[thread]

Quote:

For anyone that is on the preorder list - how does JH Audio handle the charging your card?  Do they charge the full amount now, even though it won't ship until late summer?  I called them Friday but they were out due to Can Jam and didn't have a chance to call today to verify.

Unfortunately, JHA means business. They charged my card today, and when I asked at CanJam about the possibility of a refund if I changed my mind before they go into production... It was made clear that they don't do refunds.
 
So I'm all in.

 

[Sonic 748i]

Quote:

Unfortunately, JHA means business. They charged my card today, and when I asked about the possibility of a refund if I changed my mind before they go into production... It was made clear that they don't do refunds.
 
So I'm all in.

When did you order?

 

[thread]

Sorry, I just edited my post to make more sense. I asked the question as I was placing my order at CanJam.

 

[khaos974]

Why USB when we can buy a sound card, the short answer is that as it is, the device is very transportable, making it ideal to use with a laptop/netbook, which means no possibility of buying a sound card, and an external one would compromise its portability.
 
Quote:

I don't get it... what is all this talk about the need to have hi-res usb input (very difficult and expensive) or optical input? Just get a new sound card that has 24-bit-192 kHz-capable coax output; they're not expensive. And, please, don't give me any of that nonsense about how coax is inferior to optical. Also, if you're going for portability, just kiss hi-res input goodbye, because the chances of any portable device feeding a 192kHz or even 92kHz is nil. USB 3.0 still is designed with jitter deliberately implemented, which makes it still unfeasible for the ideal setup.

And yes, it make the upgrade path a bit more difficult, but in all honesty I think this product answers a specific function and could satisfy your upgrade urges for some time. IT's quite similar to active monitors is a way, take the K+H O300D, one of the most appreciated monitor on the market, it takes a digital signal, convert it to analog and amplifies it, no tweaking between an external amp/dac/interconnects and whatever, and the result is that it works very well.
 
Jerry Harvey is doing the same thing, I won't deny it's a commercially astute move but it is also a very rational way of making gear and optimizing sound quality. By controlling to reproduction chain from the beginning to the end, each component is use to its maximum capacity. Very well played.

 

[RYDMOTO]

If you are reading this you broke your vow.
  It's ok...come over to the dark side Luke.   lol
 
Quote:

I've vowed to myself to never read this thread.
 
No way will I ever spend this much on audio equipment. I'm making sure I don't - what I don't know won't hurt me

 

[RYDMOTO]

Quote:

Unfortunately, JHA means business. They charged my card today, and when I asked at CanJam about the possibility of a refund if I changed my mind before they go into production... It was made clear that they don't do refunds.
 
So I'm all in.

Same here. I had buyers remorse for all of  3/10ths of a second. 
 

 

[koonhua90]

Quote:

If you are reading this you broke your vow.
  It's ok...come over to the dark side Luke.   lol
 

 

Isn't this the bright side?

 

[jelt2359]

JHA is still a startup company, don't forget that.  Logitech (UE) would like nothing more than to disappear for good.  I have met the man for the first time AFTER I bought 3 sets of IEMs from him this year (including the JH3A).  He had no idea who I was but he treated everyone with respect and answered every question truthfully and patiently.  I am not disputing the statement that he is a multitalented individual and knows how to run a business...but he treats his employees like family.
 
There is nothing wrong with effective marketing when your products live up to the hype, like Apple.  There is everything wrong with marketing, when it is substituted for innovation, design excellence and personalized customer service.  This characterization does not apply to JH Audio in general and especially not to Jerry Harvey.  But like Steve Jobs, he did change my lifestyle for the better and for that I'm immensely grateful.  Money well paid.  Sorry for the rant, but this is why it's worth attending these events.

I agree wholeheartedly. There is nothing wrong with good marketing. In fact, the world needs a lot of better marketing (hello Creative, you listening?). I do not mean to say that he's good at marketing, and therefore his technical skills are any less superb. I simply mean that, when it comes to 'best in industry', I think what JHA does better than anyone- and hence why they're at the top- owes most of all to their amazing marketing skills.

