[yanival]

After years of listening to music with Shure E4c / SLC-4 I recently got my new JH-13 Pro. After few hours of listening to the JH-13 I'm quite surprised to not be able to say that I prefer it over the E4c. After putting so much money in the JH-13 I'm disappointed to find out that I can not say that it sounds better then the E4c with any kind of music besides classical music. That said, with classical music there is an obvious advantage with the JH13.
Please help me appreciate my JH-13 better.
I'm listening to it directly from Cowon's iAudio 7. FLAC files. Nirvana unplagged, electronic music, Dido. The player settings: Custom setting for EQ, BBE on 1, Mach3Bass on2, MP Enhace on. Tried to play with all of those settings, but this is the best I could get.
The JH-13 sounds to me as having a narrower range of sounds then the E4c. It may be more accurate, and the bass may be more pronounced, but the music just seems to use a narrower range of the sound space with the JH-13. Can't really describe it better.
The sealing seems to be good as I can't here any of the surrounding noises.
Could you please give me examples of music (specific tracks maybe) that may make me appreciate the JH-13 better, and let me know what to pay attention to ?

 

[Hyperfluxe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yanival /img/forum/go_quote.gif After few hours of listening to the JH-13

There you go.

 

[Duggeh]

Turn off your plethora of daft EQ plugins, then compare the two headphones again, then come back.

 

[CountChoculaBot]

I'd just give it a week or so of listening solely to the JH13 then switching back. To me it's like when I properly calibrated my TV. At first the colors looked messed up and I had a hard time convincing myself that this was for the better, but now everything looks right and I couldn't go back to what I was using before.

That said, maybe you're just not for the neutral sound? I know I'm not... if I were to get the JH13, I'd run it off the most colored tube amp I could get.

 

[jjcha]

I like my E4c's a lot. And I can certainly point to a few things I'm not that impressed about with the JH-13s.

But agreed on putting the other IEM away and turning off EQ and giving your ears a few weeks to get used to the JH-13s. Then try going back.

 

[Oomingmak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yanival /img/forum/go_quote.gif After years of listening to music with Shure E4c / SLC-4 I recently got my new JH-13 Pro. After few hours of listening to the JH-13 I'm quite surprised to not be able to say that I prefer it over the E4c. After putting so much money in the JH-13 I'm disappointed to find out that I can not say that it sounds better then the E4c with any kind of music besides classical music. That said, with classical music there is an obvious advantage with the JH13. Please help me appreciate my JH-13 better. I'm listening to it directly from Cowon's iAudio 7. FLAC files. Nirvana unplagged, electronic music, Dido. The player settings: Custom setting for EQ, BBE on 1, Mach3Bass on2, MP Enhace on. Tried to play with all of those settings, but this is the best I could get. The JH-13 sounds to me as having a narrower range of sounds then the E4c. It may be more accurate, and the bass may be more pronounced, but the music just seems to use a narrower range of the sound space with the JH-13. Can't really describe it better. The sealing seems to be good as I can't here any of the surrounding noises. Could you please give me examples of music (specific tracks maybe) that may make me appreciate the JH-13 better, and let me know what to pay attention to ?

Turn off the EQ settings and give yourself time to get used to it.

 

[semisight]

Maybe try EQ'ing the mids on the JH 13 forward to match the Shure sound signature? I know it goes against most of the advice here, but if you've listened to Shures for that long you're probably looking for the detail in the mid range. Going cold turkey is not easy

.

I had a similar experience demoing a pair of Monster Turbine MDs today. After listening to my RE0s for so long, the excessive bass emphasis on the MDs made it sound like I was listening through a seashell. So yeah, give it some time. I'm sure the JH13s are better.

 

[ethan961]

You could also simply sell it to me, keep your E4C and run for your wallet

Too bad it's a custom, if it was a universal the above theory would work excellent and save you money.
Quote:

Originally Posted by semisight /img/forum/go_quote.gif I had a similar experience demoing a pair of Monster Turbine MDs today. After listening to my RE0s for so long, the excessive bass emphasis on the MDs made it sound like I was listening through a seashell. So yeah, give it some time. I'm sure the JH13s are better.

More like the MD has a normal amount of bass and the RE0 is just in comparison lacking

Jokes, though it's somewhat true.

 

[Thrashingshrimp]

I think once you listen to your JH-13 a little bit more (few weeks) you'll start to appreciate it a LOT more.

 

[KLS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thrashingshrimp /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think once you listen to your JH-13 a little bit more (few weeks) you'll start to appreciate it a LOT more.

x2.

In my opinion, if phones which you try them for the first time give you a 'WoW', then the phones might be coloured in some way.

 

[Asr]

I'm going to have to add to the chorus of turning off all your EQ settings - including BBE, Mach3Bass, and MP Enhance. I use my JH13 primarily from my MP3 player (also an iAudio model, the discontinued X5) and rarely feel like plugging the JH13 into my much higher-end dynamic headphone setup, it's that good. And I'm not even listening to FLAC most of the time.

 

[stefanus]

for around 4 years, i've been using shure se530; and 1 year using um3x.... last january i start using JH13, and from what ive been hearing (until now) NOT EVEN ONE ASPECT of sound (bass, treble, mid, vocal, staging, impact) that universal IEM can exceeds custom IEM (which is JH13).

every ears is different, every person have their own preference in music; but I think there is a problem with your ears or the way you're using custom IEM (you should try to practicing to open your mouth before putting it in your ears) or maybe you should try to consult with your ear impression's maker because it is not been built correctly.

 

[timmyGCSE]

I concur with all the above doctor, drop the EQ settings, put the Shure's in a drawer for 2 weeks, listen to your JH13's, then put back in your Shure's (unEQ'd), and realise what you've been missing.
Also..and this may sound a bit esoteric, but don't actually try and listen for anything in particular, just put them in and go - I found because there is just so much going on with the JH13's sometimes my brain has a hard time processing it all, maybe I'm slow haha but once I actually stopped thinking why do these sound good and instead started thinking yea just enjoy the damn things I realised just how much I was enjoying them, the whole transparency, detail and neutrality just seeped its way into my head.

Also, and of course not required, but the sound only improves with amping

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yanival /img/forum/go_quote.gif The player settings: Custom setting for EQ, BBE on 1, Mach3Bass on2, MP Enhace on

Turn all that OFF and try again.

Quote:

After few hours of listening to the JH-13

This may be part of it as well. You may need time to adapt, and the JH13 Pro may take benefit of more playing time.

 

[mesasone]

I've often wondered if it's really worth it to outlay the coin for this kind of upgrade if you have to go back to your old headphones to be impressed. Just food for thought as I continue to ponder a pair of JH13/16 myself.