Panasonic RP-HJE190 review

Suitable package for a cheap earphone, non‐reusable but easy to break open with, for a change, sensible information. Wire is the thinnest, not rubbery, has memory—expect tangle. Joins, plugs and wire come over as the cheapest, but with thought and design enough. Housings are a bell shape. Tips go not deep but deeper than the usual tip—HJS190s will hold. The tips are angled from the housings, which makes Left/Right identification outstandingly easy. HJS190s are good for comfort, and the bell housings, though not outstanding, are good for pushing in the ear. When you hold them the housings are lightweight plastic, but a childhood memory makes me think of toys from old deep Europe.

Volume is reasonable. Lower horns and strings are louder. Volume range is only passable, but has finesse. Neat but slow for attack and decay. Timing is slow. Swells muddle under heavy stress, but otherwise good. No duff frequencies. A lowband lift, rough EQ says a shelf down at 50Hz, but above that a lift, which is odd. There’s a low resonance in the case, it can be felt. HJS190s have some lowband, and some high, but the extremes seem sloped off, so overall frequency range is limited, and puts a distance on replay. Detail is poor. Color is off on lower strings, but good, if papery, elsewhere. Small scale, vague positions.

If the frequency slopes are acceptable, good for voice replay. Orchestras may be small in scale and foggy, but it’s good to listen to parts in balance. The lowband lift wearys for rock music. but good for pop. For games and soundtracks the extended lowband, plus the controlled frequency response, gives a dose of cinematic sound. When the foggy echo and lowband lift don’t interfere, HJS190s are good.