JVC harx700 - a poor mans ath-a900!!

Just took mine out of the box. Even before break in, the soundscape is brilliant. I've never been so impressed by a set of inexpensive headphones in my life. What a great buy. :)
 
Mine were delivered two days ago - massively impressed with these headphones. Do sort of wish that the bass had a little more power to it, but it's reasonably tight/good bass (just not boomy enough for some of my music).
 
Man if you power these on a good sound card like the Forte they'll have more bass than you can stand, at least more than I can stand and I like my bass. I've done a foam mod to the pads (stuff strips of foam under the earpads, gives more comfort and adds a little bass, at least that's what I noticed), and the felt removal mod..and man they sound damn good. I recently purchased a set of much more espensive JVC HA-DX3's, great headphones...more comfy, but the bass is muiddier...the mids and hi's are more defined, almost too much. The DX3's need much more EQ to match the 700's at much lower levels. None-the-less the 700's have my TB HPA2 mic attatched to them so I generally use them more often as I game more than anything.

Great headphones for the price, easily driven, and decent sound overall. Worth every penny.
 
The 900's have more bass from what I've read, but it's more boomy...the 700's have more punch and iirc better mids. I decided to save some bucks and go with the 700's and tbh I have no want to even try the 900's. They are great still from what I hear, and could be better for gaming due to creating a larger soundstage, but many more guys mod them than the 700's from what I've read, and some actually preferred the 700's. So if you're dissapointed (which I don't think you will be as they're still awesome from what I've read), try the 700's out. Don't hesitate 'cause they're cheaper, I prefer them over my $110 JVC HA-DX3's. Cheers.
 
Well now...turns out my debit card was declined. Must have fat fingered teh number. Went ahead and cancelled the order and went for the 700s instead. I realized this is for work and home for mp3s and games, with the occasional flight where I'll be watching ripped movies on an Asus1005HA-P. I don't NEED the 900s really so I'm putting that money towards something else.
 
Well you won't be dissapointed. I did a couple of mods, I removed the felt ring to clear up the mids and hi's, not necessary and not a major change. The one that I appreciated was stuffing strips of light density foam under the earpads to move them out, it changed the sound a bit, almost seemed to add soundstage and made them more comfy for longer...I can wear them as long as I want where-as before I had to take them off after a couple 2-3 hours. Not a bad thing for a $35 headphone, as good as they sound, the only complaint I have is not knowing about them sooner! :D
 
Kursah said:
Well you won't be dissapointed. I did a couple of mods, I removed the felt ring to clear up the mids and hi's, not necessary and not a major change. The one that I appreciated was stuffing strips of light density foam under the earpads to move them out, it changed the sound a bit, almost seemed to add soundstage and made them more comfy for longer...I can wear them as long as I want where-as before I had to take them off after a couple 2-3 hours. Not a bad thing for a $35 headphone, as good as they sound, the only complaint I have is not knowing about them sooner! :D
Click to expand...

Can you describe the mod you made in more detail that made them more comfortable?
 
Just got mine delivered an hour ago, and I'm currently breaking them in. Really impressed with what I'm hearing fresh from the packaging, but from what I've read here I can't wait to hear this after it's break-in period.

The bass out of the box is fairly disappointing though. I'm hoping that even with 4ish hours of burn in, that I'll have a punchier bass to enjoy some decent techno and Fort Minor.

Right now It's just sitting pretty plugged in to my mp3 player on shuffle, 75% volume. Hope that in an another hour or two, there will noticeable improvements.
 
Last edited:
I like my 900's sound wise but they hurt my ears. i guess i should have gone for open headphones.
 
I like the 900's. I did do the felt mod removal and it's helped a lot in clarity. They kinda hurt my head at first but they have since broken in so I can wear them all day now without issue.
 
just ordered mine with the zalman mic fron Amazon.. even went ahead and got one day shipping. :D

I do have a question though, what is this about break in?
 
Got a pair of 900's and Fiio E5 amp about a month ago. Broke them in over night and the sound has blown me away. Bass is perfect for me, not too loud and balanced with the musis very well. Soundstage is good as well, playing games I can tell where everything is better than my old pair of Turtle Beach 5.1's. I have the zalman clip on mic and the sound quality from that is great too. Running this out of my MSI GD70 to the Fiio E5 to the headphones.

