[riker1384]

I just got the HJE-50. I'm a bit disappointed. The midrange is less muddy than the Ipod earbuds but the highs are real tinny and cheap-sounding. It does give some isolation, though. I'll keep them as a backup I guess. Should I just wait until I can afford Etys or Shures, or will any of the competition be a big step up?

I don't want to mess with EQ.

Also the wires to the two sides are of different lengths and I find that annoying.

They do fit well and come with 3 sizes of covers.

 

[vulc4n]

Quote:

Originally Posted by riker1384 I just got the HJE-50. I'm a bit disappointed. The midrange is less muddy than the Ipod earbuds but the highs are real tinny and cheap-sounding. It does give some isolation, though. I'll keep them as a backup I guess. Should I just wait until I can afford Etys or Shures, or will any of the competition be a big step up? I don't want to mess with EQ. Also the wires to the two sides are of different lengths and I find that annoying. They do fit well and come with 3 sizes of covers.

How long have you had them? I was totaly disapointed when I first got them because of the highs and lack of bass, but after a day of burn in they were much much better. With a really good seal the bass is great and if the highs still bother you after burn in remove the stock filters and stuff a small amount of earbud style foam in the sound tube. Add or remove bassed on how much you want to cut own the highs. It worked well for me.

 

[riker1384]

re: HJE-50:

Quote:

Originally Posted by vulc4n How long have you had them? I was totaly disapointed when I first got them because of the highs and lack of bass, but after a day of burn in they were much much better. With a really good seal the bass is great and if the highs still bother you after burn in remove the stock filters and stuff a small amount of earbud style foam in the sound tube. Add or remove bassed on how much you want to cut own the highs. It worked well for me.

A few minutes. The bass is OK. Even if I cut the highs I think they'll still be of low quality. They just sound cheap. To be fair, they are, but a lot of people seemed to think they were better than that.

 

[vulc4n]

Quote:

Originally Posted by riker1384 re: HJE-50: A few minutes. The bass is OK. Even if I cut the highs I think they'll still be of low quality. They just sound cheap. To be fair, they are, but a lot of people seemed to think they were better than that.

Trust me on the burn in thing. Let them play some tunes overnight at a normal listening level and come back tommorow and give them a listen.

 

[senny-ftw]

EX91 owns them in terms of looks. I can't wait!

 

[riker1384]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vulc4n Trust me on the burn in thing. Let them play some tunes overnight at a normal listening level and come back tommorow and give them a listen.

Has anyone measured headphone burn-in and confirmed that it isn't just psychological? I'll try it anyway I guess if I can find my 1/4" adapter around here. Don't want to waste the Ipod battery or leave the computer awake.

 

[spacemanvt]

imo i burned them in and it helped the hights to calm down and increased bass alittle

i think i might order a pair of jvcs fx55s tho...

 

[riker1384]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vulc4n How long have you had them? I was totaly disapointed when I first got them because of the highs and lack of bass, but after a day of burn in they were much much better. With a really good seal the bass is great and if the highs still bother you after burn in remove the stock filters and stuff a small amount of earbud style foam in the sound tube. Add or remove bassed on how much you want to cut own the highs. It worked well for me.

I left them running most of the night and the still sound shrill. With some IQ they're OK and the level of detail is probably good for the price, but I'm still not real impressed.

 

[tbonner1]

"The midrange is less muddy than the Ipod earbuds but the highs are real tinny and cheap-sounding."

Hi Riker,
I suspect you are not sealing them in your ear correctly. Bass capability is not a problem with these headphones. If you have a problem with lack of bass and tinny/poor midrange treble my guess is they are not sealed correctly due to pilot error.

1-These should be seated farily deep in your ear canal.

2-There is a reason Panasonic provided 3 sizes of tips. Experiment.

3-When you get a proper seal:

a)Bass will become tight with impact
b)you will isolate outside sounds and hear a big decrease in external noise

Hope this helps you/

 

[riker1384]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbonner1 "The midrange is less muddy than the Ipod earbuds but the highs are real tinny and cheap-sounding." Hi Riker, I suspect you are not sealing them in your ear correctly. Bass capability is not a problem with these headphones. If you have a problem with lack of bass and tinny/poor midrange treble my guess is they are not sealed correctly due to pilot error.

The bass is fine. The midrange is clearer than with earbuds, fine. It's mainly that the highs are sort of harsh and cheap-sounding, maybe like headphones I used to use with Walkmans as a kid. I was hoping even cheap modern IEMs were better than that. It sounds with good with some music. Rock doesn't sound great.

 

[EFN]

Reviving old thread.

Just got myself a HJE50. Burning in now for five hours listening non stop.

Being a citizen of Head-Fi means that I just could not save any spare $ I could muster. But it was a good deal offered at $20 so Head-Filia hit me senseless and before I knew it I am $20 poorer now.

It was a pure Japanese import model with the boxes all in Japanese. Well I popped them out and plug them into my Neeon. Crank up the volume and - arrrrrgh!!!! REGRET sinked in! this is the worst sounding bud OUT OF THE BOX I have ever tried! - shrill highs and so on.......but wait,

I spent a few moment tweaking the tip fitment in my canals, another try...ah yes better now - I settled down with the mid tips. It has to be mentioned that I was still fresh with some experiences listening to Creative EP630 & EP480, KOSS Plug, Sony MDR-ED21LP - all those very intense/energetic buds and specially EP630 and KOSS Plug - it's like having a Subwoofer in my head - pretty fast paced bud for any music. KOSS Plug being the worst, no amount of CMOY mod can tame the bass attack.

