FiiO/Jade audio JH3

INTRODUCTION:

This is my first FiiO product to be reviewed. I was quite surprised a co-reviewer included me in the tour. Special thanks to Adrian Yambao. FiiO has been around the audio community and they also offer some commendable DAPs. My experience with the gear on hand is quite pleasant and satisfying. Please do read on..


DISCLAIMER:


My opinions here are completely my own. I am NOT in any way influenced by any form of incentive. This is purely my honest, subjective impressions and experience with the gear on hand. I cannot stress more that you should take this as a grain of salt for we have different perception to sound and what we hear. I always try my best to stick with the stock accessories that come with the gear by default. You are free to try other methods such as tip rolling or cable rolling. Below are worth noting before concluding on what I say here:

1. DAP (digital audio player, be it phone, laptop, mobile, or stationary setup)
2. DAC or dongle or any external amp
3. Ear Tips
4. Cables
5. Source of audio file be it offline FLACS or streaming services like Deezer, Apple music, Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify and the likes..
6. Your playlist. It matters and is worth to be considered when reading from a reviewer's perspective. It is apparent that you get to know your favorite reviewer and what they are listening to leisurely and critically.

My reviews are more on how music sounds in my ears. The technical stuff like frequency graphs and the physics behind the tech and drivers used, I leave to other reviewers.



SPECIFICATIONS:

Configuration: 1x 13.6mm dynamic driver, 2x balance armature drivers
Impedance: 28ohms
Sensitivity: 106db
Freq response: 10hz - 40khz

PACKAGING:

Packaging is quite generous on this set. Especially the protective case. Here are the inclusions:

A pair of JH3 iems
Sturdy pelican case
Cable
Quick start guide
6 pairs of silicon tips (the M sized red and black tips was used for this review)
A pair of foam tips


Now let us dive into how JH3 sounds..

LOWS:

Lows are nicely presented. Not bloated. Punchy and thumpy. Minimal bleeds to the mid frequencies. Sub bass and mid bass have decent coherency. The weight and density is very enjoyable. Not bass head level though. For a mature listener, the lows are very commendable and desirable. Texture is average. Somewhat, the lows here have a relaxed manner and not that snappy or quick. It reminded me of KZ DQ6S lows but on the mature side of things.

Conclusively, the key strength of the lows are its weight and density. I wish it could have been more snappy to my liking. Nonetheless, the lows here have a very addictive presentation and will not leave you hanged and will make your head nodding.

MIDS:

I'll cut to the chase. I am very particular on my mids. Right off the bat, I sensed the mids are a bit recessed. A bit pushed back. Especially in terms of vocals. Aside from this trait, I find the mids very appealing and very natural sounding. Very musical and organic. Orchestral tracks sounded very rich and lush. Pianos, organs, percussions are very appealing. Tone and timbre is very exceptional. Now the upper mids have a potential of being shouty. New new Orleans by Christian Scott, is my test track for upper mids shoutiness. While the trumpet on this track is still bearable on JH3, it is near borderline of making me grin. If the mids have been a bit forward, the upper mids would have been unbearable. So treble sensitives, watch out for this one.

Conclusively, the mids are recessed here which I think compensates for the shoutiness in the upper mids region. Making the JH3 a pair to bring fatigue in long listening sessions.

TREBLES:

Now the treble, surprisingly, is not the culprit if we are talking in terms of sibilance. I find the trebles very open and exhibit a lot of energy. Air is average. Details are very commendable and a lot of micro details are presented nicely. I did not find the treble fatiguing, rather it is the upper mids that gets too hot on some tracks. Live albums are still very bearable to listen to, as live tracks are much RAW and did not have the processes of studio tracks, they tend to be more sibilant. Yet JH3 passed with flying colors in terms of treble.

Conclusively, trebles are very well presented here and I must say, almost on par with my Seeaudio Midnight, that I commended my favorite IEM when it comes to treble.

