JH Audio JH-13 PRO appreciation thread - Page 4

WOW, please stop.

Do you know how long the discount will be going for?

Ed, Do you have custom ES3X? Cause the JH13 sounds better for my taste..... The soundstage just sounds marvellous! Do you think HPA protect his decision over the ES3X and can't make peace [is it the right term?] with the fact that the JH13 pro are just better.

Btw - somehow the impression I get from you about the ES3X is that it has flat, small, narrow soundstage, which sounds weird...

Would like to have an answer from HPA about it.

I hope I won't have any regrets on my ES3X order.....

I guess I will buy the JH13 pro some where soon if there will be more review on them from ppl with the ES3X.

Will see how the ES3X perform soon.

How CAN HPA give a fair comparison between his customized ES3X and a JH13Pro's universal demo?
Take into account how long HPA has listened to his ES3X, and the
tens or fewer minutes he listened to JH13Pro in a booth (and he noted they didn't fit
well), and you know HPA isn't protecting his decision over ES3X, he don't need to unless
he ordered a JH13Pro to A/B.

The discount is good through June.

Yup $100 for any impressions that reach their lab before June 30th.

-quote from Brittany at JHAudio

Yes, I have the ES3X customs. Directly comparing the ES3X to the JH13 is a bit unfair given the price difference. In fact, JH Audio has a 3 driver 3 way crossover that would be a direct competitor to it for around the same price point.

The UE11 is a better competitor to compare to, and the JH13 absolutely destroys it.

As for the soundstage of the ES3X, it's not narrow at all. It's very very wide. It's just a lot more up front and wide. Like a wall of sound. While the JH13 has a more round shaped soundstage. I was comparing the shape of the soundstage more than any quantity. It's not a fair comparison until I have my actual custom JH13 to listen to.



-Ed

The accessories that come with the 13 are a cleaning tool and a personalized "carbon" case. Nice.

I have scheduled an appointment for my ear impression tomorrow.

I'm calling around getting quotes right now

One thing I'm curious about though... if there was a universal-fit version of the JH-13 floating around CamJam, why doesn't he just release it alongside the JH-13? From the impressions it beats the UE-11 even as a universal fit and I'm sure he could make them cheaper then the custom fits. Plus it would attract the people who are a little apprehensive about getting a custom (and the no resale value of them)

My advice, don't waste you time with universal IEMs. When I had the Westone 3, it was a nightmare for me to try to find the best tip and at the end I sold them because of that reason. Custom is more expensive, but you will be done for the rest of your life.

I doubt it's that simple, a custom and a universal are two different beasts,
the demo's only a demo, not a production ready model.
Customs are catered to a single person, and they make it according to that person's ear
impressions only. The demographic for customs are usually audiophiles/musicians.
Universals have to consider statistics and cater to a model of the "average ear"(made it
up), as a result of this ambivalence toward the size and length of the ear canal,
sacrifices have to be made in order to balance the elements of an IEM for their "goal".
So lots of prototypes and changes and evaluations and so on, plus a bigger demographic
(sure, a big percentage will still be audiophiles, but there WILL be more DAP owners
seeking upgrades, kid wanting an expensive toy to show off, businessmen/women
wanting good isolation and good SQ, etc.) means it takes even longer time to finalize
the casing, coloring, design styles.

All that rambling means developing universals will detract (I assume a meaty bit of) time
and resources from the collective pool at JH Audio, and they have what, 6 customs to
produce, and when the orders come in after Can Jam, I'd hope they focus on resolving
problems (if any) and QC then stretch to Universal land.

I knew I weren't English major material.

But what if the JH as an actual custom doesn't have that extra brighter edge, er... I mean treble? That was the impression JH gave me when talking about the difference in frequency response of the demos vs the actual customs. His statement was actually a re-assurance to me that made me not worry about the small problems in sound, because the real thing would beat the custom version.

I'm not sure I agree with your impressions of the ES3X soundstage either, but we all hear differently.

You probably haven't tried the UM3X, which is as comfortable, if not even slightly more so than my ES3X, and my ES3X's are VERY comfortable. The level of comfort of the UM3X is simply stunning. I had the W3 a few months ago, which was also comfortable but nothing like the UM3X - I've never tried anything like it, and much more comfortable than the SE530's, BTW.

Very correct.

The Demo JH11 and 13 just didn't do it for me, but I have admitted that the final full custom version could sound much better than these demos with the wrong size and length sound tubes and poor fit. However, the UE11Pro demo did impress me and the sound was consistent each time I went back to listen again. So, if I get any other custom to compliment my ES3X it will likely be the UE11Pro or UE10Pro before the JH products (or even a UE4Pro which was very nice and reminded me of the UM3X with custom tips or the 10x3 demo pair).

I did leave a set of impressions with UE at CanJam for either the UE4 or UE11Pro, and I have another spare set of impressions that I could use for JH customs, but I don't have the money to do both (once I get my EC ZDT amp I could raise money by selling some spare amps). I would be happy to give JH my spare impressions for a loaner JH13Pro and return the product after I do a full review (or buy it if I can't live without it). If the JH or UE sound better to me than the ES3X it probably wont hurt Westone at all because they still have the price advantage for an IEM that is good enough to beat all my dynamic cans prior to the HD800.