[bobeau]

Thanks bobeau
 
I think I will go for JH roxanne. I will wait for the next discount event on the JH website to make my order. How often does JH have discount event?

 
Not sure.  I think you can check their Facebook page and find out how they did things last year.  

 

[king8888]

  Mimouille, I'm right there with you on that.  
 
It's just at this $$ level, I'd probably opt to wait for the dust to settle to get a clearer picture of why one might pick one over the other.  There's so much bad blood thrown in JH's direction right now, rightly so, but I feel that some of it might sully the thing that matters most, which is how they sound.  For the cost this is going to be most folks one and only for the next several years.
 
Personally, I knew going into this that JH was a pretty sloppy outfit when it came to new releases (following the JH3a saga) and only took the leap based off of the strength fo the 13s and the BF discount.  If it weren't for that I would have sat back and watched this play out.  W/ the Mentors in the mix as well...

 
I saw your sign has a Roxanne. Can you describe the sound signature briefly for me?

 

[thapchild]

For what it's worth, I ordered my JH16's the day FreaqPhase was announced, and the communication was acceptable, the time frame was what I expected (think it took 4-5 weeks from the day I dropped my molds in the mail to them).
 
 
Looking back at it now, I'm so glad I choose the JH over the Merlins, or A8s, and the 4-5 weeks I waited means nothing.  I was super excited at the time, and checked the status every 3 hours, but what really matters is I think I got the best IEM that $1500 bucks could buy at that moment.  I've used them every day for over a year, and every time I put them on I never doubt that the sound coming from them isn't amazing.
 
Not that JH couldn't flop a product, but their track record speaks for its self. 
 
(they refused to send me pictures of the crappy JH Phone cable, which frustrated me, but it's garbage anyway)

 

[bobeau]

   
I saw your sign has a Roxanne. Can you describe the sound signature briefly for me?

 
To me, they're perfectly neutral and transparent, yet musical enough that they don't delve too far into the analytical side.  I detect no flaws.  The only thing is the mids aren't as up-front as my 334 (ie. the singer is not singing right in front of you).  But very headphones and dare I say speakerlike in body and presentation.  But really I can't speak objectively of them, they're the best I've heard and I love 'em dearly (on day 10 now).

 

[Mimouille]

Mimouille, I'm right there with you on that.  

It's just at this $$ level, I'd probably opt to wait for the dust to settle to get a clearer picture of why one might pick one over the other.  There's so much bad blood thrown in JH's direction right now, rightly so, but I feel that some of it might sully the thing that matters most, which is how they sound.  For the cost this is going to be most folks one and only for the next several years.

Personally, I knew going into this that JH was a pretty sloppy outfit when it came to new releases (following the JH3a saga) and only took the leap based off of the strength fo the 13s and the BF discount.  If it weren't for that I would have sat back and watched this play out.  W/ the Mentors in the mix as well...

Demoed the Mentor...sounded off tonally to my ears.

 

[bobeau]

That's unfortunate. I was really hoping they were going to be a solid successor to the miracles.

 

[Mimouille]

That's unfortunate. I was really hoping they were going to be a solid successor to the miracles.

Do not trust my 10mn with them...try them if you can.

 

[king8888]

I have a custom mentor with whiplash twag v3 cable.
 
It sound quite bright to my ear, but the bass is perfect, very impactful, like ball bouncing on the floor.

 

[OK-Guy]

  John Moulton is certainly a cool dude, he's a Dr. of Audiology, and his designs are mind-bogingly beautiful.  Massive props to that.  And I fully believe the K10 is a killer unit.  But I can't help but feel there's that hype train somehow continuing to fuel the good emotions behind the current products (which people very strongly like to say are distanced from the original Heir line, some of the same people who said they were all that and a bag of chips back then).  But at these prices... I'd be hesistant.   Guys like Joker and VivZero are saying the Noble stuff kicks ass, and that goes a long way.  But I'd either push to listen to a demo before a purchase (which I'm looking forward to as Noble will be at the big LA show), or wait longer - at least 6 mos, to get more impressions rolling in between those who own both.
 
In short, empirical evidence says JH Audio is the sure shot.  But Noble may really be in the midst of taking the lead.  

 
Hi Bob... nice post mate,
 
if you pop along to the SoCal meet week Saturday Brannan will be only too happy to let you demo any of our products with the Chord Hugo, you will be able to judge for yourself if the surmised hype around our products is justified (I prefer to call it customer satisfaction & we really can't dictate as to what people say when they're happy with their investment).
 
Both JH Audio & Noble make great sounding products de-facto... whatever your flavour, you should be able to find one CIEM/IEM within the ranges to satisfy your needs... mine is the N5 (& I can have any of our range if I ask).

 

[bobeau]

I think I have to be there - I can't not try it when it's so close.  Plus finally try out things like the LCD-X, hear an Abyss, etc.
 
Although I am a bit scared to listen to the Hugo as well.  This week I was just hit with an $8k vet bill for a surgery and am in toy selling mode to cover the costs - which means I'm probably letting my Concero HP go - to be tempted with another transportable super-DAC is not good.

 

[OK-Guy]

  I think I have to be there - I can't not try it when it's so close.  Plus finally try out things like the LCD-X, hear an Abyss, etc.
 
Although I am a bit scared to listen to the Hugo as well.  This week I was just hit with an $8k vet bill for a surgery and am in toy selling mode to cover the costs - which means I'm probably letting my Concero HP go - to be tempted with another transportable super-DAC is not good.

 
Bob... hope everything goes well with your pet truly, my cat passed away last year, I really miss that puss.
 
try and get to the event, Brannan is a great guy & will look after you.

