[Ashvio]

Just ordered a white S400 from ebay yesterday.. expedited shipping so it should be here sometime between tomorrow and monday 

I wouldn't exactly call myself an audiophile, but i do really like music, and i'll be upgrading from a Sennheisser HD 202 II (which is currently broken in one ear; too lazy to send in for warranty), so from this thread i am pretty excited about the jump in quality ^_^
Once again, because I'm not an audiophile by headphone ownership standards, or drowning in money for that matter, I dont have an amp or experience with "burning in" and whatnot, but you guys are welcome to make me more excited heh 
The hardest thing i have to do now is select a first song to play with them cans for when theyre here  (i know, im terrible with you guys' slang)

 

[Doc-holliday]

@rickdohc.. Ya ignore anything Fire Phoenix. It just throws all your earphones and headphones to a new level but that is that. Don't be tempted by pure clarity and an extreme high fidelity in all your tunes. Who wants that?

I finally got around to running my S500 straight from my new'ish Onkyo tonight which runs a burr-brown. It's a whole new level.... If your fire phoneix is anyting like this.... I'm prolly gunna get me one but this burr-brown chip and my S500 are getting along just fine. Wow.

 

[rickdohc]

Just ordered a white S400 from ebay yesterday.. expedited shipping so it should be here sometime between tomorrow and monday 

I wouldn't exactly call myself an audiophile, but i do really like music, and i'll be upgrading from a Sennheisser HD 202 II (which is currently broken in one ear; too lazy to send in for warranty), so from this thread i am pretty excited about the jump in quality ^_^

Once again, because I'm not an audiophile by headphone ownership standards, or drowning in money for that matter, I dont have an amp or experience with "burning in" and whatnot, but you guys are welcome to make me more excited heh 
The hardest thing i have to do now is select a first song to play with them cans for when theyre here  (i know, im terrible with you guys' slang)

Awesome man, just keep us updated as soon as you get them and give us your honest impressions.

 

[rickdohc]

It's fun to tinker with these I think. You won't find me "tinkering" with my beyers that's for sure

Agree.

Changing pads is SOOO easy, i wouldnt even consider it as a mod

Its like in 30 seconds is what it takes to change some pads , like changin tips on some iems (ok, changing pads takes more seconds), very easy and with these s500 worth the 30 seconds.

My s500 went to another level in less than 1 minute and cost me 9 bucks (cobys cv185).

 

[Ghostfit]

Quote:

It's fun to tinker with these I think. You won't find me "tinkering" with my beyers that's for sure

 
Judging from the pictures of your Adidas blue S500 with unobtinium cables, I would certainly say you had loads of fun and a final product that'll make many here jealous and anyone proud 

 
 
Please pay no attention to my pessimistic post as i was thinking out loud to myself.

 

[Ghostfit]

Quote:

Just ordered a white S400 from ebay yesterday.. expedited shipping so it should be here sometime between tomorrow and monday 

I wouldn't exactly call myself an audiophile, but i do really like music, and i'll be upgrading from a Sennheisser HD 202 II (which is currently broken in one ear; too lazy to send in for warranty), so from this thread i am pretty excited about the jump in quality ^_^
Once again, because I'm not an audiophile by headphone ownership standards, or drowning in money for that matter, I dont have an amp or experience with "burning in" and whatnot, but you guys are welcome to make me more excited heh 
The hardest thing i have to do now is select a first song to play with them cans for when theyre here  (i know, im terrible with you guys' slang)

 
A warm welcome !
 
It doesn't matter which you select as your first song as you'll want to play them all in due time.
What's more important is your source and/or the bit rate. The S400 are quite forgiving so even 256kbps MP3 files sounds pretty okay, lossless is best of course.
 
Vocals are the forte of the S400 so playing strictly instrumental tracks means they will not give you anything special.
 
Most important is to have fun and don't forget to burn them CNT drivers for at least 200hrs.

 

[Doc-holliday]

...Adidas blue S500 with unobtinium cables...

Now THAT was funny! Nice one.

Thanx ghost.

 

[Dyaems]

where do you guys buy these? amazon? import?
 
the black/gray one looks very cool--- for an ortho transplant =)

 

[kevo108]

Checking in to confirm what everybody has been saying: after 100+ burn-in these get even better.  
 
I let a few friends listen to them, first words from friend one's mouth: "the mids are blowing my mind".  The second friend that tested them didn't say anything, he just hopped onto amazon and bought a pair!
 
Can't wait for the S400s to get to the US so I can buy a couple of pairs!

