[dakanao]

I noticed that I get very calm when I listen to music through these.

 

[ebrian]

I get the same feeling when listening to S680.  But I've never had it with S400 because the clamping is so strong -- hurts my ears.

 

[TheBoss]

No, straight from my laptop.
 
Vocals sound crunchy though when they're the only thing playing.

 



I would not be quick to blame the headphones if i were you.


I have a laptop from 2005 and I can tell you even the $25 JVC s400's can tell that my source is crap.
JVC s400 connected to my iphone4 and kindle hd sounds not confused like you described above.

 

[dakanao]

 

  No, straight from my laptop.
 
Vocals sound crunchy though when they're the only thing playing.

 



I would not be quick to blame the headphones if i were you.


I have a laptop from 2005 and I can tell you even the $25 JVC s400's can tell that my source is crap.
JVC s400 connected to my iphone4 and kindle hd sounds not confused like you described above.

Well, my laptop actually has a decent soundcard, better than Realtek HD. But I also believe that they need to be burned in more.

 

[dakanao]

You really need to find a sweetspot for these cans on your ears, but once you found that sweetspot, they sound AMAZINGLY clear.
 
But unfortanetly though, you lose a lot of bass if you have your sweetspot.

 

[dakanao]

So I put new earpads on from the Philips SBC HP-400 (old headphone of mine), and the sound signature changed. They're still as detailed, they only sound more sibilant now and the upper mids have come out dramatically more. I'm gonna immediately change them.

 

[dakanao]

So once again, I put new pads on from some old 10 euro PC headphone I had years ago, and I think they sound amazing now dude. The forward midrange has taken a slight step back, and the over emphasized 500 and 1000Hz has tamed. They're also more comfortable now.

 

[dakanao]

Hey guys, I have a question for the guys that have fully burned in their S400's. Will the obvious 500Hz 1Khz emphasis go away with maximum burn in? Because when I EQ that range so it becomes more natural sounding, the mids become less forward which I don't like. I EQ'ed that range for 1 dB down, and it's better than without EQ, but with a lot of songs it's still obvious and it's annoying.
 
Edit: The annoying emphasis seems only to be there with certain songs, or part of the songs. On some songs they sound FANTASTIC, and others they will have a lot of emphasis on the 500Hz, 1000Hz range.
 
I also noticed that if you have normale volume on one song, the next song will sound REALLY loud. 
 
Can someone explain all this to me?

 

[dakanao]

I'm feeling they got better sounding today. The extreme 500Hz, 1000Hz emphasis has settled down a bit, without losing the nice forward midrange that they have.
 
I'm hoping they'll improve even more after maximum burn in. On a lot of songs, they're definitely better sounding than my AKG K540 (which was amazingly good for $100)

 

[dakanao]

What pads do you guys recommend if I want a clearer sound with the same bass, without losing the midrange forwardness?

 

[dakanao]

The AKG K81 pads should arrive tomorrow. I'll be posting my initial impressions with them tomorrow

 

[RabbitEars]

Just curious how bad is the sound leakage (people hearing what I hear) on the JVC S400s? I mean assuming I keep it at at medium level volume?

 

[dakanao]

  Just curious how bad is the sound leakage (people hearing what I hear) on the JVC S400s? I mean assuming I keep it at at medium level volume?

These leak very little, even at medium volumes

 

[dakanao]

So right now I'm listening with the K81 pads. Compared to stock, the forward midrange took clearly a step back in the presentation, the 500 and 1000Hz spike isn't there anymore, they have more bass, separation is better, but they're less clear and lack details compared to stock pads.
 
With stock pads, they were quite detail monsters and sometimes had a VERY clear sound to them. That magic sound they had sometimes, is gone now for a less detailed, less clear, less midrange fatiguing sound.
 
The perfect sound would be inbetween the K81 pads and the stock pads.
 
I don't understand how people thought they were better than stock in terms of clarity and detail?

 

[enkoo]

Just got a pair of 400s in. Out of the box they sound pretty good. 

 I have a question, do they really use carbon nanotubes? What's the real deal with that anyway? Has it been proven any real difference at all to normal drivers?