Saturday, March 26, 2011

Panasonic HJE-900 Headphones

It's been a while since I gave some of my equipment a review, so here goes another! :)

The pair of earphones I'm reviewing today are a set with a bit of an underground following. Panasonic isn't well known for their earphones, and in fact, most electronics they produce are far from top-tier brands. These earphones however, are some of the best I've heard in a long while. 



Appearance: These are supposedly made from zirconia. Hm, never seen that in a pair of headphones before. Whether it's just a marketing ploy or not is irrelevant. These bad boys don't get scratched up. AT ALL. And they glisten in the sunlight and are quite a beautiful blue. The wires themselves are a pretty thick gauge, definitely the sturdiest I've ever used, which is great since most headphones break because of flimsy wires. Speaking of broken wires, with these, you don't have to worry about a short in the wire. Like some DJ style headphones, the cables are actually DETACHABLE, meaning you can just disconnect them from the drivers if they ever short out and pick up a new pair of cables. Pretty fricken sweet, huh? =]

Sound: Very VERY similar to the S4, except more well controlled. The bass is tighter, and with less bleed, and the machine-gun-like drumming and bass riffs of Industrial music is precise in its impact, rather than feeling floaty. The highs also shine, perhaps a bit too much of being harsh (which can be handled by inserting a little bit of foam into the driver nozzle CAREFULLY). My only gripe? The isolation is a littleeeeee poor, and obtaining a good fit is harder for me than the S4 were.

Verdict: These are worth their weight in diamonds (get it? zirconia? cubic zirconia? nevermind >_>). But unfortunately, they're not sold in the U.S. through most retail channels anymore. Last summer they could be found for as low as $70, around the price of the S4, but with better sound! Unfortunately, they're hard to find for under $175, with most being sold for MSRP through ebay now, of $250! Are they worth $250? Probably not. But for $70, they're worth every penny.

Final Grade: 9.5/10

93 comments:

  1. I cant wear these things, they kill my ears after about an hour. My ears are probably malformed or something.

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  2. $70 eh? i tried amazon and ebay.. no such luck :(

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  3. @Lhosreiff - I agree. I think my ears just aren't the right shape for ear buds. They never fit properly and they begin to hurt after awhile. I can't even walk with them in my ears or they'll fall out.

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  4. i'm interested in what you think the best headphones would be for DJing, i'm in the market for some )

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  5. they look nice not to bulky id buy those earbuds

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  6. I'm not a fan of earbuds but they look pretty sweet. Instead I'll get some cans instead for the same price :D

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  7. good to know, I need new headphones.

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  8. Earbuds rock when they have that soft plastic on the end. So much better than the iPod I'M GONNA RAPE THE INSIDE OF YOUR EAR.

    And fyi, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the trophies are a new type of item that, when broken, unleash various effects, mostly references to old Nintendo games!

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  9. Good review. I don't use head/earphones though. :|

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  10. Nice review. I'll have to keep those in mind if I need a small set of headphones

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  11. Normally I don't like in-ear headphones, but these seem nice.

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  12. oooh, I like the look of these. normally high cost headphones like beats turn me off but your review sounds pretty sound (lol)

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  13. Sadly, I have weird ears and ear buds NEVER fit. I prefer big, comfy, ridiculous looking studio headphones anyways. Always get funny looks.

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  14. wow those are expensive. i like retro headphones better :D

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  15. What are these like in comparison with DiddyBeats? 'Cause my DiddyBeats are badass and I don't wanna get rid of 'em.

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  16. thanks for the review, looks good. :)

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  17. too bad, i really want some of those

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  18. Wow, I want some of those now. I hope they're easier to find in Europe!

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  19. i use those since some time and they are pretty amazing. usually these kind of earphones get broken within like 2 months so I hope these will be okay for much longer

    nice blog! following

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  20. thanks for sharing that, i'm looking for new phones! looking forward for more posts!

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  21. That are some expensive eardrops! Damn.. Mine are 25 euro (Creative in-ears) and i dont wanna think that i had to pay 250 dollar for it :O

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  22. I've needed to get a new pair of earphones for a while, will keep an eye out for these, cheers mate

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  23. wow, I want some like that. :)

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  24. i do need a new pair of earphones.

