[briantrinh86]

Listening to the Jewels gave me confirmation of a fact that I had realized with the purchase of the Mest MK II. At the beginning of this hobby I had started collecting dap on dap without thinking in the least about the fact that dap is listened to by iems. Now I'm listening to my old Shanling M6 and I can say that I really hear its sound, it's like hearing it for the first time and maybe it really is. Incredible. I will slowly rediscover all the daps I own and all this thanks to the Jewels. The miracle happened... it's like having bought so many new daps in just one day... the fact is that I already have all these daps. What was missing was their "true" listening.

one of jewel's favorite dap is cayin n8ii. sound wonderful together.

 

[Polky74]

I'm listening to Vicious Delicious by Infected Mushroom... light-speed transients and teary-eyed definition… even with a simple V50 they are to be applauded!

 

[hung031086]

I just got a mint Jewel yesterday. I really like the sound and thinking to convert that one to ciem for better fit. I have a question for someone that owns Jewel ciem. Do you you have any fitting issue ?

 

[docentore]

Considering selling my Witch Girl W6.2.
Hit me if interested, located in EU, will do nice price

 

[Ike1985]

I just got a mint Jewel yesterday. I really like the sound and thinking to convert that one to ciem for better fit. I have a question for someone that owns Jewel ciem. Do you you have any fitting issue ?

No, sound changes though:

Bit more bass all around
Bit more clarity (insane I know)
Stage seems a tad more intimate which isn't a bad thing for me, going off memory here.

 

[Kobe4ever]

Thanks to a great suggestion from @Tokpakorlo, and after a long wait (3 months), yesterday I finally received Aroma Audio's portable amplifier, the A100TB, together with its optional power supply, the PS100 pro.
I immediately plugged my A&K SP3000 into the amp, and my Jewel .
All using the awesome cables of Peter Wong, PWA First Times.
I turned on the Ps100pro (the optional but highly recommended power supply), I activated the line out on my DAP, and I started selecting the first song from my playlist (from Qobuz).
After this first listening, I was speechless!
The already amazing SP3000 + Jewel synergy was kicked up two notches in ALL !
Dynamics, details, resolution, bass, mids, treble, musicality , holographic stage were simply at an impressive level, a good 25% beyond the already fantastic level that is "simply" using my Jewel with the SP3000 !!!
And with the Amp volume at just 20/25%!
Jewel sounded amazing, showing a part of their huge potential, unknown to me, until then.

I'm not the type to listen to violins and harpsichords , but everything I love to hear ( Hard Rock , Classic and Modern Rock , Grunge , Blues , Pop , Country , Alternative Indie , Acoustic and Live performances ) thanks to this wonderful Aroma stack , is played in a crazy way, bringing out the sound quality of the Jewel and the A&K SP3000 in a really fantastic way.
These first impressions are after using the A100TB out of the box, with no burn in yet !
There is something magical about the way music is enhanced in Aroma Audio products.
I believe that every audiophile should take some time to listen to their products.
This little magic box, called A100TB, I think could be a perfect choice for anyone who wants a portable, upgradeable, high quality amp capable of taking their IEMs/DAPs to an unthinkable level.
A100TB + Ps100 pro, a stack to own and enjoy!

p.s thanks to Andrew/Musicteck for the always perfect sales support

 

[Sifo]

Crosspost from water cooler, some parts have been cut to stay on topic

So there has been an on-going situation with my Aroma Jewel that I wanted to share with everyone, since people keep asking me about it and I'm tired of retelling it. The following story is told exactly how I experienced it from my perspective. I tried to remain factual and to cut out any hyperbole, you can decide for yourself how I should feel about this situation.

September of 2022 I bought the universal Jewel from my buddy TGXear because it was an incredibly good deal within Canada and I wanted to give it a chance as this was at the height of Jewel's popularity. Originally I wanted to grab it so my local Toronto head-fi friends could hear it, because I figured I could always just sell it and move on if it didn't blow me away. Unfortunately, I loved it. I got to experience Jewel with my home set up under perfect conditions and was blown away by how good it was.

Loved it and decided to go custom because I prefer CIEM fit. This is a service that Aroma officially offers. I asked for empty shells to test for fit which Aroma printed using my STL, impressions that I had taken right after NYC 2022. They charged 1,499.00 HKD for the test shells, which is 190 USD. I got hit by customs for the full value of the test shells unfortunately because the package was labeled as "headphone".

They sent the test shells, I confirmed the fit and requested some minor adjustments. I sent my UIEM Jewel in along with my old Noble 4C so that they could use it for reference when adjusting the fit. They received it on November 14, 2022. I told them the design I wanted for my CIEM and then waited.

3 months later with COVID, Christmas, New Year, Lunar New Year, the Jewel was completed! I paid for the service AFTER it was completed, the price to convert UEIM to CIEM was 3,925.00 HKD which is 500 USD. I received it back on February 13, 2023.

