Awesome! I definitely don't see them as overlapping. The only thing they have in common is the tonality of the midrange, but the Jolene is completely different everywhere else. It's more neutral and airier than the Lola, and it's got that dual-DD woofer as well. And, I feel it's technically superior by margins too, so I'd certainly say the Jolene offers enough to have as a companion to the Lola.
Thanks so much! Please feel free to.
Great impressions thanks for sharing. I am however even less sure now about being able to tell if this is the one for me or not. Lots of that sounds great, but it also sounds like it's maybe a bit leaner and brighter than I think I would likely go for. However hard to tell without hearing them so I guess this really just confirms that I need that demo! Was told it should be within about 2 weeks so not too much longer to wait.So, a couple hours or so into my time with the lady (and a few hours later than promised), here are my first impressions of JH Audio's Jolene:
The Jolene is easily Jerry Harvey’s cleanest-sounding, most technically-capable monitor to date. It sheds some of his trademark isms - rotund lower-mids, resonant, mid-treble peaks, relaxed upper-trebles, etc. - to deliver a sound that more closely aligns with the general consensus of neutral, but without losing all of his personality outright either. Compared to his previous designs, I’d actually liken it most to the Lola. It’s got the same shine or glow to its midrange, as well as a similar lower-treble. But, the Jolene has cleaner, tighter lower-mids, a more refined, completely-sibilance-free mid-treble, a more extended upper-treble and a much, much, much larger stage.
In fact, spatially, the Jolene just might have the largest stage I’ve heard out of an IEM. Obviously, I’ve yet to hear the bird, so the jury’s still out. But, compared to all of the flagships I’ve reviewed recently, the Jolene edges them all in terms of sheer size. This comes part-and-parcel with that relaxed lower-midrange and that airy, open high-treble, but I personally think most of it comes down to just raw, technical performance. It truly is impressive here. Maybe, the fact that half the IEM sits outside your ears has something to do with it too.Now, does that come with tonal cons? Depending on taste, you can certainly say so. If you’re used to an in-ear like JH’s very own Layla or 64 Audio’s A18s, the Jolene may sound quite a bit tighter; not as gooey, buttery or warm by comparison.
This is also because, until you turn up the bass dial up to about 2 o’clock, its low-end (the mid-bass, more than anything) is pretty neutral as well. Now, it’s not as noticeable as the ODIN or ELYSIUM’s neutral mid-basses, for example, because it doesn’t have as forward of an upper-midrange, so there’s less of a contrast. But, you do notice it in how tight and warmth-free certain instruments can be until, again, you turn that bass dial up to at least 2 o’clock.
On the flip side, though, the Jolene always manages to prevent its notes from coming off dry or overtly crisp too, and I suspect it’s because of those diaphragms. They emit just enough of a decay or shadow, for lack of a better word, to always come off substantial, dense and powerful. Joe Satriani’s roaring guitar solo on Cory Wong’s Massive sounds, well, massive.
Now, the beauty of it being a JH IEM is that, if you do want more mid- or upper-bass, you can fill it in with the bass dial. Furthermore, on this model, you can do so without turning it into a basshead IEM too. I concur with @marcusd's thoughts that the bass dial on this one has a bit more nuance than simply lifting the lows up or down. I feel, in addition to the amount of bass coming out, the pod determines the tightness or looseness of the bass as well. You get a bit more spread and smoke the more you turn it up, rather than simply more darkness or muck; less like turning up the gain on the kick drum mic, and more like asking the drummer to kick a bit harder. Perhaps it has something to do with dynamic drivers reacting differently to BAs when you dampen them electronically, but I personally think it’s a beautiful effect, and it makes the bass pod far more versatile than it ever has been.
The aforementioned 2 o’clock would be where the Jolene hits neutral for me, and I personally turn it up a bit more to get to what I consider neutral-natural. I think it’s at its best and most versatile at this setting. At 12 o’clock, I’d call it nearing bright. And, it’s merely sub-bass-forward to me at full-whack. So, you should be aware that you can’t really turn the Jolene into a Skullcandy headphone or something, where the bass fully runs the show. But, at 100%, it is a very tasteful interpretation of the basshead sound, which I can’t wait to compare to something like the Legend X when I get the chance.
