The JVC HA-S500 thread.

[bowei006]

So I heard you were the only survivor of the attack of the analog devices! Everyone else got captured by the digital over-see'ers but there can be only ONE SURVIVOR!

 

[sfwalcer]

Ok you'll this is getting dumb!!!
 
So like I was saying how these S500s were on ear, makes my ears sore after some time, hurts with glasses bla bla bla, you know what I did? LoL
I ripped off the cheapo pleather pads from some knockoff "HYUNDAI" wireless headphones that I have (don't ask me why I got them ha, embarrassing to even mention it here since it's head-fi

) and wrapped it over the stock pads on the S500s to make it over ear.
 
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/hyundai-wireless-stereo-hi-fi-headphone-6245?item=88
 
Oh man oh man, this pad on pad mod has made them so comfy since its over ears now. Wearing glasses doesn't hurt no mores!!! Have a more tight fit on head as well due to the 2x padding.  
(Oh and thanks for that glasses advice Achmedisdead; glasses and headphones don't mix well. )
 
I might be trippin' but I think this might have increased the soundstage a bit as well, since the cup/ pad area has increased due to the stock pads propping up the 2nd pad.

When I listen to The Weepies "Say I AM YOU" album the soundstage on the FX40s are lacking therefore making the album less enjoyable compared to my Superlux HD 668Bs. But this album sounds almost the same as the semi open 668Bs on my S500s but with better instrument separation and imagery, MY GOD! This is unreal. LoL Crappers now I really have no use for them superluxes no mores.  The more I listen to these S500s the more ridiculous they are sounding. AND I didn't even burn them in yet! Hold me I am scared........................

    
 
Damnnnn I don't want to take these off,  I need to burn them in. LoL
 
So for now my on ear/ comfort problem is solved with this pad on pad mod, and the sound is coming along nicely................too nice in fact.
 
Go experiment you'll if you have extra ear pads around that are over ears, I had to stretch them cheapo pads to fit over the stock ones, but it turned out well cuz they were slightly bigger. 
 
Good Luck!

 

[sfwalcer]

LoL, panda man got jokes. 

You need to hop on this gravy train since kiteki said the S500s are preferred over the M-80s. It's a official go go go no? ha

 

[ericp10]

The s500, FXD70 and FXD80 all have similar sound signatures - thank to the nanatubes technology - but all sound slight different. I don't think the S500 sounds like the D70 or D80  in headphone form. Now, in my opinion, the D70 and S500 come closest in sound signature with the S500 having more bass. The D80 just has an airiness, space and details that is a couple of steps or more ahead of both the D70 and S500. All three are great sounding phones in each's own way.

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

Ok you'll this is getting dumb!!!
 
So like I was saying how these S500s were on ear, makes my ears sore after some time, hurts with glasses bla bla bla, you know what I did? LoL
I ripped off the cheapo pleather pads from some knockoff "HYUNDAI" wireless headphones that I have (don't ask me why I got them ha, embarrassing to even mention it here since it's head-fi

) and wrapped it over the stock pads on the S500s to make it over ear.
 
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/hyundai-wireless-stereo-hi-fi-headphone-6245?item=88
 
Oh man oh man, this pad on pad mod has made them so comfy since its over ears now. Wearing glasses doesn't hurt no mores!!! Have a more tight fit on head as well due to the 2x padding.  
(Oh and thanks for that glasses advice Achmedisdead; glasses and headphones don't mix well. )
 
I might be trippin' but I think this might have increased the soundstage a bit as well, since the cup/ pad area has increased due to the stock pads propping up the 2nd pad.

When I listen to The Weepies "Say I AM YOU" album the soundstage on the FX40s are lacking therefore making the album less enjoyable compared to my Superlux HD 668Bs. But this album sounds almost the same as the semi open 668Bs on my S500s but with better instrument separation and imagery, MY GOD! This is unreal. LoL Crappers now I really have no use for them superluxes no mores.  The more I listen to these S500s the more ridiculous they are sounding. AND I didn't even burn them in yet! Hold me I am scared........................

    
 
Damnnnn I don't want to take these off,  I need to burn them in. LoL
 
So for now my on ear/ comfort problem is solved with this pad on pad mod, and the sound is coming along nicely................too nice in fact.
 
Go experiment you'll if you have extra ear pads around that are over ears, I had to stretch them cheapo pads to fit over the stock ones, but it turned out well cuz they were slightly bigger. 
 
Good Luck!

Be interested to see some pictures of how that looks with the double pads.....

 

[Skian64]

Quote:

[size=10pt]Does any of you have JVC  HA-S650?[/size][size=10pt][/size]

[size=10pt]From many impressions in this thread it seems that S500 sounds very similar to S650, which is a good thing.[/size][size=10pt][/size]

I already own the HA-S650's which I absolutely love.  My set of 500's come in tomorrow.  I'll post initial impressions for you and then I'll update the comparison as the 500's burn in.

 

[panteraMetal]

Quote:

I already own the HA-S650's which I absolutely love.  My set of 500's come in tomorrow.  I'll post initial impressions for you and then I'll update the comparison as the 500's burn in.

Thanks a lot!

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

Be interested to see some pictures of how that looks with the double pads.....

I'll try............
   

 

 

 

  Alright there you go, looks better than it seems ha. 

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

I'll try............
 
  Alright there you go, looks better than it seems ha. 

