The HA-FX34 Marshmallow....As in ears go i have not heard better.

[Beyerfan70]

Well ive had these new version marshmallows for about a month now and ive just fallen in love with them.
Originally i wasn't in the market for any in ear phones as i prefer full size for my portables,and on top of that i already had a pair of shure e210 and Super fi 3,but with the heat of the weather at the moment it makes full size cans uncomfortable to wear
But i just saw them in my supermarket for £8 and just gave em a go!
Im glad i did too,for the music that i listen to they perform superbly.
Mostly rock and metal...Bowie,
Black sabbath,Ozzy,Iron maiden, Husker du,AC/DC etc,and they sound great.
I listen to my music flat and they are very punchy indeed
They have incredible detail for the price,i hear things with these that many of my much more expensive phones just gloss over
And for my personal music taste they out perform both the shures and the super fi 3.
Yes i know that there are better ones available for my kind of music,but i think that most iems are very overpriced and when i listen to the mallows i just dont see the point.
I certainly have no desire to look for any other in ear phones now as i love these ones.
I will always prefer cans,but as far as in ear phones go and for the £8 price tag these are incredible,and i just wanted to share my love for them.
110% happy!!!!

 

[funkadelic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beyerfan70 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well ive had these new version marshmallows for about a month now and ive just fallen in love with them. Originally i wasn't in the market for any in ear phones as i prefer full size for my portables,and on top of that i already had a pair of shure e210 and Super fi 3,but with the heat of the weather at the moment it makes full size cans uncomfortable to wear But i just saw them in my supermarket for £8 and just gave em a go! Im glad i did too,for the music that i listen to they perform superbly. Mostly rock and metal...Bowie, Black sabbath,Ozzy,Iron maiden, Husker du,AC/DC etc,and they sound great. I listen to my music flat and they are very punchy indeed They have incredible detail for the price,i hear things with these that many of my much more expensive phones just gloss over And for my personal music taste they out perform both the shures and the super fi 3. Yes i know that there are better ones available for my kind of music,but i think that most iems are very overpriced and when i listen to the mallows i just dont see the point. I certainly have no desire to look for any other in ear phones now as i love these ones. I will always prefer cans,but as far as in ear phones go and for the £8 price tag these are incredible,and i just wanted to share my love for them. 110% happy!!!!

Which supermarket has them for £8?, Marshmallows are generally about £15 in the UK.

Are they an upgraded FX-33, or is it a typo?

Simon

 

[Beyerfan70]

Morrisons,they are the Fx34,the ones with the softer grey insides and the iphone compatible plug.
I have noticed they are now selling them for £10.
Mind you they are still a super price considering how good they are.

 

[lewislink]

As far as I'm concerned, JVC sells some very fine and high quality sounding canalphones. I used the FX-66 for quite some time and felt it to be outstanding for what it cost. Their FX300 leaves a small amount to be desired in the midrange but are incredibly comfortable once seated correctly and sound very good.

 

[eruditass]

i'm sad to say this but, the fx34's are absolutely horrible.

i am a HUGE fx33 fan (when modded) and as my fx33's have been needing repairs (i accidently sliced one of the cords and had to electrically tape it) i tried out some fx34's. they sound horrible. I've burned them in for nearly 200 hours with pink noise and they still sound horrible. I did the kramer mod and they sound better but still nowhere near fx33's. I even switched the tips and the amount of foam with my golden fx33's and it was still crappy. I plugged up the bass port hole and a little better but again, miles away from fx33's.

what's different?

first, as many have mentioned, there is too much bass even with the mods and bass port blocking. this isn't a big issue as i often use it outside where there is noise and the extra bass is welcomed. also, it is easier to fix with eq.

the biggest problem is the treble. i can not get treble sparkle out of fx34's like i can with fx33's. the top end is completely lacking, remiscient of shure.

in addition, the mids much too warm with not enough upper mid detail. although one complaint i have about my fx33s is the cold midrange, kind of like ety. However, i am sure that if i change some of the variables in the foam it can come out better.

but i really wish I could figure out a way to get the treble to come out. Maybe my fx33's are special because I accidently put them in the washer at some point.. anyways I will be buying another pair of fx33's at some point because fx34's really do sound like $10 headphones even while modded.

fx66's also aren't nearly as good, and i find fx66's better than fx34's in this case.

i was really really hoping all that was different was the bass.. however i do like the new tips and i will probably be keeping them on my fx33's.