 

[Ghostfit]

Actually, I don't think anyone over here, fortunate enough to own a pair, ever said they were bad, the few who didn't like them (most likely out of open box) were told to burn them in before listening again have not came back (too busy enjoying them now I'll bet 

)
 
 
So if you think about it, they have almost 100% positive rating.

 

[cel4145]

Quote:

Agree.
Changing pads is SOOO easy, i wouldnt even consider it as a mod
Its like in 30 seconds is what it takes to change some pads , like changin tips on some iems (ok, changing pads takes more seconds), very easy and with these s500 worth the 30 seconds.
My s500 went to another level in less than 1 minute and cost me 9 bucks (cobys cv185).

 
I would change pads. That's like changing tires on car, and you have to know how to do it anyway for headphones. At some point, pads wear out. 
 
Doc was talking about taking the entire thing apart. 

 

[rickdohc]

Quote:

 
I would change pads. That's like changing tires on car, and you have to know how to do it anyway for headphones. At some point, pads wear out. 
 
Doc was talking about taking the entire thing apart. 

 
 
oohh yea... i dont see me changing cables and making heart transplants.. not me for sure.

 

[bjaardker]

OMG TOO MUCH BASS!

In all seriousness. It's awesome to hear that the carbon nanotubes in this larger format have the same reaction to massive amounts of bass as their smaller IEM based counterparts. As you're turning the bass up on the ZO, you reach a point of diminishing returns where there just isn't that much bass added to the sound. The plus side is, unlike a lot of other headphones when connected to the ZO, these never distort or clip. It's like they know how much bass is the maximum they can cleanly reproduce, and end there. Other headphones, when you get much past the middle "contours" (levels) of bass on the ZO, they start to get really flabby and eventually will distort. Not so with the S500s (or any of the other JVC carbon nanotubes for that matter).
 
Unfortunately, the S500 also is very good at showcasing the negatives of the ZO2. Highs and mids become recessed and everything sounds very....flat from an imaging perspective. The soundstage shrinks to an unacceptable level. I'll be switching back to the SoundMagic A10 now. 
 
In other news.. my HD25 pleathers came in last night....wow is all I can say. So far these have the best combination of comfort, bass, highs, and mids. Suddenly all of the vocals are forward and in the middle of the mix again. Listening to The Nylons and their "Four on the Floor" album right now, so awesome.

 

[bjaardker]

Thought these pics might help a bit with the discussion.


 

 
And I've got the Cobys on the way, so we'll see how those compare in a couple days.

 

[Dsnuts]

Glad everyone is enjoying their new found headphones..I know many of you guys don't think changing pads will change up the sound that much or may be skeptical, I mean after all this is the same headphone we are all talking about but I can assure everyone that the pads do change the sound and in most cases for the better as well as give more comfort. So will it be worth it to get different pads?. I think so.. All the pads mentioned on this thread are as follows.
 
The HD25 Velours..More forward mids and bass from stock sound. Comfort as they are velours. The most musical sound out of the bunch. Highs are almost unchanged perhaps toned down by a small amount.
 
The ATH Velours..The most open free breathing pads there are. The widest flattest sound and the least amount of bass. Best for classical big room bands. Comfort as they are velours again.
 
The ATH leathers. The best balanced sound out of all the pads. These pads have the best driver size to pad ratio out of all the pads. Meaning everything is balanced correct. Bit lesser bass than the stock pads or the HD25 velours. The definition of your tunes come out in full force using this pad. The mids are a bit forward but is cleaner sounding over the HD25.
 
AKG pads. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-New-Replacement-earpad-For-AKG-K518DJ-Leather-ear-pad-/261079367853?pt=US_Replacement_Parts_Tools&hash=item3cc98b00ad
This one is a nice alternative to the stock pads and actually has a better sound from them. Similar to the ATH leathers but with just a touch more bass and lesser mids. but overall a nice balanced sound from these pads..  Happy listening fellas and wear them HA-S400, HA-S500 proudly as you got one of the best deals for anything audio this year by far.
 
On a lesser related note. I have been skimming the new Denon thread. Wow what a disaster those new headphones have turned out to be. Everyone hates them. There is like 4 pairs of the new D600 on the sale forums. Lol.  Why can't those guys just get on the JVC train and realize they can get a great sound for 1/10th of the cost of a new Denon..Well I suppose when your talking about a cheapo $55 headphone vs a $500 one. To be fair I suppose there is going to be more scrutiny over a higher priced headphone. Just wondering if the $1200 D7100 would be worth it. The word is. Not.