Panasonic RP-HJE900 Zirconia Review

[Kt_]

Originally Posted by esanthosh

I don't like the angled SA6 cables that much. They are too thin and tangle like no other. Every time I take them out of the case, I need to spend time untangling them. While the right angled connectors made it easier to wear them over the ears, I've since then switched back to stock cable. The pins are a little longer than the stock cable and........for what it's worth, it's reported that they muffle / muddy the mids .

i have to admit this is a little worrisome to me, it basically means a good replacement cable for the hje900 is not that easy to come by after all!

[CrowdAds]

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by esanthosh

for what it's worth, it's reported that they muffle / muddy the mids .

Hahaha, gotta love that stuff. In other news, it's also reported that the Sleek cable sounds, like, totally superduper much better than the stock cable.

[esanthosh]

My theory is that the analog waveform stops and thinks for 2 pico seconds about which cable it's going to pass through. The thick stock cable is like a highway, so there's no confusion. SA6 cable is like a narrow road with many bends. As a result accidents happen and some of the information escapes through the gap between the housing and the long pin. I am sure that change in insertion angle and depth have nothing to do with it!

[lestatar]

^ lol

[Confispect]

Originally Posted by deadohiosky

you could have been a bit more subtle with this one.

LMAO I could have.....

@Esan,

Yeh they do tangle as far as changing the sound they don't that for me. Different ears. I can deal with the tangling in change of some more isolation. I'm good. If you don't send then back I might buy them for a slight.....discount.

[esanthosh]

^ Ah! I wish I could send it, but it would cost me more to send from India than for you to buy a new one . Besides I'd need a spare cable as I don't see myself parting with the HJE900 because it's still a bit unique in my collection.

Changing cables does not change the sound for me either. Tips and fit do!

Instead of "No Change", I wish I had typed "Slightly wider sound stage with depth and height gaining twice more than the width. Bass extending to the lowest lows to create an instant (mini) earth quake. Treble extending far greater than 21 Khz that even my dog was sweetly shocked at the quality of the extension. Mids move so forward that they are 1ft in front of your head. Vocals sounded so sweet as if I was standing 1.32ft away from the singer (who was smoking hot, BTW)". My limited imagination and ears betray me all the time . I'll never become an audiophile. Sigh!!

[lestatar]

Originally Posted by esanthosh

^ Ah! I wish I could send it, but it would cost me more to send from India than for you to buy a new one . Besides I'd need a spare cable as I don't see myself parting with the HJE900 because it's still a bit unique in my collection.

Changing cables does not change the sound for me either. Tips and fit do!

Instead of "No Change", I wish I had typed "Slightly wider sound stage with depth and height gaining twice more than the width. Bass extending to the lowest lows to create an instant (mini) earth quake. Treble extending far greater than 21 Khz that even my dog was sweetly shocked at the quality of the extension. Mids move so forward that they are 1ft in front of your head. Vocals sounded so sweet as if I was standing 1.32ft away from the singer (who was smoking hot, BTW)". My limited imagination and ears betray me all the time . I'll never become an audiophile. Sigh!!

Hmm, perhaps consider yourself lucky...

[Confispect]

Indeed audiophiles are frowned upon.

[rickysio]

Tips tips tips tips... (C+P from older post in a local forum)

I must be some sort of tip collecting crazy *******.

Overall, the Monster tips are tapered very oddly, making it harder to get a good seal... I still bought them cause they're more comfy than the Sony Hybrids (those tend to irritate my ears if I listen for them too long). While listening at home (instead of the brief session at Stereo) there is a decrease in the quantity of bass, though. I might have to go down to SE again to pick up the Small-Medium sized ones, since they only had M and S, of which the S would be definitely too small, being similar in size with the small stock tip. They do allow more subtle details to be audible, though.

Unless I tilt the HJE900s forward, the bass quantity is (considered) to be quite listen-ably lessened.

