Rhiannon Lives Here

I'm passionate about music and audio. It's such a huge part of my life that I don't mind dropping a fair amount of money on a piece of audio gear that will improve the sound quality of the music I listen to. This hobby can get expensive though, and so I'm also keen to find cheaper audio gear that sounds great for the price that I can then recommend to others. Last time it was the Yuin PK3 earbuds at sub AU$60. This time it's the JVC Marshmallow earphones at sub AU$15!

I discovered these on the Head-Fi forums where they are a community favourite for their price vs performance. Their official model names/numbers are the HA-FX33 and HA-FX34. The 33's are the older model whereas the 34's are newer, but other than a few minor differences (which I'll get to later) they're both pretty much the same.

Sound Quality

So, just how good can a 15 dollar pair of earphones actually be? Well, surprisingly, the sound is quite good and definitely rivals that of other earphones in the sub AU$50 range.

Their major weakness is the noticeable roll-off in the upper high frequencies and lack of mid-range clarity, which I think is to be expected in an earphone this cheap. Due to this, they have much more of a dark sound than a bright sound, which I'm actually thankful for as I can't stand overly bright earphones. These little fellas output a great deal of bass, but it's of the boomy kind, rather than the punchy, controlled kind. It's not totally overpowering though, but definitely more of a 'fun' sound than anywhere near transparent. Some bass-heads amongst us will be happy. The Marshmallows also output a high amount of volume without distorting, which is always a plus.

The amount of sound isolation from the Marshmallows is what I would describe as moderate. They're not fully isolating like many high end canalphones, but enough to block out most of the annoying outside noise.

Overall, I'm amazed at the sound coming out of these things. The fact that I'm comparing the JVC Marshmallows to earphones that cost four times the price is truly a testament to their sound quality and how highly I think of them. They're definitely not rubbish, and are probably better than quite a few overpriced consumer-grade earphones that cost at least twice as much.

Build Quality

I've got two pairs of Marshmallows and I've owned them for less than a day, so I can't comment on build quality over the long term, but from what I can tell they seem solid and sturdy enough. There's not much weight to them, so they could probably survive being thrown around a bit, or constantly floating around in a bag or a pocket. The main cable that connects to the stereo jack is thick enough to feel protected. The cables that join the left and right ear pieces are a bit on the thin side, but not to the point of concern. The driver housing is made of glossy plastic, and looks a bit cheap but not nasty. The 3.5mm stereo jack is gold plated, which is always good and not something I would generally expect for the price. The earphone tips that fit inside the ear canal are removable, and interchangeable with certain other tips from different canalphone brands. I'm perfectly happy with the included tips, however. They're made of a firm type of foam which is temporarily mouldable before it slowly expands back into place. Yes, just like a marshmallow. The foam tips come off pretty easily though, so losing them could be a problem.

Compared to the older 33's, the 34's have a few more colour options, a slightly more rigid plastic for the cable compared to the smooth rubbery feel on the 33's, and shorter tips to go in the ear. They also have a slightly shorter cable at about 107cm compared to the 33's at 128cm. None of these are necessarily improvements, they're just differences for whatever reasons JVC thought was necessary. They both sound pretty much the same. If anything, there's a smidgen more boominess to the bass in the 33's, probably due to the longer tips. That could just be my imagination, though.

Comfort and Fit

I'm a big fan of large circum-aural headphones; that is, I like headphones that sit over the top of my ears and surround them completely. On the contrary, I'm much less welcoming of earphones that go inside my ears. That includes earbuds and canalphones. It's one of those personal preference things, and not everyone feels the same way I do about them. Despite all that, I can honestly say the JVC Marshmallows are very comfortable indeed. It can often be a problem to get a good seal with canalphones. If you don't, it can drastically reduce the amount of bass. I didn't find that to be a problem at all with the Marshmallows. Both the 33's and 34's fit nice and snug without causing any pain to the ear, and I can move them around a bit without breaking the seal too much. As with all earphones, and especially canalphones, constantly putting them in and pulling them out can be a little taxing on the ears, but I found this to me less so with the Marshmallows than most other canalphones with silicon or foam tips.

Due to the way canalphones isolate sound, they tend to have issues with microphonics; that amplified internal noise usually from having the cable bumped around. The Marshmallows are no exception to this. But, interestingly enough, the Marshmallows respond well to being worn upside down with the cable being looped over the ear, similar to how you would wear many high end canalphones such as the Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 5's. So, if the microphonics really bother you, give this a try as it reduces them a fair amount when you accidently bump the cable.

Price vs Performance

The JVC Marshmallows are way down the bottom of the price ladder at a cheap as chips AU$15 (and sub AU$10 if you shop smart or buy on eBay), but they're definitely not at the bottom of the ladder for sound quality. I've heard headphones with much worse sound than the Marshmallows, most of them costing at least double the price. The Marshmallows are possibly the best value for money I've seen in a budget consumer portable earphone.

Final Thoughts

Just to make it clear, the Marshallows aren't a fantastic sounding earphone. They're a fantastic sounding earphone for the price. There's plenty of better sounding canalphones out there, and if you're an audio enthusiast, you'll have no problem spending more for the sound improvements. If, however, you're looking for a cheap upgrade from your iPod earbuds, or you want a second pair for travel, or you're looking for a cheap pair of canalphones for the isolation they provide, then I can heartily recommend the JVC Marshmallows. If you want even more bang for your buck, you can also mod them.