Well, this review starts out with a long story. JAYS decided to have a Christmas contest for the winners of a new pair of q-JAYS and d-JAYs, both in maroon red. Being enthusiastic and wanting some nice pairs of IEMS, I entered. I originally didn't win, but one of the winners did not reply in time and I was picked to win the d-JAYS. Time went on and I was informed that the d-JAYS were going to arrive late and they would send me a pair of q-JAYS. About 3-4 months later, I finally received what was one of the latest (greatest?) Christmas presents that I received in my short lifetime.
Without further ado, the review!
1. List of equipment/music
- Cowon D2, 4GB (as seen here, with my MS1's plugged in)
- Meier Corda 2Move (With the D2 on top, secured with some double sided tape. [Learned this little trick by reading it from Filipelli's post on Portable Rigs section])
Last, but not the least, the music.
Brothers in Arms - Dire Strait
In Rainbows, OK Computer - Radiohead
Led Zeppelin III, IV - Led Zeppelin
(Sorry for all the rock.. I don't have any other genres in hand right now.)
2. First Impressions
Well, I had to say, the packaging of these were just beautiful! When I opened it, it was even better as it was filled with accessories. This is the box it came in.
It came with eight pairs of silicone tips and two pairs of foamies. Also included were the regular things that other JAYS users will be familiar with.
After looking at all the goodies it came with, I finally got to looking at the earphones itself. The first thing that stuck out was its size. I was amazed at how tiny the earbud was, as it made me doubt that these could sound so good. In this picture, you can see that it is less than an inch long even with the tip on.
The color itself was amazingly beautiful, as I never knew that I could love the color red. The deep color is very pleasing to the eyes, and fingerprints don't seem to appear on them, which in my opinion is a good thing
Now, lets get on with the most important part, shall we?
3. The sound
I am here to remind you readers that I am not an audiophile, but I will try my best to describe what I hear with accurate words. I am merely a 15 year old, looking for pleasing sound, and this is my first long review, so cut me some slack.
The lows:
One of the things that surprised me was the bass on these. Now, before I received these, I read the bass was weak compared to other dual armature IEMS. This did not disappoint me because I did not like bassy headphones. However, when I first plugged these in my 2Move, the bass was punchy and fairly accurate. On my D2 alone, it was a different story as it could not go low. However, this doesn't only apply to me as owners of D2s have reported the bass drops as it goes lower but can be remedied with an amp or a impedance adapter. Well on to the good stuff. The first song that really caught me off-guard with the bass was "Ride Across the River" by Dire Straits. The bass had very good impact, and was not so strong it felt like my eardrums were going to bleed. It went really low and showed me the potential of the bass. "On World" also showed me the details of the low end. I was able to hear the bass rhythm clearly and I experienced an eargasm late at night when I first heard them on the 2Move
The Mids:
The mids did seem repressed like the other reviews of the q-JAYS pointed out, but it wasn't very repressed. In "15 Steps" by Radiohead, the first part clearly shows how nice male vocals can be. Also, Guitars sounded like they were in the room while I was listening to Led Zeppelin. I also heard things I never heard on these recordings.
The Highs:
The highs truly stand out. It doesn't screech, but it is pleasant. It gives the q-JAYS an airy feeling. It is kind of like my MS1's as it doesn't go piercing high and stays in my comfort zone. Nothing else to say but I truly feel that these can be ety's with bass, as I got to try out my friend's er6is
Everything else:
Soundstaging is okay, but they're IEMs, what can I expect? The quality is great as I have not had any problems with these. Little negatives about these are that I have to take them out of my ears by pulling on the cable because they're so darn small! Also, I'm not a fan of the short cable then using an extension cord to actually use these from a DAP from your pocket. Isolation is good, but I'm using small tips so they insert very deep in my ears. I am able to hear birds chirping outside my window if the music is quiet or off, but other sounds are canceled out.
4. Do I recommend these?
Yes! I may be biased because they were free, but I feel like these are a good buy for the money. An amp does increase the sound quality, but these without an amp is good too. I believe Kite7 is going to give his impressions on these too later, so watch for that too. Now, for some extra pictures!
The earphones
My rig I used for most of the review
More stuff!
Edit: Sorry for the large images, Ill fix them when I have the time
A NOT so short review!: JAYS q-JAYS 56k Beware! Tons of pics!
Also, the petite size allows me to insert them quickly
