag as the SZ2000 is right now (since when it came out, it was around 350 -mine cost $300-). The A900x is a pretty decent headphone, but it doesn't hold a candle up to the SZ2000. Like most of us said before, it sounds as if you were listening to your music in a live venue or in a studio. Bass based music styles shine on this headphone, but that doesn't mean it can't play anything else (i use them for rock, funk, and prog metal). If you like the A900x, you might not like the SZ2000, but if you have the chance, try it.

 

[LaPierre]

 
You have to consider that the M50 did cost around 300 back in the day (i bought my pair almost two years ago, and i only spent $99), and it does have a couple of years on it. The M50x costs 240, which is around the same price tag as the SZ2000 is right now (since when it came out, it was around 350 -mine cost $300-). The A900x is a pretty decent headphone, but it doesn't hold a candle up to the SZ2000. Like most of us said before, it sounds as if you were listening to your music in a live venue or in a studio. Bass based music styles shine on this headphone, but that doesn't mean it can't play anything else (i use them for rock, funk, and prog metal). If you like the A900x, you might not like the SZ2000, but if you have the chance, try it.

If the M50 ever cost around 300 that's outrageous, it's worth 80 - 100$. I dislike the A900x, and I dislike the M50 more. The SZ2000 is something I'd like to try eventually, regardless though.

 

[dauhak]

Finally bought the JVC SZ1000 , as SZ2000 was out of stock, just bought the previous version.

-These are not for music at all, its for Dolby Atmos on your ear, its made for Movie watching with a good DAC.

Lows : When I first listened to it, the bass was veiled, steel sounding.
I adjusted my X3 to low gain, then I can feel the mid bass but not bloating or interpreting with other frequency range. (Actually these drop soo low like a real sub woofer , but nor for music listening, when I played the DTS 2.1 surround sound on youtube, these made me say WOW)

Mids : I should say the upper lows, makes the mids recessed and can't hear the male vocals well, female vocals r smooth and nice to hear.This is indeed a very dark signature, everything feels dark, even mids are dark, I feel like a male singer is singing , instead of female singer, it makes the vocals soo dark. Wish there is a mod to make the mids sound normal and to unveil it.

Treble : I am personally very , intolerance to sibilance . But these offer smooth treble that I really love.
Since it is a dark headphone, the treble sounds nice and removes the sibilance and fatiguing sound. These provide good details but not on the level of M-100 or Dt 770 pro.

Overall : These are great for movies, but not for music. They sound too dull for music listening,
Ya you all think they r bass heavy, but well they r not. They don't even come close to my Iem Zero Audio Carbo Basso. Bassos provide car stereo sound.
I was expecting a lot for the price of HKD $1,980 (USD 240)

S.Q. : 7/10
Value : 8/10

For this price there r really better headphones.

And they are not a full upgrade to my jvc s500, just 30% better.

If you can stretch the budget a bit. I Suggest Vmoda M-100, they are rocking. Really you should try those out.

It is better than sz1000 in every aspect except the sub bass, vmoda has more mid bass, but the mids sound so detailed and sharp. Even the Sony Mdr-1R they offer great value for their price.

 

[gikigill]

Get a solid amp, the X3 can't power these properly.

 

[Hawaiibadboy]

Finally bought the JVC SZ1000 , as SZ2000 was out of stock, just bought the previous version.

-These are not for music at all, its for Dolby Atmos on your ear, its made for Movie watching with a good DAC.

Lows : When I first listened to it, the bass was veiled, steel sounding.
I adjusted my X3 to low gain, then I can feel the mid bass but not bloating or interpreting with other frequency range. (Actually these drop soo low like a real sub woofer , but nor for music listening, when I played the DTS 2.1 surround sound on youtube, these made me say WOW)

Mids : I should say the upper lows, makes the mids recessed and can't hear the male vocals well, female vocals r smooth and nice to hear.This is indeed a very dark signature, everything feels dark, even mids are dark, I feel like a male singer is singing , instead of female singer, it makes the vocals soo dark. Wish there is a mod to make the mids sound normal and to unveil it.

Treble : I am personally very , intolerance to sibilance . But these offer smooth treble that I really love.
Since it is a dark headphone, the treble sounds nice and removes the sibilance and fatiguing sound. These provide good details but not on the level of M-100 or Dt 770 pro.