JH have also kept the peak of the bass pretty early into the sub-bass, before declining at about 60Hz. So, when I listen to any track off of Anomalie’s Metropolé, for example, I hear an elevation in the physical slam of the kick drum, but the sound of the bass line itself is sat pretty neutral. Again, though, I can easily change that with the bass pod. I should also mention that the in-ear’s 4 dynamic drivers have only had about 2-3 hours of runtime at this point, so I’ll update my thoughts once they do get some more play.
The treble is also where JH have diverged quite a bit from their house sound. As mentioned, it doesn’t have the dark-except-for-some-glare-at-8kHz stereotype that people have stuck onto their past IEMs. The peak has been refined to near-perfection with no glare or sibilance on any track I tested it with. All it does now is contribute the slight tizz it was always meant to. And, JH have armed the Jolene with a lot more upper-treble air as well. Compared to the Lola and (more so) the Layla, the Jolene’s stage is more open with cleaner air around instruments. And, they’re subtly sharper-outlined too. It doesn’t ever get bright, or thin, or crisp once you get past 12 o’clock on the dial. The background simply has more definition now, and it does wonders for imaging. Again, the Jolene’s technique easily sits amongst today’s flagships. I’d need to do more listening to be more specific, but I can confidently say now that it’s in that league effortlessly.
Now, onto some very, very brief comparisons:
JH Audio Layla: The Jolene’s got less presence - i.e. is leaner - between about 100 and 800Hz, I think. Instruments are cleaner because of it, and it’ll definitely please those who may’ve found the Layla a bit too rich or muddy there. It’s got a more vibrant upper-midrange too; more Lola-esque. It’s got the differences in the treble I described above, and I feel it edges out the Layla in dynamics, resolution and imaging.
JH Audio Lola: These two are, again, fairly similar in the midrange and the low-treble. And, the Lola has a warmer, fuller bass and a slightly darker, more old-school-JH treble. I’d say the Lola is almost like the Layla mid-transformation into the Jolene. But, again, the Jolene easily bests it in stage expansion, air and imaging precision.
64 Audio tia Fourté Noir: I’m actually hearing rather similar tonalities between it and the Noir. The main difference is that the Noir has a brighter, crunchier upper-midrange. Horn stabs are more vibrant, and they bite more too. Snares also have a bit more pop to them. Whereas, they’re more relaxed on the Jolene. But, with vocals, the Jolene has the better low-to-high-midrange balance, while they’re more exaggerated and coloured on the Noir. They articulate similarly up high, but the Jolene does so with a bit more smoothness and speed. It also has a bit more sub-bass and bit less mid-bass than the Noir. And, spatially, the Jolene wins out in both width and depth, but width especially.
64 Audio A18s: To put it very crudely, the Jolene has quite a bit less bass presence than the A18s, and it has quite a bit more tizz to its top-end. They’re pretty similar across the upper-mids. But, overall, the A18s is mellower, softer and fuller, while the Jolene is almost the tighter, cleaner, more neutral-leaning version of it. You may then say that it’s basically the…
64 Audio A18t: Well, not exactly. The A18t still has a bit more mid-bass, while the Jolene has more sub-bass. So, the latter’s image is a tad cleaner and tighter, but kick drums hit harder on it too. The A18t also has a bit more midrange presence in general, while the Jolene’s are on the more neutral side in order to reinforce depth. And, the latter's treble extends further to my ears as well, which is probably why I, again, find the Jolene's stage more out-of-head than either A18’s.
FiR Audio M5: The main tonal difference between the M5 and the Jolene is that the former has more presence across its upper-mids and treble, making instruments sound more aggressive, energetic and vibrant by comparison. The Jolene comes across the more relaxed, far-field-like monitor to me, and its instruments are more textured and solidly-founded as well. Down low, I find the Jolene's bass a bit gritty-er and more visceral, while you'll get a bit more warmth permeating from the M5's.
