[kalbee]

Quote:

Wayyy off topic but is anyone here interested in getting the v moda 100's? Just a heads up it's available for pre-order with some special discount on shields. So go go go, and maybe we might get a A/B with the S500s soon ha. That thread is hilarious, so much internal fighting over PPUs.  Puts this civilized and laid back thread to shame, we need some drama yo.  LoL

Reason why I stopped reading that thread... no matter how good the headphones can be, if the customer base is such chaos, I kind of just lost interest.
 
And now meanwhile, anyone that transplanted the drivers out care to give/sell me the shell of the S500?
That or I may end up buying one myself. Nearly none of my headphones are sealed, so isolation is so-so at best.

 

[Dsnuts]

Well that's just it. These raise the bar for sound so much that I don't know if spending $300 is going to be worth it for me. You can buy a E17 a nice variety of new CDs with a pair of HA-S500s for that much. So for me it better be a very special headphone for me to bite. 
 
Hmm more combos. Hows about a clip and Fiio E17 a new HA-S500 and some CDs. What you know a complete portable rig. Lol.
 
Or an Audioengine D1 a HA-S500 and a FXD80.  Now we are talking.

 

[sfwalcer]

but...but.... it looks so sexy ha. Yeah totally agreed, really hope they live up to the hype/ $$$ they are asking for. Will see soon.........
 
Really hope the S500s will work out in all of your proposed transplants fellas, wanna see if it's possible but I don'ts got the skills to do stuff like that so it's just gonna be a big tease. 

 

[Dsnuts]

The good news is. These sound great without transplanting.. These are a good candidate for that because their price but not something I plan on doing. Unless they transform into something that rivals the V-100 just by placing these drivers in a Shure SRH 240 housing. My pair with velours are so freaking comfy. I had a realization this morning. I don't know why I never tried putting the velours from my AD700 to my A900X as they use a similar build. It has been a while since I put on my AD700s and believe it or not. The HA-S500 is more comfy to me
 
The cup size is so big on the AD700s 53mm,  that the velours sit on my face. Don't like how this feels. The HD25 velours is perfect in every way for the HA-S500. So for me at least that is the only mod I need to do.. But I am interested in how housing transplants will do for these wonderful drivers.

 

[kalbee]

Seems like a new ebay seller is starting to sell these too. It's a liiiiittle bit cheaper (<$1) but take good note that the shipping is SAL and not EMS, thus MUCH slower. Well, at least generally speaking EMS arrives within 1.5week even for me in Canada.
For those that take the Ebay route... make sure you read carefully!

 

[jwong]

I missed my Amazon delivery today, because apparently they required a signature, so heads up on that.
 
I just installed the Sennheiser velours. I don't think they change the sound much, if at all, as Dsnuts said. Definitely should help for longer term listening comfort.
 
These are the perfect option for me as a work headphone, where I didn't want anything huge and ostentatious for appearance's sake. But now I want a similarly priced, similar sounding over-ear option for home! 

 

[ericp10]

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BTW I know ericp said he was able to fit these over-ear but I'm confused at how this is possible.  The opening is 1 1/4".  Maybe Verne Troyer... but even then maybe not.  I have average sized ears for someone my size (I'm a pretty small guy, 55-56 cm, 6 3/4 hat size) and the pads do *cover* my ears, just barely, but there's no way in hell they're even come close to fitting inside.

 
 
Good question bobeau. I've never owned a pair of on-the-ear headphones before, so the way I wear the S500 it seemed to me that it was encompassing my whole ear. But after using my fingers to feel around I realized that the headphone was not covering totally around my ear, but just parts of it. So I stand corrected. 

 

[cute]

Quote:

Thank you for your impressions. As I am bit of old school, jRiver Media Center 16 sounds next to Martian to me. I do use crosfeed from head-fi member XNOR in foobar2000 and will have Jan Meier's Portable kit amplifier with crosfeed ready in couple of days. Are you perhaps familiar with any of the mentioned crossfeed options? Were it not for the crossfeed of some description, I would not have bothered with any cans that are not AKG K 1000, due to their completely unrealistic recreation of soundstage - regardless how good they can be in any other department. What I particularly like in f2K crossfeed besides sounding like a stereo speaker system is much improved intelegibility in lower registers. Normally, listening with headphones without crossfeed and comparing the same track being played on loudspeakers invariably sounds thin to me on the cans - no reasonable amount of EQ could cure this. With crossfeed - bliss. Does this description ring any bell regarding your  jRiver Media Center 16 ?
 
