[acain]

The drivers for the Layla are new and made for JH drivers are not cheap. I make my own ciem's and order the drivers from Knowles and they are very expensive. For me to make a dual driver the materials cost me over $200 alone.

 

[jamato8]

The drivers for the Layla are new and made for JH drivers are not cheap. I make my own ciem's and order the drivers from Knowles and they are very expensive. For me to make a dual driver the materials cost me over $200 alone.

Buy them from the people Knowles gets them from. 

 

[lramirez1959]

Angie, you can't say we're satisfied......

 

[proedros]

i don't/can't own any of these high-priced CIEMs , so my thoughts are 100% unbiased - so here are my 2 cents

i find it funny(at least) people bashing JH and not Noble which charges the prestige series an extra ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS for something which is only better than the K10 in the SHELL materials (if i am wrong here, please correct me)
 
let's go one more time -people paying AN EXTRA ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS for no sound improvement,whatsoever

really ?

it's a free market/capitalism thing , but i can't help but think there are too many wealthy/stupid people in the audiophile community if you are a CIEM company and think there are enough customers out there who are going to pay an EXTRA ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS just for the looks of their CIEM -and i didn't see any bashing over at the Noble thread

maybe i am wrong....maybe. or maybe not.

 

[highwind2008]

  LOL at all the people saying that they are going to be moving to Fitear...smh you get absolutely no customer support from fitear unless you live in japan/asia, any contact you do get is in japanese, and if you live in NA/EU its such a hassle having to go through a third party importer just to get the frickin things. Also no warranty at all. And FYI fitear and all those other jap companies don't care about their foreign customers, why anyone would want to do business with a company that holds that mindset just boggles my mind.

 
What I can say is that Fitear does care about their customers. I've contacted them several times and received nice replies in English though their English is not that good.. The main reason they would not sell me their earphones is because they can not provide after sales service to me.. They prefer to keep in touch with their clients after the original purchase and I do understand that.  Anyway,  I still got two pairs of Fitear universals and they are amazing  

 

[VisceriousZERO]

i don't/can't own any of these high-priced CIEMs , so my thoughts are 100% unbiased - so here are my 2 cents


i find it funny(at least) people bashing JH and not Noble which charges the prestige series an extra ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS for something which is only better than the K10 in the SHELL materials (if i am wrong here, please correct me)

 
let's go one more time -people paying AN EXTRA ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS for no sound improvement,whatsoever


really ?


it's a free market/capitalism thing , but i can't help but think there are too many wealthy/stupid people in the audiophile community if you are a CIEM company and think there are enough customers out there who are going to pay an EXTRA ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS just for the looks of their CIEM -and i didn't see any bashing over at the Noble thread


maybe i am wrong....maybe. or maybe not.

Well they didnt market the Prestige as "better than the K10" but "its exactly the K10 but its finished with better materials" unlike the Layla which is a 12-driver like the roxys but "better", Noble is just giving the option to "get wood" (too much innuendo on the thread).

Honestly I liked both the roxannes and the K10s, though the K10s are still my choice, I'm interested in at least hearing the new JHs, especially the Angie. I'm interested in how they will be doing the highs on that and praying it wont be as harsh as the early JH models.

Knowing me as well, I'll probably be getting them anyway in the future..

 

[Ivabign]

Unfortunately, most people want that moniker of having the best there is. It's human nature. How many people have actually took the model that's a step down into consideration? Everyone is guilty of this, myself included, so I can't blame anyone for being disappointed upon realizing that what they got just a couple of months ago is no longer the best, like promised. JH Audio marketed the Roxannes as such, and no one likes it when a company lies. Tack on the issues with production, and it could potentially make your blood boil.

I understand the human nature aspect of it - but when it boils down to it, this is about music reproduction - or should be. Yes, the Carbon Fiber situation was a fiasco - but they were pushing the envelope - and it seems to be those who were looking for flagship status that added that material to their order as it had nothing to do with the sound - but we are over a year since the Roxanne was announced. A lot has happened in a year in this industry. If they hadn't done something now, they could also be accused of resting on their laurels. But that doesn't change feelings - and all feelings are valid - I just hope that it doesn't detract from the enjoyment the Roxannes have given owners in the last 12 months.

 

[L0SLobos]

Unfortunately, most people want that moniker of having the best there is. It's human nature. How many people have actually took the model that's a step down into consideration? Everyone is guilty of this, myself included, so I can't blame anyone for being disappointed upon realizing that what they got just a couple of months ago is no longer the best, like promised. JH Audio marketed the Roxannes as such, and no one likes it when a company lies. Tack on the issues with production, and it could potentially make your blood boil.

At the time of their release, the Roxannes were "the best" JH earphones. There was no miscommunication. As an example, look at Apple. They came out with the iPhone 6/6+ a few months ago. The 6+ is "the best" phone that Apple has right now. Less than a year from now there will be an iPhone 7/7s and it (6+) will no longer be the flagship. Nobody will complain, because there was no false marketing. Technology moves fast, what was once the "top of the line" won't be the best in the future, it will be replaced by a new flagship but that doesn't mean that the old "best" isn't still good. And considering that the Layla is $1000 more than the Roxanne, they are clearly not competing products.
 