Empire Ears ODIN: The ODIN is the Jolene’s strongest spatial contender. But, the latter still has the edge to my ears, because of the former’s forwardly upper-mids, which put vocals and leads further up front. Instruments sound more saturated and intimate on the ODIN for me, while the Jolene’s come off quicker, more relaxed and less coloured. This applies to the lows as well. The Jolene’s dual DDs can kick as hard as the W9+ woofers can, but it’s a bit quicker and cleaner in terms of decay. I attribute this more towards the Jolene's airier, more open upper-treble, though. I’d say the W9+ diaphragms still have a bit more character and 3D-ness to their rumble, but the Jolene’s woofers cut cleaner and deliver more detail with their oomph.
Vision Ears ELYSIUM: The best way to compare these two would be to say that the Jolene is the ELYSIUM after 6 months of gains. They’re actually very similar up top (or, at least, that’s what my - at this point - pretty-tired ears are telling me), but the lower you get, the beefier and denser the Jolene is compared to the ELYSIUM. The low-mids have more substance and solidity to them (not as wispy), and the Jolene’s lows make the ELYSIUM’s sound… less convincing to put it nicely. Spatially, I feel the ELYSIUM could go toe-to-toe (or perhaps exceed it) on a powerful amp, but the Jolene has the edge on my LPGT, and it could possibly scale just as well.
Finally, I’d like to touch on the fit before we close. The Jolene is a very, very, very large CIEM. It’ll protrude out of your ears no matter what. They’re not heavy or uncomfortable or anything, but they're gonna be a fair bit more substantial than your typical custom. So, keep that in mind if ease-of-wear is paramount to you. They also have very short canals, which I believe contributes to the superb spaciousness I described above. I think some members here would be very, very happy to hear that… *cough* @Wyville *cough*
But, yeah, I apologise that it’s come a bit later than promised, but here are my first impressions of JH’s brand-new Jolene. Please keep in mind that these are very fresh impressions, which may change by the time the review goes live. Just because I say something now, it doesn’t mean it’ll be 100% true later on. And, just because I don’t mention something here, it doesn’t mean it won't be on the full review. I’ll definitely go much further in depth there. But, at the moment, I personally think the Jolene is easily a flagship-tier performer with a more neutral, more crowd-pleasing variation of Jerry Harvey's house sound. It pretty much applies every bit of criticism lobbed towards the Layla and Lola in what I feel is the best way possible, and I think this one’s gonna be a real hit for them; in the enthusiast sector, especially.
Things I’d personally take note of would be its tight, neutral mid-bass until you turn its dials up about 60-70% of the way. And, its midrange isn’t the wettest, most intimate-sounding in the world either, despite how outstandingly textured, detailed and, yet, substantive - dense - it is. But, in terms of stage expansion, imaging precision, resolution, end-to-end extension and doing them all with well-structured, nuanced and dynamic instruments to boot, it - at the moment - has got quite the head start. Now, all I have to do is spend more time with it to see where it finishes in the race.
I came for the photos and stayed for the impressionsSo, a couple hours or so into my time with the lady (and a few hours later than promised
The Jolene is easily Jerry Harvey’s cleanest-sounding, most technically-capable monitor to date. It sheds some of his trademark isms - rotund lower-mids, resonant, mid-treble peaks, relaxed upper-trebles, etc. - to deliver a sound that more closely aligns with the general consensus of neutral, but without losing all of his personality outright either. Compared to his previous designs, I’d actually liken it most to the Lola. It’s got the same shine or glow to its midrange, as well as a similar lower-treble. But, the Jolene has cleaner, tighter lower-mids, a more refined, completely-sibilance-free mid-treble, a more extended upper-treble and a much, much, much larger stage.
In fact, spatially, the Jolene just might have the largest stage I’ve heard out of an IEM. Obviously, I’ve yet to hear the bird, so the jury’s still out. But, compared to all of the flagships I’ve reviewed recently, the Jolene edges them all in terms of sheer size. This comes part-and-parcel with that relaxed lower-midrange and that airy, open high-treble, but I personally think most of it comes down to just raw, technical performance. It truly is impressive here. Maybe, the fact that half the IEM sits outside your ears has something to do with it too.
