[Gilly87]

Patents are a messy situation. I'd say that if Jerry was really anticompetitive, he probably would have patented any number of his numerous innovations prior to FP.

At the end of the day, he is innovating and pushing the industry forward, which ultimately benefits everyone, regardless of however JH benefits in the process.

Except for the fact that they patent everything even remotely inventive they put out, thus artificially restraining the trickle down effect for years and sentencing us all to worse more expensive technology.  But they all do this I guess, except for Tesla and props to them.  If it was a free market and patents didn't exist, you'd see new technologies being modified and improved soon after their original release, as it should be.  This works out better for everyone and the creator still gets the first to market advantage for some time.  The often unnoticed side of the coin is that if you don't patent something, somebody else will patent and use the state against you and say you stole it from them(because they were the first to patent it).  IMO the best thing to do in this unfree market is to patent and then immediately release the patents for all to use, thus securing yourself from scam artists who would seek to claim they made it first while not restraining the marketplace in order to ensure technology advances organically without artificial state erected barriers.  This would be better for all, but apparently tesla is the only company to figure this out.

 

[goodvibes]

  I went into the Astell and Kern room at CES an listened to the Layla and Angie with my Hifiman 901. I liked the Angie much better. It seemed more coherent to me with the less drivers and more musical. I also heard them with the AK240 and still liked them better with my 901.

I think K10/Roxanne/jh16 fans will prefer the Layla and UERM/JH13/Miracle fans may prefer the Angie. I also preferred the Angie at the show but not as significantly as you did. I suspect that you left the bass controls where they were as I did.

 

[germanturkey]

was the sound stage/imaging and all that jazz that people hyped about the layla the same (probably not) on the angie?

 

[Simon T]

  Hello all. I am new to Head-fi and I wanted to celebrate something by registering on Head-fi, which I read from time to time but never posted on. Today I got myself a pair of JH Audio Layla. It came sooner than expected as the main lot was expected to arrive at the end of the month but it happens that the distributor has two extra pairs that came with their demo lot, so I am a lucky guy as I pre-ordered last Friday after brief auditioning.
 
A bit of my IEM history. I started years ago with ER4P and then some of the then flagships, including SE530, TF10 Pro and Westone 3. Although the other flagships had improvements over the ER4P, I still missed the neutrality of the ER4P and its sensitivity to different equipment, including headphone amps and cables.
 
Fast forward a few years. I got some top of the line IEMs including the recent Noble Audio K-10 and the Shure SE846. I am very satisfied with them, with SE846 having an impeccable, deep and clean bass while K-10 reminds me the neutrality of the ER4P with a slight warmish hint. I also auditioned the Roxanne but it did not impress me much. Last Friday I heard the Layla demo unit and immediately fell in love with it. It bears a lot of similarity with the K-10 but the vocal imaging is even better and the sound stage and airiness is even better than the K-10. I thought my K-10 was the holy grail, until I heard the Layla. One caveat here: I have never owned any JH Audio products. I just had an audition of the Roxanne, probably not for a meaningful enough period of time. I know Jerry Harvey has made many wonderful products since he built JH Audio, including the JH13 Pro and JH16 Pro - regrettably I have not heard any of them so I won't be able to compare the Layla with them.
 
Soundstage / Imaging
 
First I tested it with my iPhone 6+. I immediately hear the difference with K-10. Although both are quite neutral, the Layla seems to have a slight more emphasis on low female vocal which brings the magic. I would say the Layla has a more "open" sound although it is a strange word to use for IEMs. As noted above, the imaging is very good on the Layla as compared with the K10, and the overall sound is more coherent and tight, thanks most probably to Freqphase.
 
I then changed to the 2.5mm balanced cable (the change was very easy as compared to switching cables on, say, the SE846). I turned on balanced mode on my AK240 and immediately I have no doubt that the Layla is made to match with the AK240 (sorry but I don't have a chance to test it on AK100 or AK120, which I don't have). Everything just sounds even better, I guess understandable as I was using the iPhone just now. It is the first time that I think my AK240 is totally worth it. Yes the AK240 sounds good with the K-10 too, especially with DSD or high res music, but the difference with iPhone out on the K10 is not worth >$2,000 IMO. Now with the Layla I can totally say that the AK240 was money well spent.
 
Soundstage is the most impressive aspect of the Layla in my opinion therefore I put it here first - even before the frequencies "analysis".
 
Treble / Mid / Bass
 
Getting so used to the K10, it is hard for me to say something new about the different frequency ranges. I will leave the frequency charts to the experts for a more objective view. From what I hear, the Layla simply matches and in the mids, surpassed the K10. It is almost everything like the K10 but take everything up one notch. Not a big step but a noticeable step up. One thing I am not too sure is the bass as I am now using it at the mid point of the bass switch and I intend to turn it all the way up later.
 
I want to talk about treble / mid / bass together because I want to emphasize that the transition is very coherent throughout. The sound is detailed at the treble but not overwhelming or fatiguing, and the mid is just heavenly. I don't have the tool with me now but I did turn the dials to half way and the bass is slightly weaker than the K10 at this point. SE846 is still my favorite bass IEM - I will test it tomorrow to see if the Layla's bass turned all the way up can match the deep and impactful bass that the SE846 has (with the neutral filters).
 