FIT & ISOLATION

Fitting is very nice and acceptable. Did not exhibit physical fatigue on the ears. Once inserted, JH3 will not fall. Though I did not try this review on stage with me while performing. I must say still, fitting is on the shallow side of things. Isolation is average as I can still hear someone talking to me if I'm listening on low volume. Nonetheless, nothing to complain here.

TECHNICALITIES:

JH3 is average in terms of technicalities. Let me elaborate.

Separation is average. I did not sense anything spectacular. Yet nothing comes to mind for me to complain about.

Imaging is very decent. As I can easily follow the panning of elements.

Stage is somewhat above average. Not wide enough to "wow" me. And not kramp or narrow to disappoint.

Speed is the one thing that I notice lacking for a hybrid configuration. Stress by Pain of Salvation bass guitar and drum kicks struggled to be portrayed cleanly. I can safely say that JH3's relaxed manner will not benefit your busy and congested tracks.


SOURCES AND GEARS:

LG V30 hifi dac (high impedance mode)
Hiby Music player
UAPP app (USB Audio Player Pro)
Tidal Masters subscription
offline FLACS
Hidizs AP80 pro
Deezer Hifi subscription

Here are some tracks I usually listen to when reviewing:

That’s the way of the World by EWF
Africa by TOTO
The Girl in the Other Room by Diana Kral
Balmorhea album All is wild, All is Silent
Sila by Sud
Smooth Escape by D’Sound
Never too Much by Luther Vandross
P.Y.T by Michael Jackson
Ain’t no Sunshine by Eva Cassidy
Shoot to Thrill by AC/DC
Another one bites the Dust by Queen
Good times bad times by Edie Brickell
Alice in Wonderland by Bill Evans
Ain’t it Fun by Paramore
Redefine by Incubus
Far Away by Nickelback
Lovesong by Adele
Lingus by Snarky Puppy
Harvest for the World by Vanessa Williams
Love Bites by Def Leppard
No Such Thing by John Mayer
As by Stevie Wonder
Whip Appeal by Babyface
Ain’t Nobody by Chaka Khan
Futures by Prep
Landslide by Fleetwood Mac
Every Summertime by NIKI
SADE tracks
AC/DC tracks
Queen tracks


And many more… I always listen to High resolution format, being the least quality 16bit/44khz FLACS be it offline or online.

VERDICT:

This is my first FiiO product for review. And even though this set suffers from a technical point of view, its tone and timbre shined through. It is a well tuned set in my honest opinion. As my title suggests, it sits nicely in the middle of everything. This can be a good start if you are trying to enter balanced and mature tuned IEMs. I cannot see any serious flaws on this set aside from the speed of the drivers. Which I was honestly expecting from a hybrid setup. For 60usd, the JH3 has a lot of competition. Still it is an easy recommendation from me, especially if you aim to purely enjoy your music. If you are willing to overlook the technical side, get the JH3. Cheers and catch you on the next one!!

I’m currently on the hunt for a sub $50 IEM I can recommend since I usually recommend the Moondrop aria which costs $80. I’ve been playing around with some IEMs around $50 and I’m getting a feel for what's good in this price bracket. FiiO was nice enough to send me the JH3 which is a FiiOxJade Audio collab from what I can tell. Jade audio is their daughter brand so this is a nice mix of FiiO styling with Jade Audio’s tuning. The JH3 is a hybrid IEM that uses a 13.6 single dynamic driver and two custom balanced armatures. It comes it at $39.99(on US amazon) though its 59.99 on ali and Hifigo but since amazon claims it’s normal price is $39.99 and it’s always in stock, I’m gonna rate it as a sub $50 IEM.

Quick shoutout to FiiO for sending the JH3 to review. While I always appreciate the chance to test and review products sent in from manufacturers, it never affects the rating of my reviews.

Info on the Fiio JH3 can be found below
https://www.fiio.com/jh3

Onto the review of the FiiO JH3! My personal preference is a hybrid/tribrid IEM where I get good hitting bass and have a detailed treble with decent mids. When it comes to an over ear headphone I prefer a spacious sound with a deep low end, the mids to be more forward and the highs to be a little bright with some sparkle. I listen to a lot of genres but I hover in the classic rock, blues and edm music with some rap here and there.

