JVC Victor HP-DX1000
The DX1000 was JVC’s flagship headphone released in 2005 and mostly famous in Japan, like its successors the DX700 and DX2000. All share the same drivers, pads and housing, with minor differences in headband material/thickness and wood cups.
The DX1000 is a closed headphone, with decent isolation. The closed nature is basically useless for practicability use since it’s very bulky, with long cable and extremely fragile – the headband hinge is made of metal but all the yokes are plastic and they can crack easily if we aren’t holding them safely.
The comfort is at best decent – the pads are pleather and can get sweaty, but they are at least a minimum plush. The headband is a bit stiff. They’re quite easy to drive.
○ Release : 2005
○ Current status : Discontinued
○ Type : Over-ear / Closed-back
○ Measured weight : 385g
○ Impedance : 64 Ohms
○ Sensitivity : 101 dB/mW
○ Average used price : $400-500
Sound Impression
I’ve already owned a DX model in the past, a DX700, but that pair was heavily modded with custom maple cups, and I barely listened to it with stock pads. This DX1000 is totally stock. It’s a fun sounding headphone, that can be engaging for some genres.
The bass is definitely fun and elevated, but not overly so. It does not hit as hard and tight as a Biodyna like the Fostex TH-X00, and the low sub-bass (below 35-40hz) seems missing. The upper-bass / low-mids sound a bit dipped (and that dip is quite apparent on measurements, more than what I am hearing), detaching the bass from the midrange.
The midrange is less dry than Biodynas mids. It is somewhat slightly boosted around 3-4 khz and gives a fuller and more forward tone compared to many V-shaped closed headphones and/or with a lower-mids dip. The mid to treble transition is a bit rough, with an elevation around 5-6 khz that is my main annoyance with this headphone. The mid and upper-treble are pretty relaxed, almost missing a bit of sparkle and air.
The overall presentation is quite wide, more than most closed headphones that exist. The imaging isn’t very precise but it has decent depth and reverb effect with notes (mostly bass) resonating in the deep wood cups. Not very accurate, but not unpleasing to me. I find the DX1000 quite engaging, even on mid-centric music, because it’s wide and a bit forward sounding.
Not the best in detail – it resolves slightly worse than an HD600, but the overall impact is pretty good. Dynamics are pretty decent, but it’s not a very fast sound, and the average treble does not help in that regard. One of the rare headphones I actually like despite sounding well colored, like the Audio-Technica AD2000. It has too many flaws (lack of detail for MSRP price, rare, discontinued, crappy build) to be recommended, and will only remain a collector and vintage item.
