If only all mistakes were this good. (JVC HA FX34B Marshmallow)

Member Name: Smokindave

Product:	JVC HA FX34B Marshmallow
Date:	13/06/09 (73 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sound, price, quality, comfort.

Disadvantages: None to mention.

Having just bought myself a snazzy new MP4 player of eBay, I unpackaged the little fellow and fired it up for its first test drive. Great, all except the cheap and tacky earphones bundled in with the kit. So obviously after waiting weeks for this thing to turn up (from Hong Kong), my patience was wearing thin. I ended up five minutes later in my local supermarket scouring the inadequate electrical section for anything vaguely relevant.

For no sane or logical reason I had mentally set myself a tenner budget for the replacement, and was quickly rewarded when I spotted the JVC marshmallow earphones, or rather the £9.99 price tag underneath. Unfortunately it wasn't until I got to the Sainsbury checkout that I realised my hasty mistake, or to be fair to me, the blame must surely go to the 17 year old on minimum wage that put the wrong price up in the first place. Anyway I was on the spot and so opted to purchase at £14.99, which was still a pretty good deal.

I purchased the black ones but they come in a range of several colours for all tastes. The earphones are the in-ear type but crucially the shape and texture is 'marshmallow' like (sort of), so basically if you want to simulate before you buy then stick a couple of marshmallows in your ears for size. No seriously the name is not so silly as you do have to mould the rubbery end so that it fits snugly in your ear. After the first time you just slot them straight in. What a great idea this is. I have always had problems with the classic in-ear phones as the hard moulded plastic never seems to fit properly. One ear will always feel like it is going to reject the thing at any moment and then promptly does!

So they fit great, what about the sound. Well I am no trained piano tuner but it sounds great to me. The fact that the earphones are pressed in so snugly mean that no exterior sound is picked up, so not so good if you are keeping an ear out for the kids, but perfect for blocking out the opera singing next door. They have a little slider to adjust where the two wires for each ear split off which is surprisingly useful. Other than this there are no bells or whistles nor do I miss any. I have had them now for about 4 months, and cannot report any faults or issues.

I bought these ear phones by mistake, but I'm glad I did as they are actually very good. Certainly for this price I would struggle to find better.

Summary: A great little pair of earphones, which are really comfortable at a decent price.

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