 

[SoupRKnowva]

it isnt more conversions, no need to convert the signal to analog from the amp itself to the cable to begin with. the signal conversion (optical electrical to electrical) is taken care of in the connector (a special AOC chip is necessary, which is similar in size to an XLR connector) which is powered by the amp. no need for a chip in the earpiece (which is what precipitated the new amp in the first place). also the connector wouldnt take up more space than the 2x2 they have in place. your also not limited to 4 channels with one ground per ear ... you could have also send the signal balanced to each driver if you wanted with a high enough bandwidth. i would surmise that a digital file at 24/192 would benefit from that.
 

ps: can the iphone4 play back 24.192 aac, flac, or alac (if apple even sells music with such a BR)?

It is more conversions milkman, converting from a electrical signal to a optical one requires a conversion from electricity to light, and even worse at the other end, you would be losing a good chunk of that energy converting it back to electricity. i guess youre right one could deuplex in more than 4 channels, but who knows what kind of cross talk issues you could run into depending on how the cable was wound around while you were wearing it. overall its just a completely and totally unfeasible idea to send an analog signal over a optical pipe. And actually, now that i think about it, i think all optical connections have to be digital because they work by switching the light on and off repeatedly very quickly, which equates to 0's and 1's, not an analog waveform.
 
and youre last question, no apple iphone/ipad/ipod plays hi res files.
 
so pretty much what you're saying is impossible, unless none of us is understanding correctly what you are trying to say.

 

[RYDMOTO]

Quote:

Isn't this the bright side?

Yes.
 
But I was thinking of his wallet.  lol

 

[tigon_ridge]

 
Quote:

Why USB when we can buy a sound card, the short answer is that as it is, the device is very transportable, making it ideal to use with a laptop/netbook, which means no possibility of buying a sound card, and an external one would compromise its portability.
 

And yes, it make the upgrade path a bit more difficult, but in all honesty I think this product answers a specific function and could satisfy your upgrade urges for some time. IT's quite similar to active monitors is a way, take the K+H O300D, one of the most appreciated monitor on the market, it takes a digital signal, convert it to analog and amplifies it, no tweaking between an external amp/dac/interconnects and whatever, and the result is that it works very well.
 
Jerry Harvey is doing the same thing, I won't deny it's a commercially astute move but it is also a very rational way of making gear and optimizing sound quality. By controlling to reproduction chain from the beginning to the end, each component is use to its maximum capacity. Very well played.

From what I've been reading in stereo forums and in head-fi, there seems to be no real consensus, even between very experienced members, that 24-bit 88kHz+ is overwhelming better than 16-bit/44kHz. Therefore, if you're opting for portability/transportability, I don't think you'll likely miss out on much with a normal bit rate mini-USB input, unless you have a large collection of high bit rate files (and can really appreciate their "advantage" over normal bit rate files). Just be satisfied with that level of fidelity while on-the-go (which might probably be already very coveted); then when you're at home, go ahead and plug into the desktop PC with coax-out for the best possible sound? Waiting another half-year to try to cram in a 24-bit 192kHz capable USB 3.0 receiver and paying an extra $250 is not worth it imo, especially when considering that there isn't a single portable device out there that supports such output.
 
Yes, I won't be the only one to agree with you that Jerry made a very innovative move; although, I find it particularly enlightening and interesting that I had actually thought of this idea long ago, when I was still reading on the ES3X and the JH13 appreciation thread was in its infancy. I didn't know at the time whether such a technology exists and was purely fantasizing/speculating, but I knew that it would probably be more efficient and accurate to split up frequencies digitally across several the D/A converters and have each frequencies amplified towards their respective BA... Divide and conquer. It seemed like common sense to me, yet I did not know why Westone, JHA, and UE weren't already doing it. I also understood that it would be definitely a dedicated setup kind of thing, where you can't just swap components to try different combos; but still, it made sense... even to someone who knew very little about electronics and especially audio electronics (me). A  holy matrimony between DAC/amp and earpiece where there's no possibility for swinging.

 
EDIT: I'm guessing that it took so long for this market to arrive to this stage, because this ambition does require the expertise and collaboration of both IEM and DAC/amp designers, which I guess is where this Matt person is coming in to assist Harvey; In which case, Matt and Harvey deserve equal credit for their innovation. I wouldn't go as far as to say that they "invented" it, but they're definitely the first to implement it. This concept just seems too obvious to overlook that I'm sure I wasn't the only head-fier here who had at least a passing thought of it (or something very similar) way before Jerry's recent announcement of his new JH-3A development.

