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JH Audio JH-13 PRO appreciation thread - Page 224

post #3346 of 9141
8/12/09 at 6:35pm
Do it

My JH13s will be also trans black so I'd love to see more pics.
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post #3347 of 9141
8/12/09 at 6:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by matt8268 View Post
Well, I requested Ultimate Ears send me the molds they have of mine that were used for my UE-10s and UE-11s. I received them, and sent them to JHAudio, figuring I could read HPA's review then make a decision about giving them the go ahead to start. Brittany called me this morning saying they received the impressions, and I just can't wait any longer for HPA's review, I gave my credit card info. So chalk me up as another guy who will be able to compare a few high-end IEMs: UE-10, UE-11, and JH-13. Though my review will probably be of the inarticulate kind (i.e. me likee this one best), but I'll try my best.
Were these the digital mold files or the actual molds? Don't the actual molds shrink after a month or so?
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post #3348 of 9141
8/12/09 at 7:14pm

Speed is Life!

An old saying among Fighter Pilots:

"Speed is Life"
Attachment 19707

I can now confirm that it also applies to Custom IEMs:

"Speed is Sound"
LL
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post #3349 of 9141
8/12/09 at 7:24pm
Do they sound THAT much better than the HD800?
i would buy the JH 13 purley for their sound but...they are obviously alot more fragile than regular full size headphones,who knows how long they will last? so i'm willing to sacrifice a bit of SQ and get the HD800 instead...but i'm dying to know how they sound!
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post #3350 of 9141
8/12/09 at 7:30pm
Yes, speed is both life and sound:

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post #3351 of 9141
8/12/09 at 7:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rdr. Seraphim View Post
I've heard that phrase used with other transducers as well. Generally, I take it to mean that it sounds more "life-like," not necessarily good from a musical perspective, or from a recording perspective. Interestingly, with good headphones, you can hear just how poorly (bad) the recording is e.g. improper mic placement, wrong choice of microphone, or a the engineering of the music hall (dry vs. lively), or venue, etc!

However, I agree with you re the transducer itself. If it makes everything sound "good," all sorts of warning flags pop up. If "everything" sounds good, then I suspect there's some application of purposeful FR alterations. Not good. Even real life doesn't always sound good!
I wouldn't say these make everything sound good. I can absolutely hear the flaws in a bad recording. However, the JH13 adds no additional harshness or grain of it's own, so some bad recordings are more palatable than they would on a less refined sounding transducer.

I think the "OMG it sounds great with everything" sort of comments are due to the very low distortion and accurate frequency response. The JH13 is not adding to or changing the recording much, if at all, and thus you are able to hear music as it was intended to be presented more accurately. Hence it does not favor a particular genre or style of music, hence the comments about all-around performance.

Quote:
Originally Posted by pearljam5000 View Post
i would buy the JH 13 purley for their sound but...they are obviously alot more fragile than regular full size headphones,who knows how long they will last? so i'm willing to sacrifice a bit of SQ and get the HD800 instead...but i'm dying to know how they sound!
Well, as was noted earlier in the thread, Jerry has services custom IEM's made back during his UE days which were over ten years old, and still working fine. As long as you take care of them, and don't thrash them around the way stage performers likely do, they should likely last quite a long time. There is nothing inherently fragile about the design or build, other than the fact that like all IEM's they are a small item.
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post #3352 of 9141
8/12/09 at 8:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pearljam5000 View Post
Do they sound THAT much better than the HD800?
i would buy the JH 13 purley for their sound but...they are obviously alot more fragile than regular full size headphones,who knows how long they will last? so i'm willing to sacrifice a bit of SQ and get the HD800 instead...but i'm dying to know how they sound!
I've owned some custom IEMs for a little longer than a year, and they are in the exact same condition as when I received them. I use them an average of 2 hours a day and keep them in a case.

The shell should last forever. The only vulnerable part is the connector, so as long as you don't sit on them, they'll last a long time.

Just make sure you take good care of them.
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post #3353 of 9141
8/12/09 at 8:12pm
Quote:
My understanding was that ear impressions shrink after a certain time period (and I recall that being relatively short). Aren't you setting yourself up for a likely refit by not getting new impressions?
I had heard that, but the gal at UE said they don't really shrink that much within a couple years, and they've had good luck using the same impressions. Has anyone here on head-fi actually had a confirmed bad fit from a mold that previously yielded a good fit?

I asked her about sending me the digital files (not sure exactly how they're stored), and she seemed to think sending the molds was easier/better. It was actually Jerry over email that originally recommended I request UE to send me the impressions.

