Jays q-JAYS & s-JAYS, Prototype impressions - Page 30

Audiocubes posts them for 10$. But they are out of stock from the black ones.

Anyway I decided to order from the USA whatever it takes. I'm sick of the market here and I want a good earphone.

thanks for that info! audiocubes haven't yet replied to me so i didn't know their cost... $40 is what headroom would charge me...

are EU shops really that st*? if they see a customer who's willing to buy from USA they should "adjust"... anyway, i too will prob buy from USA... (i think jays should do something about that too, for sake of their customers, even though i can imagine that they will state that they are producers and not sellers.)

good luck!

Press Buy then choose country and update. Then it will show you how much it is before checkout. So You are not paying yet, don't worry.

I'm new to q-jays, and have just been reading all the posts about these. I'm interested in purchasing, but I have a couple questions as to how these compare to what I already use:

1) I currently use Koss K35's, probably the best 'clip on' cans ever produced, and they cost about $35.
2) I have Koss 'PLUG' in ear buds that cost about $15, and sound better than my Shure E2's, which cost at least $100. (I never understood how this was possible.)

The current 'standard' for me are the K35's. Are the q-jays going to improve on that experience? Anyone have both and can compare? I know that the Koss K35's are over the ear, and the q-jays are in ear, but for $179, I fully expect that the q-jays are a lot better than the Koss K35's. I have no way of trying them out before buying, so for $200 US, I need to be sure that the q-jays will deliver a better audio experience than the Koss K35's.

spatzi, from what i've read and heard myself i'd say that q-JAYS will be better than Koss K35 since q-JAYS are between Westone UM2 and Ety 4 AND Westone UM2 is CLOSE to Sennheiser HD580/600... so...

I don't think that's a reasonable expectation. While I haven't spent much time with Koss KSC35 phones, I have demoed them and they sounded pretty decent. q-JAYS might have the edge on the KSC35 in terms of detail but there's no way they'll be 'a lot better'. In fact, there will be areas in which the Koss phones will have an edge.

Another point of note is that IEM sound quality comes down to fit and seal. q-JAYS are shipped with silicone tips of various sizes but no foamies and no double or triple flanges. If, like myself and others, you find yourself needing other tips to get a proper fit, the cost goes up again. In my case, I paid about $200 for the q-JAYS and another $45 for a set of tripple flanges, foamies, and shipping. That's still cheaper than I could get SE530 here shipped but not a lot.

My next stop will be Shure SE530.

As far as sound quality goes, it varies with fit. That seems normal with any IEM. They are certainly capable of wonderful detail. iLounge slams the q-JAYS for their high frequency roll off but this has not been my experience. Still, they are far from the best sounding headphones I've heard. They are very good, though.

One of my biggest concerns with q-JAYS is the testimonials and support from this site. After purchasing a set, I came to realize they are talked about here and reviews on other boards are pretty much exclusively from posters here trying to spread the word. If anything negative is said about q-JAYS in this forum, a bunch of supporters will jump in and defend the q-JAYS. The hype is all coming form this forum.

In fact, if you read back a little ways, you will find someone telling me it wasn't right to post a slightly negative review based on poor fit problems. Well, I paid $200 and still haven't heard great sound unless I hold the modules with my fingertips in a very specific way. When I do that, I get very good sound. Otherwise, the SQ is modest.

I'm going to continue experimenting with tips and I hope to get better performance out of my pair of q-JAYS but in the mean time, I'm going to order a pair of SE530. If I were doing it again, I would go straight to the SE530. The SE530, of course, comes with a fit kit.

On the plus side for the q-JAYS.... they are delightfully small. I'll live with the big Shure modules but I wish the q-JAYS worked for me because their size is a treat. Also, the short cable/extension is the best thing going. I've heard complaints but I think the short cable is genius. They are a y-cable too and that's always good too.

There is a lot to like about the q-JAYS but they may not be the bargain they seem to be.

FWIW, I much prefer to listen to my kramer modded KSC-75s than my Shure E500s... treble, airiness, soundstage, simply not there. The only thing really lacking is bass as even guitars/vocals sound better on the headphones I spent $10 on.

Maybe I have tin ears, but I did live with a $4k desktop setup for 1.5 years that was my own little bit of nirvana (Ack! 2.0->Slam PPX3->Leatherheads). I consider the KSCs to be a darn near magical portable solution.

That said I look forward to trying out the Q-Jays.

There are in fact a lot of products that gets a similar head-fi "treatment" around here and elsewhere. None mentioned, none forgotten.

Still, that's off topic. I'm personally looking forward to comparisons between q-JAYS and the Westone 3, once it surfaces.

Then sell them and stop complaining that this IEM doesn't fit you. You yourself are creating the hype. I'm sure JAYS appreciates it. I thank you on their behalf.

Point well taken. This site is a site that plays home to boutique products that might otherwise not have a chance to exist.


I will take that under advisement.


I'm sharing the truth. By pushing q-JAYS on people and trying to suppress negative opinion, you are doing something of low ethics to people. If you were to try the truth, I would thank you on behalf of consumers who might otherwise buy something on a recommendation based on forum nepotism instead of product merit.