 

[Beyerfan70]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoomzDayz /img/forum/go_quote.gif i'm sad to say this but, the fx34's are absolutely horrible. i am a HUGE fx33 fan (when modded) and as my fx33's have been needing repairs (i accidently sliced one of the cords and had to electrically tape it) i tried out some fx34's. they sound horrible. I've burned them in for nearly 200 hours with pink noise and they still sound horrible. I did the kramer mod and they sound better but still nowhere near fx33's. I even switched the tips and the amount of foam with my golden fx33's and it was still crappy. I plugged up the bass port hole and a little better but again, miles away from fx33's. what's different? first, as many have mentioned, there is too much bass even with the mods and bass port blocking. this isn't a big issue as i often use it outside where there is noise and the extra bass is welcomed. also, it is easier to fix with eq. the biggest problem is the treble. i can not get treble sparkle out of fx34's like i can with fx33's. the top end is completely lacking, remiscient of shure. in addition, the mids much too warm with not enough upper mid detail. although one complaint i have about my fx33s is the cold midrange, kind of like ety. However, i am sure that if i change some of the variables in the foam it can come out better. but i really wish I could figure out a way to get the treble to come out. Maybe my fx33's are special because I accidently put them in the washer at some point.. anyways I will be buying another pair of fx33's at some point because fx34's really do sound like $10 headphones even while modded. fx66's also aren't nearly as good, and i find fx66's better than fx34's in this case. i was really really hoping all that was different was the bass.. however i do like the new tips and i will probably be keeping them on my fx33's.

I think its all down to personal taste isn't it,i mean i heard a friends fx33 and found them ok but uncomfortable,sound wise i think the opposite,the fx34 is much nicer sounding.
I dont hear treble roll off on these at all,much more pronounced than shure,and very sparkly indeed,and i love a bright treble.
Still thats my opinion and my ears.
But i still say that these are the best in ear phones there are,whenever i put them back in i wonder why i ever unplugged em'

 

[eruditass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beyerfan70 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think its all down to personal taste isn't it,i mean i heard a friends fx33 and found them ok but uncomfortable,sound wise i think the opposite,the fx34 is much nicer sounding. I dont hear treble roll off on these at all,much more pronounced than shure,and very sparkly indeed,and i love a bright treble. Still thats my opinion and my ears. But i still say that these are the best in ear phones there are,whenever i put them back in i wonder why i ever unplugged em'

have you ever tried modding them? i dont remember how they compare unmodded(i know both sounded like crap), but modded, there is a unmistakable difference. and which shure are you talking about?

i definitely agree on the comfort. and if you dont think either have treble roll off... what headphones have you listened to? I definitely feel that both have noticible rolloff, but it is clear that fx34's rolloff begins notably earlier with a higher Q. both are also sparky, which is a somewhat different thing. you should to listen to them both with no filters on, which is a very important distinction. the bass on the fx34's is a lot stronger, what are your observations on that? Also the midrange is a lot warmer.

Regardless, I am going to try another pair and I think you should too.

 

[Beyerfan70]

i wouldn't mod them as i like the sound they give me,and see no reason to change them.
As comparison goes i'm comparing them to the shure e3c and the e210,both of which i owned till i gave the e3c away,and compared to these two there is no treble roll off.
I wouldn't know about the higher end models but knowing shures sound signature these would also roll off.
They also sound better than the superfi 3 which has a nice clear treble but the 34's trounce them too.
And i wouldnt buy any more iem or canal phones as they dont deliver for the price.
As for listening to better phones,as i said in my original post i prefer full size cans anyway,its just too uncomfortable to wear them in this horrid hot weather.
But in cooler weather i use my Beyer dt231 galactic which i simply adore and imo for my portables it simply cannot be beat.
But for the time being im flicking between the e210,superfi 3 and the mallows.
and out of the 3 the mallows are the best for me.
Of course if i could i'd use my Dt880's but they are far too precious to carry about.
At the end of the day though for the £8 i spent on them and that they out perform a phone 6,7,8 times more expensive then i'm seriously happy......Till it gets cooler,then i'm in nirvana!

 

[eruditass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beyerfan70 /img/forum/go_quote.gif i wouldn't mod them as i like the sound they give me,and see no reason to change them. As comparison goes i'm comparing them to the shure e3c and the e210,both of which i owned till i gave the e3c away,and compared to these two there is no treble roll off. I wouldn't know about the higher end models but knowing shures sound signature these would also roll off. They also sound better than the superfi 3 which has a nice clear treble but the 34's trounce them too. And i wouldnt buy any more iem or canal phones as they dont deliver for the price. As for listening to better phones,as i said in my original post i prefer full size cans anyway,its just too uncomfortable to wear them in this horrid hot weather. But in cooler weather i use my Beyer dt231 galactic which i simply adore and imo for my portables it simply cannot be beat. But for the time being im flicking between the e210,superfi 3 and the mallows. and out of the 3 the mallows are the best for me. Of course if i could i'd use my Dt880's but they are far too precious to carry about. At the end of the day though for the £8 i spent on them and that they out perform a phone 6,7,8 times more expensive then i'm seriously happy......Till it gets cooler,then i'm in nirvana!

