[dakanao]

  I am doubing between these s680 or the ws55x.....many say the Jvc are better but i can hardly believe that cause i so really dig my ws55  cannot believe for half price you get better sound......

I have the JVC HA-S400 with AKG K81 pads, and believe me, they sound better than the Sennheiser Momentum in terms of clarity and they have the same detail retrieval, and they have the same timbre as well.
 
Momentums do have a larger soundstage and better instrument separation and imaging though.
 
So if the S680 is even BETTER than the HA-S400 with K81 pads like BenF said to me, then it'll be no surprise that they'll be better than the WS55x.

 

[aidenn]

Just bought these. I've been listening to them for about 5 hours with my Essence STX and sligthly V'd the signature with EQ. The range is actually quite surprising, both in capability to deliver even deeper bass (and sub-bass) than without EQ and in capability to deliver very crisp and airy highs for such a cheap closed can... I honestly didn't expect such good highs. Also paradoxically, they don't shine the most for me with DNB or dubstep-like sounds, but with film music (Klaus Badelt, Hans Zimmer) and trip hop (Goldfrapp, Royksopp) or even with bass-heavy jazz. Of course, they kick properly with simpler electronic or pop music, but their delivery with more sophisticated sounds came to me as a surprise. So far recommended not only for bassheads (to be honest, the bass is definitely there, but true bassheads might even want to EQ treble down a bit).

 

[dakanao]

  Just bought these. I've been listening to them for about 5 hours with my Essence STX and sligthly V'd the signature with EQ. The range is actually quite surprising, both in capability to deliver even deeper bass (and sub-bass) than without EQ and in capability to deliver very crisp and airy highs for such a cheap closed can... I honestly didn't expect such good highs. Also paradoxically, they don't shine the most for me with DNB or dubstep-like sounds, but with film music (Klaus Badelt, Hans Zimmer) and trip hop (Goldfrapp, Royksopp) or even with bass-heavy jazz. Of course, they kick properly with simpler electronic or pop music, but their delivery with more sophisticated sounds came to me as a surprise. So far recommended not only for bassheads (to be honest, the bass is definitely there, but true bassheads might even want to EQ treble down a bit).

The treble is one of the strongest point of this carbon nanotube technology (atleast on my JVC HA-S400). Present when it needs to be, and very soft textured, which gives them a lot of clarity.

 

[aidenn]

  The treble is one of the strongest point of this carbon nanotube technology (atleast on my JVC HA-S400). Present when it needs to be, and very soft textured, which gives them a lot of clarity.

Yeah, I didn't read that bit I suppose. I expected a solid bass kicker (I'm a closeted basshead sometimes, so I decided to try these) with average-to-competent mids and highs and got much more than that. I'm really positively surprised how flexible these are, I'm afraid they might get into a tough competition with my Fidelio X1 for daily all-around listening.

 

[dakanao]

 
Yeah, I didn't read that bit I suppose. I expected a solid bass kicker (I'm a closeted basshead sometimes, so I decided to try these) with average-to-competent mids and highs and got much more than that. I'm really positively surprised how flexible these are, I'm afraid they might get into a tough competition with my Fidelio X1 for daily all-around listening.

I'm not really a basshead. Don't get me wrong, I like bass that's around 5 dB emphasized, but I like the bass to be very tight as well.
 
And I love good sounding vocals and very clear treble.
 
 
What amp do you have on your Philips X1, and how do they compare to the X1 soundwise?

 

[aidenn]

I'm not really a basshead as well, I just like that cinema-type rumbling, experimental music and sometimes I crave guilty pleasures in the form of simple pop/hip hop beats, but X1, while very competent in the bass department, didn't rumble enough in a few cases.
 
Anyway, my amp is my Essence STX's amp (32-600 ohm, I heard it's a bit too much and muddles the sound, so I'm going to try fixing that in the future). Vocals are definitely better on the X1, middle is more detailed, highs as well (but, as I outlined above, S680 isn't really that much worse in the treble department, it holds its ground). While the signatures themselves are close to each other (S680 is definitely darker, but there's a lot of fun to be had with both), X1 has much less bass (while having a lot anyway, they are definitely not analytical in any way). But it's similarly controlled and does not spill into mids with both cans.
 
- edit -
 
Oh, and the stage is much better on the X1, but I assume that's obvious.

 

[dakanao]

  I'm not really a basshead as well, I just like that cinema-type rumbling, experimental music and sometimes I crave guilty pleasures in the form of simple pop/hip hop beats, but X1, while very competent in the bass department, didn't rumble enough in a few cases.
 
Anyway, my amp is my Essence STX's amp (32-600 ohm, I heard it's a bit too much and muddles the sound, so I'm going to try fixing that in the future). Vocals are definitely better on the X1, middle is more detailed, highs as well (but, as I outlined above, S680 isn't really that much worse in the treble department, it holds its ground). While the signatures themselves are close to each other (S680 is definitely darker, but there's a lot of fun to be had with both), X1 has much less bass (while having a lot anyway, they are definitely not analytical in any way). But it's similarly controlled and does not spill into mids with both cans.
 
- edit -
 
Oh, and the stage is much better on the X1, but I assume that's obvious.

You know, I never heard the X1 with an amp before, just from my onboard soundcard.
 
