[goodvibes]

Great review. 16s are stll too wam for me overall so I think the new 13s will fill the bill nicely. It will be great when somebody has both the new FP 13 and 16 to compare. I doubt that will happen with consumers but I think the staff at innerfidelity will have a good mix on hand in the near future. So far reviews have understandably been old vs new. It sounds like both have noticably improved and it will always be a preference thing but it appears that the choice will be less easy now for whichever side of the warm bass fence one is on.

 

[moseboy]

I had never really been that interested in the 16 up until this point because I had been put off by what I had heard about its bass emphasis, but hearing how it handles the mids/mid-bass is intriguing. I'll never buy them without hearing a universal version first though. I would be devastated if the 16 ended up having the same upper-mids as the ES5. Also, does the Freqphase version of the 16 hiss noticeably more or less than the non-Freqphase version?

 

[rawrster]

I was waiting for their new years sale to see if I would be tempted to get a JH13. I was kind of hoping it would be more but I'm not big on portable anymore but it does make it a bit more tempting.

 

[goodvibes]

Quote:

I had never really been that interested in the 16 up until this point because I had been put off by what I had heard about its bass emphasis, but hearing how it handles the mids/mid-bass is intriguing. I'll never buy them without hearing a universal version first though. I would be devastated if the 16 ended up having the same upper-mids as the ES5. Also, does the Freqphase version of the 16 hiss noticeably more or less than the non-Freqphase version?

The freqphase are a few db less effecient (still high) so less hiss. Something about IEMs has folks wanting an unnatural amount of energy below 1000 hz. 'Great bass' is not that for me. In my mind, the 13 is their most accurate model though the 16 is likely better for very noisey environments or loud stage use.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

I had never really been that interested in the 16 up until this point because I had been put off by what I had heard about its bass emphasis, but hearing how it handles the mids/mid-bass is intriguing. I'll never buy them without hearing a universal version first though. I would be devastated if the 16 ended up having the same upper-mids as the ES5. Also, does the Freqphase version of the 16 hiss noticeably more or less than the non-Freqphase version?

 
To me the JH16FP upper mids are NOT the same as the ES5, as described in my review.  I have to warn you, the universal versions are very hard to get a good seal when demo'ing, and the actual JH16Pro FP sound even better than the demos.

 

[goodvibes]

I didn't mean to imply that 16s have that sort of lower mids. The bass boost starts lower. It does warm the mids just a bit but not cloud them. It's where it needs to be to connect the extra bass. The original version had almost 12 db more than an Etymotic 4s at 80 hz. I personally prefer it at about 1/2 that and if it continues rising a bit below 80, better yet. There's always preference as to what sounds natural and IEMs do have limitations that induce individual interpretation. Why I prefer a 13 and others a 16. Viva la difference.

 

[moseboy]

I saw your comment about the upper-mids in your mini-review, but I just don't hear the ES5 the same way you do. You hear a slight peak, I hear just the opposite. But all the more reason for me to try the universal versions beforehand. Even if they don't seal well, if I can at least hear what their signature is like, that'll give me enough of an idea as to whether or not they're for me.

Good to hear about less hiss as well. Although from what I've read in the past, the last 16 was already less prone to hiss than the ES5, so I'm not all that worried.

 

[snappyaxolotl]

Hello,
 
If anyone has owned the JH16 Pro Freqphase, can they tell me what universal IEM would sound similar, because I think I might want to purchase a pair, but I want to know the rough sound signature I will be getting. 

 

[ab_ba]

Would somebody be willing to post a photo of their freqphase? Or, if there are some elsewhere on head-fi, please post a link? Especially closeup - I'd like to see by how much the driver configuration has changed.  I understand that the main difference is that the drivers' positions are adjusted within the shell so that the sound travel distances from each driver makes them phase-aligned. I'm curious how different the separations look within the shell. It stands to reason that if they put the drivers in without concern for phase alignment beforehand, then coincidentally, some peoples' old 13's and 16's will be pretty close to phase-aligned already. Those lucky folks may not notice as much of an improvement if they went to the FP's. It'd take actually measuring them to know if you're lucky enough to have an old pair where the drivers happen to be well-aligned in phase. 

 

[raelamb]

Can't really do the pic thing right now but the placement of the drivers is now completely different.

 

[goodvibes]

Quote:

Would somebody be willing to post a photo of their freqphase? Or, if there are some elsewhere on head-fi, please post a link? Especially closeup - I'd like to see by how much the driver configuration has changed.  I understand that the main difference is that the drivers' positions are adjusted within the shell so that the sound travel distances from each driver makes them phase-aligned. I'm curious how different the separations look within the shell. It stands to reason that if they put the drivers in without concern for phase alignment beforehand, then coincidentally, some peoples' old 13's and 16's will be pretty close to phase-aligned already. Those lucky folks may not notice as much of an improvement if they went to the FP's. It'd take actually measuring them to know if you're lucky enough to have an old pair where the drivers happen to be well-aligned in phase. 

I think your assumptions are incorrect. The effeciency has dropped by 2-3 db so the crossover must be different as well. I also don't think the old version just happen to move bits around and that the relative bore lengths would be close on all made. The new 13 also has an extra bore so there's more to consider than just bore length.

 

[zerodeefex]

After 10 minutes with my new jh16s I can say I'm getting rid of all my other cans except my HD800s and my pmx 685i for running.

 

[aleitry]

Quote:

Would somebody be willing to post a photo of their freqphase? Or, if there are some elsewhere on head-fi, please post a link? Especially closeup - I'd like to see by how much the driver configuration has changed.  I understand that the main difference is that the drivers' positions are adjusted within the shell so that the sound travel distances from each driver makes them phase-aligned. I'm curious how different the separations look within the shell. It stands to reason that if they put the drivers in without concern for phase alignment beforehand, then coincidentally, some peoples' old 13's and 16's will be pretty close to phase-aligned already. Those lucky folks may not notice as much of an improvement if they went to the FP's. It'd take actually measuring them to know if you're lucky enough to have an old pair where the drivers happen to be well-aligned in phase. 

Not quite a head-fi picture (definitely not detailed or high resolution), but there's an embedded picture in this write-up from CNET: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-57564705-47/recalibrate-your-expectations-of-how-good-an-in-ear-headphone-can-sound/

 

[goodvibes]

Quote:

Not quite a head-fi picture (definitely not detailed or high resolution), but there's an embedded picture in this write-up from CNET: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-57564705-47/recalibrate-your-expectations-of-how-good-an-in-ear-headphone-can-sound/

I guess he liked them.

 

[tomscy2000]

http://jhaudioblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/29/jh-audio-announces-new-ceo-steve-thomas/
 
This is good news. Hopefully, he'll help JH solve their underlying cash flow issues (it has always been a problem, ever since UE), improve their CS, and expand their product line in a meaningful way.