JVC Marshmallows V2 are here! Introducing the JVC HA-FX66!

[FaLLeNAn9eL]

h4n9m4n: How'd you take a picture of the side of your head like that? Trial and error?

Just when I told myself I would not spend money on another pair of headphones, these come out. *sigh*

 

[Sweet Spot]

I'm finding myself wholly unimpressed by this model, except for the comfort factor. Besides that point, they sound like the Marshmallow's with less mud on the bass which is of course a good thing because you can boost bass yourself. However, I'm bored with the sound these produce. They're not fun at all. The soundstage is non existent. Everything comes from the middle, all mushed together for the most part.

Dynamic wise: Mids are really recessed and treble seems pretty fair, while the bass is pretty boring overall. When I say boring, I mean there's no impact at all. But at the same time, it's not like it's mixing in there like a good sub should and you can't tell where it's coming from, no... It's more like it's just "there" without any sort of musical characteristic except to fill a void. But it does it blandly IMO.

I was comparing these to my Panasonics (look in my sig) while listening to Radiohead's In Rainbows, which even for 160 kbps files, is a great album to use for comparisons, because it was produced really well. The Pannies breathe so much life into the songs compared to the dead nothing I got with the JVC's. Well, I feel like I wasted $37 and I'll just use them for falling asleep with less demanding music, because they are very comfy to wear, even with the stock marshmallow buds. There's virtually no side profile at all.

I'll leave more impressions after time. But I think I'm turning into more of an "over the head"-fi guy, than an IEM or in ear canal one.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweet Spot /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm finding myself wholly unimpressed by this model, except for the comfort factor. Besides that point, they sound like the Marshmallow's with less mud on the bass which is of course a good thing because you can boost bass yourself. However, I'm bored with the sound these produce. They're not fun at all. The soundstage is non existent. Everything comes from the middle, all mushed together for the most part. Dynamic wise: Mids are really recessed and treble seems pretty fair, while the bass is pretty boring overall. When I say boring, I mean there's no impact at all. But at the same time, it's not like it's mixing in there like a good sub should and you can't tell where it's coming from, no... It's more like it's just "there" without any sort of musical characteristic except to fill a void. But it does it blandly IMO. I was comparing these to my Panasonics (look in my sig) while listening to Radiohead's In Rainbows, which even for 160 kbps files, is a great album to use for comparisons, because it was produced really well. The Pannies breathe so much life into the songs compared to the dead nothing I got with the JVC's. Well, I feel like I wasted $37 and I'll just use them for falling asleep with less demanding music, because they are very comfy to wear, even with the stock marshmallow buds. There's virtually no side profile at all. I'll leave more impressions after time. But I think I'm turning into more of an "over the head"-fi guy, than an IEM or in ear canal one.

I have $250-500 IEM's and I think these are decent, like other inexpensive headphones that poeple rave about "bang for the buck" such as KSC75.

I agree about the mids, and I only use them with EQ set for piano. But they aren't the world's greatest, just to my ears a good deal for $37 shipped. I paid $99 for E2c and Bose IE, and those should have been $40 each and still not be as listenable as the Air Cushions are.

These don't beat a Shure above the E2c, or an Etymotic, but I think they walk all over a CX300, Sony EX51/71, etc...

 

[h4n9m4n]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FaLLeNAn9eL /img/forum/go_quote.gif h4n9m4n: How'd you take a picture of the side of your head like that? Trial and error?

i don't know, i guess i got lucky? i didnt find it that challenging. It was with my phone, as you can tell by the ugly photos. and to the person who was asking, yes, the barrels are aluminum. And for the comparison to X3, basically they are not as good soundstage-wise (off by a lot) and detail-wise (pretty good) but they have better bass (more punchy in my opinion) and are much more comfortable. Also, less microphonics.

 

[Sweet Spot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have $250-500 IEM's and I think these are decent, like other inexpensive headphones that poeple rave about "bang for the buck" such as KSC75. I agree about the mids, and I only use them with EQ set for piano. But they aren't the world's greatest, just to my ears a good deal for $37 shipped. I paid $99 for E2c and Bose IE, and those should have been $40 each and still not be as listenable as the Air Cushions are. These don't beat a Shure above the E2c, or an Etymotic, but I think they walk all over a CX300, Sony EX51/71, etc...

Fair enough. I haven't been (un)fortunate enough to listen to the Bose, and I found the E2c's pretty flat sounding as well. Tell me though, (if you've heard higher quality IEM's or more expensive ones) are there a pair of IEM's that have really good imaging and sound stage ? I don't really remember the E500's in that respect, and stupidly enough, I haven't re-tried my UE super fi 5's. Which I should. I guess I"m just leaning more towards over the heads for that spacial quality they present for the most part.

I also think that I'm going to need several pairs of headphones (like any good head-fie'r should have) for different genres.


Edit: Also, forgot to mention in my op that the cord is a million times more microphonic than the Marshmallow cord is. It's absolutely horrible.

Edit #2 Listening again with UE 5's. First impression is...better.

 

[taejinshikki]

I lost one of the small silicon tips for the JVC fx66. Where can I buy another pair because I think the small one fits the best for me.

