JVC HA-SZ2000-E Headphone

I don't have much to say that hasn't been said already. I own these, the S680, and the S500. I have owned, in order, walmart consumer swill, Sony XB-500, Klipsch S5i, AudioTechnica ATH-A900, Westone UM3X, Westone 4, Sony V55, and then the JVCs, after reading good reviews of the S500. I loved my UM3X's more than anything else, though I did have to EQ up the upper mids and the treble a bit, with peaks around 8k and 12/14k (I can't remember).I mention this nonsense because those UM3X's were stolen, and I had to find something else. So I got the W4. Then my dog destroyed the left housing on my W4 (whose signature I hated anyway; far too flat and revealing of crappy mastering, unless you're a "true" audiophile, meaning one that endures such pain for the gain of ultimate realism when the recording can provide it). And then I was done buying <$300 headphones.But I still had to buy something, so I got the V55's, since they'd been taunting me at work for a while. I did like my XB-500's, before they were stolen (this happens to me a lot). They were alright...decent everything, pleasant, shrouded (but never fatiguing) highs, and a look that lent itself well to schlepping through Netflix before going to sleep.But something was missing. They had no ambition, no sparkle, no showiness that would lend itself to serious listening, and not just background drivel. So then I had the S500's, which were almost magical for Led Zepplin and similarly mastered old music. Great, and a similar signature and build overall to the V55's, but with an absolutely MINDBOGGLING amount more clarity. I read a review of the Audeze LCD-2, and the person said that this was the first planar-magnetic that "had had the sock removed." That same thing applies here.But I'm bored easily, and at the time, $45 for those, and the $65 that the S680's commanded was basically change, so I went for it.Boy am I glad I did. I used those cans for an entire YEAR, and I loved them dearly enough to RETURN a set of UM Pro 30's that I bought, finally, earlier this year to replace the UM3X's I couldn't afford to replace before. The S680's with a midrange boost through EQing had just as much detail retrieval as the UM's did with a treble boost, but with a little more flash (upper treble/sparkle? I think? these adjectives get confusing, but EQ can only do so much to modify a signature that's purposely rolled off so as not to be fatiguing for stage use). They were sliiiightly less effortless, though, and I do still prefer the IEM form factor. They sound every bit as good, really, and you can enjoy the fidelity while you mow the lawn.The S680's were spacious, interesting, and very, very reference-y with a heavy dose of EQ to tone down the bass flub and bring out those lower mids, and, to a lesser extent, the far upper mids (+2db 1k peak, and +2db 12k peak, -2db dip around 60hz). BUT AGAIN I WAS BORED, and then I saw THESE.And here we are, this far in, getting to this. I rambled on because, again, these adjectives mean nothing on their own. I can wax poetic all I want about the frigging soundstage, but with nothing to compare it to, it's meaningless. These JVC's handle equalization very, very well, and remember, good EQ is like good makeup...you can't really tell that it's there, you just know that it's better.The SZ2000's are indeed a lot like a mashup between the intimate mid-focus of the S500's and the depth and size of sound from the S680's. But these also bring about a weight to the sound that I don't think I've ever experienced before - these have more boom, more depth, more WEIGHT, than anything else with a "bass focus" that I've bothered to try. It's insane how nice it is, too. I'm still breaking these in (BREAK IN IS REAL FOR THESE! I don't care what you read or what you think; it completely and totally is, because all of these JVC's sounded like crap until they'd been in a cabinet playing white/pink/brown noise on repeat for 48 hours straight!), but they already have me using them. I can't bear to banish them to a cabinet - the S680's feel so flat and light, now, like the W4's did when I was trying to make myself like those.And I think that's the jist here - JVC has a winner with this whole "carbon nanotube driver" thing, and almost anything they make with them is excellent. You really can't go wrong; just pick something that sounds good (lol pun) to you. I'm never satisfied with anything, which is why I have them all. They're like Pokemon in that regard.Buy these if you want something with plentiful talents that you don't mind dialing in to your personal desires. They have a lot to offer, and they're very well constructed, if a little heavy, and with absolutely TERRIBLE pads (just buy some HM5 pads; they fit fine, even though they won't want to go on without some careful stretching and force). The cord is also loads better than the one on the S500/S680, which is the only bit I missed from the Sony headphones I had. Their flat cords were far more supple than the much cheaper feeling ones that the JVCs had. This set remedies that nicely, with no groove on either side of the length, and a nicely strain-relief'd straight plug.Some say that these aren't portable - I disagree, and apparently, so does JVC, because they come with a nice little drawstring bag, the same way my old XB-500's did. Yeah, they're a little heavy, and yeah, they sound their best with an amp, but these are still more than sensitive enough to do fine without one. In fact, my Dell Precision M6500 laptop from 8 years ago doesn't distort the bass nearly as much as my supposedly wonderful JDS Labs CMOY BB does, so either get an O2 amp (or something from Schiit) or go home. Or just use your device solo, I suppose. HTC devices with the Beats audio certification also have a stronger headphone amp on command, even if it is only available with their stupid V-shaped signature (like any of these JVC's need help in the bass-department).Oh god, what else. Moshing your head hard enough to shake the headphones off is a lot easier with these than it is on lighter cans (the S680's feel like a bird now). So keep that in mind if you're prone to doing that. And if you're not, you may very well be after using these.I think I'll end with that. Thanks for this, and all the rest, JVC.4/26/15 EDIT:So I've had these for a month or so now, and I have a few little points to make, now that I'm used to them.The straight plug, while well engineered, is super annoyingly large when plugged directly into portable devices, and seems to actually ADD strain to the cable that was never an issue with the L-plug on the other carbon S-models. Not worth docking a star, but this is definitely something that they must have done for style (rather than for home use, since it's impedance/sensitivity does okay without an amp).The sound, now that it's fully broken in, is much better than out of the box, and the bass impact is warm, friendly, and natural. The mids and highs got a lot more self-confident as the bass got some class. They were impressive for their thump, now they're generally just impressive - about as good as the S680s, but with an added weight to the lows. A weight that makes the S680s feel open and airy, though anemic, by comparison.They're an interesting bunch, these JVCs.5/1/15 update (seriously)Okay, so NOW I've used them through an O2 Amp/ODAC combo, and as such, I feel confident that I know these headphones as they really are.These have more competence than meets the eye. I'd venture that the S680 does as well, so I'll have to get them back from my friend I lent them to so I can see how much more open they sound.What's happened here? Well, they're FAR more dynamic in their presentation based on the music now, with a much more refined bass, and a much more controlled midrange and treble. The $300 that NWAVguy's combo costs is like going up .25 in your eye prescription - it's not much, really, and you did fine without it, but HOLY ____ does it let you see things far away better. I've always thought that the Westone UM3X was like a high-end stereo, and the SZ2000 are like a high-end surround system. I mean that in terms of pros AND cons - the Westones had a more natural sound, by an order of magnitude, but the JVCs have a much more...engaging? Tiring? LIVELY? sound? I dunno, it's hard to describe as anything other than being perpetually in awe. Whether that's good or bad is up to you. It's got me thinking that maybe I'd prefer something a little less WHAM than this for critical listening, but they're still amazing for trance, amazing for Netflix, amazing for anything that's bright or shrill on normal headphones. It'll still be bright and shrill here, but it'll also have the low end that it was missing before, giving it a more natural presentation.I'd say the difference the O2 ODAC combo made was making these JVCs a little less what they are - it's made it apparent that they're FAR less coloring (read: themselves/what they present themselves to be) than they appear when powered by incompetent swill like phones and laptops. They can either vibrate your skull like a phone, or be slightly thick; it's really up to the recording when paired with this amp. For instance, I'm listening to NIN's Broken as I write this, and it's a really bright recording. It's still bright, because it's not been rolled off. It does, however, have a palpable thud to the drum hits that it didn't on some other gear I've used. It's a natural thud that you can feel, not one that sounds bloated or otherwise wretched like that of most bassy swill cans.And none of these observations are really specific to the SZ2000, in retrospect - the O2/ODAC combo is pretty universally regarded as a wire with gain, adding as little coloration as possible, both the good kind and the bad. Good recordings are better, bad recordings are worse. When matched with a beast like the SZ2000, it's like putting a suit on a wrestler - it's still a wrestler, and it can still beat you into the ground, but now it's looking classy as it does so.One other note if you drop the cash on that amp, get the lower gain model if you can. I have the medium/standard gain model, and it's never above half volume, because the SZ's impedence is so low, and under a quarter volume, the balance in the volume pot gets progressively more off. It's not really a major issue, but it could be if you like listening low (in which case, good for you and your hearing; I certainly don't have that kind of restraint).CLOSER: I'm even more impressed now than I was before. If you're worried that they'll color like Beats or a creative toddler, just get the amp/dac I did, and revel in their ability to be Jekyl and Hyde.

