JVC HAFX40A High Quality In-Ear Headphones (Blue)

I must admit, I am not an audiophile. I do keep buying headphones, however, as I like to listen to music all day at work. I like headphones that keep me from having to listen to my neighbors in their cubes. I listen to all kinds of music, including: classical (piano and symphonic), Electric Light Orchesta, Pink Floyd, Beck, Gorillaz, Beastie Boys, Tori Amos, Peter Gabriel, Elvis Costello, and lots more - so heavy on the bass to music with more subtle details required. Active noise cancellation does a good job shutting up the eight core computer that sounds like a 777 taking off, but can sometimes make the neighbors LOUDER, so I would rather have isolation or inactive methods. Earbuds suit me best because I'm rather particular about not having a line across my head from my headphones. My favorite headphones have been a pair of Shure, but those are annoying because the wires wrap around the backs of your ears, and the wires are too stiff. Annoying when I turn my head. They sound decent though. I ran out of the wax screens though, and $10 for a new set?! I have Sennheisers they sound OK, but not terrific. They get the job done, and have been my most heavily used pair. There have been many others. Mostly they are in a landfill somewhere outside Denver. Then I came across these. I left them burning in for about 3 days straight back at home, then I brought them into work. I switched back and forth many times between these and the Sennheisers. Absolutely no comparison. What really got me is that the dynamic range on these was so much larger that the stereo separation seemed so much larger. Those Sennheisers are now in the trash as well. Bass response - just right. Not too exaggerated. Not weak. Perfect to my ears. Higher details - present. I hear subtle details in complex music (high bitrate mp3 very important) that can be difficult to find in low quality headphones. Overall balance - very pleasing. Very natural. Perfect, IMHO. I'm finding that these also do sound better than the Shure headphones that I paid WAY more for. I'm VERY impressed and am going to recommend these for everyone I know. Do there really contain carbon nanotubes? I'm surprised that they were able to use that technology in something so low priced. I'm skeptical that they're really being used to a significant extent in this product, especially at this price point. But whatever JVC did with making this product, they did it right. This is an ABSOLUTE MUST BUY.

I chose these as a replacement for the standard Apple headphones, which came with an iPhone 4S. Having used them for a few months, I am quite pleased with both the sound quality and the construction quality of these headphones; its definitely a large upgrade from the Apple phones, while being very affordable. Certainly much better than similarly priced pairs, such as Skullcandy models. The cord clip is really nice for keeping the cord from getting itself around drawer pulls and the like. They also stay in my ears very well, even when I'm moving around a lot. I did once drop one bud in a bowl of soup; I washed the bud cover and wiped the bud off and they function just as well as before. I gave four stars as I do miss having a volume and start/stop control on the cord and I hope that they include this functionality on future models.

These are just awful. The sound is overall very weak and tinny, all high frequency, and worst of all, absolutely no detectable bass - contrary to the direct claims of the manufacturer. I tried them for a week, tried all of the ear fittings, and tried very hard to find something to like about them, but couldn't do it. It's incredible to me that they get away with selling such an inferior product. I think the idea that nanotubes could improve sound quality is ridiculous, and it's borne out in this lousy product. Another nano-scam. I'm going back to my Sony MDR-W08. They don't have all the bass I'd like, but they're infinitely better than this nano-hyped piece of junk.

