This is a review and measurements of the JVC HA-SZ1000 closed back headphone. It is discontinued but I think it cost $399 when new. A member from Europe kindly donated it to me months ago:
It has a reputation of being for "bass heads."
The headband is quite bulky and stiff, putting fair bit of pressure on the pads.
JVC HA-SZ1000 Measurements
Let's start with our usual frequency response measurement:
Owner left a note for me in the box that said these were the worst headphones he has listened to. I will parallel that statement by saying this is the worst headphone I have measured! I fiddled with it hoping to get better response but above is the best. The bass it has is upper bass, not lower bass. Maybe they thought this is the "Beats" sound that people want? FYI I found one other measurement for it and it more or less correlated with this so it is not broken.
At this point, I thought I finish the review by just posting distortion graph which ironically is superb:
Conclusions
Do you need me to say it? Some designer/marketing person thought this is the sound people want to hear, damn any belief in "high fidelity" sound reproduction.
I see these advertised for $249 on ebay with one indicating it is "rare." Hopefully this means not too many people fell for such a broken implementation.
I can't recommend the JVC HA-SZ1000 headphone.
-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
It has a reputation of being for "bass heads."
The headband is quite bulky and stiff, putting fair bit of pressure on the pads.
JVC HA-SZ1000 Measurements
Let's start with our usual frequency response measurement:
Owner left a note for me in the box that said these were the worst headphones he has listened to. I will parallel that statement by saying this is the worst headphone I have measured! I fiddled with it hoping to get better response but above is the best. The bass it has is upper bass, not lower bass. Maybe they thought this is the "Beats" sound that people want? FYI I found one other measurement for it and it more or less correlated with this so it is not broken.
At this point, I thought I finish the review by just posting distortion graph which ironically is superb:
Conclusions
Do you need me to say it? Some designer/marketing person thought this is the sound people want to hear, damn any belief in "high fidelity" sound reproduction.
I see these advertised for $249 on ebay with one indicating it is "rare." Hopefully this means not too many people fell for such a broken implementation.
I can't recommend the JVC HA-SZ1000 headphone.
-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/