I asked Dsnuts back in the thread how JVC HA-S500 sound on this:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZzFruQCofM
 
I assume he listened "straight" without crossfeed, saying the soundstage was not that great. Please answer how does it sound using crossfeed , particularly regarding soundstage ?
 
Looking forward to your mods with bigger earpads etc too !

I don't have enough burn in yet, to make any detailed comments.....but the crossfeed in jRiver Media Center 16 has six different levels of crossfeed, and depending on source, it is just a mouse click to change and sample.  I also EQ down the mid bass hump at 125hz, -4db, which really clears up the vocals, making them more forward.  Also, with MC16, I oversample 44.1 tracks to 88, I use wav files, and I can set it to play from memory instead of disk.  These are advanced setting that I got from an Audiophile of 20+ years, critical listeners would be able to tell the difference.  If you look into crossfeed, it mixes left speaker signals to right, and right signals to left, there is more to it than that, but it results in a more rich detailed sound.  My listening position in my man cave/HT system, is where I sit when listening to headphones, and I have A/B'd the same songs playing on headphones with crossfeed, and to my speaker system without crossfeed, and they compare very favorably.  Many believe that jRiver Media Center 16 is the best Audiophile application for PC listening, but the path and components to DAC, Amp, cabling, and headphones/speakers is also very important! 
 
I live in a rural area, so internet speed is not that great for youtube, too many breaks, so I can't comment on the link.  I can say however that my CD's that are mastered live, really take a step up, if the mastering is good.  On that my favorite is "Loreena Mckinnett", "Nights from the Alhambra", 2 disk set....where crossfeed makes it sound like a live performance right in front of me.  I have the DVD that plays on my HT system for comparison.
 
I'm getting OT on this, and I need to wait a couple of weeks for burn in on the HS500, and the modded HS600 before I comment any more, but right now these compet very well with my ATH-1000x with modded AD2000 drivers and DHC cable!
 
I will post more later!

 

[cute]

Quote:

but...but.... it looks so sexy ha. Yeah totally agreed, really hope they live up to the hype/ $$$ they are asking for. Will see soon.........
 
Really hope the S500s will work out in all of your proposed transplants fellas, wanna see if it's possible but I don'ts got the skills to do stuff like that so it's just gonna be a big tease. 

 
I'm not really looking for sound improvement in doing a transplant (but the DHC cable might be a bonus)....just a little more comfort with around ear instead of on ear, besides if the Shure 840 pads work on the HS600, there is plenty of feedback of fantastic comfort with those pads.  I would still have less than $100 into my pair of HS500.

 

[cute]

Quote:

 
 
Good question bobeau. I've never owned a pair of on-the-ear headphones before, so the way I wear the S500 it seemed to me that it was encompassing my whole ear. But after using my fingers to feel around I realized that the headphone was not covering totally around my ear, but just parts of it. So I stand corrected. 

 
Another up and coming headphone convert, LOL!

 

[cute]

Listening to the "Eagles", "Their Greatest Hits 1971 - 1975", and the mids are definately more forward that on my FXD80's, early impression, but I hope that remains the same after time!

 

[bobeau]

Quote:

Good question bobeau. I've never owned a pair of on-the-ear headphones before, so the way I wear the S500 it seemed to me that it was encompassing my whole ear. But after using my fingers to feel around I realized that the headphone was not covering totally around my ear, but just parts of it. So I stand corrected. 

 
The way you're describing this it sounds like it's fitting on-ear for you - it would be circumaural if the pads were large enough that your ears actually fit inside the pads, and the pads were then resting on your head.  For me the pads on this do completely cover my ears and I get a decent seal.
 
Also since I have a fairly small (medium-small I guess) head the clamping force is rather light and I can go for hours without discomfort.

 

[Gee Simpson]

Quote:

I missed my Amazon delivery today, because apparently they required a signature, so heads up on that.
 
I just installed the Sennheiser velours. I don't think they change the sound much, if at all, as Dsnuts said. Definitely should help for longer term listening comfort.
 
These are the perfect option for me as a work headphone, where I didn't want anything huge and ostentatious for appearance's sake. But now I want a similarly priced, similar sounding over-ear option for home! 