This is also because, until you turn up the bass dial up to about 2 o’clock, its low-end (the mid-bass, more than anything) is pretty neutral as well. Now, it’s not as noticeable as the ODIN or ELYSIUM’s neutral mid-basses, for example, because it doesn’t have as forward of an upper-midrange, so there’s less of a contrast. But, you do notice it in how tight and warmth-free certain instruments can be until, again, you turn that bass dial up to at least 2 o’clock.
On the flip side, though, the Jolene always manages to prevent its notes from coming off dry or overtly crisp too, and I suspect it’s because of those diaphragms. They emit just enough of a decay or shadow, for lack of a better word, to always come off substantial, dense and powerful. Joe Satriani’s roaring guitar solo on Cory Wong’s Massive sounds, well, massive.
Now, the beauty of it being a JH IEM is that, if you do want more mid- or upper-bass, you can fill it in with the bass dial. Furthermore, on this model, you can do so without turning it into a basshead IEM too. I concur with @marcusd's thoughts that the bass dial on this one has a bit more nuance than simply lifting the lows up or down. I feel, in addition to the amount of bass coming out, the pod determines the tightness or looseness of the bass as well. You get a bit more spread and smoke the more you turn it up, rather than simply more darkness or muck; less like turning up the gain on the kick drum mic, and more like asking the drummer to kick a bit harder. Perhaps it has something to do with dynamic drivers reacting differently to BAs when you dampen them electronically, but I personally think it’s a beautiful effect, and it makes the bass pod far more versatile than it ever has been.
The aforementioned 2 o’clock would be where the Jolene hits neutral for me, and I personally turn it up a bit more to get to what I consider neutral-natural. I think it’s at its best and most versatile at this setting. At 12 o’clock, I’d call it nearing bright. And, it’s merely sub-bass-forward to me at full-whack. So, you should be aware that you can’t really turn the Jolene into a Skullcandy headphone or something, where the bass fully runs the show. But, at 100%, it is a very tasteful interpretation of the basshead sound, which I can’t wait to compare to something like the Legend X when I get the chance.
JH have also kept the peak of the bass pretty early into the sub-bass, before declining at about 60Hz. So, when I listen to any track off of Anomalie’s Metropolé, for example, I hear an elevation in the physical slam of the kick drum, but the sound of the bass line itself is sat pretty neutral. Again, though, I can easily change that with the bass pod. I should also mention that the in-ear’s 4 dynamic drivers have only had about 2-3 hours of runtime at this point, so I’ll update my thoughts once they do get some more play.
The treble is also where JH have diverged quite a bit from their house sound. As mentioned, it doesn’t have the dark-except-for-some-glare-at-8kHz stereotype that people have stuck onto their past IEMs. The peak has been refined to near-perfection with no glare or sibilance on any track I tested it with. All it does now is contribute the slight tizz it was always meant to. And, JH have armed the Jolene with a lot more upper-treble air as well. Compared to the Lola and (more so) the Layla, the Jolene’s stage is more open with cleaner air around instruments. And, they’re subtly sharper-outlined too. It doesn’t ever get bright, or thin, or crisp once you get past 12 o’clock on the dial. The background simply has more definition now, and it does wonders for imaging. Again, the Jolene’s technique easily sits amongst today’s flagships. I’d need to do more listening to be more specific, but I can confidently say now that it’s in that league effortlessly.
Now, onto some very, very brief comparisons:
JH Audio Layla: The Jolene’s got less presence - i.e. is leaner - between about 100 and 800Hz, I think. Instruments are cleaner because of it, and it’ll definitely please those who may’ve found the Layla a bit too rich or muddy there. It’s got a more vibrant upper-midrange too; more Lola-esque. It’s got the differences in the treble I described above, and I feel it edges out the Layla in dynamics, resolution and imaging.
JH Audio Lola: These two are, again, fairly similar in the midrange and the low-treble. And, the Lola has a warmer, fuller bass and a slightly darker, more old-school-JH treble. I’d say the Lola is almost like the Layla mid-transformation into the Jolene. But, again, the Jolene easily bests it in stage expansion, air and imaging precision.