To my disappointment, there was an issue with the left IEM after getting it back in custom. No issue with the right side at all. Basically, being plugged into any powered source would cause an uncomfortably loud humming sound from the left IEM. It was loud enough to be heard over my music, and was quite frankly unusable. There was no problem with it when plugged into a DAP, so long as the DAP didn't have a charger plugged into it.

This issue was so sensitive that I could get it to hum/buzz just by having the Jewel in my ear, 4.4 unplugged from any source, and then touching a power cable with my finger. So basically it was impossible to use with my desktop RME ADI-2 DAC FS, which even has a Super Low Noise IEM Output. Keep in mind this is not the only IEM I own, but this is the first time I've ever had this happen. I am primarily a desktop user so this was unacceptable for my use case.

I asked if anyone I knew who owned a CIEM Jewel had this issue, to which everyone replied no. I also asked if any Universal Jewel owners had this issue, because I didn't hear the noise when I had it as a universal. Obviously if I did, I wouldn't have asked to convert it to CIEM. I reached out to Aroma, asking them the cost and time to repair this issue.

Their response was to assure me that this problem has nothing to do with the IEM and that it is due to the power source's transformer.



I made a video with my poor Cantonese skills explaining how I could get the left IEM to buzz even just by touching a power cable with my finger. They agreed to take a look at it after seeing the video. I sent it back to them after NYC and asked if they could repair it to hand deliver to me in Singapore. They obliged despite the rush turnaround which I appreciate and did not charge me for this. This left them with only about 3 weeks to repair the IEM. They received it on March 6 and I left them alone until I followed up on March 17.

They said they found no issue with it during diagnosis and didn't open it up to check anything. Now I understand that they are hesitant about replacing parts without being able to diagnose it, so okay I will go talk to them in person.



So I met up with them on Saturday at CanJam SG with 0 expectations. I have to preface this by saying that their English wasn't good enough to talk about electrical theory and audio, whereas my Cantonese wasn't good enough to talk about electrical theory and audio, so we were having some trouble communicating. I try the Jewel and can immediately hear there is still an issue. Mind you this is a noisy show floor so it was difficult, but definitely could tell it was there.

From the gist of it, what I understood was that they told me the following:

This is normal behaviour when plugged into a powered source, the noise is coming from the source's transformer.

There is nothing they can do to fix this as it is normal.

They had everyone in the lab try to listen for the noise with my CIEM but couldn't hear it.

They suggested that it may be due to my hearing sensitivity to this sort of noise and even suggested that I go buy a power conditioner as the solution.

I took it back to my hotel that night to try on my DAP while charging, and it was so loud and uncomfortable I had to take it out of my ear within seconds. I inserted the CIEM upside down as well and held my ear closed to emulate a "force fit", to see if I could hear it without the perfect deep insert fit as I would experience with CIEM, and I could absolutely still hear it despite being faint. Taking this home with me to my RME would not be productive.

I showed it to another IEM manufacturer and they looked inside the translucent shells with a flashlight and said that they saw the EST transformer touching another driver. Immediate diagnosis for a potential cause.

I also tried to use it to test some cables, and just by having my DAP on the table, maybe due to all the plugged in devices nearby causing interference, I could hear the left side buzzing. This was the last straw for me so I went back to Aroma's booth and told them I wouldn't be taking it home with me in this condition. I said if this still doesn't fix it I will send it back to you to convert to universal so I can sell it.

They ended up agreeing to take it with them back to Hong Kong and actually open up the left side this time, free of charge, to re-diagnose it. I told them that someone said the EST transformer was touching another driver, as well to just in general to be more careful with the wiring and positioning of components.



Imagine had I not flown halfway across the world how much more of a struggle this would have been to communicate. Now I am waiting for Aroma to complete the rebuild to see if the Jewel still has any issues.

To clarify: There is no problem with Aroma's communication, however I am upset at their reluctancy to offer me a solution. I've been trying to explain to them that there's a problem, but they are telling me that there's nothing wrong. I traveled half way across the world for them to tell me there's nothing wrong with the IEM, without offering a solution. Rather, they told me directly, "there is nothing we can do to fix it". I had to butt heads with them for them to take the IEM back to even look at it. That's the part that's been the most upsetting. As of now, they have taken the IEM back to open up. I don't know if this will fix anything, because again, they are absolutely certain that there's no issue with the IEM. I acknowledge there is a possibility where this is in fact just how the Jewel is and there isn't a problem.

However, you have to understand that an IEM that hums while being used with a desktop amp, loud enough to make me physically uncomfortable, coming out of only the left ear no matter how hard I troubleshoot, does not sound like acceptable behaviour for a $5000+ IEM. And I don't appreciate being told that I'm supposed to just accept this and that there is "nothing they can do about it"

As for my personal response, emotions and all:

I honestly don't have very high hopes here, and have pretty much accepted the monetary loss. Maybe I'll try to sell it if someone else wants to take the risk.

I have been on this CIEM journey since 2016, and have acquired 6 of them now. Since then I have made great connections and relationships with many Head-Fiers, many of them representing IEM manufacturers. I've still had to pay for repairs and service, but I have never once been told that it cannot be fixed.

