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JH16's, with or without JH-3A?

post #1 of 9
8/3/11 at 1:49pm
Thread Starter 

I'm interested in buying JH-16 IEMs, but I'm wondering about the DSP. The thing is that when I'm at home I'm going to be using them to listen to a lot of vinyl, and I'm worried that the DSP might ruin that analog sound. Does anyone know if it will or not? And is it really worth getting in the first place?

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post #2 of 9
8/3/11 at 4:48pm

If you mean JH-3a (DSP) then it won't because it's just crossover and AMPs for better soundquality. But you won't be able to use your JH16Pro without it, i think only JH16Pro willbe your better bet.


Edited by ZARIM - 8/3/11 at 4:53pm
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post #3 of 9
8/3/11 at 7:46pm

the JH-3A is basically just a uber DAC, amp and active crossover built together. It should (I think?) sound better than normal JH16's, but if you get the 3A, you won't be able to use the JH16's without it since the crossover is now built into the 3A unit rather than the earpieces.

 

I don't think the 3A would lose your analog sound since it has analog inputs which would just allow for it to be  used as an amp only bypassing the DAC section.

 

I have never tried it, but that is the impression I get from reading around the interwebs. Therefore, if somebody owns it, feel free to correct me if I am wrong.


Edited by seaskimmer - 8/3/11 at 7:48pm
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post #4 of 9
8/4/11 at 6:16am
Thread Starter 

Yeah that's the impression I got too, but I did read in a couple of places that there was some sort of digital conversion going on, so I'm not sure. I'm hoping that someone's maybe tried it with vinyl and can say for sure.

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post #5 of 9
8/13/11 at 1:26am

is the jh-3a certified to accept a digital input from an ipod like CLAS or Fostex hp-p1?

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post #6 of 9
8/13/11 at 2:47am

bump for more impressions. want to hear more.

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post #7 of 9
11/22/11 at 12:58am

Yes it accepts digital input via coax or usb.

Yes you can use the 16's with or without the 3a.

No it's not, "basically just a uber DAC, amp and active crossover built together". If your using Vinyl then the 3a will need to convert it to digital, process DSP, then through DAC and then amped etc. So it will not be a pure analog system anymore so that is something to consider. 

I owned the jh-3a rev1 for 3 months and feeding it analog signal wasn't the best way to use it at all - SQ suffered from the multiple conversions.

However one of the many large changes in the Rev 2 is the quality increase when feeding an analog signal. 

There are impressions by Warp08 detailing the quality of using the 3a with a analog source. 

So Yes I think it would fit your needs but you will be paying for features/processes that you probably don't need by the sounds of it.

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post #8 of 9
11/23/11 at 9:15am

Also,  JH sells an adapter cable to use the JH-16pros without the JH-3a if you order the combo.

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post #9 of 9
11/25/11 at 7:17am
Thread Starter 

Thank you very for that info. Either way, since making this thread I've already bought the JH-16's without one. The more I thought about it, the less I wanted to carry around my iPhone+CLAS+3a to make the most of it.

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