Okay, so I'm on tour with Jade II and I'm going to participate to this thread
Disclaimer: I need to send Jade II forward after a short while, this impressions are part of the Jade II Tour, organized by HIFIMAN.
Okay, so this won't be my typical first impressions post. This is because this ain't a typical headphone with a typical sound. This is probably what people looking for an end-game setup are looking for. Something that simply works with all music, and does so really well. Also, those are very very early impressions
I heard the Empyrean and LCD-MX4, you'd thinkg I'm hard to impress. I also heard Stax SR-507 Pro, so I'm not new to electrostats either.
- Jade II is one of the most natural sounding Headphone I have ever heard up to this point. Not just natural, man, they sound like air. Like actually being there. There's no speaker, no headphone, and no AMP to describe, I only hear the music, they are not a transparent window, there is no window this time, they simply play.
- They don't just sound good. They simply sound right. They sound enjoyable
- I can enjoy 50 Cent's voice, then go straight to A Static Lullaby or Dance Gavin Dance, and I feel like that is the voice of the artist. Those are the instruments. The Headphone itself doesn't impose its character on the music, it renders the music with a dynamic and a punchiness, a realism, that words can hardly describe
- Iron Maiden, I simply love the vivid image of the guitars, the sweet and musical voice.
- I usually describe the speed of the bass, midrange and texture of the treble. With Jade II, I'd call the speed light-fast. They simply are so fast you can hear everything. I speak English fairly well, and I never could understand lyrics in some songs, but Jade II has such a clarity, speed and resolution, I can understand every single word in every single song, including really poorly mastered music.
- I'm throwing the most stressful music I have at them as I write those impressions just to see how much I can stress them and to find a mistake! Even the first few albums from The Offspring sound so darn good. Like I'm there. Like that is how they were supposed to sound. Like not just natural, but absolutely natural
- Usually, I like to sing while listening to music, but with Jade II I can't, I feel like listening more than singing!
- Have you ever heard Mr. Crowley? I can describe the synths in the background with ease, there are no distortions, no incoherencies, no harshness, no grain, everything is absolutely musical, but detailed to the point where if I wasn't wearing the headphones I'd think the whole song is played in my room, by Ozzy and his band.
- Testing with Not Coming Home by Maroon 5, one of my test tracks for realism of a live performance, combined with a crowd, combined with Adam Levine's voice that is simply hard to play by headphones, I never heard it this open and this transparent, this real. The guitars are so sweet they glaze the entire sound. The bass is very neutral, but very deep and present where it should be. The treble is not bright, not dark, the cymbals are just natural. Naturally textured, NATURAL.
- System of a Dawn - Toxicity, the guitars are so much like picking the strings of a guitar in real life. I can play a bit of guitar, and I know this is how the guitars should sound like. The drums are exactly as quick as they'd be in real life, if the drummer was playing those live.
- The main body of the music is on the lighter side, they aren't thick, they are simply transparent. Those are not for bassheads, but when using bass test tracks, they can go all the way down without, but they won't thicken voices nor thicken the sound in rock / metal songs, they simply let the guitars and other instruments, and the voices shine, while placing the bass right where it belongs.
- They are light as a feather!! This is how a flagship should be, both to sound good and be comfortable!
- This being said,t he headband mechanism is exactly the same as the one on Sundara and HE6SE, I'm not even joking, I have Sundara next to Jade II, both the headband, the leather band, and the mechanism that attaches the cups is the same. Make of it what you make, it is good enough for me and I trust it.
- The cups are huge, comofrtable. Think about HD800 levels of comfort, but better, because Jade II is a bit tighter and doesn't feel loose, which was an issue with me medium sized head and HD800S.
- The soundstage isn't just huge, it is open. Literally open. Not spread out, but open, as in, they sound open. They feel open. The sound doesn't feel simply wide or spread out, it feels naturally open. Same for the instrument separation, it doesn't feel like the instruments are too separated or cut with a cutter, each instrument is simly its own thing, unique and well defined, without feeling too distant from the other instruments, although the instrument separation is amazing, them blending together is still great
- The cables are slightly microphonic, but you are going to be sitting at a desk with JadeII, and not walking while wearing them
- I listened to them as loud as Jade II AMP goes, very clear and crisp up to the highest limit, granted I am turning the DAC in a bit lower, but I doubt most people will go above half Jade II's AMP's potential for casual listening.
- If I was to describe the sound, I'd say it follows the Harman Curve pretty faithfully, if anything, they have a bit less body than absolutely natural, bot otherwise they are natural, neutral and linear, all at once. Nothing is exaggerated, they are simply done right.
- The stage is really wide.
- To reiterate, Jade II is a pretty linear headphone, has a really low-reaching bass, when it is called for, but it isn't bassy. The body and the upper bass is less enhanced. The midrange is in line with the bass and the treble on an overall level. The midrange is very natural and clear, dynamic and musical, euphonic. They aren't analytic by nature, but they have a lot of detail and well done textures. The treble is natural, right where it swhould be, not too smooth, not grainy, just natural. Staging is large, and they sound open.
- Please keep in mind, for me it is a tour unit, really, I've nothing to gain from liking them, but I really do. I can't hide my own real feelings, this is a sound I not only can get behind, but stand for. The memory may betray me, but I wasn't this impressed with Sennheiser HE-1, as I am with Jade II using the same songs. I mean, of course, the conditions were not ideal when I tested HE-1, but I don't recall this kind of soundstage and absolute transparency, I don't recall the same details I can hear with Jade II.
- Overall, you can call me really impresed by them so far!