well.. shure e2c, e3c, 210, 110, etc.. all also have very noticible treble roll off. e4c and e500 are significantly better. Perhaps your source is brighter than mine. I haven't heard the SF3's but based on what you say, I'm definitely going to try a new pair of FX34's. I'm VERY surprised you don't think so compared to DT880's, which are my favorite phone. As for the price, I think the absolute best buy was an IEM.. IM716 (very similar to ER-4) for $20

Isolation of IEMs is amazing compared to canalphones like fx34, etc. But they are hard to insert and thus i prefer canalphones mostly unless I'm traveling on a bus or train or plane for a long time.

In the future I may invest in livewires/freqs for a combination of all 3 things I want.

 

[Beyerfan70]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoomzDayz /img/forum/go_quote.gif well.. shure e2c, e3c, 210, 110, etc.. all also have very noticible treble roll off. e4c and e500 are significantly better. Perhaps your source is brighter than mine. I haven't heard the SF3's but based on what you say, I'm definitely going to try a new pair of FX34's. I'm VERY surprised you don't think so compared to DT880's, which are my favorite phone. As for the price, I think the absolute best buy was an IEM.. IM716 (very similar to ER-4) for $20 Isolation of IEMs is amazing compared to canalphones like fx34, etc. But they are hard to insert and thus i prefer canalphones mostly unless I'm traveling on a bus or train or plane for a long time. In the future I may invest in livewires/freqs for a combination of all 3 things I want.

Oh i definitively agree with you that iem's are fantastic at isolation,and i love that.
My source is either Sony Rh1 hi-md,or S618,or S706.
Dont get me wrong i have heard and indeed own many better phones,whch all have better sound its just that they are cans and not iem or canal phones as i'm not overly keen on them and prefer the sound a can gives me.
I nearly picked up a pair of the shure 420's and the etymotic er4's but to be honest for the small amount of time i would have used them it just seemed a waste of money.
But try a pair of the Fx34's maybe the sound sig has changed since you last had some,i dont know but it cant hurt to try.
Great taste on the Dt880,it really is the best phone out there.

 

[eruditass]

so i've burned them in nearly another 200 hours this time with both pink and white noise (no treble fall off in hopes of opening up the treble) and to my surprise, they opened up a LOT! I will have to do more testing later as I just woke up but they sound comparable to my ksc75's and similar to my fx33's, though the fx33's still sound a lot more real at the top. They do have the bass port plugged with tape though. The midrange needs a lot of tweaking but that's what foam is for.

i was never really a believer of burn in, and laughed at the guy that said 1000 hours on his marshmallows made them so much better but now i'm starting to think otherwise.. well not believing in 1000 hours but I think it depends on how you burn them in.. I did a pretty loud volume, the white noise particularly hurt my ears. at the same RMS volume.

 

[LTUCCI1924]

I went to wal-mart and bought the jvc marshmallow ha-fx34 for 20.00.
I was pleasently surprised at how good they sound so I went a step further and mollded them and am very happy with the sound and fit. I also like the fact that I cant hear my fan that is very strong with them in and music playing on my sansa clip. I also like the very small size of them. I have owned way more exspensive iem years ago and an happy to see a 20.00 ear phone can sound so good for so little money.

 

[babya]

The JVC HA-FX33/34 are amazingly good IEM'S-the foam eartips give a very nice fit, and nice sound.

 

[eruditass]

unfortuantely unlike the fx33, i have not been able to tame the fx34's horrible midbass hump. although it has nice bass extension, the 100hz range is way too bumped up. closing the bass port does make things tigher but humps it up even more.

Bass Reflex Loudspeakers

the extra bass works decently in noisey environments but i wish it wasn't so humped and more spread out. reminds me of fx66's.


the mids and highs are of equal quality of the fx33's when modded and burned in though

 

[Beyerfan70]

See i told you they were good! Lol.
Seriously though for the price they cost they are amazing.
Earlier in this thread i said that i was maybe going to purchase the shure se420,but had decided against it.
Well curiosity got the better of me and i got myself a pair....now for the funny bit...or not so funny on my part.
After 3 or 4 days i'd been listening to the 420's pretty much non stop,and was enjoying them tremendously,and i had to go into town and just grabbed the marshmallows,and guess what...yep they sounded superb,and i honestly didn't notice a huge drop in quality,which when you consider there is £150 difference between them is unheard of!
So yes i'm pleased i got the 420,but i have to admit whenever i put the mallows in i think why on earth did i bother.