Gear Used​

IPhone 12 pro with headphone adapter, Lotto PAW S1, Khadas Tea and SMSL SU-9 feeding the SP400 amp.

Looks and fit​

I found the JH3 to be a decent looking IEM. I’m not much for mirrored finish faceplates but I think the design and mix of polished metal mixed in with matte works well. I like the transparent smoked plastic shell as well. You won't see the nozzle when it has a tip installed but it's a mirrored gold colored nozzle and it looks good all together. The JH3 is really lightweight as well so it makes for a comfortable IEM for long listening sessions.

Isolation and sound leakage​

Passive isolation is average since it uses a vent for the dynamic driver. This means you can still hear stuff around you but it muffles outside sounds enough I think it will be fine for most people. It does leak sound but it’s not super bad for being a vented IEM. I wouldn’t use the JH3 in super quiet places though.

Packaging and accessories​

I like the smaller box that FiiO ships the JH3 in. What I wasn’t expecting was a full on FiiO branded pelican style case. Inside the case holds the IEMs, cable, user manual, silicone tips and a set of foam tips. I think this set of accessories is nice and I like the case being a sturdy feeling oversized case.

Sound(overall)​

These final impressions were done off a mix of the Lotto PAW S1 and the SMSL SU-9 connected to the SMSL SP400. These impressions are what the JH3 sounded like to my ears. This was also using the red FiiO bass tips. Things like ear tip selection and DAC/amp selection will produce different results and impressions vs what my ears hear on my specific gear.

The lows are thumpy and produce good slam when called for. It’s a little flabby and loose but I’ll give it a pass for the price. The mids are pretty good here, at least until the upper mids. The vocals and instruments that fall into the midrange sound pretty good and come through with about average details. Vocals do feel intimate and I personally prefer a recessed vocal presentation. Where things start to rough for the JH3 is the upper mids and treble overall. Things start to get sibilant super fast. Higher pitched vocals do come in sharp and I instantly had to lower the volume under my preferred range to control the sibilance a little. The treble overall is super splashy and a bit too bright for my tastes. I was bummed since I thought the lows and mids were tuned well on the JH3 so having a violent treble left me feeling lukewarm with the JH3. Especially when compared to my favorite sub $100 IEM that I’ll get to with my comparisons section.

Soundstage/Imaging​

Staging was average at best with the JH3. It doesn't have a wide or deep stage though imaging was fine. I just had to focus a little more when listening to congested tracks that had a lot going on. I would give the JH3 a thumbs up and say it's alright given its price.

Sensitivity/Drivability​

This is a super easy IEM to drive and I was able to get good volumes off all the source gear I attempted to use with the JH3.

Tip rolling​

I used the stock tips that have the red stem for my impressions but I did tip roll a little in an attempt to chill the treble down. The stock red stem tips are usually bass tips when it comes to other FiiO products but I did try some spinfit cp100 which is a slightly smaller bore tip but it actually boosted the upper mids more than I wanted. I did try some other small bore tips with little success. I did cave in and go with a set of foam tips but my general rule is that if I have to resort to foam tips, either the fit was terrible or the treble was terrible. I simply couldn’t find tips that would allow me to listen to the JH3 for long periods of time.

Stock Cable​

The stock cable is a nice twisted/braid cable that looks really good with its darker copper/brown finish. It doesn't tangle easily and I really like it. I would absolutely leave the cable alone unless you wanted a balanced cable.

IEM comparisons​

Tanchjim OLA​

I’m gonna post the comparison from my OLA review.