Another thing. If you're in this hobby and want "the best there is" without having to buy new gear every year you had better quit headphones and switch to hifi speakers. A TOTL hifi sytem costing $500 000+ from 10 years ago is still pretty much "the best" compared to the speakers today- obviously due to the fact that speaker technology has largely matured. With headphone/earphone tech still having a ways to go before its matured and gains become minimal (especially with BA technology) expect new "flagships" to come out very often.
 

   
What I can say is that Fitear does care about their customers. I've contacted them several times and received nice replies in English though their English is not that good.. The main reason they would not sell me their earphones is because they can not provide after sales service to me.. They prefer to keep in touch with their clients after the original purchase and I do understand that.  Anyway,  I still got two pairs of Fitear universals and they are amazing  

I was only talking about fitear's universals, since I have no experience with buying custom iems from them. Since they don't have any branch office in USA/Canada its hard to get warranty service from them.

 

[atistatic]

i will pay 2500 for a CIEM, when they can make a CIEM with DT 880 soundstage at least.

 

[Dinerenblanc]

  At the time of their release, the Roxannes were "the best" JH earphones. There was no miscommunication. As an example, look at Apple. They came out with the iPhone 6/6+ a few months ago. The 6+ is "the best" phone that Apple has right now. Less than a year from now there will be an iPhone 7/7s and it (6+) will no longer be the flagship. Nobody will complain, because there was no false marketing. Technology moves fast, what was once the "top of the line" won't be the best in the future, it will be replaced by a new flagship but that doesn't mean that the old "best" isn't still good. And considering that the Layla is $1000 more than the Roxanne, they are clearly not competing products.
 
Another thing. If you're in this hobby and want "the best there is" without having to buy new gear every year you had better quit headphones and switch to hifi speakers. A TOTL hifi sytem costing $500 000+ from 10 years ago is still pretty much "the best" compared to the speakers today- obviously due to the fact that speaker technology has largely matured. With headphone/earphone tech still having a ways to go before its matured and gains become minimal (especially with BA technology) expect new "flagships" to come out very often.
 
I was only talking about fitear's universals, since I have no experience with buying custom iems from them. Since they don't have any branch office in USA/Canada its hard to get warranty service from them.

Hey, I wasn't arguing that the Roxannes wasn't the best there was, and frankly it's not of matter to me since I don't own them, but they weren't simply advertised as being the best at that moment. Every feeling is valid, but it's justifiable for someone to be annoyed when they waited 6 to 10 months for their Roxannes only to have the next TOTL model debut just as they receive their order. As for the iPhones, we know when the next iteration comes out and we know what to expect from it, so we know what we're potentially getting into with our purchases, but we can't say the same when it comes to CIEMs. As I've said before, you're never purchasing a product, you're purchasing an experience, and purchasing a CIEM is a much more personal one. In contrast to simply going online to order a iPhone, a CIEM requires you to make an appointment and get impressions before receiving something that molded to your ears, a much more involving process. It's made just for you, and its harder to remain unattached when purchasing such a personal item. 

 

[fiascogarcia]

  i don't/can't own any of these high-priced CIEMs , so my thoughts are 100% unbiased - so here are my 2 cents

i find it funny(at least) people bashing JH and not Noble which charges the prestige series an extra ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS for something which is only better than the K10 in the SHELL materials (if i am wrong here, please correct me)
 
let's go one more time -people paying AN EXTRA ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS for no sound improvement,whatsoever

really ?

it's a free market/capitalism thing , but i can't help but think there are too many wealthy/stupid people in the audiophile community if you are a CIEM company and think there are enough customers out there who are going to pay an EXTRA ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS just for the looks of their CIEM -and i didn't see any bashing over at the Noble thread

maybe i am wrong....maybe. or maybe not.

There's probably no bashing Noble because Noble owners aren't feeling like their regular (?!!) K10's are already being technologically replaced by a new flagship.  And I get the capitalism thing, so JH can charge whatever they want, as can Noble with the Prestige.  If someone can afford them and buy them, it's all good.  I personally have a saturation point with upgrades, but I know that point varies with the individual.

 

[lramirez1959]

The term saturation point with upgrades is perfect.
At those price points I think Angie and K10 will be in the same tier, specially if there are holiday promotions from Noble.
 
Layla alone above the coulds.
 
I received my Noble 4s this week, and: wow !!, that Noble "house"sound signature is really something.

 

[Fririce0003]

The main "butt hurt" point for me is that I like to buy TOTL to cut out the expenses of needing to upgrade, if I knew of the Layla release prior to ordering I would've held off to try them both and see if the price jump was worth it, that way I'd only need to put in the difference... Now though I'd have to start saving again entirely so it's $1500 vs $3000 AUD.
The Roxanne's are still good and will likely do me fine, but there's always the 'could it be better?' In the back of my mind.

 

[proedros]

i wonder if layla makes you breakfast as well - for 2500$ she ought to know how to make a coffee at least

(madness)

 

[ejong7]

Don't really mind the fact it superseded my Roxannes, just feel like listening to it to see how much 1000 more gives.