JVCHARX900 High-Grade Full-Size Headphone,Black

Every now and then, a product comes along that is a shocker, in a good way. This is one.It's an un-pretentiously quiet item, just another headphone from a Japanese electronics giant trying to have a full line of products, right? NO!I was in the true custom high-end audio business for a looooong time up until it became too separated from the next tier of gear. That last 1% performance should not cost 10-30 times as much money. One of my favorite record players (my specialty) jumped from $750 to $2500 with an inferior tonearm and motor and I realized I could not justify staying in the business.I've owned great midrange headphones that qualified at their time as "audiophile on a budget" phones, generally in the $200-300 range, real dollars, starting with AKG 240's, the originals, not the later sloppy versions, Sennheiser 430s, very silky, and even Koss Pro4AAA before that. Later got into Beyer and had several models, including the astonishingly accurate and detailed 880, the lush 990 and the slammin 770, and Grado 225s. They were all great in their way, and for the money, should have been. While not in the performance range of RS1s or other superlux reference phones, they were far better than most speakers at any price range could do, and my hifi's topped out at about a $35,000 system of all handmade stuff before I realized that it was getting silly.THIS JVC HARX-900 headphone proves that with some care, the first few dollars does the lion's share of the work, and that great value can be brought to the market if you don't waste money on bragging at how good a job you did saving money, only to burn it in ads.This is a VERY good compromise headphone for the person who can hear, has taste, and a limited budget. Solidly made, comfortable (even with glasses on my big head), they are a tad heavy compared to those elite models, like the 880s. However, for a sealed, true circumaural design, that is, they go AROUND the complete ear, soft and cushy, and do block outside noise okay, as well as keeping it in, these are a bargain. The head cushion is soft and large. The fitting is easy, you can reduce the pressure with a simple gentle bending of the bar across the top.Here is where money was saved, first: Pleatherette, for the look and feel of genuine naugahide, is what the earcups are cushioned in. Gonna get a bit sweaty in a hot room, but that's how it is with nearly every brand. Like most under $300 cans, the cups are plastic, though there is a metal outer cap. The gauge of plastics is pretty decent, though, so I don't anticipate breakage.Also, the cable is hard-wired (boo) and single sided (boo) making it weigh more on the left than the right. It is, though, a pretty thick cable so it probably has some fiber wound in it to make it hard to break. If I know JVC (Victor Corp of Japan) as I think I do, the wire itself is probably pretty schmancy in these and they just don't say anything about it. Uselessly, they gold plate the plug, which does come with a very snug fitting 1/4" adapter for regular hifi gear. Gold plating is a scam and is not the best choice for sound, but it's hard to undo decades of marketing hype. Ask Stereophile mag: they agree.I listen to all sorts of music. Out of the package brandy-new, these things were "meh." Yep, "meh." They were taut, almost raggedy with weird punchless low end. The highs were grainy but not annoying or harsh. They just didn't sound "nice." However, I've broken in hundreds of headphones and speakers for clients, and frankly, everything sounds crappy out of the package. Everything.What a difference 24 hours of continuous fairly loud hip-hop made!!!! The low end is much more articulate without feeling as "held back," lemme tell you, the people who've reviewed these after a hundred hours of break-in, I can see why they talk about huge bass response, and could hear it coming on, and the highs were sweeter and the mids much smoother. There is definitely a noticeable improvement in articulation with even this relatively short break-in.I just leave them cranking overnight, cups pushed together with a rubber band, on a hip-hop station with the loudness on, the bass turned up and the volume well below any dangerous distorting from either the amp (an HK: VFETs to the headphone jack) or drivers.Every day, they sound better: the telling thing is that they sound less "loud." At the same volume. This is a phenomenon that really good speakers exhibit, and phones: the distortion levels drop so low that they don't seem "loud." But they are.There is really no major coloration to these, so far, though I can sense that a bit of a "warm" sound is coming on, which makes sense with this kind of break-in. I'm a bass player. I can live with that... heheheh.Other than getting a steal on a used set of properly broken in higher end phones, this is the absolutely best sounding overall under $100 pair of headphones new that I have ever heard, and yeah, that includes some well-loved AT models.This is a stupidly awesome bargain, efficient (only 64 ohms, plays great on my iPod), and looks "perfeshinul," so you'll be stylin' in 'em, too, if you wear them out on the go.GREAT FIRST EXPOSURE TO REAL AUDIO. Buy these before you try to buy good speakers. Trust me, just do it so you can hear what's wrong with most speakers more easily. Just do it. Now.

