Customer Reviews

JVC HARX900 High-Grade Full-Size Headphone

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

I've been happy with my Denon AH-D550s for about 2 years now but got tired of bent ears from the binaural pads, and went searching for a set of nice circumaural headphones. These headphones become a bit of an impulse choice after reading over 90 pages worth of forum discussions on various websites on these "budget Audio Technica A900s"($250 headphones) as one forum goer stated. The bass on these cans, even without EQ, is fairly large, however with a little(LITTLE) EQ they can be put well into basshead territory. For some it may be too much but if you listen to music that has a heavy bass rythmn (Jazz,funk,rap,reggae,R&B) then you'll be tapping your toes along with the beat. The highs may not extend as much as i would like but given the price I paid ($60) it is more than adequate and can be fixed with a little EQ or an amp. The mids are surprising well developed for a set of cans in this price range and can be made even better with a few mods. Despite their large size they are surprisingly light and the padding feels just right. Be sure to get them about 10 hours of playtime or "burn-in" as out of the box they sound a bit muddy and recessed.

Also as stated in the heading these cans make excellent guinea pigs for the beginning modder. The size of the headphoens makes it rather easy to put your hand in a see what you are doing(read: modder friendly). There are a number of improvements that can be had and the rather large cup area gives you plenty of room to experiment. Look up RX900 mods on google and you'll get links to more than a few threads on how to mod your RX900s(head-fi has some on the best with photos!)

All in all great headphones for the money( no much if anythign better in the same price bracket) and the perfect candidate for those who want to get thier feet wet with modding. Hope this review helps!

How did all of the audiophiles miss these? IMO, these are better than the HD280s; better bass, as good midrange, and less shrill highs. The only comprosmise is that isolation isn't as good. However, if you hate the head crushing pressure of many of the Senns, this may be a welcome compromise. Great deal...very comfy.

These things are amazing when it comes to sound. Great build and they look very good. Professional. The comfort is the only problem I do have with these, I have large ears so maybe that's the case but after a couple of hours (1-2) I have to take them off, they start bothering my ears. For the price I paid though, i can't say that this is a horrible product. Very durable, great noise, great look, headbanger friendly.

These headphones sound better than the $300 speakers in my car, or my $150 2.1 Harmonix SoundStix 2... Sure, maybe headphones will always sound better, but these are by far the nicest headphones I've ever owned. When I got them, I immediately modified them by removing the felt covering the drivers inside, as described here: [...] I was immediately impressed by the sudden clarity of the His and Midrange. I opted not to deaden them with any acoustic stuffening, since I like the rich, full bass they provide. The JVC HARX-900s produce a bright and clear soundstage, creating an immersive audio experience. And they just keep sounding better and better the more they break-in. I would recommend these to anybody, anywhere, anytime.

Ok. Just got em. And I was so impressed that I had to stop to make my review.
I read through all the reviews. Pros and cons. Not just these but other headphones sold on amazon.
These had a really high OVERALL review rating of at least 4 1/2 stars.

Being an avid guitar player and music listener I immediately loved the sound on my first music video.
Too "bass heavy" in some/good number of reviews? Not seeing that. Everything seems really spacial and balanced.
Right now everything is cranked in volume with my EMU 1212 sound card and M-Audio speakers and its satisfying.

With so many headphones you cant help but wonder whether you made a good buy based on reviews?
Thats why I bought these, 4 1/2 stars overall on tons of reviews. The reviews were right.
Admittingly these are my first serious headphones other than store purchased ones within the same price range.
But really these were worth the money, honestly.

I do agree with the whole ear sweating thing of covering the whole ear and extended use. Its been about an hour now and I see the point.
But the sound is just so good. Headphones are on the ears so of course there is that double edge sword of listening to music for extended
periods of time. Goes along with the territory. But they sound good. That's all I cared about. Am I paying for something that sounds good?
SO yes all the reviews about the good sound are true. The whole too much BASS thing is totally objectionable depending on the listener?
They sound really good right out of the box, like I did in writing this review.
Im trying to get this done so I can get back to listening to music and trying different types of music just to explore the musical response.