Now that I have HJE50 in my canals, it didn't impress me any bit at first. Then after the abuse of bass attack from the earlier buds fade away from my mind, truth finally sinked in, I began to realize the chirpiness and clarity of HJE50 mids, treble are sharp and sibilance prone - but hey this is a brand new bud so I have to compromise there - on the same token the sharp treble spectrum is growing on me and I could not avoid liking it. I am not sure if this could be marked as a colored bud, but I have a stong feeling that this has to be one of the most neutral sounding bud I have ever tried - period. Even better than my previous MX500. Clarity and separation - aaaah bliss even at this unburned stage. Bass, ah well bass is there when you need it, tight and well extended, not as punchy as EP630 or Sonys but just nice - it does not interrupt the rest of sound spectrum - no muddiness. I am not a fan of EQ, but tweaking it a bit for this Burn In period, a tiny bit up for bass, tone down abit for treble - hey it's lovely!. I am not sure about the Soundstage, but HJE50 gives me "not in your head" feel.

The most important factor to consider is that I did not encounter any of the listening fatigue that I had with my previous buds. As good as they are, EP630 becomes unbearable after 40 minutes and my Sonys can only last 1 hour - any more my head will be buzzing. But not with this HJE50 - still plugged in my ears as I wrote this and enjoying every bit of it.

Well into the 5th hour, I can already imagine my remaing collection of buds will contemplate the prospect of collecting dusts. HJE50 will definitely become the discreet bud for me....that's is while I am waiting for my ATH-CK7 and ATH-ES7 arrival from Bluetin. Even then HJE50 will be on my permanent cans collection list.

 

[EFN]

Well over 15 hours now. Before going to bed last night I left my HJE50 plugged to my notebook, played two songs in Foobar looped, "Wake" by Rage Against The Machine and "Strangelove" by Depeche Mode. 90% max Volume and left it there.....

This morning plugged it off - audition time, plugged it to my Neeon again - WOW! significantly it's almost sibilance free on the highs - almost - but hey I can live with it. Considering that I am planning yet another 70 hours of Burn in using pink and white noise.

Now the cons, Microphonics is quite audible with the cords, a solution to this is to run them under my shirt - it's okay now. But I still have issues with the 1.5m cord in total. That extra 0.5m is annoying.

Bass level remained shy at this stage, just shy if compared to EP630 - but somewhat pleasant because it can go really low and extended. Perhaps I will do the Filter Mod when burning in period has completed.

Oh yes on another note, even at this stage this baby excel at Brit Pop - the likes of The Cure, New Order, U2.....yummy

 

[tbonner1]

I have put many hours on my hje-50's and bought another spare pair.

I have had almost all the inexpensive earbuds and I like these much better than my number 2 choice:the Creative 630.

They are slightly bass heavy which can be ameliorated(with my ear canal) by pulling them out of the ear canal a bit. A good seal is easy for me to get; I use the medium rubber inserts.

They are very efficient and sound good at low volume. No, they do not have the detail of the Shure E4. However the HJE-50's are still my low cost leaders along with the Koss KSC 35 and 75.

One concern: They are not open as transparent window to the reproduction chain as I would like. This leads me to beleive they have thier own sound signature rather than being ruthlessly revealing of the source and any changes within the chain.

To referenece another commonly used example of this trait: the Senn 650 also tend to have a (somewhat dark distant) distinctive sound signature, yet they seem to scale well and sound better with improvements and/or changes to the reproduction chain.

 

[EFN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbonner1 I have put many hours on my hje-50's and bought another spare pair. I have had almost all the inexpensive earbuds and I like these much better than my number 2 choice:the Creative 630. They are slightly bass heavy which can be ameliorated(with my ear canal) by pulling them out of the ear canal a bit. A good seal is easy for me to get; I use the medium rubber inserts. They are very efficient and sound good at low volume. No, they do not have the detail of the Shure E4. However the HJE-50's are still my low cost leaders along with the Koss KSC 35 and 75. One concern: They are not open as transparent window to the reproduction chain as I would like. This leads me to beleive they have thier own sound signature rather than being ruthlessly revealing of the source and any changes within the chain. To referenece another commonly used example of this trait: the Senn 650 also tend to have a (somewhat dark distant) distinctive sound signature, yet they seem to scale well and sound better with improvements and/or changes to the reproduction chain.

Yet another enthusiast of HJE50, good to see that

If you are keen with mods, I recommend modding the HJE50 and you will be surprised how far this baby can go.

I have spent huge amount of time tweaking and modding my HJE50 and the result today is a canalphone that's good enuff to dethrone my highly modded KOSS Porta Pro and any Canalphones that I have used before like EP630...etc

 

[germanium]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gshan Hm. I wonder if the shrieking a lot of people experience with these semi-canalphones (ex5/7, md33, hje50) can be neutralized to some degree with some experimentation with EQ? Gigabomber, my friend loves his Sharps too but also felt too much in the high end on his MD player and computer. Some messing around with the EQ on player/winamp seemed to hit the spot for him. It'll involve some comprimise though, as he had to adjust most of the other frequency bars to get balance. I'm not really a big fan of EQing though. I heard from a member that the overall dropoffs in the frequencies take away too much from quality. Or maybe I'm just lazy.

The mods I did to the EX71's tamed the high frequencies beautifully, in fact they now have the best sounding treble of any headphone I have ever heard period. http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=200001. They are much easier to listen to & are mor detailed at the same time. You here both the body & the high frequency shimmer that is accentuated to an ear piercing level stock but is in perfect balance modified.