64 Audio tia Fourté Noir: I’m actually hearing rather similar tonalities between it and the Noir. The main difference is that the Noir has a brighter, crunchier upper-midrange. Horn stabs are more vibrant, and they bite more too. Snares also have a bit more pop to them. Whereas, they’re more relaxed on the Jolene. But, with vocals, the Jolene has the better low-to-high-midrange balance, while they’re more exaggerated and coloured on the Noir. They articulate similarly up high, but the Jolene does so with a bit more smoothness and speed. It also has a bit more sub-bass and bit less mid-bass than the Noir. And, spatially, the Jolene wins out in both width and depth, but width especially.
64 Audio A18s: To put it very crudely, the Jolene has quite a bit less bass presence than the A18s, and it has quite a bit more tizz to its top-end. They’re pretty similar across the upper-mids. But, overall, the A18s is mellower, softer and fuller, while the Jolene is almost the tighter, cleaner, more neutral-leaning version of it. You may then say that it’s basically the…
64 Audio A18t: Well, not exactly. The A18t still has a bit more mid-bass, while the Jolene has more sub-bass. So, the latter’s image is a tad cleaner and tighter, but kick drums hit harder on it too. The A18t also has a bit more midrange presence in general, while the Jolene’s are on the more neutral side in order to reinforce depth. And, the latter's treble extends further to my ears as well, which is probably why I, again, find the Jolene's stage more out-of-head than either A18’s.
FiR Audio M5: The main tonal difference between the M5 and the Jolene is that the former has more presence across its upper-mids and treble, making instruments sound more aggressive, energetic and vibrant by comparison. The Jolene comes across the more relaxed, far-field-like monitor to me, and its instruments are more textured and solidly-founded as well. Down low, I find the Jolene's bass a bit gritty-er and more visceral, while you'll get a bit more warmth permeating from the M5's.
Empire Ears ODIN: The ODIN is the Jolene’s strongest spatial contender. But, the latter still has the edge to my ears, because of the former’s forwardly upper-mids, which put vocals and leads further up front. Instruments sound more saturated and intimate on the ODIN for me, while the Jolene’s come off quicker, more relaxed and less coloured. This applies to the lows as well. The Jolene’s dual DDs can kick as hard as the W9+ woofers can, but it’s a bit quicker and cleaner in terms of decay. I attribute this more towards the Jolene's airier, more open upper-treble, though. I’d say the W9+ diaphragms still have a bit more character and 3D-ness to their rumble, but the Jolene’s woofers cut cleaner and deliver more detail with their oomph.
Vision Ears ELYSIUM: The best way to compare these two would be to say that the Jolene is the ELYSIUM after 6 months of gains. They’re actually very similar up top (or, at least, that’s what my - at this point - pretty-tired ears are telling me), but the lower you get, the beefier and denser the Jolene is compared to the ELYSIUM. The low-mids have more substance and solidity to them (not as wispy), and the Jolene’s lows make the ELYSIUM’s sound… less convincing to put it nicely. Spatially, I feel the ELYSIUM could go toe-to-toe (or perhaps exceed it) on a powerful amp, but the Jolene has the edge on my LPGT, and it could possibly scale just as well.
Finally, I’d like to touch on the fit before we close. The Jolene is a very, very, very large CIEM. It’ll protrude out of your ears no matter what. They’re not heavy or uncomfortable or anything, but they're gonna be a fair bit more substantial than your typical custom. So, keep that in mind if ease-of-wear is paramount to you. They also have very short canals, which I believe contributes to the superb spaciousness I described above. I think some members here would be very, very happy to hear that… *cough* @Wyville *cough*
But, yeah, I apologise that it’s come a bit later than promised, but here are my first impressions of JH’s brand-new Jolene. Please keep in mind that these are very fresh impressions, which may change by the time the review goes live. Just because I say something now, it doesn’t mean it’ll be 100% true later on. And, just because I don’t mention something here, it doesn’t mean it won't be on the full review. I’ll definitely go much further in depth there. But, at the moment, I personally think the Jolene is easily a flagship-tier performer with a more neutral, more crowd-pleasing variation of Jerry Harvey's house sound. It pretty much applies every bit of criticism lobbed towards the Layla and Lola in what I feel is the best way possible, and I think this one’s gonna be a real hit for them; in the enthusiast sector, especially.