But I thought the JVC HA-S400 sounded more realistic than them in the vocal range.

 

[aidenn]

  You know, I never heard the X1 with an amp before, just from my onboard soundcard.
 
But I thought the JVC HA-S400 sounded more realistic than them in the vocal range.

 
Onboard soundcards are awful, I tried connecting my X1 to a Realtek once, it really falls flat then. Even my phone (Moto G) sounds better than Realteks, bleh.
 
Having said that, I didn't hear S400s either, but if the vocals are the same as with these, then X1s are better, more detailed. Also more sibilant, but that's more of a personal preference I guess. While vocals with S680 aren't that much recessed objectively, they are when compared to X1. So I guess it also boils down to what you perceive as realistic - is sibilance realistic? is Grado-like drilling the treble into your brain realistic? etc.

 

[dakanao]

   
Onboard soundcards are awful, I tried connecting my X1 to a Realtek once, it really falls flat then. Even my phone (Moto G) sounds better than Realteks, bleh.
 
Having said that, I didn't hear S400s either, but if the vocals are the same as with these, then X1s are better, more detailed. Also more sibilant, but that's more of a personal preference I guess. While vocals with S680 aren't that much recessed objectively, they are when compared to X1. So I guess it also boils down to what you perceive as realistic - is sibilance realistic? is Grado-like drilling the treble into your brain realistic? etc.

My onboard soundcard sounds clearly better than the Realtek one I had in my previous laptop. I have an IDT High Definition Audio CODEC soundcard, and it sounds better than my phone.
 
But by more realistic, I mean that they sound more natural, more lifelike. For instance I found the vocals on the X1 (with my IDT HD Audio CODEC soundcard and my phone) to sound a bit unnatural, especially when I compared them to the HA-S400.
 
But we are going offtopic here. 
 
Anyways, the JVC should arrive here in the next 2 weeks, so I will see for myself if they sound even better than the S400. I'm really hoping they will.

 

[aidenn]

I think that's what I'm trying to say - analytic waveform representation (of which there's more in X1s, even though they're very fun and colorful) versus more lively and fun (and perhaps realistic/lifelike) sound of cans like these. I'm not an expert by any means, my sound-conscious history started just a few years ago, but I think that there's something along these lines going on in hi-fi equipment. I can appreciate both forms of sound, but if there's more of something (even if that extra bit is harsh and/or unnatural) I believe that means that piece of equipment is more "accurate".

 

[dakanao]

So I got these in a few hours ago and I've been listening to them since then.
 
The left earcup fits awkwardly on my ear unfortanetly, which makes the sound on the left earcup a bit weird.
 
Comfort is very good.
 
Onto the sound: They have around 5 hours of burn in, and they sound a tiny bit better than straight out of the box.
 
On some songs, they actually sound as good or better than my modded JVC HA-S400 already. But on most songs, they sound decent to bad. But I will see how they'll sound after a lot of burn in.

 

[daveyostrow]

  So I got these in a few hours ago and I've been listening to them since then.
 
The left earcup fits awkwardly on my ear unfortanetly, which makes the sound on the left earcup a bit weird.
 
Comfort is very good.
 
Onto the sound: They have around 5 hours of burn in, and they sound a tiny bit better than straight out of the box.
 
On some songs, they actually sound as good or better than my modded JVC HA-S400 already. But on most songs, they sound decent to bad. But I will see how they'll sound after a lot of burn in.

interested to hear your impressions. I liked the s400 and would want something with better sound+comfort

 

[nraymond]

Just wanted to add that with the stock pads the bass is too much, and the overall sound signature is not balanced.  I have some spare Shure 940 velour pads, and while they're too big (don't stay in place) and are circumaural, it tames a lot of the bass.  I have some other soft pads on the way that should fit, hopefully velour pads that are on-ear will help even more.  For those of you who think the HA-S680 are neutral with the stock pads, what else do you think is neutral?  Your heads/ears must be hearing something different than mine...

 

[Gandroid]

  Just wanted to add that with the stock pads the bass is too much, and the overall sound signature is not balanced.  I have some spare Shure 940 velour pads, and while they're too big (don't stay in place) and are circumaural, it tames a lot of the bass.  I have some other soft pads on the way that should fit, hopefully velour pads that are on-ear will help even more.  For those of you who think the HA-S680 are neutral with the stock pads, what else do you think is neutral?  Your heads/ears must be hearing something different than mine...

 
I too feel it has more bass than my liking. I had to EQ them to use it. Please post your reviews on those pads, as I am very interested in them.

 

[dakanao]

  Just wanted to add that with the stock pads the bass is too much, and the overall sound signature is not balanced.  I have some spare Shure 940 velour pads, and while they're too big (don't stay in place) and are circumaural, it tames a lot of the bass.  I have some other soft pads on the way that should fit, hopefully velour pads that are on-ear will help even more.  For those of you who think the HA-S680 are neutral with the stock pads, what else do you think is neutral?  Your heads/ears must be hearing something different than mine...

I don't think they have too much bass as of right now, but I don't consider them neutral either. They have like a 4 or 5 dB boost in the bass.
 
But the bass they have, is a bit bloated and undefined. I'm hoping this will improve with burn in.
 
I'm also hoping that they will sound really good on all songs with burn in, not just on some songs.