JVC XP-EXT1
A Dolby Atmos and DTS:X surround system for your ears only
The JVC XP-EXT1 is an intriguing concept – a home cinema headphone set intended to bring all the joys of the latest surroundsound cinema formats, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, to an individual listener.
We can think of a number of situations when this might be useful – from late-night viewing sessions where you don’t want to disturb the household, through to those who don’t have room for a full-blown system, via the user who simply wants to be completely immersed in the action with no distractions.
What it has to beat
Despite that, this price tag might make many potential buyers pause for thought. For that sort of money, you could buy a decent soundbar and surround speaker combination (for example, a Sonos Arc and a pair of Sonos One SLS); and, for not much more, an excellent fully blown surroundsound system could be yours. Of course, those would take up considerably more space than this box of tricks.
The system comes with two main components: the conventional-looking over-ear headphones and a processor unit that does most of the hard graft by sending the signal to the headphones via Bluetooth. Also in the box is a micro-usb charging cable for the headphones, the power supply for the processor unit, a soft bag in which to store the headset, and a cable to use in the set-up process that allows measurements to be taken of the user’s ears and head to optimise performance.
The processor unit, which measures 27 x 16 x 3cm, has three HDMI inputs, an optical input and a stereo jack. An HDMI output has EARC compatibility.
Quality and comfort
The high-quality plastics and leather make this feel like a premium product – which of course, at this price, it is. And it’s well made too. The leather earpads are softly padded, as is the adjustable headband, and the headphones sit over our ears nicely. They also create a good seal against the sides of our head – vital, of course, if the soundprocessing software is going to be able to do its thing to any great effect. These ’phones are certainly designed for long listening sessions.
The XP-EXT1, it is claimed, will reproduce the sound of a full 7.1.4 surround system in your head using a Dolby Atmos or DTS:X signal; they will even up-mix two-channel and 5.1 ‘vanilla’ surround sound as well.
Once you’ve downloaded the ‘Exofield Theater’ app on your phone, set-up is pretty easy. Along the way there are all sorts of sound modes to choose from. We spend a lot of time with the JVC XP-EXT1, switching between modes and source inputs, and playing with the various settings, and it’s clear that a lot of work has gone into the system. Overall it’s an entertaining product, and it certainly gets the user engrossed in movies and games.
Clearly noticeable
Watching The Highwaymen on Netflix in Dolby Atmos, there is no doubt at all when the Exofield Theater software is doing its thing. There is a fine feeling of space and air to the sound compared with the regular stereo setting.
The midrange in particular is good, with voices coming through clearly even in the more frantic scenes, although the treble is often a touch sharp.
More crucially, the switch from stereo to full-on Dolby Atmos mode brings with it a loss of rhythmic punch and sonic dynamics, flattening things out in the sonic spectrum somewhat.
Location, location, location
Our main issue, however, is that, while there is certainly a decent amount of space to the sound, there is also a vagueness of positioning of the sounds that are coming at us. There are clearly bullets flying all around, but it isn’t always obvious where they are. And, on occasion, when there is a character in the middle of the screen, their voice seems to be floating above us, rather than being nailed down front and centre.
There’s also that age-old problem of getting surround sound over headphones: those sounds are all still ‘inside your head’ rather than coming from around you. Once you’re into a movie, though, this becomes less of an issue.
This is a great concept, and the JVC XP-EXT1 headphones perform decently – they are comfortable, solidly built and provide a well-rounded sound appropriate for movie watching and gaming.
For their premium outlay, though, we had higher hopes of this exciting proposition. There’s a lot of technology here and it’s clearly working hard, but ultimately it falls between two stools; the surround-sound performance doesn’t do enough to justify the price, while for stereo listening these JVCS struggle to better rivals costing less than a third of their price.