Things I’d personally take note of would be its tight, neutral mid-bass until you turn its dials up about 60-70% of the way. And, its midrange isn’t the wettest, most intimate-sounding in the world either, despite how outstandingly textured, detailed and, yet, substantive - dense - it is. But, in terms of stage expansion, imaging precision, resolution, end-to-end extension and doing them all with well-structured, nuanced and dynamic instruments to boot, it - at the moment - has got quite the head start. Now, all I have to do is spend more time with it to see where it finishes in the race.
Yeah, they're certainly airier and cleaner than the JH sound people tend to identify with. But, again, I feel it's more so when the bass is anywhere below 2 o'clock. Above that, I think it can have between a neutral or neutral-natural sound. But, yes, as always, a direct demo is always the unequivocal best.
Thanks so much, man! 'Hope you get to try them soon.I came for the photos and stayed for the impressions
Great photos and great impressions as usual Daniel! Hopefully I’ll get a chance to hear and take photos of them too!
This sounds absolutely lit. Can’t wait to get mineSo, a couple hours or so into my time with the lady (and a few hours later than promised
The Jolene is easily Jerry Harvey’s cleanest-sounding, most technically-capable monitor to date. It sheds some of his trademark isms - rotund lower-mids, resonant, mid-treble peaks, relaxed upper-trebles, etc. - to deliver a sound that more closely aligns with the general consensus of neutral, but without losing all of his personality outright either. Compared to his previous designs, I’d actually liken it most to the Lola. It’s got the same shine or glow to its midrange, as well as a similar lower-treble. But, the Jolene has cleaner, tighter lower-mids, a more refined, completely-sibilance-free mid-treble, a more extended upper-treble and a much, much, much larger stage.
In fact, spatially, the Jolene just might have the largest stage I’ve heard out of an IEM. Obviously, I’ve yet to hear the bird, so the jury’s still out. But, compared to all of the flagships I’ve reviewed recently, the Jolene edges them all in terms of sheer size. This comes part-and-parcel with that relaxed lower-midrange and that airy, open high-treble, but I personally think most of it comes down to just raw, technical performance. It truly is impressive here. Maybe, the fact that half the IEM sits outside your ears has something to do with it too.
This is also because, until you turn up the bass dial up to about 2 o’clock, its low-end (the mid-bass, more than anything) is pretty neutral as well. Now, it’s not as noticeable as the ODIN or ELYSIUM’s neutral mid-basses, for example, because it doesn’t have as forward of an upper-midrange, so there’s less of a contrast. But, you do notice it in how tight and warmth-free certain instruments can be until, again, you turn that bass dial up to at least 2 o’clock.
On the flip side, though, the Jolene always manages to prevent its notes from coming off dry or overtly crisp too, and I suspect it’s because of those diaphragms. They emit just enough of a decay or shadow, for lack of a better word, to always come off substantial, dense and powerful. Joe Satriani’s roaring guitar solo on Cory Wong’s Massive sounds, well, massive.
Now, the beauty of it being a JH IEM is that, if you do want more mid- or upper-bass, you can fill it in with the bass dial. Furthermore, on this model, you can do so without turning it into a basshead IEM too. I concur with @marcusd's thoughts that the bass dial on this one has a bit more nuance than simply lifting the lows up or down. I feel, in addition to the amount of bass coming out, the pod determines the tightness or looseness of the bass as well. You get a bit more spread and smoke the more you turn it up, rather than simply more darkness or muck; less like turning up the gain on the kick drum mic, and more like asking the drummer to kick a bit harder. Perhaps it has something to do with dynamic drivers reacting differently to BAs when you dampen them electronically, but I personally think it’s a beautiful effect, and it makes the bass pod far more versatile than it ever has been.
The aforementioned 2 o’clock would be where the Jolene hits neutral for me, and I personally turn it up a bit more to get to what I consider neutral-natural. I think it’s at its best and most versatile at this setting. At 12 o’clock, I’d call it nearing bright. And, it’s merely sub-bass-forward to me at full-whack. So, you should be aware that you can’t really turn the Jolene into a Skullcandy headphone or something, where the bass fully runs the show. But, at 100%, it is a very tasteful interpretation of the basshead sound, which I can’t wait to compare to something like the Legend X when I get the chance.
