O_o;
No really I keep thinking that my UE900's are gonna fall off. But Im back to used to it.
O_o;
JH Audio Layla universal!
First of all I have to admit, I’m not an audiophile or hi-fi oriented person. I’m sound engineer and music producer. This can significantly affect my point of view on Layla or any headphones in general.
I do consider only a good headphones or bad headphones. Good are those who can translate the sound exactly, or closest possible way to how the song is meant to be heard (how the original artist / producer intended).
On the other side the bad headphones are all those, where are any of the parts or frequencies played differently than they should be (coloration, smoothness, emphasised certain parts of freq. spectrum, etc). I do not understand the point of having the headphones which makes the song sound different. So this can be some hard fight with the audiophiles, who actually find something like this as an advantage
Some of the other audiophile terms used to describe qualities a different way, are mostly psycho acoustic hard to measure feelings, which are difficult to describe, and hard to explain (at least to me, being a non-english native). So I will just keep it short, what I hear compared to my other IEMs or studio setups I’m used to work with.
Last note - most of the professional studio reference monitors used to create the recordings by vast majority of artists and producers are near field, or mid field type produced by Focal, Genelec, Adam, Dynaudio and many others. Most of them are 2 speakers, 2 way or 3 speakers, 3 way. In a few extreme cases up to 7 speakers, 4 way - Adam S7A Mk2 / $48,000 pair.
So the ‘driver war’ is not any kind of measurement. 2 way 2 drivers can produce same quality sound as the 4 way, 4 drivers.
Perfect similarity is shown there in headphone world - when you look at the only two ‘producer reference’ IEMs on a current market - Ultimate Ears In-Ear Reference Monitor (3 way / 3 drivers) vs. JH Audio Layla (4 way / triple quad driver - 12 drivers).
The hardest part is the fit. They are huge. I mean more huge than I thought from the already published photos. Significant part of the Layla stick out of the ear. I don’t care about that - but someone who consider to use them in a public needs to have that in mind - you look weird.
Provided tips are just the basic selection - not sure what aftermarket companies (Comply / Spinfit) will introduce for this Siren series, but for now the choice is very limited. All the tips are completely unusable for me (this can explain some negative comments over the forums from US / UK listeners). Only tips which can perfectly seal my ears are the smallest foam tips - and I can imagine I’m not the only person with the same problem, as my ears are average size - nothing special. All the other tips are fully out of the game and makes the Layla not usable at all.
I’ve got like 4 hours of listening only, but I consider the Layla as exactly what JH promotes - a reference / mastering IEM.
The sound is perfect. Whole frequency spectrum is amazingly translated without any flaws. I have found, that there is big similarity with IERM, but the sound from Layla is much “bigger” yet preserves still superflat sound signature. Bass frequencies are with better impact than what IERM can do, very fast and exactly as they should be.
NT6 as the ‘king of clarity’ is also very close, but Layla wins over there. NT6 has slight emphasis on mids which doesn’t sound exactly as the source.
Sound of Layla is perfectly flat and when I compare it to the reference studio speakers like Adam S4X-H, Genelec 8250A, Event Opal, Focal SM9 it is unbelievable how close the signature is. JH Audio made finally possible what I have been looking for. To have your own personal sound studio in your head without any problems of a room treatment, listening position and other things you have to care about in a real studio environment.
Final conclusion - Layla outperforms IERM and NT6 (both the current best reference IEMs on the market).
I’m fairly impressed - if you are looking for the best in ear headphone. There it is. Custom version will probably solve the fit problems. If you don’t care about the price, don’t look any further.
(There are tons of other manufacturers who makes amazing designs, amazing IEMs/CIEMs but they do not play the music correctly, so there is no contest when compared to Layla).
JH Audio Layla universal!
So the ‘driver war’ is not any kind of measurement. 2 way 2 drivers can produce same quality sound as the 4 way, 4 drivers.
(There are tons of other manufacturers who makes amazing designs, amazing IEMs/CIEMs but they do not play the music correctly, so there is no contest when compared to Layla).
JH Audio Layla universal!
Thanks for the very informative and complete feedback. Now the key question is : do people want a perfectly flat / neutral to the source iem. I like fairly neutral iems such as my SE5 / NT6 but sometimes like a bit of 335.
I’ve got like 4 hours of listening only, but I consider the Layla as exactly what JH promotes - a reference / mastering IEM.
The sound is perfect. Whole frequency spectrum is amazingly translated without any flaws. I have found, that there is big similarity with IERM, but the sound from Layla is much “bigger” yet preserves still superflat sound signature. Bass frequencies are with better impact than what IERM can do, very fast and exactly as they should be.
NT6 as the ‘king of clarity’ is also very close, but Layla wins over there. NT6 has slight emphasis on mids which doesn’t sound exactly as the source.
Sound of Layla is perfectly flat and when I compare it to the reference studio speakers like Adam S4X-H, Genelec 8250A, Event Opal, Focal SM9 it is unbelievable how close the signature is. JH Audio made finally possible what I have been looking for. To have your own personal sound studio in your head without any problems of a room treatment, listening position and other things you have to care about in a real studio environment.
Final conclusion - Layla outperforms IERM and NT6 (both the current best reference IEMs on the market).
I’m fairly impressed - if you are looking for the best in ear headphone. There it is. Custom version will probably solve the fit problems. If you don’t care about the price, don’t look any further.
(There are tons of other manufacturers who makes amazing designs, amazing IEMs/CIEMs but they do not play the music correctly, so there is no contest when compared to Layla).
Thanks John. Great to read comparisons. I also like your focus on Reference.
BTW, is the IERM the same as the UERM?
If manufacturers would invest in building accurate listening systems nobody would look at anything else. But, in reality, it's much easier to make 'colored' (read inaccurate, but 'fun') ones.
If somebody thinks they can improve the sound of a production that was carefully put together by professional engineers in controlled listening environments, they have little idea about the process of making a great record. Hearing what the mastering engineer would hear when giving a record the final touch, should be what any true music lover and audiophile should aim for.
Nice to read a review from a fellow sound engineer, but I'd expect these IEMs to target an even more detailed response than the aforementioned studio speakers, since the 'mastering grade' term was used.
Not only that, but with everyone owning a different chain of source, dac, and amp, no one will get exactly the same level, or their impression, of flat/neutral. To get the full artist/producers intended sound, a release would almost need to outline recommended equipment with which to listen.
But that theory doesn't hold true with armature IEMs right, or does it in your opinion
Thanks!
Well, I did not see waterfall plot of Layla so I can't comment on it, but typically CIEMs/IEMs considered as reference/analytical are the brigther ones (but this is part of the story), but what's more important they have shorter decay (combined with quicker attack) to create faster sound. NT-6 is the example of such CIEM. According to the waterfall plot for example published on Rin Choi blog they have rather shorter than longer decay; this is somehow confirmed by listening impressions of various listeners.
Can someone please explain to me why the heck CIEMs/IEMs which unnaturally shortens the decay or which have too qucik attack are considered to be true to the recording. IMHO the things are other way around. If a given CIEM cannot reproduce for example the entire reverbancy time of bass why people consider it as reference; IMHO they are not reference.
John Culter, I'm curious about your impressions as to the Legend-R.