[TeamHiFiMAN]

Hi April,

is it same situation for US.

Yes it is, we can't ensure everyone can get the loaners but we will pm the selected person.

April

 

[ksorota]

My review of the Jade II E-stat system.

I have spent the last few weeks listening and enjoying the Jade II's. These are the first electrostatic headphones that I have experienced, and were generally impressive. They were compared directly against Ether C Flow and Auteur.

To summarize my time with the Jade II.

Strengths of the Jade II

• Great fast sound
• The headstage is really good, probably better than Auteur as placement of instruments is concerned
• fantastic detail and space between the notes, airier than the Auteur and delicate sounding
• These headphones seem to maintain fairly neutral, but perhaps emphasis the highs more than the mids
• The headphones are very comfortable and lightweight
• bass extends very low, and highs are well extended
• bass extension is great, but not super impactful
• The design is pleasing, i like the color of the driver material

Things I would like to change about the Jade II

• non removable cable
• non standard ear cup shape (limited pad options)
• could use more bass impact
• Headband could fit a grizzly bear...i wear these in the lowest headband position and it can get much much larger
• compared to the Auteur, the Jade II"s look homemade
• Very open headphones that allow all exterior noise to come in and allow all around you to hear what you are listening too

The Jade II headphone and amp setup is a very fast and detailed listening experience. They produce sound with high levels of space around the notes, a transparent background and very good imaging. The sound extends very well at the low and top ends. The lows provide plenty of depth and detail, the mids are very nicely present as well as the highs. Vocals sound really nice with a preference towards female vocals overall. Just a really good sounding system.

The Jade II takes the neutral sound of the Auteur to a new level and removes some of the emotion creating a more analytical experience. The tonality of the Jade is lighter and more delicate, but also allows placement of the instruments around your head with more accuracy. I though the Jade's did a fantastic job with orchestral music and musicals.

Interestingly, the Jade II probably comes a lot closer in sound to the Ether C Flow than the Auteur, but it misses on some of the rich mid-bass sound. The Jade II seems to be better for orchestral type music (not something I listen to a lot) but the Auteur has something extra. Much of the clarity of the Jade II is likely due to that lack of warmth in the mid/low ranges, but I enjoy the fuller sound of the ECF and Auteur. If I could keep a bunch of different systems the Jade II would be a great complement to the Ethers or Auteur. If deciding between all three of these headphones I would and did choose to stick with the Ether C Flow. I love the Auteur, but really need a closed back headphone.

If I were to buy an open headphone right now I would be looking at the Hifiman HE6-SE. The HE6-SE falls somewhat between the Auteur and Jade II for me and just takes everything to the next level.

Best-

 

[theBlackKey]

Great review friend. I am looking forward to try these one. I love to compare it with my beloved Edition X v2.

 

[dRnRcR]

If the North American tour is still live I'd like to participate. I currently own he6se, Massdrop XX and have never tried an electrostat.

Located in Vancouver BC.

 

[Army-Firedawg]

Just got the Jade 2 in yesterday and got in a few hours listening, my initial impressions are quite impressive. There's a lot of air and fantastic bass response and mids sound very real. Only negative so far, is that there is a little bit of a sharp treble spike that on certain tracks isn't pleasant.

 

[Slater91]

I finished working on my review a few days ago before the flu got the best of me. It is now up and available for everyone to read here: HiFiMAN Jade II review.
I really like the headphones, less so the amplifier. If the latter costed less, bringing the total cost below $2000, I think the value of the system would be much better.

 

[Army-Firedawg]

My unboxing video's up. In case you're curious as to how this behemoth looks.

 

[darmanastartes]

I have posted my review of the Jade II on Head-Fi and on my blog.

 

[ksorota]

I have posted my review of the Jade II on Head-Fi and on my blog.

Thank you for posting your review.

I am a little surprised to hear that you did not think that their was sub bass and that the imaging was limited. This was the first E-Stat that i have used and I was surprised at the amount of bass and sub-bass that was present, and thought that these extended nice and low with texture and detail. I agree that they lack the visceral impact of a HE6 or dynamic driver, but sub bass they lack not. They do lean brighter, or maybe with more energy in the higher frequency, but think that it does it very well and never found them fatiguing in any way.

I agree that value wise, they dont make sense at the retail price, but if they can come down to around $1500 for the kit, I think that they would serve as a great system for natural, easy listening.

It is a great/confusing hobby how everyone hears differently!

 

[phaeton70]

I have posted my review of the Jade II on Head-Fi and on my blog.

I fully and completely respect your opinion and what you wrote in the review, but I must honestly say I think you have heard a defective Jade (the cans or maybe the amp, don't know)...
"non-existent sub-bass, anemic mid-bass, no bass texture, cold and thin midrange, weightless transients, limited soundstage depth, fuzzy imaging, poor imaging separation" this is definitely too far from what I'm hearing everyday to be considered just a matter of personal taste.
are you able/willing to test a different one?

 

[darmanastartes]

I fully and completely respect your opinion and what you wrote in the review, but I must honestly say I think you have heard a defective Jade (the cans or maybe the amp, don't know)...
"non-existent sub-bass, anemic mid-bass, no bass texture, cold and thin midrange, weightless transients, limited soundstage depth, fuzzy imaging, poor imaging separation" this is definitely too far from what I'm hearing everyday to be considered just a matter of personal taste.
are you able/willing to test a different one?

This is actually the second Jade II I've heard. The first one I listened to was at a Head-Fi meet, and my limited initial impressions were in line with what my impressions from my loaner tour experience. My impressions also appear to track with Oratory1990's measurements, which I did not seek out until after I'd been listening to the Jade II for several weeks.
I also want to note that my experiences with a number of HiFiMan planar headphones in the $1000-2000 range, such as the Arya, have been very positive.

 

[phaeton70]

ok, thanks for clarifying.
must say then that I must have a very lucky Jade, or maybe my GG is pushing the cans much better... from a quick test using the tone generator in foobar my Jade is linear down to at least 30Hz, and from a pure bass extension I can say Jade is more or less aligned with my HEKv2, but with a much better punch and texture (I mean Jade is much better than HEKv2 in those).
PS since long time now I don't care about headphones fr measurement. too many variables, too less correspondance with real listening. I'm saying this not specifically related to Jade. look for example to the HD800 fr or the Utopia fr, it is more bass-extended than the Abyss...................

 

[TeamHiFiMAN]

Dear Head-fiers,

We sincerely thank you all for your support and time taking part in our loaner tour, we have had some really great reviews from some of you however…… it is with a heavy heart that with certain global events that we are prematurely bringing it to an end. While we do not believe there is much of any risk at all in swapping headphones between listeners unless they are coughing on them and someone immediately licks them (eww) its better to be safe than sorry. Thus, for the time being at least we are closing the loaner tour programme. Reviewers with a unit currently can have them for their two weeks and we would still love to see your last reviews. We will then be in touch to get them returned to us. For those who haven’t yet been fortunate enough to be selected we are sorry but hope you understand. We would hope that once the world returns to normal and delivery services are all fully functional again that we can have new loaner tour programme, so please do keep an eye out for a future announcement.

Thanks to all who took part and best wishes to all, especially to any one out there in the health care industry, we all appreciate the hard work you do.

Best regards,
HIFIMAN Team

 

[phaeton70]

I usually kiss my Jade... must be dangerous too

 

[gto88]

My review is here, my Jade II review