“The Fiio JH3 is also a $40 IEM(Amazon) and it for the most part has a better tuning. The lows and mids are simply more to my taste versus the OLA. The vocals also sound better to my ears on the JH3. The treble is way too intense when compared to the OLA and I would say the OLA goes with a boring and safe tuning when compared to something like the JH3. The OLA has a better soundstage with more depth and width over the JH3. I would say grab the JH3 if you want a more intense listen that isn’t super clinical. Grab the OLA for a just basic tuning that doesn’t do anything good or bad.”

​

Moondrop Aria​

The JH3 was mostly close to being my sub $50 IEM recommendation but the treble was too much for me. I used the Aria which comes in at double the price to compare since I know the Aria has a wonderful tuning for its price. The Aria and JH3 both have really good bass but the Aria feels just a bit more controlled where the JH3 feels loose at times. The Aria does the instruments in the midrange about the same but vocals just seem to be way enjoyable with a little more life and smoothness. The treble is the obvious difference and the Aria seems to bring out the best details it can from its controlled treble. The JH3 makes me squint alot and the Aria makes me feel like things are just the right amount up top. The tuning on the Aria is very hard to beat in my books for under $100.

Amping Combinations​

Lotoo PAW S1​

The Lotoo PAW S1 always brings a smooth and detailed sound to everything I plug into it. This was my favorite pairing since it calmed down the overall bite of the JH3. Still sounded super splashy but this was the best pairing in terms of longer listening enjoyment. I would go for a warmer sounding source when it comes to the JH3.

SMSL SU-9/SP400​

My desktop stack I use for all my sound impressions was the worst possible pairing with the JH3. I used other sources but I usually only include a few with my reviews. I find the SMSL stack I use to be fairly dynamic and true to the source sound. It also seems to bring out the best in well tuned IEMs and the absolute worst in IEMs with rough tuning. The main complaints I had in my sound impressions section are mostly off this stack. Things are super bright sounding and while bass sounded ok, I simply took the JH3 out of my ears after a few min and was like “nope, time to find the PAW S1”. I would stay away from brighter sources for the JH3.

Overall thoughts​

I mostly liked the JH3 but the tuning was overpowered by too much brightness. I’m bummed as I’ve enjoyed FiiO’s past IEMs including Jade Audio’s EA3 single DD IEM and the FH3. I think for those that want a really bright tuning that still has some meaty bass, will like the JH3. For me it’s a pass. I’ll not be giving the JH3 a recommendation. I’m slightly treble sensitive though so while I don’t recommend it from a personal standpoint, it doesn't mean someone else won’t like the brighter tuning from the JH3. It just doesn’t match up to my preferences. Thanks for reading!

Introduction:
FiiO is a well-known brand from China that was established in 2007. The "Fi" in the brand name was derived from fidelity (as in Hi-Fi), and "iO" from 1 and 0 (digital signals). FiiO is one of the most versatile brands in the industry, offering a wide range of products including digital audio players, amplifiers, digital to analog converters, in-ear monitors and many more. The JH3 is one of their most recent product, that currently retails for 60 USD. The Philippine circle of reviewers was provided by FiiO a unit of the JH3 for review purposes.

International purchase link

Specifications:
Driver units: 13.6 mm dynamic + 2 balanced armature
Impedance: 28 ohms
Sensitivity: 106 dB
Frequency response range: 10 Hz - 40 kHz

Source:
Poco X3, Redmi Note 10 Pro paired with Cayin RU6, Xduoo Link2 Bal, FiiO KA3, Tempotec Sonata E35 and Zishan U1

Test tracks:
Africano - Earth Wind and Fire
Dark Necessities - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Gurenge - Lisa
The Chain - Fleetwood Mac
Monsters - All Time Low
Ours - Taylor Swift
Stay - Mayday Parade
Snuff - Slipknot
Yesterday Once More - Carpenters
So Slow - Freestyle
Aurora Sunrise - Franco
Attention - Pentatonix
Blue Bird - Ikimono-gakari
You're Still The One - Shania Twain
Anyone Who Knows What Love Is(Will Understand) - Irma Thomas
Salamin - Slapshock
AOV - Slipknot
Hey Jude - The Beatles
The Way You Make Me Feel - Michael Jackson
...and a lot more.