Yeah so did I yesterday 

 
What made it worse was a family member went to collect them for me today at the local post office and the guy said they hadn't received them yet when it said on the delivery card that they would be there. I have just checked the parcel force (UK) website and it says they were last tracked at that very post office so I'm a bit frustrated atm. How do people like that get a job when they can't even do it properly? 

 

[sygyzy]

My Amazon ordered arrived this afternoon from Japan. I haven't burned them in yet. Initial thoughts:
 
Build
Very impressed. It has a heft to it. A solid feel. Nothing flimsy about it. The cable is great. I wish it was a bit longer since I am using it in a desktop setup. It's the perfect length (short) for portable use which is clearly the intention of these cans.
 
Comfort
They are on-ear headphones, obviously. They feel pretty comfortable for me. Maybe a bit tight on the clamping but so far no pain really. 
 
Sound
Sorry, I don't know all the fancy terms you guys use to describe the sound. Just like I would never say a wine tastes like a summer in the Hamptons, I won't use the same analogies here. I will say that this thing is very bass heavy. It has a good punch with a broad "attack" rather than being fast. It's punchy but more of a shove than a jab. The mids are good too. The problem I have is with the highs. I don't think they are bad but they aren't that great. I think the instrumental seperation is not great either. It has this weird sound I can't describe. It's like they put a filter over the entire frequency range. Like a sock over the speakers or something. It's hard to explain. They are extremely easy to drive and I almost view that as a con because I find myself inadvertently turning up the volume to increase the part of the frequency I feel is missing. Of course that doesn't really solve anything.  It just make the whole track sound louder. It doesn't magically bring out highs or anything. 
 
Conclusion
For the price, this is a no brainer. The build quality is top notch and the sound is great. I don't think it's as dynamic as others think. I think it's weakness is in the mid-highs to highs. I think this will satiate bass heads quite well. 

 

[vlenbo]

Quote:

Don't know if the bass is changing or I'm getting more used to it, but I'm really liking these! I'm not terribly impressed with the headband, and I'm looking forward to velours to improve the pad comfort, but soundwise these are terrific.
 
My second pair should come today or tomorrow. Not even sure why I ordered the second pair (other than the Amazon deal), so I'm glad I like them as much as I do!

 
I meant for the future.
Quote:

My Amazon ordered arrived this afternoon from Japan. I haven't burned them in yet. Initial thoughts:
 
Build
Very impressed. It has a heft to it. A solid feel. Nothing flimsy about it. The cable is great. I wish it was a bit longer since I am using it in a desktop setup. It's the perfect length (short) for portable use which is clearly the intention of these cans.
 
Comfort
They are on-ear headphones, obviously. They feel pretty comfortable for me. Maybe a bit tight on the clamping but so far no pain really. 
 
Sound
Sorry, I don't know all the fancy terms you guys use to describe the sound. Just like I would never say a wine tastes like a summer in the Hamptons, I won't use the same analogies here. I will say that this thing is very bass heavy. It has a good punch with a broad "attack" rather than being fast. It's punchy but more of a shove than a jab. The mids are good too. The problem I have is with the highs. I don't think they are bad but they aren't that great. I think the instrumental seperation is not great either. It has this weird sound I can't describe. It's like they put a filter over the entire frequency range. Like a sock over the speakers or something. It's hard to explain. They are extremely easy to drive and I almost view that as a con because I find myself inadvertently turning up the volume to increase the part of the frequency I feel is missing. Of course that doesn't really solve anything.  It just make the whole track sound louder. It doesn't magically bring out highs or anything. 
 
Conclusion
For the price, this is a no brainer. The build quality is top notch and the sound is great. I don't think it's as dynamic as others think. I think it's weakness is in the mid-highs to highs. I think this will satiate bass heads quite well. 

okay, I have to agree with this. This is on open box though, wait for the burn-in to do some improvements on the highs. I disagree with instrumental seperation though, it isn't that bad, in fact I could easily tell the instruments and voices on open box than the a900x and ckm500s. The weird sound I also agree with, at first I was put off on hearing it, but I gave it a chance and it did improve it a bit. I would call that the veil effect, where it is not giving its strength towards some frequencies, but it does make it sound good in my ears. It's like a special effect to me, I only hear it in mids though.