JH have also kept the peak of the bass pretty early into the sub-bass, before declining at about 60Hz. So, when I listen to any track off of Anomalie’s Metropolé, for example, I hear an elevation in the physical slam of the kick drum, but the sound of the bass line itself is sat pretty neutral. Again, though, I can easily change that with the bass pod. I should also mention that the in-ear’s 4 dynamic drivers have only had about 2-3 hours of runtime at this point, so I’ll update my thoughts once they do get some more play.
The treble is also where JH have diverged quite a bit from their house sound. As mentioned, it doesn’t have the dark-except-for-some-glare-at-8kHz stereotype that people have stuck onto their past IEMs. The peak has been refined to near-perfection with no glare or sibilance on any track I tested it with. All it does now is contribute the slight tizz it was always meant to. And, JH have armed the Jolene with a lot more upper-treble air as well. Compared to the Lola and (more so) the Layla, the Jolene’s stage is more open with cleaner air around instruments. And, they’re subtly sharper-outlined too. It doesn’t ever get bright, or thin, or crisp once you get past 12 o’clock on the dial. The background simply has more definition now, and it does wonders for imaging. Again, the Jolene’s technique easily sits amongst today’s flagships. I’d need to do more listening to be more specific, but I can confidently say now that it’s in that league effortlessly.
Now, onto some very, very brief comparisons:
JH Audio Layla: The Jolene’s got less presence - i.e. is leaner - between about 100 and 800Hz, I think. Instruments are cleaner because of it, and it’ll definitely please those who may’ve found the Layla a bit too rich or muddy there. It’s got a more vibrant upper-midrange too; more Lola-esque. It’s got the differences in the treble I described above, and I feel it edges out the Layla in dynamics, resolution and imaging.
JH Audio Lola: These two are, again, fairly similar in the midrange and the low-treble. And, the Lola has a warmer, fuller bass and a slightly darker, more old-school-JH treble. I’d say the Lola is almost like the Layla mid-transformation into the Jolene. But, again, the Jolene easily bests it in stage expansion, air and imaging precision.
64 Audio tia Fourté Noir: I’m actually hearing rather similar tonalities between it and the Noir. The main difference is that the Noir has a brighter, crunchier upper-midrange. Horn stabs are more vibrant, and they bite more too. Snares also have a bit more pop to them. Whereas, they’re more relaxed on the Jolene. But, with vocals, the Jolene has the better low-to-high-midrange balance, while they’re more exaggerated and coloured on the Noir. They articulate similarly up high, but the Jolene does so with a bit more smoothness and speed. It also has a bit more sub-bass and bit less mid-bass than the Noir. And, spatially, the Jolene wins out in both width and depth, but width especially.
64 Audio A18s: To put it very crudely, the Jolene has quite a bit less bass presence than the A18s, and it has quite a bit more tizz to its top-end. They’re pretty similar across the upper-mids. But, overall, the A18s is mellower, softer and fuller, while the Jolene is almost the tighter, cleaner, more neutral-leaning version of it. You may then say that it’s basically the…
64 Audio A18t: Well, not exactly. The A18t still has a bit more mid-bass, while the Jolene has more sub-bass. So, the latter’s image is a tad cleaner and tighter, but kick drums hit harder on it too. The A18t also has a bit more midrange presence in general, while the Jolene’s are on the more neutral side in order to reinforce depth. And, the latter's treble extends further to my ears as well, which is probably why I, again, find the Jolene's stage more out-of-head than either A18’s.
FiR Audio M5: The main tonal difference between the M5 and the Jolene is that the former has more presence across its upper-mids and treble, making instruments sound more aggressive, energetic and vibrant by comparison. The Jolene comes across the more relaxed, far-field-like monitor to me, and its instruments are more textured and solidly-founded as well. Down low, I find the Jolene's bass a bit gritty-er and more visceral, while you'll get a bit more warmth permeating from the M5's.