I lsitened to one song the night I got them. Then plugged them in overnight at 50% playing random in winamp and about 12 hours later listened to that same song. To ME they sounded bigger, and deeper in the morning after the break in . YMMV
 
There's several threads covering the mods at HeadFi.org, look for it there. There's a FAQ that discusses break in there (someone above asked), but basically it's just a matter of playing noise/music on 'em before actually sitting down to listen to them, some people believe they sound better after they've been used for a while and the components have settled or flexed or whatever (hence, 'break in', like an engine).
 
you all are to blame for me soon to be going deaf....


Eric Prydz " Call on Me" sounds incredible, even at levels that would destroy lesser headphones.... :D :D :D :D :D
 
Got my RX700 3 hours ago. If these are supposed to improve after break-in, I can't even imagine that, because they sound perfect to me as is! I'm listening to my music all over again. These are also a lot more sensitive than the crappy cans I had before at work.
 
ok after switching back to my Phillips SHP2500, I think that they out edge the RX700 but only by a slight margin, as long as you don't play things full blast they have higher highs and lower lows than the RX700 and even has smaller drivers ( 40mm ) but they also have the felt earcuffs, which are way more comfortable than the leatherette on the RX700s


EDIT oh and the Phillips also have an in-line volume control which the JVC Lacks
 
I've owned these for a few months now, and probably have ~30hrs of use on them. I have them plugged in to the headphone jack of my Denon AVR-987.

For listening to action movies, they're great! Lots of bass...

For rock & metal music, not so great. They seem to be severely lacking in midrange; electric guitars & vocals sound like you're listening to them underwater. I tried the mod that involved removing the felt disc... It didn't really make much difference in my opinion.
 
my JVC harx900 just arrived, but they sound like they have a small echo, is that normal? or is that somethng I can fix in my settings.
 
well I was toying with the CMSS3D and turned it off, and that seems to have fixed it.
 
Just got mine last night. They sound great for $30 headphones. They are a bit bass heavy, but I don't listen to anything with much bass anyway, so it's not too distracting. They are big though!

They are more than enough for my some what discerning, but not picky ears.
 
I still cannot decide between RX700 and RX900 (about ~$25 diff)... please help

I would be using cans with PC gaming (I like good bass) and onboard audio (VIA 1708B). Until recent I was using el cheapo Sony gym headphones... For the last 2 nights I was using cans from work el cheapo Panny RP-HT455 and I'm really start liking the closed cans concept. I belive either JVC set would be an upgrade over Panny set, so I should be more than happy with either purchase. The only missing feautre would be inline volume control. Since I'm planning to keep them for the next little while I don't want to skim $25 difference... However Ihave a tiny problem with my mATX mobo and 6950 whcih is blocking all pci slots and all ll I have is PCI x1 slot... which limits me with audio card selection. Therefore I might be stack with onboard audio... :rolleyes: Perhasps Fiio amp would help? For more specs please see my sig...

So based on the above which cans would be better for me... ?

TIA ;)
 
amd7674 said:
I still cannot decide between RX700 and RX900 (about ~$25 diff)... please help

I would be using cans with PC gaming (I like good bass) and onboard audio (VIA 1708B). Until recent I was using el cheapo Sony gym headphones... For the last 2 nights I was using cans from work el cheapo Panny RP-HT455 and I'm really start liking the closed cans concept. I belive either JVC set would be an upgrade over Panny set, so I should be more than happy with either purchase. The only missing feautre would be inline volume control. Since I'm planning to keep them for the next little while I don't want to skim $25 difference... However Ihave a tiny problem with my mATX mobo and 6950 whcih is blocking all pci slots and all ll I have is PCI x1 slot... which limits me with audio card selection. Therefore I might be stack with onboard audio... :rolleyes: Perhasps Fiio amp would help? For more specs please see my sig...

So based on the above which cans would be better for me... ?

TIA ;)
Click to expand...

Can't comment on the difference between the 700 and 900 but I have been using the 900 for a few years now and I really do like it. I removed the aqustic lens though and that really opened em up.

I'm not really sure you could call them closed headphones as they are still pretty loud when turned up to a decent volume but they are quite enough that they shouldn't disturb anyone even if they are in the same room as you.

One thing is the 900s have a bigger soundstage over the 700s and slighly better bass, but besides that I doubt that their is any huge difference.
 
Thanks for your prompt feedback...

I'm not an expert but will my onboard audio be good enough to drive RX900? I believe its input impedance is at 64 Ohms, and RX700's at 48 Ohms, where my current Panny 455 are at 24 Ohms. So does this mean RX900 requires 3 times and RX700 2 times more than my current cans? Will the volume levels be cut by 3x and 2x respectively? I do apologize if this is stupid question...