Maybe it was the language barrier; they seemed friendly enough and were helpful, just in the wrong way. It was a lot of effort for me to convince them to take the IEM back to rebuild. It's fine if they can't diagnose it but that doesn't mean there isn't a problem.

This experience, regardless of who is at fault, has left a very sour taste, despite the fact that CanJam was supposed to be a celebration of the hobby. This IEM was not cheap and has honestly turned me off from IEMs in general.

If you want to buy a Jewel, let me know. It works fine, at least according to Aroma.

My Jewel has returned and it has been fixed. I still don't appreciate Aroma trying to tell me that there was nothing wrong with it and wasting my time, but there is no more buzzing on the left IEM. It should not have been this difficult to ask for a repair, especially not when I saw them in person face to face.

 

[Kobe4ever]

My Jewel has returned and it has been fixed. I still don't appreciate Aroma trying to tell me that there was nothing wrong with it and wasting my time, but there is no more buzzing on the left IEM. It should not have been this difficult to ask for a repair, especially not when I saw them in person face to face.

I understand that you have not had a positive experience , but as I wrote to you in an old post , it seems to me that Aroma , late , remade your Jewel for you , and without charge .
And if now you don't love Aroma, put your Jewel up for sale and move on to something else.
At least you won't have to keep criticizing Aroma with constant posts on the Watercoolers thread.

 

[Sifo]

I understand that you have not had a positive experience , but as I wrote to you in an old post , it seems to me that Aroma , late , remade your Jewel for you , and without charge .
And if now you don't love Aroma, put your Jewel up for sale and move on to something else.
At least you won't have to keep criticizing Aroma with constant posts on the Watercoolers thread.

I am very thankful that they did the bare minimum of servicing a product that arrived to me defective. I like the Jewel, otherwise I wouldn't have bought one, all I wanted was for it to actually work properly. Now that it works, I can enjoy it. I didn't know you were an enforcer of the watercooler thread but it would appear that plenty of people in the watercooler cared enough to ask me to share my experience.

 

[fabio19]

My Jewel has returned and it has been fixed. I still don't appreciate Aroma trying to tell me that there was nothing wrong with it and wasting my time, but there is no more buzzing on the left IEM. It should not have been this difficult to ask for a repair, especially not when I saw them in person face to face.

so the problem didn't even exist according to Aroma..... maybe they too will be angry for the time you made them lose.

 

[redrol]

What was the fix again? I can't make sense of this.

 

[Sifo]

What was the fix again? I can't make sense of this.

they rebuilt the left side, didn't ask about any specific details but it works now

 

[Alaricz]

I am very thankful that they did the bare minimum of servicing a product that arrived to me defective. I like the Jewel, otherwise I wouldn't have bought one, all I wanted was for it to actually work properly. Now that it works, I can enjoy it. I didn't know you were an enforcer of the watercooler thread but it would appear that plenty of people in the watercooler cared enough to ask me to share my experience.

I don't think you've done anything wrong, on the contrary, I appreciate you sharing it

 

[Sifo]

Here is some positivity I'm happy to share. I've been listening to Jewel non-stop since getting it back with a smile on my face, now that I can run it off of my RME ADI-2 DAC FS. As expected it scales beautifully and is very responsive to changes in the chain. Been playing with some cable pairings, namely Eletech's Victoria and Cassiel. I was using an all BA set for a while and it's good to be back on DD timbre. I love the presentation of this IEM, bass has good extension despite the leaner quantity, vocals are placed perfectly and sound very detailed, and plenty of air in between instruments and sounds. Everything just sounds "correct", as expected of a more "reference"-style IEM. I am very sensitive to volume and Jewel is one of few the sets where I am always tempted to give some extra power. Between UIEM and CIEM, it's been a while since I heard it but I'm getting a tighter mid-bass punch that I remembered previously nitpicking about. CIEM is fitting me very well, much more comfortable than the universal. It's a relief to hear all the details I was missing in my tracks during the period of time that I didn't have it. I know the popularity of the IEM has dropped a bit but it absolutely still holds up against the latest releases from this year. I give Aroma credit where it's due, it's an excellent IEM that I hope to enjoy for many years to come. Hope I get a chance to hear the newly teased IEM as well.

 

[gordec]

I am very thankful that they did the bare minimum of servicing a product that arrived to me defective. I like the Jewel, otherwise I wouldn't have bought one, all I wanted was for it to actually work properly. Now that it works, I can enjoy it. I didn't know you were an enforcer of the watercooler thread but it would appear that plenty of people in the watercooler cared enough to ask me to share my experience.

I don't think you exaggerated anything by any means. This is forum is made for discussions like this. I kind of went through the same thing except I had to fix it myself. I think potential CIEM Jewel buyers need to understand, you can run into issues with 13 driver CIEM with long nozzle. Getting support means mailing it to Hong Kong. If everything turns out perfect, it's going to be a wonderful experience. If it's a minor fit issues, your local audiologist can probably fix. If it's a driver issues, the process can be complicated.