Unboxing and Accessories:
The JH3 comes in a compact black cardboard box with the opening located at the top. Upon opening, there is a smaller box that contains two sets of silicone eartips; one with wide bores and another with regular sized bores. There is also a single pair of medium foam tips. Underneath is the instruction manual and a clear plastic waterproof case. Inside is the earphones inserted in a small piece of foam, and the cable that comes with a velcro strap and a plastic cap for the plug.

Build:
The shells are a mixture of plastic and metal. The faceplates are made of aluminum alloy and have this wavy stripe design. Each stripe has a matte surface that greatly reduces smudge. Right beside the female connectors are side indicators and a small vent. The bigger portion of the shell is made of translucent plastic with a smooth, glossy finish. At the back side, there is another vent situated at the center of the dynamic driver. The nozzles are made of metal with a small lip to help eartips stay in place and also equipped with a fine metal mesh filter.

The cable is a twisted 4-core high purity monocrystalline copper. It is lightweight and has good flexibility but the surface of the insulation is slightly sticky. There is also a moderate amount of microphonics. The angled 0.78 mm 2 pin connectors are made of plastic, the splitter and the chin slider are made of metal, and the L-type 3.5 mm gold plated plug is made of hard rubber.

Now let's get to the sound.

Lows:
The lows are partially elevated, especially the subbass. There is very good depth and the vibrations stay perceptible in the background for quite some time before rolling off. Midbass has a slightly above average weight but does not bleed into the other frequencies at all.

Overall, FiiO advertised these to have "vigorous forceful bass", but the lows are a lot more relaxed than what I expected them to be. These IEMs do have a stronger than average impact but certainly not basshead levels.

Mids:
The mids present itself with good clarity. There is a very small recession in the vocals, and note weight leans partially to the thin side with minor hints of aggressiveness. Instruments are reproduced with great definition, especially string and wind instruments.

Overall, even though there is a slight recession that is more evident in the lower region, the mids of the JH3 can still be quite enjoyable on vocal centric or acoustic genres. It does have a tendency to become marginally shouty, but this is only present on a number of tracks.

Highs:
The highs take the front seat. The reach in the treble is above average as well as the decay. There is abundant sparkle in this section that adds excitement to each track but can go over the top to such an extent that it causes discomfort.

Overall, the highs are both the strength and weakness of the JH3. It has an impressive level of detail on some tracks, but it can also become slightly overwhelming or sibilant on others that may induce fatigue in long listening sessions.

Soundstage and Imaging:
The stage has decent expansion. The height slightly expands more than the width. Although the layering is affected by the forwardness of the treble, especially when it overlaps with the mids, the quality of imaging and instrument separation are actually very good. Small amounts of congestion can also be heard in complex tracks.

Comparisons:
FiiO JH3 (1 DD + 2 BA, 60 USD) vs. TinHiFi T3 Plus (1 DD, 69 USD)
The lows of the JH3 are more prominent. Deeper reach in the subbass, rumble is stronger and more extended. The JH3 also has thicker, heavier slam in the midbass. The T3 Plus has more natural sounding mids, with a more upfront approach and slightly warmer tonality. Clarity and definition of instruments in this section are a bit better on the T3 Plus. With the highs, the JH3 evidently has the edge, especially in the upper region. Details are more solid, and there is more air in the JH3. However, the T3 Plus is a lot more comfortable with its relaxed upper treble. Soundstage is a bit bigger in the JH3, noticeably more in the height, but very, very small difference in the width. Imaging is neck and neck, but the T3 Plus takes the edge in the layering and instrument separation.

Conclusion:
Build quality was always one of FiiO's strongest attribute that can still be observed even in their budget priced offerings, and that includes the JH3. FiiO also managed to give the JH3 relatively good technicalities that are always desired in this price range. That being said, this in-ear monitor could have been a whole lot better if the upper treble was toned down a bit in such a way that the details are preserved, but with more comfortability for long term usage.