[cheznous]

It's really a disappointment that the Layla's are oddly tuned. My hope was to be able to use these as part of an ultra compact portable system, besides home/office usage. The poor tuning will necessitate the usage of a good equalizer---which is virtually un-doable for portable applications unless someone I know nothing about produces a good compact equalizer. I may be forced to reconsider the Ultimate Ears Pro Reference Monitors (UERM's) now.

What's the point of making a "reference" IEM if you have to drag an equalizer around with it?

I would suggest auditioning first and see if to your taste.
I listen with all settings off on Cowon P1 and Sony ZX2 and they sound fantastic. You are not a studio engineer so who cares what they think. Listen yourself and make your own judgement.

 

[Jap]

I would suggest auditioning first and see if to your taste.
I listen with all settings off on Cowon P1 and Sony ZX2 and they sound fantastic. You are not a studio engineer so who cares what they think. Listen yourself and make your own judgement.

Auditioning would be mandatory for me in any event for a purchase of that magnitude. However, I don't need to be a studio engineer to appreciate studio monitors. My two most used headphones are both monitors---the discontinued Sennheiser HD250 Linear II and my modified Sennheiser HD25-1, which is used by some engineers for location work. The whole point of getting such phones/IEMs is that they present ALL of the music signal, whereas colored phones/IEM's tend to hide some of the signal with boosted/subdued frequencies. I love hearing the sound engineer's work in all it's glory|ugliness, depending on the quality of the recording.

 

[x RELIC x]

Regarding the angie vs Roxanne:

I do find vocals and mids somewhat emphasized on the angie, but overall is is a very refined presentation. Particularly the sound as a whole is very clean and clear, and the treble is the best I have heard in an iem, including the jh13, se846, and Roxanne. The Roxanne has a splashy sparkle which can sometimes turn sibilant, but not harsh like I found the se846 at times due to the upper mids/lower treble.



 



The angie is completely unoffensive while still being extended and not rolled off to my ears. The most impressive things I find that jh audio does is how his iems seem to do opposite things at the same time. Paradoxically they are Clear and extended highs without peaks or harshness, lush mids yet clear and clean, tight articulate bass that still can slam, and analytical yet musical. That is how I found my jh13s and how I am finding the angies as well.



 


as much as I found the roxannes to be an upgrade over the se846, I have found the angie to be an upgrade to the Roxanne for my preference, and I would think in most technical terms.


 


all models referenced were the universals.

Be great to have these impressions in the Angie thread. HERE

 

[IaHawkeye]

Someone had request pics of my Laylas in the AK240 thread so here you go!

Sorry I don't have a whole lot of time to take great ones at the moment

[/IMG][/IMG][/IMG][/IMG][/IMG]

 

[IaHawkeye]

[/IMG]

 

[IaHawkeye]

 

[Cagin]

I didn't expect that many and so soon, fantastic pics man, thank you.
You were one of the first one to post pics of the UF Laylas and how they were so big they stood way out your ears.
You must be quite relieved with the customs now, I can't even see them on that eye-level front photo.
And from the side they only stick a bit due to that big connector. edit: I also noticed that the connector on the customs is placed in an alignement closer to the faceplate than on the universal version. Being further away from the faceplate on the universal makes it stand out even more.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 
 

 

 

 
Did you notice any differences yourself with the customs coming from the uni fit?

 

[DrSheep]

Nice custom Layla.  How's the fit?

 

[Iron-Buddha]

JH Audio has some strange taste in typography.....
 
Quote:

Someone had request pics of my Laylas in the AK240 thread so here you go!

Sorry I don't have a whole lot of time to take great ones at the moment

 

[IaHawkeye]

I didn't expect that many and so soon, fantastic pics man, thank you.
You were one of the first one to post pics of the UF Laylas and how they were so big they stood way out your ears.
You must be quite relieved with the customs now, I can't even see them on that eye-level front photo.
And from the side they only stick a bit due to that big connector. edit: I also noticed that the connector on the customs is placed in an alignement closer to the faceplate than on the universal version. Being further away from the faceplate on the universal makes it stand out even more.

Did you notice any differences yourself with the customs coming from the uni fit?

