FedEx guy had a (welcome) surprise for me this morning:
I ordered the JH13 over the Memorial Day weekend/sale (5/29-5/31). After purchasing the JH13, the only update I saw from the JHAudio order tracking system was that they had "received my impressions and my order was processed." I did not receive any updates after this (stating my customs were complete/shipped/etc.), so I was appropriately surprised with a FedEx package (requiring a signature for release) from JHAudio this morning. It was delivered almost a month to the day of JHA receiving my impressions. Actually, when taking into account the 4th of July holiday.. lead time was probably about a month exactly. Build quality is terrific.. it's on par with the (previously owned) UM Miracle & Heir 4.A. Fit is
frighteningly good. Even better than my AS-2 & Heir 4.A (which are/were the best fitting customs I've owned). Kudos to JHAudio for completely nailing it on the first shot. Pin sockets were
extremely tight, though. After a couple of insertion/removals of the cable, they loosened up. Still, some deoxit applied to the my cables 'pins might not be a bad idea.
I swapped the stock (copper?) cord with my PlusSound Audio (pure) silver cable and the difference in sound was fairly immediately noticeable (and like that, I'm eyeing the "Moon Audio Silver Dragon V1" IEM cable for the JH13Pro). The silver cable afforded a clearer, cleaner, better controlled sonic picture. Nothing drastic, but distinguishable, nonetheless. I've owned other mid/top tier customs IEMs (1964Ears Quad, Heir 4.A, DreamEarz' AUD-5X/6X/7X/8X, Aurisonics AS-2, and the UM Miracle), so I feel I've got a fairly reliable handle on what one might expect as they move up (and down) the custom IEM 'food chain.' At the moment, all signs point to the JH13 firmly sitting atop the heap of custom IEMs I've heard/owned. Its clarity, cohesion, transparency, and tonal accuracy are all qualities all positively jumped out at me. I'm not
exactly sure how/where the Freqphase technology translates to what I'm hearing. In terms of the presentation, I don't find myself thinking, "so "
this" is what's off with all my other custom/IEMs,".. but the quality to the cohesiveness of the JH13's presentation is, indeed, something I haven't heard from
any of my other other custom/universal IEM. There's a unified, "well-designed, full-sized headphone driver" quality to it; this is something that becomes more apparent as dedicated upstream gear is used with the JH13.
For someone who listens to the HD800 on a daily basis, I've become spoiled with its tremendous musicality (when paired with the appropriate upstream gear) and technical abilities. I'm happy to say the JH13 brings that kind of (personal) fulfillment in IEM form. The JH13 can't
quite match the airy, open, "silky" quality of the HD800.. but, hell (outside of a top tier Stax/e-stat) what
can? The JH13 isn't as bright as the HD800 through the high frequencies, either... and it has more bass emphasis than the Senn flagship, so the JH13 sounds (comparatively) warmer and slightly more "weighty." I'm perfectly fine with this as the 13's tuning feels like it's executed in a (practically) flawless fashion (again, for my personal taste). Midrange is very neutral, clear, clean and dynamic. I hear terrific instrument separation, tonal purity, and resolving ability. Treble is clean, smooth, and gently rolled off at the upper most frequencies... but not lacking in detail at all. This is a very non-fatiguing phone well suited for extended listening sessions (especially in the the pro-environment). A quick word about the bass: I find the boost to be perfect for my taste. The lift seems linear and it adds just the right touch of warmth to the overall sound. I'm an avid hip hop & electronica listener and I find the bass quantity the JH13 offers to be wholly satisfying. I sense the JH16 might be fine, too.. but with poorly recorded material in these genres (i.e. tracks which might sound excessively warm/thick due to poor mixing/mastering of low frequencies), I don't think I'd want more bass than what the JH13 offers.
While the JH13 sounds very satisfying from my Galaxy S3's headphone out, its abilities deserve better (upstream) audio components.. I found it to scale incredibly well with dedicated upstream gear. I haven't ran it through the ODAC/Quickstep (yet), but listening to it now with the Violectric, stack and I'm stunned by the SQ. Absolutely effortless sound... excellent extension, soundstage, driver control, and resolving ablity. Scaling ability seems on par with the UM Miracle.. which is to say..
very very good.
That's all for now. I'll have more in-depth sonic impressions (and comparisons) after I get more acquainted with them. As far as them being balanced, neutral-tuned monitors, I'm finding it difficult to find any kind of real, identifiable weakness.. even if I scrutinize more closely (than usual) due to the price they command. Based on what I've heard from them in the brief time I've had them in my ears, they hype surrounding the JH13Pro FP feels
entirely justified.
