[Zaroff]

Quote:

I searched for these online just to see what you were comparing these s500's with and how much they cost. The cheapest I could find them was for £1,299 ($2,053) 

 
Are you seriously saying you think these are better than a £1,299 ($2,053) headphone!?! 

 
Well, much as I liked the Ed8, I always found they missed a little something, couldn't exactly pinpoint what, but as much as they are quality headphones, I knew fairly quickly they were not the holy grail of portable headphones (for me). It's not a coincidence that I sold them. Meanwhile, hard as I try, I cannot fault the 500 yet. They eat everything I throw at them, and belch with pleasure, at that

 

[rickdohc]

Type: Virtual Barber Shop on Youtube and have some fun!

 

[dnullify]

Quote:

How long have you been listening to them?  And have you done any burn-in yet?
I found mine to be far to harsh and fatiguing at first, but some burn-in tamed down the highs and now they're nothing but a joy.

i only listened to them for 30 minutes or so. got about 90 hours or so of burn in.
 
I'm going to keep going, i'm just wondering if i'm the only one.
 
Here's what i've had so far.
 
0-5hrs shouty mids
5-30 bass got a little boomy; details coming out
30-60 bass kicked up two levels, still good clarity; still harsh
 
I didn't listen to them until now, ~95ish hours - and the bass has tightened up, lessened slightly but more in line. however, they've become more mid-centric and harsh. Not shouty, there's no peak in the vocals. just "fatiguing" to normal ears, and harsh to my sensitive ones.

 

[brrgrr]

Quote:

i only listened to them for 30 minutes or so. got about 90 hours or so of burn in.
 
I'm going to keep going, i'm just wondering if i'm the only one.
 
Here's what i've had so far.
 
0-5hrs shouty mids
5-30 bass got a little boomy; details coming out
30-60 bass kicked up two levels, still good clarity; still harsh
 
I didn't listen to them until now, ~95ish hours - and the bass has tightened up, lessened slightly but more in line. however, they've become more mid-centric and harsh. Not shouty, there's no peak in the vocals. just "fatiguing" to normal ears, and harsh to my sensitive ones.

 
I've noted similar boomy bass, but theyve only tamed and tightened since open box. What I have felt in the vocals is a little absence in the midrange relative to the upper midrange, it's not significant but it's there. My 2 cents so far.

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

 
@Achmedisdead keep us updated on them grado pads you used to replace the stock ones, it looks really interesting and might go that route for my 2nd set of S500s in the future. Wound be interesting to see if there are any sound changes.  Of course after your ears gets better that is, no rush.

 
Well, it ended up not being an improvement, except in comfort. Basically, what they sounded like was, Grados with slightly less bass, with a really wide soundstage!

 Too bad, because with those pads I could walk around with them all day I think....so comfy! 
 
Back to the normal pads.... these S500's have basically been running almost continually since 2pm last Tuesday. When I was not actually listening to them, I was repeating the A State Of Trance 500 studio album. I had them running louder than I would normally listen for any length of time, but no louder than I would turn up the occasional favorite song. (I knew that Fuze+ that was collecting dust would be good for something at some point....lol.)
 
Now, I am ready to pronounce these my favorites out of my collection. Just running from my rockboxed Clip Zip, no EQ or crossfade or crossfeed, just pressing play, they are fantastic. The whole frequency spectrum is there, nothing gets drowned out....the imaging and detail is a delight.....I'm not sure what else there is to be said!
 
Given that I paid $47.10 for these, I'd put them right up there in value-per-dollar with a Rockbox-running AMS Sansa player....

 

[suba3333]

I am planning to buy them very soon.  Now I need to decide which colour,  I think they come in black or in gunmetal/metalic.  Anyone has seen both of them in the flesh? Which one looks nicer?  Which one will show scratches and other marks of daily use less?  Thanks.
 

 

[deepanshu830]

how does they compare to sr60 ?

 

[gikigill]

Hi everyone, nooblet at headfi here but not a noob with headphones. First post here so I decided to discuss these as I own a pair and another one for posterity,s sake.
 
After burnin for 250 hours, I still find them a bit harsh, especially at higher volumes so they will be burnin for 250 more. Overall, I love them.
 

 

[analogsurviver]

Just some good noise of vynil found on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYYzyRWip1g&feature=related
 
And my fav track from this album, this time from CD (which is worse in SQ, compare to sound above), still great music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewwifw93KAY
 
This comparison should be about as kosher as it gets on youtube to demonstrate difference of analog vs digital.
 