I would hate the cans to be "wasted" due to my onboard audio not providing enough juice...
 
amd7674 said:
Thanks for your prompt feedback...

I'm not an expert but will my onboard audio be good enough to drive RX900? I believe its input impedance is at 64 Ohms, and RX700's at 48 Ohms, where my current Panny 455 are at 24 Ohms. So does this mean RX900 requires 3 times and RX700 2 times more than my current cans? Will the volume levels be cut by 3x and 2x respectively? I do apologize if this is stupid question...

I would hate the cans to be "wasted" due to my onboard audio not providing enough juice...
Click to expand...

Maby just depends on how much power your onboard audio delivers, I personally don't know the answer but I know that Ohms don't have a linear sound curve I'm pretty sure the higher the volume the harder it is to get louder but I'm not sure the exact formula.
 
I can drive mine through my front panel audio connector, so I doubt you'll have problems.
 
Anyone else before I pull the plug? ;) RX900 worth $25 extra on onbaord sound for games only? I'm sorry for being pain in the butt, but I won't be able to return them and I would like to hear opinion from other users....

TIA
 
900 is like having bigger speakers in a larger room than the 700. You will want to look up the mods to improve them a bit more. Very easy to do but not vital.
 
spaceman said:
900 is like having bigger speakers in a larger room than the 700. You will want to look up the mods to improve them a bit more. Very easy to do but not vital.
Click to expand...

Thanks Spaceman ;)

I’ll use them 90% for gaming (mainly FPS and some racing)... and 10% for movies… From my understanding going thru this great thread, RX700 have clearer lows and mids and will require more power to match RX900’s bass levels.
However RX900 should give me a better bass with less power… I’m just afraid my onboard audio does not have enough juice and either one will sound like $5 headphones on my current setup.
Although Panny I have 24 ohms input impediance sound not too bad…

Since you had both... taking the $25 price difference out of the equation with only onboard audio without any amp which one would you pick?

Perhaps $25 difference I should save toward new cheap XONAR if I can fit it on my mobo or external used simple stereo amp…. Would something like old NAND 310 amp work?

TIA ;)
 
The first problem you might encounter with the onboard sound is that you might get a hiss that goes louder as you turn up the sound card volume. I'm not sure about your via onboard, but that has been the case with my 2 realtek onboards. I have the RX700 and that's the most annoying thing about using them with the onboard. Power wasn't a problem unless I played a file with really poor sound. But I'm not the kind of guy that enjoys bleeding ears... and the RX700 are a bit too bassy for my taste. These days I drive them with a Creative XFI Xtreme Music and I got rid of the hiss, and gained volume; but I haven't really done a proper comparisson with onboard realtek.
 
Last edited:
bass is bloated with the felt blanket over the drivers. take that off and the boomy is much less an issue. sound stage improves too.
 
so I guess going after RX700... and possibly saving $25 toward new audio card would be my best option?
 
I have a set of these headphones + a Xonar DG coming in tomorrow (just wanted the built in headphone amp) :D

Once they get here I am just going to have them play junk for a few hours to break in before I toss them on.
 
ocellaris said:
I have a set of these headphones + a Xonar DG coming in tomorrow (just wanted the built in headphone amp) :D

Once they get here I am just going to have them play junk for a few hours to break in before I toss them on.
Click to expand...

That is probably the best budget headphone setup going. For speakers, go with the same sound card and the partsexpress t-amp + bookshelves deal for $58.
 
spaceman said:
That is probably the best budget headphone setup going. For speakers, go with the same sound card and the partsexpress t-amp + bookshelves deal for $58.
Click to expand...

I can't bring myself to buy decent speakers for my computer. I am using B&W speakers in my theater, I keep trying to compare PC setups to that... :eek:

Haven't pulled the 700s out of the box yet, however thumbs up to this Xonar DG. My Koss KCS75s sound much better with the headphone amp.
 
OMG... :eek: I still cannot decide... The more I read the more confuesd I get... RX700 or RX900 for gaming... After either one break-in I'll remove excessive felt and I might buy some dynamat material. So for pure gaming which one would be better.... Also I've ordered Xonar DG to help my onboard audio.

Since I'll be ordering them from onliine (US to north) I won't be returning them for sure...

Anyone please convince me to go with one or the other...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top