 

[cmirza]

If you live in Oregon, Fred Meyer is now carrying these for $30 and currently is running a 20% off promotion on all headphones. $24 is probably as good as you'll find for these, and no shipping costs to top it off. They also have Marshmallows for $20 and Gummy v2 for $10 before the 20% off too. I couldn't find any other decent headphones though.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweet Spot /img/forum/go_quote.gif Fair enough. I haven't been (un)fortunate enough to listen to the Bose, and I found the E2c's pretty flat sounding as well. Tell me though, (if you've heard higher quality IEM's or more expensive ones) are there a pair of IEM's that have really good imaging and sound stage ? I don't really remember the E500's in that respect, and stupidly enough, I haven't re-tried my UE super fi 5's. Which I should. I guess I"m just leaning more towards over the heads for that spacial quality they present for the most part. I also think that I'm going to need several pairs of headphones (like any good head-fie'r should have) for different genres. Edit: Also, forgot to mention in my op that the cord is a million times more microphonic than the Marshmallow cord is. It's absolutely horrible. Edit #2 Listening again with UE 5's. First impression is...better.

My Denon AH-C700 have better sound stage or imaging than the Super.fi 5 pro that I had. I am listening to live jazz right now with them and am fairly well pleased. But, my Ultrasone HFI700DVD circumaural headphones blow all my IEMs soundstage away.

My E500 were actually a little better with sound stage than the Denon, but I can't compare right now because I broke the left spout sleeping on them and I shipped them to Shure yesterday for repair. My Livewires customs have the best sound stage of any of my IEMs, and they are out for a re-fit adjustement

The E500 were the eye opener that convinced me I didn't need to keep the Sony EX51, CX300, Bose IE, both pairs of E2c, E4c, SE310, Super.fi 5 pro, and ER6i. I sold them all (but the ER6i came back in a trade plus cash for my E4c and I kept them). I did however keep the Denon C700 after I got the E500, and added the Livewires.

If I had to pick one its the LW's (with the right source, DAC and amp it's like being there), then the E500's then the C700, but I really like all three. However, listening to the Westone 3 side by side with my E500 showed me how much better IEM's can be

Westone 3 will be my next purchase when they hit stores.

Despite hearing much better, I haven't really been unhappy with even the Marshmallow and Air Cushion for 1/10 the cost of some of my others. I didn't hate any of my old ones that I've sold off, until after I had heard better ones as I moved up the food chain.

Well, I did hate the ER6i and Super.fi 5 pro when I first got them, but I grew into them, and they seemed to mature with burn-in as well (except the CX300 Pfffttttt! they just got worse). The ER6i had harsh upper mids with ear peircing pianos, now better, and they do open up nicely with optical out CD to my iBasso D1. The Super.fi 5 pro initially had muddy distorted bass and mids and sounded blown for the first few hours, then they cleaned up (I might have kept if they fit me right). I think something must have been stuck inside the sound tube and it came out and they sounded good.

For me, the JVC MM and AC are just some cheap "throw in my jacket pocket IEM's" that will keep me from wreckng my good earphones, and they go in easy one handed. They aren't as detailed, or balanced, or spacious as my other IEMs, but they just happen to be enjoyable enough to be able to use regularly.

I do use Piano EQ with the AC though. Otherwise I don't use any EQ with any of my IEM with the exception of bass boost turned on with my Caffeine Pro amp.

 

[cmirza]

Yeah, JVCs are just my toss around headphones. Something to use while exercising or when walking to class that I can quickly shove in my pocket once I get to class. They don't have to be great, just enjoyable.

 

[Audelic Norm]

The first impression was that the Air Cushions did not isolate as well as the Marshmallows. After digging around I found that JVC ported the FX66. The port is a very small oval hole on the body.

For greater isolation try this really easy MOD. Cut out a very very small piece of clear office tape and just place it over the small port hole on each L-R bud. Then take a needle and poke a small round hole in the middle of the tape. The bass really improves. For bass lovers the mod really rocks. I'm still experimenting but the more needle hole you poke the more the bass is reduced. You can dial in the bass you want this way. 1, 2 or three holes. Try it.

 

[Audelic Norm]

After trying a few things here is what I found. Completely covering the small oval port holes with tiny piece of clear office tape turns the FX66 into super bass mode. It feels like there is a subwoofer in my ear. There is only really room to put one or two needle holes in the tape as the oval port hole is so small. With a very sharp needle you can size the first hole very small or bigger. With space for two needle holes the FX66 effectivelly has 8 settings for the amount of bass you want to have with them.

Closed, 1s, 1m, 1L, 2s, 2m, 2L, Open (s m L being the size of the needle hole)

This mod is so easy you can change the FX66 to a different bass level in as little as 60 seconds. It helps to use scissors to cut small pieces of clear office tape to cover the holes. At work I used a thumb tack to make small holes in the tape.

 

[pez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FaLLeNAn9eL /img/forum/go_quote.gif h4n9m4n: How'd you take a picture of the side of your head like that? Trial and error? Just when I told myself I would not spend money on another pair of headphones, these come out. *sigh*

you could also use a mirror and angle the camera up from below you, like my pics in my review in my sig

.

 

[xenochimera]

just ordered a pair, looking forward to these.

 

[LogIc.]

okay.. 1st post

can someone please tell me if how these things match up to the v-moda vibes..i just brought them and now im seriously regretting it

 

[taejinshikki]

i have a question.. what oval hole are you guys covering up? becasue i covered up the oval hole(the only other hole besides the main speaker hole with white covering) with tape and couldnt notice any difference.