I listen to headphones all day at work, for 12 hours. I wanted comfortable headphones physically that also sounded great and were not fatiguing to my ears in how they sounded. I think I found it. I compared all of these headphones MEelectronics M9P, M6 (or S6), RHA MA350, Brainwavz Delta, Sony MDR-7506, ThermalTake Isurus, JVC HA-FX40, Philips SHE3590, and Koss KSC75 to DUNU DN-12 Tridents. The DUNUs are what I ended up preferring for what I wanted. I also ended up keeping the Koss KSC75s and Brainwavz Delta though. The Sony MDR-7506s are my at-home headphones which I had already. I know, I know. Lots of comparisons. All of these tests were using a Google Nexus 10 with Extreme Quality downloads from Spotify. Warning: I'm not an audiophile but I did want a nice sound and comfort. These are my impressions and opinions only. I needed these to be semi-professional looking so no on-ears or over-ears for work, although I did have some at home to reference as far as sound quality goes. MEelectronics M9P: Dunu's were clearer, and seemed to have more extension. Bass had more clarity. M9P was boomier and seemed to have some of that boominess leak into the mids. M9 is cheaper. I may have just used the M9 as they sounded okay but the nozzle that goes into your ear was a bit larger diameter than the DUNUs. For me, this caused discomfort. My ear canals are on the smaller side though. MEelectronics M6 or S6: Actually a pretty close comparison. Dunu beat out the M6 on the low end. M6 just rolls off, it seems, on the low end where-as the Dunu still has some grunt. Dunu also has better isolation, which could be good or bad. I use the S6 for running. M6/S6 is cheaper than DUNU. I have no comfort problems with these, although of note they will be inserted rather deeply into your ear for a good fit. I used the triple flange "christmas tree" ear tip. RHA MA350: This was actually hard. They both have different sound profiles but it really just comes down to what you prefer. First off... what I really hated about the MA350 was the microphonics (unintentional noise) caused by any slight movement of the cable. It was unbearable. I have a beard, so maybe your experience will be better. For me, unless I was absolutely still, it was way too distracting. The MA350 has more emphasis on the bass than the DUNU and perhaps slightly more clarity (or just emphasis) on treble as well. It was difficult to pick. They were both comfortable in ear. I give the edge to DUNU mainly because I did think there was a bit too much emphasis on treble with the MA350 although I liked the deep bass of MA350 too. The Microphonics and emphasis on treble caused me to prefer the DUNU. Same price with these two. Brainwavz Delta: Oh lord, the Deltas fall somewhere in between the MA350 and the DUNUs. Even more difficult to pick. I kept both. =) Cable is good. DUNUs seem a bit better with mids and both have good bass. Maybe slight edge on Delta with the lows. Similar signature with the higher frequencies/treble. The Deltas were comfortable and lighter weight than the DUNUs. All aluminum housing it seems. Same price. Sony MDR-7506: These are my reference over-ear headphones for home use. They were about twice as much as the DUNUs. Are they twice as good? Not quite, but the bass has more clarity and fullness as well as the vocals. Easier to pick out individual instruments with the Sonys. Soundstage is much better with the Sonys and you can see the instruments placed in your minds eye. No surprises that the Sonys were better. DUNUs held up well though. Thermaltake Isurus: Roughtly same price. Lows seem to roll off. Highs are emphasized without having more clarity. Has okay mids. Clear winner for me was DUNU. The difference is that the Isurus has a mic (as well as an adapter to split mic out from audio out). The driver housings also would not let me put these into my ear very far and would probably be uncomfortable long term. Took me a while to get a good seal in my ear. These may be better for gaming than the DUNUs when you need to focus on hearing footsteps. Not notably better on soundstage though, probably worse. JVC HA-FX40: These are less than half the price of the DUNUs. These had a bit boomy bass that leaked into the mids. Highs seemed a bit thin. Seemed comfortable. Mids were okay. Not bad for the price, but I didn't mind spending twice as much on the difference with the DUNUs. Philips SHE3590: Wow, these are less than $10. Sound wasn't that bad. May have preferred these over the JVCs. I did have this weird thing that happened. You know the sound you get when you turn on noise isolation on a pair of Bose? Where you can -almost- hear a high frequency sound overlay everything? I get that same sound with these Philips when playing anything. I believe that would cause some fatigue with my ears long-term. Otherwise they were quite comfortable. Relatively balanced sound. Did not have the same sound stage as the DUNUs and clarity was in DUNUs favor. Koss KSC75: Wow, another $10 contender. I actually really like these Koss 'phones. Bass is a bit boomy and you're not going to get any crazy soundstage but otherwise it's a fairly balanced sound. I got a little bit of sibilance or harshness out of the "ch" sounds cymbals make as well as some "S" sounds that singers make. Obviously the DUNUs did everything better, but they did it at a bit higher than $10. I was impressed at the bass you could get out of these KSC75's at this price point. Seemed comfortable, too. There ya go people. Think what you will. I know headphones are a pretty personal thing so not everyone may like the same thing. I tried to write down my thoughts about the variety of headphones I've tried in my own personal pursuit of what I wanted. Hopefully it will help you decide.

I got about 20 minutes of sound from the left earbud (I made sure to test other earbuds to rule out my iPod being the problem). They were treated with care for the 2 hours between unpackaging and use. They look nice and fit comfortably and secure, so I'll grant another star. Based on the average rating, it's probably just a fluke, but still annoying.

This $20 earbud kept me happy for longer and happier than any other earbud in its price range. It sounded crisp and amazing, and felt comfortable in my small ears. I burned it in for over 300 hours and the sound quality and clarity kept on getting better. Unfortunately, for such inexpensive earbuds, they’ve got to cut costs somewhere, and for this model, it’s at the lack of rubber strain reliefs where the cables meet the part that goes into your ear. Although I definitely could have taken better care of it, my pair lasted a little more than a year of being tossed around in transit before it lost sound in one ear. If I ever get another pair, I’ll make sure to take better care of it, and maybe patch up the cables with electric tape or Sugru. But for the price and the quality you’ll get after burn in, you really can’t go wrong with this earbud!

I have 3 pairs of these, and they're absolutely fantastic for the price. Fit is excellent, noise isolation quite good for earbuds, and I love the sound quality. They have very punchy/strong highs which may take some getting used to or you might not like at all, but it gives an excellent depth to my music, to the point that I can't stand other value earbuds anymore. Build quality is good for the price

These are great for fun listening. Bass reaches low & treble is scorching hot sizzling, only thing for me was the mids are a bit sucked out. Very comfy to wear, I find these are my favourite sleeping with IEM's, as you can roll over to the side & experience no discomfort. They like a bit of burn in to tame those sizzling highs, but eventually settle & you have a very nice IEM.

I bought these headphones because I loved the XX series and so I wanted to try other products by JVC. These touted the carbon nanotubes technology and so I was intrigued. The sound was balanced in my opinion. The mids are clear and sharp, the lows too. However, it lacks a bit in bass in comparison to the XX series. These also don't have the same level of noise isolation as the XX. They tend to fall off my ears quite a bit and the cable is think, not thick as the XX series. But still, I like them because they offer me ranges I can't hear quite well with my bass-focused XX headphones. If you don't care about bass (these still deliver quite a good bass response!) and want a clear sound, then these are a good choice!

Comes with multi ear adapters which came in very handy. Good sound for my purpose.

The audio quality is above of what I have expected. Much clearer than the external audio of my Ipod Touch 4G