Empire Ears ODIN: The ODIN is the Jolene’s strongest spatial contender. But, the latter still has the edge to my ears, because of the former’s forwardly upper-mids, which put vocals and leads further up front. Instruments sound more saturated and intimate on the ODIN for me, while the Jolene’s come off quicker, more relaxed and less coloured. This applies to the lows as well. The Jolene’s dual DDs can kick as hard as the W9+ woofers can, but it’s a bit quicker and cleaner in terms of decay. I attribute this more towards the Jolene's airier, more open upper-treble, though. I’d say the W9+ diaphragms still have a bit more character and 3D-ness to their rumble, but the Jolene’s woofers cut cleaner and deliver more detail with their oomph.
Vision Ears ELYSIUM: The best way to compare these two would be to say that the Jolene is the ELYSIUM after 6 months of gains. They’re actually very similar up top (or, at least, that’s what my - at this point - pretty-tired ears are telling me), but the lower you get, the beefier and denser the Jolene is compared to the ELYSIUM. The low-mids have more substance and solidity to them (not as wispy), and the Jolene’s lows make the ELYSIUM’s sound… less convincing to put it nicely. Spatially, I feel the ELYSIUM could go toe-to-toe (or perhaps exceed it) on a powerful amp, but the Jolene has the edge on my LPGT, and it could possibly scale just as well.
Finally, I’d like to touch on the fit before we close. The Jolene is a very, very, very large CIEM. It’ll protrude out of your ears no matter what. They’re not heavy or uncomfortable or anything, but they're gonna be a fair bit more substantial than your typical custom. So, keep that in mind if ease-of-wear is paramount to you. They also have very short canals, which I believe contributes to the superb spaciousness I described above. I think some members here would be very, very happy to hear that… *cough* @Wyville *cough*
But, yeah, I apologise that it’s come a bit later than promised, but here are my first impressions of JH’s brand-new Jolene. Please keep in mind that these are very fresh impressions, which may change by the time the review goes live. Just because I say something now, it doesn’t mean it’ll be 100% true later on. And, just because I don’t mention something here, it doesn’t mean it won't be on the full review. I’ll definitely go much further in depth there. But, at the moment, I personally think the Jolene is easily a flagship-tier performer with a more neutral, more crowd-pleasing variation of Jerry Harvey's house sound. It pretty much applies every bit of criticism lobbed towards the Layla and Lola in what I feel is the best way possible, and I think this one’s gonna be a real hit for them; in the enthusiast sector, especially.
Things I’d personally take note of would be its tight, neutral mid-bass until you turn its dials up about 60-70% of the way. And, its midrange isn’t the wettest, most intimate-sounding in the world either, despite how outstandingly textured, detailed and, yet, substantive - dense - it is. But, in terms of stage expansion, imaging precision, resolution, end-to-end extension and doing them all with well-structured, nuanced and dynamic instruments to boot, it - at the moment - has got quite the head start. Now, all I have to do is spend more time with it to see where it finishes in the race.
I have never actually heard any other jh iems, so I have no point of reference there. My current "benchmark" so to speak is the 64 nio, which even with the fir O module, they are still pretty warm and I would say "lush".Yeah, they're certainly airier and cleaner than the JH sound people tend to identify with. But, again, I feel it's more so when the bass is anywhere below 2 o'clock. Above that, I think it can have between a neutral or neutral-natural sound. But, yes, as always, a direct demo is always the unequivocal best.
By ease-of-wear, what I mean is they won't be as vanishing and - for lack of a better word - ignore-able as typical customs. You can't lie down or lean your head against anything, etc. And, they're a bit heavier than your typical CIEM too, but not by a significant amount. As long as JH gets the fit right, they should really be no issue. You could perhaps request a more relaxed fit too if you're concerned about comfort.
Thanks so much, man! 'Hope you get to try them soon.
Thanks! I'm really stoked to work on it too.
They had a 25% off sale last year, and I believe they have Black Friday promos as well.
That timing could work out great if there is another promo and that would cover import fees/taxes to the UK.Thanks! I'm really stoked to work on it too.
They had a 25% off sale last year, and I believe they have Black Friday promos as well.