As far as what JAYS would appreciate, they have no karma with me so I could care less about them. My original query was kept private. For what it's worth, I did try to work with the vendor.

From what I can tell, the reality of the q-JAYS product is that it comes from some eager over-achievers who have managed to produce something very good and well thought out in a competitive industry but they don't have a foam tips, double or triple flanges, or a fit kit. They do come with several sizes of olives, all of which are too small for me.

For what it's worth, I'm 6'4"/220lbs. Yes, I'm big. As for the comment that my ear canals deviate from the norm, a doctor friend tells me this is not the case. She did say tall people tend to have large canals, though.

I don't want to slam the q-JAYS product as much as I wish to slam the forum hype. If you're someone who is an experienced IEM user with a drawer full of tips and doesn't mind moding triple flanges into double flanges, knows what foamies fit best, knows which brand/model tip flanges have similar geometry, and don't mind fooling around a bit to get things sorted out, the q-JAYS are probably a great IEM. If you are someone who expects a complete fit-kit like Shure supplies with some of their products, the q-JAYS may not be for you.

I have no doubt the q-JAYS modules are excellent but I feel like a beta-tester with regard to their tips and lack thereof.

That's how I feel about it and I might suggest it's just as valid as the position taken by q-JAYS proponents.

Of course producing without selling does jays no good eh.

I dunn know why it's so difficult for u. Maybe there are only 5 Slov customers. U.S. will sell u anything, 50mm cals, Cruise Missiles...

Hey, the Shure comply foams do not work. They have a pretty firm inner sleeve that does not stretch well over the wide stem of the q-Jays. However, the 3-flange silicon tips from Etymotic (from my 4's) works great and provides such a better seal.

q-Jays + ety 3-flange is absolutely the way I like em.

I for one appreciate what Tom Brown has to share. I been quite interested with the q-jay but there have been few review and fewer comparisons(with my ety4). Tom has clearly articulate his problem with the q-jay and by no means discredit the product in the process. Have a search on ety er4s and you'll get a similar list of people disliking them because of fit or sound signature, which has no impact on the popularity of the ety4.

Better than jumping on him for sharing (head-fi is "meant to be" non-commercial), if you'd share your positive experience instead(if you have done so, good).

It seems to me that this is a pretty harsh assessment of Tom Brown's posts. This is an impressions thread and the poster is sharing impressions. I have read Tom Brown's posts in this thread and in the sponsored thread, and I don't find that he is continually complaining. Rather he has articulated a very real issue that he has with the product, while remaining very positive about the good experiences he has had. (Sorry about assuming TB is male from the screen name)

I had nearly the same experience with my d-JAYS (see this post: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showpo...&postcount=351). In fact they sat in a drawer for nearly a year, because the included sleeves did not provide a reasonable seal for me. This was very frustrating because I could tell that the d-JAYS were capable of much better sound than I was experiencing, but only if I continually readjusted them including sometimes having to hold them into my ears with my fingers. I thought about purchasing other sleeves, but never got around to it, and probably never would have. Up until a few days ago, I just figured that the d-JAYS were a waste of $79 (I got introductory pricing). It is only because I had the good fortune to attend an event, where Shure was handing out sleeves for people to try their product that I even had a pair of Shure sleeves to try on the d-JAYS.

Only now that I have put the Shure sleeves on am I starting to appreciate what a great little set of IEMS these are. They provide great comfort, thanks to the combination of JAYS' incredible earphone design, and Shure's incredible sleeve design. They also provide a really fun listening experience.

I stated in my other post about this, that I don't blame the manufacturer for my fit problems, and I still feel that way. However, if JAYS had included some type of fit kit with different types of sleeves right from the start I would have had a much better experience with their product right from the start. I don't think that is an unreasonable expectation for a $100 pair of earphones. Even the lowest end Shures come with a fit kit and case.

From what I've read here it seems that the q-JAYS will be a worthwhile upgrade for me, and I have been seriously considering it. Thanks to the info conveyed by Tom Brown, I now also know that if I do purchase the q-JAYS, I will most likely also have to purchase foam sleeves from another manufacturer (or wait until next year when JAYS actually starts packing in foamies). I appreciate having that information, because it will definitely accelerate my listening enjoyment, if I do end up upgrading.

I also think that JAYS themselves should be appreciative of well-reasoned negative feedback. Its great information to help them improve their product line and be even more successful.

Thanks!
George

So the other day, I was sitting down to give a good listen to the Jays q-jays side by side with my Etymotic ER-4P/S, when I was removing an eartip from the etymotics and the stem broke on me! If they get replaced, I'll follow through.

I prefer them greatly to the ER-4p. Not so much because of the sound, because the difference is not huge (this is a compliment to the q-Jays). However the low profile of these things coupled with the ability to go over the ear and eliminate the worst of the microphonics solves two of the little annoyances with the ER-4s. The most overt difference in sound is the bass response, which is not huge but possibly the perfect step up for me from the ER-4s.