Had these headphones for around 3 years. I originally bought them for the Bass as they were reviewed to be cream of the crop for Bass. I never had any problems with the sound and enjoyed them a lot in that regard. However, when you spend this much on a pair of headphones you would expect them to last a very long time. However the band is made out of plastic and one day while taking them off the connection to the cup broke. I was able to superglue it all back together and make them last another year but they just broke again and now it's time to throw in the towel because it doesn't seem like the same fix will work. The pleather on the head band also deteriorates severely and flakes off. The headphones are also very heavy/bulky and not good at all if you find yourself in a situation where you need to travel/move a lot.TLDR: Good sound, bad build. Not worth price.

The hype is real gentlemen. Im no professional, but i love good quality in sound and build. These headphones dont drop the bass any better then my sony mdr-7506 and are double and some change the price. I like my sonys better due to the clairity where as these sound veiled on mids and highs like listening through a wall. I played a few songs made for bass boosted and the bass is sloppy and uncontrolled were as on my sonys it sounded defined controled and perky. Box and build is good tho, just nothing special about the sound quality. Oh well.....will be returning.

These really shine with a proper dac/amp, these can be absolute bass cannons and the bass is actually fairly precise, as well. Other than that, the mids and highs are surprisingly not bad. After I got better equipment these really shined without any equalization. I've used them on my phone with Viper4Android but they do need some power. These will shake your head.These are the most closed cans I have ever heard, if that makes sense, it's like they have their own pressure within the headphones themselves. This makes everything very in your face and there is no wideness to them whatsoever. The headband is tight and the pads give a good seal, it's actually kind of impressive sometimes because there is almost no external noise. The air pressure that this seal gets you can be crazy and overwhelming sometimes; it's the most fatiguing thing, but it's worth it.That said, in my opinion, the cord is too short and non-removable, the headband is kind of uncomfortable, the pads aren't overly comfortable(though they sound good), and they are very heavy. Very heavy, but when you are strapping a subwoofer to your head it makes some sense. They are very well constructed with very little plastic, which I am sure contributes to the weight, but at least the ridiculous bass won't break the plastic, right?