Overall : These are great for movies, but not for music. They sound too dull for music listening,
Ya you all think they r bass heavy, but well they r not. They don't even come close to my Iem Zero Audio Carbo Basso. Bassos provide car stereo sound.
I was expecting a lot for the price of HKD $1,980 (USD 240)

S.Q. : 7/10
Value : 8/10

For this price there r really better headphones.

And they are not a full upgrade to my jvc s500, just 30% better.

If you can stretch the budget a bit. I Suggest Vmoda M-100, they are rocking. Really you should try those out.

It is better than sz1000 in every aspect except the sub bass, vmoda has more mid bass, but the mids sound so detailed and sharp. Even the Sony Mdr-1R they offer great value for their price.

 

[dauhak]

Get a solid amp, the X3 can't power these properly.

Like what sort of Amp, X3 drives them really loud, and nice.
In the box, the impedence just says 16 ohm. Even my ipod drives it pretty well.

Maybe for the bass, it needs some power.

What amp would u suggest me, under $150 USD.

 

[gikigill]

Try the Cayin C5, it really brings out the SZ2000. The SZ2000 can get loud easily but not their best from a X3 as I have owned the combo but it was never really satisfying
 
Mind you, you are powering 4 drivers overall and not 2 and they need power to do the job properly.

 

[gosub3]

I am out of town and took with my sz2000:s in case i would have time to check out some local shops that happened on my path. So today i had the chance to pair with Ifi iDSD micro. Was nice experience and the amp was really good. It boasts to deliver 4w into 16ohm in "turbo" mode. It also had xbass and 3d holographic features. To my ears they translated to slight bump in bass at the expence of bass thightness, preferred without as the bass was good without. The 3d gave a little more top end and worked well with the sz2000:s. Power was plenty and controlled the cans well, even the sales rep wanted to Test and was surprised with the bass kick of the JVC:s. This amp really lifted veil of these cans, good job. I can add a fev thoughts in comparison to the Cayin c5 when i get back home. My c5 should be waiting there as i return.

This underlines the fact the sz2k needs juice to really sing.

If you're loaded on cash at the moment and need the dac functionality of the Ifi iDSD micro, i would say its a good pairing. For portability the Ifi is way big imo, even though it has battery drive.

 

[LaPierre]

  Try the Cayin C5, it really brings out the SZ2000. The SZ2000 can get loud easily but not their best from a X3 as I have owned the combo but it was never really satisfying
 
Mind you, you are powering 4 drivers overall and not 2 and they need power to do the job properly.

More drivers means more efficient, actually.

 

[gosub3]

More drivers means more efficient, actually.

Yes, dB wise it is so, but also impedance plays an integral part. The lower the impedance of headphones or speakers is the more it demands from the amplifier. If the amplifier is not up to the task of delivering current into the impedance load it might distort the sound or not even play. It can do many funky things.

 

[LaPierre]

Yes, dB wise it is so, but also impedance plays an integral part. The lower the impedance of headphones or speakers is the more it demands from the amplifier. If the amplifier is not up to the task of delivering current into the impedance load it might distort the sound or not even play. It can do many funky things.

Hmm, well it depends on a lot of things honestly. I'd say the coil have a lot of properties other than impedance that effect sound, I can't honestly say I know about that much at all.

 

[gosub3]

If iterested in impedance, here is some good info: http://www.head-fi.org/a/headphone-impedance

 

[LaPierre]

No, I know about impedance. I mean a lot of other factors are at play, the relationship between the coil and magnet. That's far more important than impedance and could better explain why the SZ2000 is picky despite having a very, very high sensitivity and low impedance.

 

[gosub3]

Of course the parameters of the drivers is what makes up the sound together with enclosure and tuning. http://www.speakerplans.com/page89.html
Here some ideas what they do, for those interested.

I didn't mean you LaPierre in specific, but to give info on a general level that could help those reading this thread and wondering why amping is recommended and why the opinions of this model vary so highly.

Simply put: many have had an totally different experience than those singing praise to the sz2000/1000, because of bad pairing. Of course audio is still subjective. Some like mothers and some daugthers. No reason to argue about that. I've heard lots of gear that i liked, that has got "bad" reviews and "hyped" gear that sounded bad to me.

It's just sad if something is done halfway and then proclaimed that it is not possible. Some gear ain't plug and play, sadly this one is one of those. The sz2k can be really rewarding if done right.