 

[Occy]

Based purely on reviews here regarding the SQ and customer service I ordered a set of the K10's yesterday.

I was a bit concerned about JH's CS reputation and the loooong delay's with the Roxanne, and the fact that running them in Balanced mode meant an additional expensive cable.
Noble, on the other hand, do an additional cable for $40 which I can re-terminate myself with a balanced connector.

Brannan has been incredibly helpful, promptly responding to all of my emails and giving honest advice over the past week or so before I made my final decision to get the K10s.
I'm very confident in Noble's service and the the quality of the IEM's I'll receive, and unfortunately I didn't really get that feeling of confidence from what I've read lately about JH.

YMMV though.

 

[midnightwalker]

  There are huge threads you can research...
 
That said, I'm going to say something that is for sure pretty controversial, but I'm going to say it anyway - I've been here a decade and seen some crazy stuff.
 
There's been alot of cult-of-personality typess on Head-fi, some over time have proven to be (all IMO) good - (Schitt, Ray Samuels, Audio-GD), some bad (MIkail/Singlepower, Smeggy/Thunderpants... actually alot of very fly-by-night operations have come and gone), some neutral (VModa, Xin).  
 
JH Audio has roots back to the beginning.  For years when I first joined head-fi the UE10 was *it*.  The triple-fi was a consumer class earphone that is legendary - and of course JH left that association and formed JH Audio.  Out of all the products, which ones didn't quite make the mark?  The JH-3?  But down to their core competancy, actually producing in-ear monitors what flops are there, really?  The UE-18 was released after he had left the company. This guy has been doing this for 20 years, heck he pioneered the multi-driver custom in-ear monitor.  
 
People are still rocking 5 year old JH13s and they hold up - not top of the line anymore, but they're still competant workhorses.  No one's going "yeah, in hindsight, those weren't as good as oringally hyped".
 
Sure, business skills, customer service, etc, are not the forte of that operation.  That's true of alot of small companies that have an enthusiast base.  But they've been around and aren't going anywhere.  They're not going to take your money and head for the hills, and leave you with a sub-par product and wash their hands of it.  Yet frustration might be a part of a experience.
 
Now Heir... the 4 series.  Head-fi was *ablaze* with excitement and accolades over this monitor.  It was flavor of the month to the third power.  How does it fare now?  Wow, that huge null null spot in the mids.  Yeah, pretty ho-hum.  How about the TZar 350?  Interesting experiment, yeah?  The 8a?  Well, the Heir devoted sung its praises, but now it's overly thick and sluggish, not good.  The 5?  You get my drift.  What models from the company can anyone say in hindsight that the hype was justified?  
 
John Moulton is certainly a cool dude, he's a Dr. of Audiology, and his designs are mind-bogingly beautiful.  Massive props to that.  And I fully believe the K10 is a killer unit.  But I can't help but feel there's that hype train somehow continuing to fuel the good emotions behind the current products (which people very strongly like to say are distanced from the original Heir line, some of the same people who said they were all that and a bag of chips back then).  But at these prices... I'd be hesistant.   Guys like Joker and VivZero are saying the Noble stuff kicks ass, and that goes a long way.  But I'd either push to listen to a demo before a purchase (which I'm looking forward to as Noble will be at the big LA show), or wait longer - at least 6 mos, to get more impressions rolling in between those who own both.
 
In short, empirical evidence says JH Audio is the sure shot.  But Noble may really be in the midst of taking the lead.  

 
Very useful advise, at least to me. Thank you

 

[bobeau]

Alright, so got to pit the Roxannes against the K10s today - at least in a limited fashion.
 
First tried them on a player sitting on the table, a DX50?  While I found the K10s to be impressive overall, the upper treble was grating to my ears.  Handed them to my friend who was shopping IEMs and he dismissed them after listening for a couple minutes.  (Note: he's a former Miracle owner looking for something warmer/meaty and the Roxanne demo was his overall pick after the show).  I took the player back and tried my Roxannes, didn't notice this nor did I detect it w/ the N6, but tried the K10 again and there it was.  Cycled through about a dozen songs over a variety of genres and that characteristic was quite present.  Kept playing with the seal, nothing seemed to ameliorate it.  
 
Came back a couple hours later to try out the Hugo.  This time the experience was different - they sounded stunning, the treble clear and crystalline.  Switched to the Roxannes and they were brought to a new level.   Damn, the Hugo is outrageous, kinda regret listening to it now... it will haunt my dreams for sure. 
 
Spent 20 minutes going back and forth on the Hugo and couldn't really make heads or tails or it.  Their respective presentations are quite different.  There appers to be more upper-end info in the K10s and they have really cracking dynamics but the sound is intimate by comparison.  To my ears the Roxannes do a more convincing speaker-like thing which I'm not hearing in other IEMs.  But this was such a brief comparison over limited material and after the odd pairing w/ the DX50 I would have to try more sources.  Synergy matters, but I've never had a source so make-or-break a listening experience like this.  
 
Brannan was way cool and helpful.  I asked if they were doing a universal K10 and he said "not now" - they're tiny units, maybe less than half the size of the Roxanne, but you could see how super packed the demo shells were that I do believe it is pretty labor intensive.  
 
On a sidenote, tried the JH13s and 16s as well.  Didn't care much for the 16s, but the 13s were impressive.  I do agree w/ comments I've seen between them and the Roxannes.

 

[kenz]

Hi bobeau,
 
The "grating" treble thingy, is an issue with the DX50. Tried the same tracks on various players (Fiio X5, AK120, AK240 and R10), and the tracks sounded fine, only with the DX50 did the "grating" treble appear very prominently. It was much lesser if not non existent in the other players. 
 
Can't explain why but after that discovery i've sold off the DX50.