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

Why USB when we can buy a sound card, the short answer is that as it is, the device is very transportable, making it ideal to use with a laptop/netbook, which means no possibility of buying a sound card, and an external one would compromise its portability.

 
Also iPad and maybe the new iPhone.
 

 

[khaos974]

I know a lot of people, me included, that only own a laptop computer, but there are many small USB > SP/DIF converters, the M2Tech hiFace is probably the most convenient one.
 
But honestly, I think people want the usb connection because it's so elegant out of a laptop, no extra piece of clunky hardware, you want to listen to music in your bed? in a café? in a hotel room during a business travel? You just have to bring you laptop and JH combo. People who want an optical in have the same reason, optical outs are commonly found in macbooks or other laptops, they simply don't want to bring another optical to SP/DIF converter.
 

 

[tigon_ridge]

Quote:

I know a lot of people, me included, that only own a laptop computer, but there are many small USB > SP/DIF converters, the M2Tech hiFace is probably the most convenient one.
 
But honestly, I think people want the usb connection because it's so elegant out of a laptop, no extra piece of clunky hardware, you want to listen to music in your bed? in a café? in a hotel room during a business travel? You just have to bring you laptop and JH combo. People who want an optical in have the same reason, optical outs are commonly found in macbooks or other laptops, they simply don't want to bring another optical to SP/DIF converter.
 

Current laptops don't support 3.0, except for the new ones. 2.0 definitely can't support the massive bit rate of HD music files. Anyone thinking of going out to buy a brand new laptop just to listen to their audiophile setup in HD? Yes, I know some of you have plenty of extra cash lying around, but I'm speaking to the majority. Is there a real purpose to a usb>spdif converter other than to eliminate jitter (I'm assuming that's one of its functions) and expanding compatibility with a spdif-only DAC? Converting usb 2.0 to spdif doesn't change the fact that the usb 2.0 circuitry on the motherboard can't handle the high bit rate (EDIT: on second thought, maybe it can).
 
(2nd EDIT: Okay, it definitely can. I just found products that can convert to spdif up to 24bit/92kHz. One thing I'm curious of is does the computer still automatically bypasses the onboard sound circuitry to the external DAC if there's a usb/spdif converter + spdif cable in between? I'm guessing not, because such spdif-input-only DACs don't have the firmware for usb plug-and-play. In which case, how would you configure the operating system to bypass the onboard sound and send signals to the usb port?)

 

[GreenLeo]

Quote:

Current laptops don't support 3.0, except for the new ones. 2.0 definitely can't support the massive bit rate of HD music files. Anyone thinking of going out to buy a brand new laptop just to listen to their audiophile setup in HD? Yes, I know some of you have plenty of extra cash lying around, but I'm speaking to the majority. Is there a real purpose to a usb>spdif converter other than to eliminate jitter (I'm assuming that's one of its functions) and expanding compatibility with a spdif-only DAC? Converting usb 2.0 to spdif doesn't change the fact that the usb 2.0 circuitry on the motherboard can't handle the high bit rate (EDIT: on second thought, maybe it can).

Mind you the software USB driver for the USB 2.0 hardware is still the version 1.  Hardware USB 2.0 high speed is capable to handle 480Mbps which is 60MBps.  This bandwidth is shared among the USB devices attached to your computer but it is pretty safe to assume that a 6MBps rate can be sustained without difficulties in usual circumstance for a PC dedicated to play the music.
 
A 16/44 wave file requires about 10MB per minute.  Even a 24/192 wave file requires only 65MB per minute, which translates to about 1.1MBps.  You may be surprised that this speed requirement is actually less than the USB 1.1 hardward standard full speed standard which is 1.5MBps (or 12Mbps technically).
 
Hence don't worry about USB 2.0 or USB 3.0.  The usual 24/96 limitation is because of the USB chips or the software driver used.  M2Tech HiFace uses USB and can deliver 24/192 without much difficulties from a netbook using 1.67GHz atom processor and many head-fiers are already enjoying it.