Low-Price Audiophile Headphones
May 20, 2013 at 6:19 PM Post #16 of 62
The JVC HA-S500's are an amazing headphone for the price, everyone should own a pair. They are onear stock and are a great all rounder, Metallica and Dream Theater sound great on them as well as EDM. You can get the HM5 pads to fit and turn them into overear. Or ATH-WS55 pads for a larger onear fit.

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May 20, 2013 at 6:36 PM Post #17 of 62
Quote:
trolldragon said:
The JVC HA-S500's are an amazing headphone for the price, everyone should own a pair. They are onear stock and are a great all rounder, Metallica and Dream Theater sound great on them as well as EDM. You can get the HM5 pads to fit and turn them into overear. Or ATH-WS55 pads for a larger onear fit.

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Click to expand...

 
I had no idea that you can change the pads on them. 
redface.gif
 only used the stock ones which have smaller soundstage. 
 
May 20, 2013 at 6:40 PM Post #18 of 62
Yes, check over in the Appreciation thread, a lot to weed through but they discuss many pads.

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May 20, 2013 at 8:03 PM Post #21 of 62
Hmm. All these choices are making my life more complicated, lol.
 
Anyone know how the K240s and the Fischer FA-003s (and their clones) compare? I know both are very neutral-sounding, which makes them good for classical. Which one has the better sound quality?
 
May 20, 2013 at 8:19 PM Post #22 of 62
Quote:
ruffball said:
Hmm. All these choices are making my life more complicated, lol.
 
Anyone know how the K240s and the Fischer FA-003s (and their clones) compare? I know both are very neutral-sounding, which makes them good for classical. Which one has the better sound quality?
Click to expand...

A lot of people are throwing random recommendations your way since you don't specify what type of sound signature you are looking for.
 
Also, I don't think you have a very realistic understanding of the market at $50. The portapro's are absolutely outstanding at any price. Closed back headphones at this price point are certain to disappoint. 
 
So, start from the beginning, what type of sound signature are you looking for? And are you aware of the near certainty that $50 closed headphones will be a noticeable downgrade from portapro's?
 
May 20, 2013 at 8:21 PM Post #23 of 62
I own the JVC S500 and Jaycar Pro Monitor headphones(will call refer to them as HM5 from here on)
I did a good amount of back and forth between them just now on classical music from my computer with a stock settings foobar2000 the only modifications are my S500 have 2 bent q-tips stuffed under ear pad for comfort and the HM5 I listended with and without my equalizer settings which are 12+db at 31hz 10+db 62hz 3+db 125hz 2+db 250hz 1+db 500hz +1db 8000hz +2db 16000hz I prefer then equalized the JVC I left at flat EQ.
 
They present sound quite diffrently the JVC is more upfront and engaging like your sitting closer to the music.  The HM5 is more distant in its presentation like your sitting farther away and it does give a considerably bigger sense of space to music but also loses the intimacy of the JVC which while not having as large of a soundstage of the HM5 has a good sized soundstage that is large enough for classical music.  It really depends on personal prefrence which type of sound presentation your will prefer.  Alot of people would consider larger soundstage better for classical and I would tend to agree but its up to you classical sounded very nice of my JVC can't go wrong with eithier imo
 
Also without a good amount of equalizing the HM5 Sub-Bass is to low in quantity imo to properly convey the power and depth of classical music the JVC handles this better without needing to equalize due to having alot more quantity of sub-bass both have very good extension but the HM5 is lacking in quantity.  If a quality equalizer (a bad equalizer will just muddy up the soundquality) or bassboost amp is out of the question then the HM5 might not be the best choice.

 
May 20, 2013 at 8:39 PM Post #24 of 62
Some other things to consider are comfort the S500 being on ear feel fine at first the pressure builds up I would say 2 hour max of use before I would have to take them off.  The HM5 are overear so you avoid that but they have a high clamp force when you first get them leave them stretching on a bookshelf speaker or beachball or something to loosen them and makes them much more comfortable and I can use them longer then the S500 without pain but won't top the king of comfort the AD700 only the HD428 could hope to compete there out of the ones I've tried.
 
Build Quality on both are solid but on the HM5 avoid manually stretching the metal headband as you can mess up the adjustment system and it will not stay at the notch where you put it when you take it on and off this can also mess up the comfort and fit of the headphones.  The S500 I've had no problems its all plastic but high quality plastic and all around well built I expect it to last a long time *knocks on wood*
 
Hope this helps you make a decision on which headphone to pick.
 
May 21, 2013 at 3:39 AM Post #29 of 62
Splurge and get grado SR60i's. They are both warm and detailed. It's like a drug. If they are TOO bright at first, burn them in for 60-80 hours at medium volume.  Bass is very good also: pretty tight and not exaggerated. Remember: grado's are designed for low volume listening. 
 
Or, you can do what I did: quarter mod the portapro foam covers and use an amp, fiio E6 on up. Both of these changes will add warmth and detail to your portapro's at modest cost. There's a ton of potential hidden in your portapro's, once you get around to a couple of mods (kramer, quarter) and amp them. 
 
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