JVC Marshmallow . . . terrible? :(

[YNOS]

Hello,

Some of you may recognise me from the other thread (see 'Newbie advice?'). In fact, I had the great fortune (or misfortune as it might have turned out) to find it available at one of the other computer outlet stores. I ended up purchasing two (one for myself and another for a member of the family).

I regret to report my grave disappointment with these. How could anyone possibly suggest that they are of superior quality to the default iPod earphones? They are the same qualities as, or perhaps even inferior to, the aforementioned default Sony earphones (see original thread).

Am I simply doing something wrong? Is there a way to salvage the $50 I spent on these ($50 because I purchased two, and the store I bought them from do not allow refunds)?

[dfkt]

Did you get a good seal while inserting them? IEMs don't sound good when they're not properly inserted. It might take some time to get the hang of it, but I'm fairly sure they should sound better than iBuds, once inserted correctly.

[WalkGood]

One question - are you sure you inserted them in deep enough to judge them properly? I don’t own them, but have friends that do and they really like them…personally I have cx300, X3’s and XB’s

[Slaughter]

It is probably the seal. I could not get a good seal on mine so I sold them, but the few times I could get them in, they sounded good. You might have the same problem I have. IEM's wont always fit everyone's ear canal properly. The EP630's are the only IEM I have tried that I can get in consistently. Defective ear canals I guess.

[dfkt]

Foamies usually work for people that don't get a good seal with silicones... I read somewhere in here that some foamies fit on the FX-33. Don't remember the brand, unfortunately.

[Slaughter]

Originally Posted by dfkt

Foamies usually work for people that don't get a good seal with silicones... I read somewhere in here that some foamies fit on the FX-33. Don't remember the brand, unfortunately.

Shure E2 I believe. I think they use to be yellow but now are orange.

[YNOS]

I'm fairly certain I have them on proper . . . I squeezed the foams and fit them inside as per the instruction manual. However, I will certainly give it another try, just to make sure.

I'm trying to 'break them in' right now (playing the loudest music I have), so I will report back on my experience tomorrow-ish. :/ I will also try the mod written here (http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...ht=marshmallow) for good measure.

Is it possible that the cause of this may be because most of my music tend to be classical? Perhaps other genres sound better on these . . . :|

[dfkt]

They're sure made with the pop/hip hop/rock/techno crowd in mind... certainly not for classical music, like most IEMs below $100.

[JDGAFFLIN]

They do need ample burn in time.

I like them as a low cost phone. But if you're expecting them to be the KSC-75's of the IEM world it just ain't happening. However, I find them to be fun sounding IEM for the price.

[YNOS]

Well, I gave it another try again today (with the burn-in and the mod) -- it sounds just the tiniest bit better, but I still maintain that it's worlds away from the iPod earphones . . . in a bad way. It has a slight 'AM quality' to it, in the words of another person, and sounds very garbled for fast-paced music.

I'm not looking for ultra high quality sounds such as that of KSC-75, but just something good enough to replace my iPod ones. Erm . . . are we talking about the same iPod earphones here? Haha. I'm referring to the ones that come with iPod Nanos (first gen., if that matters) and sells for $50 (CDN currency) separately from the Apple store.

[advcomp2019]

I have these, too. With my Sansa, they are the best ones that I have used on it, but I have not tried any other IEMs.

[Phoenix-X]

what was meant is that the marshmallows are WAY better than the iPood stock ear buds. not the ones you buy separately which could have better SQ but not great

[YNOS]

Originally Posted by Phoenix-X

what was meant is that the marshmallows are WAY better than the iPood stock ear buds. not the ones you buy separately which could have better SQ but not great

Erm . . . the ones you buy separately are the stock earbuds for the Nano. =/

[origami]

The only thing that this could be is that you do not have these in your ears properly, I have owned a pair of marshmallows and they are leauges above any stock earbud.

To check if you have a good seal, insert them into your ears, then flick the cable. You should hear a loud thud sound as you do this due to the microphonics.

[Phoenix-X]

Originally Posted by YNOS

Erm . . . the ones you buy separately are the stock earbuds for the Nano. =/

they are the same type but they are better the stock's are the ones that come with the nano besides they're not gonna ship $50 earbuds with the nano to get the most money out of them

[YNOS]

Originally Posted by Phoenix-X

they are the same type but they are better the stock's are the ones that come with the nano besides they're not gonna ship $50 earbuds with the nano to get the most money out of them

Hmm, I don't know -- I have both (the stock and the separately sold one) and I couldn't really notice any significant differences between them. :|