Hopefully I don't have fit issues. Impressions taken on-site at UE in Irvine for UE-10s, got great fit. They then created my UE-11s from that same mold (or digital file, however they did it). I could swear the UE-10s and UE-11s, while they both fit, fit a little differently. It does seem the UE-10s are a little fatter, filling in the outside part of my ear a bit more, and a little longer, extending just slightly further into my ear canal. I always chalked it up to design differences between UE-10 and UE-11, or my imagination. Maybe it's shrinkage though.

Shoot, now I'm a little concerned.
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post #3354 of 9141
8/12/09 at 8:12pm

Valsalva Maneuver Helps

I've noticed this in airplanes (less than ground level cabin pressure, usually about 8,000 feet MSL, max - iirc), and on the ground, just a little bit with my W3's+Olive Tips:

-after awhile, moving jaw back & forth, and thereby flexing the
"Eardrum-to-Earphone-Seal"

if I valsalva, the sound reproduction improves noticeably!

-I think the pressure in my eustachian tube gets "pumped out, slightly" by the back & forth action of the sealed earpiece moving,

and a valsalva maneuver equalizes it.

- more air molecules in there = better / fuller / crisper sound reproduction / input to brain

PS:
The Valsalva maneuver or Valsalva manoeuvre is performed by forcible exhalation against a closed airway, usually done by closing one's mouth and pinching one's nose shut. Variations of the maneuver can be used either in medical examination as a test of cardiac function and autonomic nervous control of the heart, or to "clear" the ears and sinuses (that is, to equalize pressure between them) when ambient pressure changes, as in diving or aviation.


Anybody else ever notice this?
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post #3355 of 9141
8/12/09 at 8:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer View Post
I wouldn't say these make everything sound good. I can absolutely hear the flaws in a bad recording. However, the JH13 adds no additional harshness or grain of it's own, so some bad recordings are more palatable than they would on a less refined sounding transducer.

I think the "OMG it sounds great with everything" sort of comments are due to the very low distortion and accurate frequency response. The JH13 is not adding to or changing the recording much, if at all, and thus you are able to hear music as it was intended to be presented more accurately. Hence it does not favor a particular genre or style of music, hence the comments about all-around performance.
Good points Iron_Dreamer. And that about sums up my thoughts about the "other" IEM too . In fact, my own experience says that you'll easily hear the differences in amplification, cables (oops, did I say that?), and any of the upstream components driving the IEM.

With IEMs of this calibre, accuracy, timbre, detail, speed, extension and resolution it makes you wonder about those "big rig" systems costing literally hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Course, I don't think we're done. Nope. I think it's just begun!
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post #3356 of 9141
8/12/09 at 8:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer View Post
I wouldn't say these make everything sound good. I can absolutely hear the flaws in a bad recording. However, the JH13 adds no additional harshness or grain of it's own, so some bad recordings are more palatable than they would on a less refined sounding transducer.
If I may oversimplify, I think there are two kinds of people:
  • those who find that more resolution and accuracy makes bad recordings sound worse
  • those who find that more resolution and accuracy makes bad recordings sound better
I listen to quite a few really old recordings, some over 100 years old. My favorite recording of Rachmaninoff's piano concerto #3 was recorded off the radio over 60 years ago, and the sound quality is so bad that a neighboring radio station interferes pretty loudly from time to time.

For these kinds of scratchy old releases, different record labels take different approaches. The big labels like EMI and Polygram tend to apply a lot of noise filtering to quiet down all the pops and scratches and other artifacts and make it more palatable to the widest range of listeners. Smaller specialty labels such as Pearl and VAI tend to apply minimal processing so that none of the precious information on the recording is lost.

I can't stand the filtering. I want to hear everything, and I've long since trained myself to "hear through" all the crud on these old recordings in order to get to the music underneath. An old scratchy mono recording, transferred with minimal processing, is going to sound best to me on the most brutally revealing system possible. It's never going to sound "good", but it will sound like music.
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post #3357 of 9141
8/12/09 at 8:47pm

a pic for L'il Knight

Attachment 19719
They sound: "Spooky Good"
LL
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post #3358 of 9141
8/12/09 at 9:14pm
That looks smokin' hot, Ken!
I hope mine would turn out great like yours.
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post #3359 of 9141
8/12/09 at 9:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SierraHotel01 View Post
Attachment 19719
They sound: "Spooky Good"
Did you have the tubes done in clear?
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post #3360 of 9141
8/12/09 at 9:48pm
Lil' Knight - Adam is very good - yours will be at least this good!

hockeyb213: no - didn't order clear tips - must be the lighting - they are essentially same smokey black color as the rest.

(Sorry about pic quality -cheap camera - my Leica is "down for repairs")
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