Overall, versus the Hybrids they offer a brighter, more detailed sound, arguably more airy, but hey, that might be due to the lessened bass... :S

---

Decoring the Shure black foamies was pure hell, at least compared to decoring the Complies. Sufficiently different sound presentation from the Monster tips. They're more forward, slightly more revealing (hard to tell). Somehow makes the HJE900's sound even more V-shaped. Slightly more bass than the Hybrids, more treble than the Hybrids. It makes treble more like the Super.Fi tips, but without the sibilance.

Overall, these tips build upon the Hybrids, but are more uncomfortable (I forgot to get the small instead... Medium is a tad too large after decoring and fitting the Comply's core inside.) than the Hybrids.

--

However, the next tip is what I'm using now, and will continue to use as my main tips. It's...








The medium Nokia tips for their bundled headsets (WH-205 specifically, not sure if the tips for others differ.) (that came with my N900). The And I'd be using them as my main tips from now on.

No, really. They're damned comfortable, more so than even the Super.Fi tips, and unlike the Super.Fi, they are pretty much anchored when slipped onto my HJE900s (changing tips is a pain with them on.) They actually offer more bass than the Shure black foams, and are actually (slightly) more revealing and treble sparkliness (without more sibilance, I might add) than the Super.Fi, Monster or the Shure tips.

Pretty awesome tips, missing from the picture though.

---

Tips leadership board.

Most of the time, differences are slight, and ranking could change given my current mood or ear canal condition. :s22:

Comfort : Nokia > Super.Fi > Monster > Hybrids > Shure (Can't really rank the Complies now - they never were the same after decoring.)
Bass : Nokia > Shure > Hybrids > Monster = Super.Fi
Treble : Nokia > Super.Fi > Shure > Monster > Hybrids
Perceived soundstage : Nokia > Super.Fi > Shure ~ Monster > Hybrids.











Recently one side of my HJE900's cable detached from the splitter, vinyl tape saved the day.

[Confispect]

Interesting comparison.

I stick with Stock/Hybrids/Eterna bi-flangs/M11 Triple/Bi.

Good work though.

[Leroy Bad]

Hey guys, I'm sorry for not reviewing all 30 pages of comments, but I was wondering if there is a current list on where to find these earphones?
I saw some on Amazon.com , but the model number was slightly different RP-HJE900-K, the difference being the 'K' at the end.
There is also a disclaimer stating that they are no longer offer them directly due to complaints about problems with earphones after they've been received by customers.
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-RP-H.../dp/B002I26G74

Anyway...I'm thinking about trading my Klipsh X5 for a pair of these.

[dfkt]

The "K" just means it's the grey/blue-ish color housing. In Japan they sell white ones too, but not in the US/EU, AFAIK.

Seems the disclaimer on the site is cause of that one 1-star review where the guy got a wrong pair of phones?

[Leroy Bad]

Actually I read on Head-Fi that a guy received a pink set of headphones. I'm not sure if its the same guy, but it may have been a inventory error, I doubt just from one person though.

[esanthosh]

Looks like there's one source for getting HJE900 replacement cables - http://en.item.rakuten.com/nakaden/1481422/

[lestatar]

Nice! Great deal - anyone heard of this cable maker? Japanese company - so sad to read the delivery/order delay disclaimer...

[Jaigoda]

Those aren't the HJE900 cables, though. It looks like they're cables for some other Panasonic headphones. The HJE's have metal jacks on both sides of the cable (though the Y-splitter is the same, AFAICT). Looks like they'd at least work, but the HJE's have nice enough cables that I would be reluctant to replace them with anything else.

[dfkt]

I have seen Japanese photos of the HJE900 with those plastic cables: http://en.akihabaranews.com/18511/he...from-panasonic

Maybe they did fancier looking cables for the western market.

[Jaigoda]

That's interesting. Either way, I'm glad I have the nice metal cables on mine.

[tamle_o]

Hic, anybody can tell me where can I get it with less than $120 today? ^^!

[Confispect]

There extremely hard to find nowadays.

Search eBay and Amazon UK.

If you haven't geard of Google use it.

Head fi classifieds as well.