As always, enjoy your music !

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

 
Well, much as I liked the Ed8, I always found they missed a little something, couldn't exactly pinpoint what, but as much as they are quality headphones, I knew fairly quickly they were not the holy grail of portable headphones (for me). It's not a coincidence that I sold them. Meanwhile, hard as I try, I cannot fault the 500 yet. They eat everything I throw at them, and belch with pleasure, at that

I know right, these S500s sucks dirt in like a vacuum, purifies it and only fresh air that smell like roses comes out.  Their sound signature acts like a filter that even makes low quality mixtapes and poorly master albums sounds amazing.  This was not the case with my FX40/ 101s, cuz they reveal all the flaws of the recording esp. if there are sibilance/ harsh highs in the tracks.  But these S500s are something else, they really enhance your music listening pleasure by a mile for sure.  Really diggin' these so far.  
 
 
Quote:

 
Well, it ended up not being an improvement, except in comfort. Basically, what they sounded like was, Grados with slightly less bass, with a really wide soundstage!

 Too bad, because with those pads I could walk around with them all day I think....so comfy! 
 
Given that I paid $47.10 for these, I'd put them right up there in value-per-dollar with a Rockbox-running AMS Sansa player....

Damn that sucks, it makes sense though since there is no cup shape to trap the sound from the drivers unlike the stock pads. Those grados sits flat over the drivers making the soundstage sound really wide, that's my theory anyways. You can try to put the grados over the stock pads, if you can that is, to see if there are any sound changes, cuz I am lovin' my pad on pad mod.
 
If we got these for $47 all the way from Jpn, then wouldn't their prices once they retail locally on the international market become wayyy cheaper? OMG if that's true these are gonna be the best bang for the buck EVER! Can't wait to see how much they are gonna sell for stateside.  
 
Quote:

After burnin for 250 hours, I still find them a bit harsh, especially at higher volumes so they will be burnin for 250 more. Overall, I love them.
 

WoW, I find it strange that some people find these harsh even after that much burn in, I barely burned mines in, and they are the most smooth/ least harsh of all the jvc gear I have owned (FX40/ FX101/ FXD70).  Smooth as butta'. But I guess we all hear differently.

 

[kiteki]

Will answer some of the posts here when I have time.
 
 
I'm trying to like this headphone, I'm burning it in a lot now plus I've modded it with soft polyester behind the drivers on the wall of the cups to soak up some of the reflection / dissonance, I've enjoyed several songs on it but still not used to the sound.

 

[Zaroff]

Quote:

WoW, I find it strange that some people find these harsh even after that much burn in, I barely burned mines in, and they are the most smooth/ least harsh of all the jvc gear I have owned (FX40/ FX101/ FXD70).  Smooth as butta'. But I guess we all hear differently.

 
This. What amazes me is their level of details with possibly the least fatiguing/non-harsh highs I've heard in quite some time. I have perhaps 30-40 hours on them by now, and I haven't heard sibilance or any harshness so far, including with treble-happy poor mastering jobs.

 

[dnullify]

they're not sibilant, just fatiguing.
 
Mine are at 105 hours or so. Same deal.

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

 
 
 
Damn that sucks, it makes sense though since there is no cup shape to trap the sound from the drivers unlike the stock pads. Those grados sits flat over the drivers making the soundstage sound really wide, that's my theory anyways. You can try to put the grados over the stock pads, if you can that is, to see if there are any sound changes, cuz I am lovin' my pad on pad mod.
 
No chance...it was a struggle to stretch them far enough to get them on at all, much less over other pads.
 
If we got these for $47 all the way from Jpn, then wouldn't their prices once they retail locally on the international market become wayyy cheaper? OMG if that's true these are gonna be the best bang for the buck EVER! Can't wait to see how much they are gonna sell for stateside.  
 
I'll be curious to see this too....if I could get a second pair for what I paid for this one, I would do it in a heartbeat, and get rid of a couple of my current 'phones. 

 

[kiteki]

 
they're not sibilant, just fatiguing.

 
It's called too much bass.  I thought my burn-in process was working, the bass seemed more controlled and lower in volume, then I connected them to my desktop amplifier and there it was again in goblets.
 
Putting some soft and shiny polyester inside the cups soaked up some of the dissonance, but it's soaking up some of the mids and highs as well somehow, now they remind me of the B&W P5 a little in character.