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  25. Im not sure I'd ever pay so much money for a pair of headphones, Zirconia or not :P

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  26. Those things always die on me, so I'm not willing to spend so much money on them. I just buy $15 ones every month or two

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  27. thanks for the review, I'm thinking of finally investing in a decent set of cans. will still need some plugs like these for public though.

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  28. whoa those are some slick looking headphones

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  29. I just always get the buds because they are cheaper, but I don't really like them much :P They don;t fit my ears

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  30. Nice review these look like quality headphones

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  31. Hmm, not sure if I would want to drop 70 on in-ears. Then again, they do look like some really nice headphones.

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  32. I have them myself, they're great!

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  33. Looks like a nice pair of headphones

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  34. Nice review, I need some new ones actually. might have to re-consider after reading this and get the ones you've suggested!

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  35. i like the design, i need a better pair of buds badly.

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  36. My buds got stepped on. Now I need a new pair. These look promising. I wish you could try them out prior to purchase, but that would be gross. Ear cheese all over them....ugh

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  37. THose look nice and all but $70 is a lot of money!

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  38. Those are pretty sweet. I've been looking to invest in a nice pair of earbuds. My standard ipod ones aren't cutting it.

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  39. Holy shit! I have those same exact headphones

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  40. I need a new par after my last pair just broke while I was at the gym, if I can find these for cheap I'll go for it.

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  42. I'll go with my ear-mutilators xD

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  43. I love good in-ears. I think i gotta order them soon :)

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  44. Nice post!! I have been looking for nice earphones for a while!

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  45. anything is better than the stock iphone headphones

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  46. Great review! I think these are still better than my crappy ones

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  47. That is pretty cool. I will have to remember that for when I need earphones. Followed

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  48. i am absolutely a big fan of these little earbuds.

    collegeanon.tk

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  49. looks awesome, thanks for the info, nice review

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  50. Another great review. Thanks for sharing!

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  51. I love Diddy Beats, but these look nice? Worth a try!?

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  52. Looks very nice, thanks for the review! Cheers

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  53. I seem to always be on the hunt for earbuds. these sound like they're worth trying. looking forward to more reviews :)

    ~followed~

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  54. Those look like a nice set, I'll remember them for when my current earbuds die.

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  55. meh, too expensive for what is essentially 3 dollars worth of metal and plastic. i think i'll pass :)

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  56. Cool, they're a tad expensive though (:

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  57. I wish I could get them as a gift. Haha

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  58. Actually super helpful been looking for something similar still not sure though. Looking for something super cheap.

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  59. I'm in the market for some earphones, I have got the ones that came with my Samsung mobile phone, they look sort of like this.

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  60. Nice review
    Not such a fan of in-ears though
    fucking annoying after a while

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  61. very nice review indeed. I'm looking for a decent earphones..

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  62. I've always preferred in-ears. Even if the noise isolation isn't great, it is a lot better than wearing the bulky studio headphones some people like.

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  63. Those may be the only earbud headphones I would be comfortable wearing. Right now I wear huge sony headphones out in public. It drowns out the stupid, but at the expense of looking stupid myself. PS Panasonic makes the only good plasma tv, so I'm guessing they did their homework with these too.

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  64. Nice review but I just bought some earbuds!

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  65. Yes! My current headphones are broken, thanks for the review.

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  66. I have yet to find a pair of in-ear headphones that I'm comfortable with :(

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  67. man, i got out my pad, wrote down the make and model, scrolled your page...not available in US...(okay)...$70...(ookaay...)...ebay now for $250!!!!!!!!NO WAY!but thanks for the info, i'll keep checking it out, wanna spend 50 to hear music- mostly listen to high quality live recordings...

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  68. Thats crazy man! At a wedding last week the DJ was showing me these same phones, really nice, wouldn't mind a pair at all. Check me out sometime.

    http://floridaweddinginformation.blogspot.com/

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  69. review more heaadphones! hows about some like the beats one or sennheiser?

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  70. hmm. I might just buy thise when my paycheck hits.

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  71. Great post!

    check out my blog sometime!

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  72. They definitely look/sound amazing.
    Glad I still have this blog on my morning coffee. Please check out mine?
    http://clearthepit.blogspot.com

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  73. i might think of getting these for my replacement buds, although i generally use my headphones when i'm at home.

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  74. Good advice, looking for new earbuds after mine fell in the sink.

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