Just wow. These headphones are great. to start off, they were shipped in a standard sized box, filled with those big air bags to keep it safe. It came to me undamaged, and the inner box didn't have a scratch on it, so shipping was flawless. Opening the headphone box itself, really easy as they don't use the nuclear warfare-safe plastic on it. The headphones come with a 1/4'' plug-on for plugging into heavy stereo equipment, as well as the standard 1/8'' jack for computer, or mobile use. Now, for the product itself.First off, the sturdiness and structural feel of these headphones seem good. Everything is basically plastic, but thicker and stronger, it feels as if it can take quite a beating (even though it will never receive one from me!), and the metal sliders for it to adjust for your head as solid, again, doesn't feel like it will wear out anytime soon. the hinges for the cups to come inward are also quite solid. I'd give the structure a 5 outta 5 stars.Second, the comfort of the headphones. I've already worn them for very long gaming sessions (approximately 5~7 hours at a time since I've had them), and they don't hurt my head at all. They are rather heavy compared to most headphones, but the top of the headphones makes up for this, as the top is very comfortable, stretchy and foamy to the touch. My only complaint with the cups themselves is that they are leatherette, which, in the heat of the summer, causes my ears to sweat. This can get a little uncomfortable, but it's not so much that they detract from any gaming experiences I may have, and it doesn't get so hot that I have to take them off. I give the comfort of these headphones a 4 out of 5 stars.Third, and arguably the most important, the audio. Having 50mm Neo magnets, I expected great bass and sound immersion out of these headphones, and they eventually delivered. These headphones are like a fine wine, they need to age properly before you really get their flavour. Right out of the box, the bass sounded muffled, and the treble was very tinny, the mids were kinda just there. I let them sit with dubstep blasting into them for about 12 hours, and it was a big turn about. The bass became a lot more boomy, the mids were more noticeable (we'll get back to mids in a bit) and the treble was much clearer. As I've burned them in more and more, they only get better and better. Don't be discouraged about these headphones right out of the box, I will admit that I was disappointed with the sound at first when I first got them. But after a few days of burn-in they sound completely different, and for the best. At their peak, bass is incredible (almost too much bass, but like the mids we will get back to it), mids are clear and treble is defined, making the sound quality of these headphones amazing, especially for the price you pay. Also, for gamers out there that want these for FPS, these headphones have excellent directionality, you can hear the slightest rustle in the bushes from behind. I'd give sound quality a 5 out of 5 stars.Lastly, and completely optional, is the modding aspect of these headphones. WARNING, MODDING THEM WILL VOID ANY AND ALL WARRANTY, ONCE YOU MOD THEM, YOU CAN'T RETURN THEM. With that said, this headset (you'll see why I changed to calling them that in a second) are big, allowing for all kinds of wonderful mods. Personally, I have already modded mine so that they have a boom mic at the base of the left cup, right next to where the wire comes out. With the amount of room inside these cups, you can also give them a different sound, with some dynamat (or fatmat if you're cheap like I am). This allows for the almost overwhelming bass to be quelled a bit, while heightening the mids and highs. There are many forums on modding these headphones, so far I've checked out Head-fi.org and overclock. net, but there are more still. These headphones have versatility, and I love that, as I am a huge fan of tinkering. Plus, if they break, I can usually fix them on my own, so no need for warranty. I'd give mod-ability a 5 out of 5 stars, though again, this is completely optional.I absolutely love this headset, and I hope to keep them for a very long time. I will put an update of how they are doing at around 6~8 months, so long as they do not break or malfunction between that time.