So in all. Nice. True to the Good reviews. Im again glad I Listened to what others said "Overall" in my choice for buying these.
Reviews do make a huge difference in decision making. Those who liked this were completely right on with their positive reviews.

I am very satisfied with these. Even cranked at max they sound impressive; for a first time hesitant income buyer just looking for
something that will do the job at a cheap price and deliver what I hope for within any expectations.

Pro:
1. With music these really shine. They have deep bass. Reaches a very low note. I guess better than the grado SR80 in this respect.
2. The highs are crisp, but net very. It is good for me since too crisp highs hurt my ears
3. The midrange compared to SR80 is a bit recessed. But not too much.
Overall with music it is really good. But IMO imaging is poor. Didnt expect too much. Just mentioning it. There is no Front or back dimension to the music. Although I think the drivers are inclined in the ear cups to give that effect. There is a little bit of surround effect that I noticed sometimes.
4. Looks great. They feel like much expensive cans

Cons
1. gets really hot. Cant use it for long time at strech.
2. IMO they are for music not movies. Watching movie was not exciting at all.

Final thaughts
I wud definitely recommend this. At 60$ they are a very good deal. I am looking forward to mod them. Lets see how they sound after that.



UPDATE:
More I listen to it more I like it. The highs are really crisp. The sensitivity, high. I am listening to nuances I never heard before. But still the lack of comfort and poor imaging holds it from a perfect 5/5.

Update:
I would like to add one more con: it gets a little harsh with S-Vocals.

As soon as they arrive they went right into burn in mode. Purchased on 10-15-10. After the 3rd day the bass really sounded deep and mellow in addition to the clean mids and highs, these headphone as a whole performed great throughout the entire spectrum and sound stage. I let them burn for 3 days simply because I had the time to just let them burn in this long and really did not expect that much out of these headphones, normally I don't burn in my headphones that long, but I was glad I did on these since these now beat out my old pair of Sennheiser's, Panasonic, the more I use the JVC the better they sound. The latter 2 units cost much more then these JVC, so this is a plus for JVC in my book/wallet. I am considering purchasing the JVC model HARX700 just to see how they will sound being somewhat an acoustic suspension unit whereas the JVC HARX900 are more of a Bass Reflex unit due to the "Ring Port Structure" on the cups. I don't think any type of mod will I attempt on any of these JVC headphones, why mess with the pure quality sound that these units provide as-is? One thing, these baby's are BIG! My chair had a head rest, I had to take it off since I could not move my head from side to side. I told my wife that the "R" and the "L" on the cups stand for "Real Large". Also, the cups/cans are so nice and big that they cover your ears completely, even with glasses on they help block out the external noise very well. My favorite music is Smooth Jazz when I am not listening to 80's & 70's or my really old classic hard rock. Be advised that your MP3's will sound better with these JVC's HARX900 if it's recorded at a higher bit rate no lower then 192mbps, I am running these through my "Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic" sound card from my PC. It really helps punch that bass out on these bad boys, I doubt that a cheap sound card would allow these headphone to perform as great as they are, and I believe that the Negative reviews are due to this factor not being considered. In conclusion, for the money, they're worth the investment. For the sound, you can't go wrong. And the pleasure is all yours after all is said and done. Treat yourself to what these headphone have to offer, and give your listening pleasure a new output. ENJOY!

I'm a big fan of Koss Portapro and Grado SR60. I bought a Sennheiser HD555 to try something different, but was disappointed. After reading great things about this JVC RX900 and its little brother RX700, I decided to give them a try. Sounded pretty bad right out of box, but after playing music on an unused PC for several days, the sound improved a lot! It's much better than HD555 and much more comfortable to ware. It has pretty good bass and detail. I also have an AKG K701. RX900 is very close in performance.

I would recommend to anyone who likes to enjoy music not the cool factor or look.

Some of the reviewers had complained about the highs not being there. I wish I had listened to those reviewers because I totally agree - these headphones lack detail when it comes to the highs. I just got these today and am a little disappointed in them. The good things about them is that they are pretty rugged and I find them pretty comfortable. The lack of detail in the high frequencies kills it for me, though.