Sorry for the delayed response like I said I didt have much time, had a date. Yes I am MUCH happier with the fit on these than with the universal, the univerals protruded so far out of my ear I was embarrassed wearing them in public, and could not put them on and fall asleep with them in laying on my side (which I like to do fairly often) . With the customs none of these issues are present and it is ultra comfortable. Had a 5 hour trip this weekend, had them in the entire time with no discomfort or fatigue in even the slightest way, which was a pleasant surprise.

I had JH use my Roxanne mold from last year since I was unable to find a audiologist in my area that could take a decent enough mold. My fit on my Roxannes is solid, but sometimes it is difficult getting a proper seal , with the Laylas, using he same mold, it is much easier (I have no ideal why, logically there should be no reson why it would've different, but to me it is)

I went with black acrylic with the carbon fiber faceplate, and while I was hoping the yellow would appear slightly more gold, overall I am quite pleased with appearance.

Sound wise, I haven't even touched my Roxannes since my Laylas arrived, it could be because my views are skewed from new toy syndrome, but I feel like evey area of sound that I look for is significantly improved.

I saw earlier in the tread, someone mentioned that the univerals soundex better to them, I hve found that the opposite is true to me and these hve similar sound, if not slightly better (again in my humble and possibly partial opinion) but in a much more slim and streamlined package!

 

[IaHawkeye]

That would be my only complaint. Don't get me wrong, I actually love the way that the font is so large , stylish and noticable, however with the Roxannes it was more subdued and less blingy, with these Id be weary someone on a public transport would read the name from across the train/bus and see the price and decide it might be with their while to try something.

But again, I personally like the way they went with the size/font on the "list the model" stylization option

 

[ThomasHK]

  i believe that if a 2500$ iem is veiled and needs EQ-ing, then i am better off somewhere else....

^ this.
 
Sure, perhaps the parallel addition of so many drivers results in low THD and good power handling, but my (admittedly brief) hands on experience with the Layla and Angie universals left me hugely disappointed. To me they sounded muffled and mid forward, no matter what the setting. 4th order filters? 12 drivers? The impedance and phase curves have to be a horrible mess, which would explain all the source dependance issues I read people complaining about. It also explains why it doesn't behave well to EQ'ing. What people tend to forget is that by adding EQ, you're also changing the phase of the entire system. In no way is this earphone worth $2500.

 

[goodvibes]

I think you'll find that modern EQ doesn't present noticeable phase shift and that the Layla and Angie have quite different amounts of mid presence. Layla mid forward? That's the opposite of what folks that prefer to EQ them are saying here. 
 

1. tumburu

Well, the Layla U are anything but mid forward....  and I agree with that. It is clearly not a forward sounding IEM.
 
If you're used to V shaped phones, I could see the Angie appear mid focussed to you but I would suggest that it's more about your personal expectations than the phone itself. I find the Angie as well balanced as anything else with some other attributes that FP, the bass adjuster and low distortion offer. 

 

[dj nellie]

  Sure, perhaps the parallel addition of so many drivers results in low THD and good power handling, but my (admittedly brief) hands on experience with the Layla and Angie universals left me hugely disappointed. To me they sounded muffled and mid forward, no matter what the setting. 4th order filters? 12 drivers? The impedance and phase curves have to be a horrible mess, which would explain all the source dependance issues I read people complaining about. It also explains why it doesn't behave well to EQ'ing. What people tend to forget is that by adding EQ, you're also changing the phase of the entire system. In no way is this earphone worth $2500.

 
I don't recall anyone else saying the Layla/Angie are mid-forward, can you clarify what setting you had the bass dial on?  Was this just a short audition, and what was your source?
 
Just curious, since it seems most people who have an issue with these IEMs think they're V-shaped.

 

[kernel8888]

i don't know that I would call them mid forward, they sound balanced but on the warm side. They are closer to the se846 in the mids than the Roxanne, in my opinion. Not quite as  mid forward, but they have a similar presentation of vocals that give it some of the magic that you get on the lcd-2 and se-846. Not sure what im trying to describe, but hope that makes sense to some that have heard them.