 
It looks like there is an additional layer of foam between your ears and the drivers, where the new pads cover the original ones.....am I seeing that right? I would have thought that would muffle the sound, if it was true.
 
I just grabbed mine for a session.....they had been burning from 14:00 on Tuesday until a little after 23:00 tonight(Wednesday) so we'll see how they sound....

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

 
It looks like there is an additional layer of foam between your ears and the drivers, where the new pads cover the original ones.....am I seeing that right? I would have thought that would muffle the sound, if it was true.
 
I just grabbed mine for a session.....they had been burning from 14:00 on Tuesday until a little after 23:00 tonight(Wednesday) so we'll see how they sound....

Yeah you are right, it's just a thin piece of mesh fabric that are on the 2nd pad which serves to cover the driver openings, not foam, so it has little affect on the sound........I would like to think. It is exactly like the stock pads of the S500s but of cheaper quality. LoL
 
I could cut the fabric of the 2nd pad to reveal the driver opening, but that would probably look ugly cuz you can see the original pads right under them, so for now this mod seems to be the ideal for me.  I think lots of slightly bigger ear pads would also work for this mod, even if it's not the same round shape as the original. The 2nd set of pads I used to cover the stock ones were egg shaped, but it works and fit snug, just have to stretch it a bit.
 
So for people that have slightly bigger over ear pads, go rip if off your other phones and try it out cuz it doesn't hurt a thang. 

 

[Achmedisdead]

What I am listening to right now.....
 

 
And I like what I am hearing!

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

What I am listening to right now.....
 
And I like what I am hearing!

I like what I am seeing, keep them impressions/ mods/ transplants/ pics, etc rolling.  Loving the sound straight out of my mp3 players unamped, but that Fiio sure looks sexy. 

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

I like what I am seeing, keep them impressions/ mods/ transplants/ pics, etc rolling.  Loving the sound straight out of my mp3 players unamped, but that Fiio sure looks sexy. 

The extra power isn't really needed, but the line-out of my A867 is a little more accurate response-wise than the headphone-out....perhaps because of the EU volume cap? I'm not using any EQ settings on either the Sony or the E11...without the E11 I would have had to do a little EQ-ing for the S500's. I'm doing "shuffle all" on all 5,933 songs so I can see how different types of music sound.
 
Edit....just spent a little over an hour listening, and then another half hour comparing to my Audio Technica 'phones (which have been my favorites)....these S500's are giving my AT's a run for it as far as favorite of my collection. I'm not declaring any winner yet, but the competition is fierce, among three headphones  with price paid ranging from $35 (ATH FC700) to $47.10 (JVC HA-S500) to $106 (ATH-WS55).
 
Now I am putting the headphones away, because my ears need a rest....kept finding myself cranking the volume! 

 

[analogsurviver]

Since nobody mentioned it, at least in this thread, I decidse to share my observation. Whenever musical note corresponding to the bass resonance of HA-S500 occurs, at loud(er) levels, this  is always accompanied with the "masssaging" effect earcups transmit to the aers. Distracting, discomforting and something I do not experience with any of my other headphones, both those listed in my profile and those not. It is a good indication of degree or level of burn in you have attained with your pair. It should occur ever less in magnitude and ever less frequently along the progression of burn in time.
Ideally, there should be no perceptible "massage" occuring at any particular frequency more than what music demands. If you experience this "massage" all the time or frequent with more bassy program, your burn in still has not been completed.
 
A quick tip how to reduce the sonic leakage from any on ear or over ear headphone. You need one paper box with 10 CD/DVD jewel cases. Simply put the headphones on the box clamping along the longest dimension.  In case of closed type as JVC- HA-S500 , it drastically reduces sound leakage during burn in.Far better at keeping your place reasonably quiet during burn in than putting a T-shirt/sock/blanket over headphones that other posters have suggested.
 
Even analogsurvivEr could not do that with a stack of vinyls - there is a use for CDs after all -  lol!

 

[4sound]

Ordered the HA-S500 off Amazon and got them in 3 days from Japan to California. I didn't expect so soon but I'm happy.  
 
I took a break from Head-Fi and haven't posted here in a long time. I have been lurking and watching reviews as new products release.  I was spending a lot of time and $$$ on headphones and portable amps trying to find the Holy Grail balance of warmth and detail, with big wide/tall soundstage, without sounding recessed.  I've come to realize it depends a lot on how the recording is engineered, genre of music and listening environment.  Volume level and ambient noise conditions can also change the sound texture. With all of these variables, the source and types of headphones (IEM, Bud, Closed or Open Can) lend themselves toward certain characteristics.  Example: it's harder to get big soundstage with an IEM versus Open Can.  IEMs tend to sound more in your head.
 
JVC HA-S500 Short Review
Many debate the merits of "burn in".  I personally believe "burn in" does change the sound for the better.  Out of box, they sound pretty good. Detail is all there, soundstage is not huge but there is a good sense of room.  When I first put them on I could tell they would be comfortable for a couple of hours at most based on how they sit on my big ears.  Velour pads will definitely help.  Bass is there and balanced but it isn't as fast and tight as I'd like.  Others have said the vocals sound a bit recessed. I also noticed this but then realized the vocals weren't necessarily recessed; these phones tend to push the percussion forward.  The definition in the percussion is outstanding. So far out of the box these are great headphones for latin jazz. Overall, I think these are a great value for a small/mid closed can.
 
I'm interested to see how this changes with more burn in.  I'll post an update in a week or two.