JVC HAS4X Xtreme Xplosives On Ear Headphone

As a semi-pro acid-trance/techno and drum & bass DJ and promotor for 20 years, and a total Audiophile, I wasn't expecting too much from these, coz as a rule you do get what you pay for. But sometimes rules are meant to be broken, and these babies SMASH the rule book to bits! They have the same tech specs as Dr Dre's Beats and the shape, size and comfort of the seminal HD 25's by Sennheiser. Having owned a pair of the latter, at £130, I wasn't expecting the HAS4X's to lay at the HD25's feet, let alone stand up to their shoulders! So, in laymans terms, what does all this mean in terms of sound? Alow me to help:

Low-end/Bass: The bass is strong, powerfull and amazingly tight, controlled and damn LOW, with a fast, punchey attack you just would never expect under £100! Add this to the fact that the bass NEVER becomes overpowering or gets in the way of the other frequencies, and the low, and even sub-bass low-end is catered for dynamicaly. Very impressive.

Low-Mid/Mid Range: This is the area that is the hardest for any headphones and speakers to reproduce without making it too weak, which makes it sound hollow, or too strong, which sounds too harsh, bright and down right awefull. These HAS4X's reproduce Mid frequencies with aplomb! Acid sounds are notoriously unforgiving, as they use all frequencies, from bass to treble, but mainly hang in the mid range, so if the mid is off in any way, you just won't get the spikey texture right, and I have to say that my Neurofunk d'n'b collection sounds fantastic through these babies! Guitars are handled with the same fidelity and controll, and again , my metal collection sounds awesome. I'm hearing instruments I never knew were in the song! There's Plenty of body to the sound, while incredibly managing to retain a good amount of transparency! Again, unheard of for under £100!

Treble/High end: The biggest mistake people make when reviewing ear/headphones, is not alowing them to 'run-in' for 24 hours. An engine won't run to it's best ability untill it's warmed up, and the same rule aplies to ALL music equipment! When you first listen to these, you may feel cheated, as although there is treble, it's not the over-bright, 'splashy' treble most people are used too with sub £100 'phones. WAIT!! Keep using them and you will start to realise that actualy, these have fantastic treble controll! They manage to reproduce the exact high end frequencies without adding any artifitial hiss, or splash. What I was Most impressed by was how capable these are at handling 'transients', like cymbal crashes, snare rim-shots and hi-hats etc. transients are the short, sharp, sudden and crisp treble sounds that normally get completely lost in the mix and even when they are present, they tend to sound splashy and loose. The HAS4x's handle transients astoundingly well! cymbals, rim-shots, snare drums and even triangles and tamborines can be heard CLEARLY in busy tracks, without being overpowering, and are sharp, controlled and have good attack.

What else can I add? The stereo soundstage is nigh-on perfect with an almost seamless blend throughout the frequencies, and even though these are not 'bright' sounding, don't mistake that for sounding muffled, as they are very open and airy. I really can't fault these headphones, as they sound as good as most in the £100-£150 bracket. they are also SOLIDLY built, with a rugid feel and thick, shielded OFC cable that has nice thick rubber protection at all joints and terminals, as well as a gold jack plug for a quality connection to your Mp3 player, stereo amp etc. And they are really comfortable (and I've got a large size head!). I was even able to jump about and dance without them even moving, let alone falling off. I love these, and am SOOOoo glad I got them. I hope you are too, as they are destined to be a much talked about contender, and in my opinion, VICTOR, to Dr Dre's Beats! They look kick ass too, which is always a bonus. 10/10 from me :-D Hope this has helped. Going back to listen to my zen now through my lovely new HAS4X's to enjoy more quality sounds again ;-) 'Thagoatboy' B. Waters

I ordered these headphones after weeks of research looking on head-fi.org and the amazon reviews. I knew I appreciated headphones with a fun, strong bass so these seemed like a good choice in the under £40 price bracket.

They arrived promptly but as soon as I put them on I noticed how uncomfortable they were. The padding isn't sufficient and they clamp unbelievably tight to your head.
It caused me a headache and I instantly realised I had to return them.

The sound too was nothing special. The bass wasn't particularly strong and the general sound was a bit muddy. (Granted they only had around 2 hours of use, so I didn't give them chance to 'burn in')

Amazon's customer services were great though and have refunded my money, even though the plastic formed packaging was obviously damaged from opening.

I've now purchased some Sony XB500s and they may be twice the price, but they're 10 times better headphones.

These are the best headphones for the money around.

I've recently used Seinheser, Philips and Sony and they're all rubbish compared with these JVC ones.
Skullcandy also have variable user reviews whenever I've spoken to someone who has used them.

The trick for JVC here is that there's no hinge for the speakers to rotate so no noise pollution from the headband or when moving your jaw/head.
Also, the deep sound is very clear.

The only down side on these is that the cable is short if not using a portable music appliance but this is minor as extensions can be had from £1.
There's no in-line volume control either which would normally add noise (hiss) so this is a big plus for me.

Total 5* effort JVC!