Overall Impression
 
I am deeply impressed by the Layla. At close to twice the price of my custom K-10, I am not sure if it is twice as good, but considering that my Layla is a universal version and my K-10 is custom-made, I would say that Layla does surpass the current heap of flagships that I have heard, including the K-10 and SE846. In the past 24 months I thought the IEM race should have come to an end, as more drivers would be impossible and anything that claims to improve upon the current batch would simply be a matter of tuning and taste. But I was wrong. The JH Audio Layla does stand out among the current flagships that I have heard. Although at twice the price of most of the top-of-the-line IEMs the law of diminishing return applies quite heavily, there is no doubt that the Layla stands as the best pair of IEMs I have heard since my journey for the holy grail began more than ten years ago.

 
Thanks a lot for the impressions LuisArmstrong on the Universal model, trying to find out as much as I can  on JH Audio Layla. They might become my first pair of CIEMs, depending on my "ears-on" experience when auditioning them, prices for the custom version + mark up from distributors/dealers outside the U.S., and how they fare against other wish list products coming out this year.
 
Since 2015, is shaping out to be another good year for audio enthusiasts (not so great for the wallets though...); including announcements in CES for the Audeze EL-8 series and HiFiMan HE1000.
 
Cheers

 

[Jwm48324]

 
I think K10/Roxanne/jh16 fans will prefer the Layla and UERM/JH13/Miracle fans may prefer the Angie. I also oreferred the Angie at the show but as significantly as you did. I suspect that you left the bass controls where they were as I did.

Yes I left the bass control alone.

 

[goodvibes]

 
Yes I left the bass control alone.

LOL I meant to say ' not as significantly' but I didn't spend that much time with the layla as it was a bit full sounding for my palette as set up in the AK240. I thought the AK240 and Angie combo was brilliant. I won't know how I really feel about them unless I get more time and am able to adjust the pots. 

 

[JarodL1]

Now that the pricing for the custom version ($2,595) has come out, I am having a hard time deciding whether I should upgrade to the Roxannes or Laylas from my JH13s.  It is almost a 60% premium and I am not sure the "flatter" sound signature is something I would be interested in.

 

[timmyzai]

Thank you for your review. May I ask are you located in Hong Kong as I see the "ECT" in the unboxing pictures. I'm really interested in the Layla as well but would like to audition them first since they are so expensive. If indeed you are in hk, mind to share which store? 

 

[germanturkey]

the custom is only $95 more than the universal?  it apparently offers (a lot) more than just a flatter presentation.  

 

[Ike1985]

Patents are a messy situation. I'd say that if Jerry was really anticompetitive, he probably would have patented any number of his numerous innovations prior to FP.

At the end of the day, he is innovating and pushing the industry forward, which ultimately benefits everyone, regardless of however JH benefits in the process.

 
The man himself may not be anticompetitive, but the state has created the conditions that result in an anticompetitive market that he must play in.  But he could chose to protect his inventions while at the same time not restricting the market if he so desired.

 

[altrunox]

  the custom is only $95 more than the universal? 

 
without the carbon fiber...

 

[Mimouille]

I think K10/Roxanne/jh16 fans will prefer the Layla and UERM/JH13/Miracle fans may prefer the Angie. I also preferred the Angie at the show but not as significantly as you did. I suspect that you left the bass controls where they were as I did.

What about SE5/Ref1/NT6/335/Roxanne/Miracle fans?

 

[ubs28]

   
The man himself may not be anticompetitive, but the state has created the conditions that result in an anticompetitive market that he must play in.  But he could chose to protect his inventions while at the same time not restricting the market if he so desired.

In my opinion he should protect his inventions aggressively. Why should other companies make money of his hard work? I'd happily pay $5000 for a groundbreaking IEM as my respect for his hard work. 
 
Patents trolls shouldn't exist though in my opinion. They just buy patents in bulk they never intend on using. And then one day they hope someone invents the same thing and starts lawsuits. 

 

[ejong7]

Disclaimer : I have fairly limited exposure to CIEMs, having no experience with the sounds of say a UM Mentor/Miracle, Noble K10's or the Legend R's. I do try to listen to as many universals as possible as theyre easy to get a hold of a demo set.
 
Here's my take on the Layla's : WHATTTTTTTTT IS THIS MAGIC NO NO NO MY WALLET REFUSE TO BELIEVE PLEASE....
 
Alright I calmed down. It just sound freaking awesome. Personally for me Im on the side of the 13's in the JH13 vs JH16 debate but I got the Roxannes as the soundstage on it is so expansive for an iem + just better details that I can pick up. I put the bass knob on the Roxannes to the lowest possible and it still sound a tad too much bass for me but it was the best universal I demo-ed and subsequently owned. Until I heard the Layla's.
 
For comparison, Roxannes - 0 bass knob. Layla's - roughly 10/11 o clock on the bass knob. I dont tend to like the flat flat flat earphones but with the bass tuned slightly higher the Laylas worked for me. Better separation, clarity and gone was the (relatively) boomy bass of the Roxannes. To me, they really sound open, even to the extent of lesser open headphones. It was so easy to listen to, and compared to my Roxannes, there were no signs of fatigue to me. The mids sounds just right and it works well for both female/male voices. And its also less aggressive than my Roxannes, which I welcome more.
 
I heard the Angies as well but hearing it before hearing the Layla I would honestly say I completely forgot everythng about the Angie cause the Layla blew me too far away from them. But as far as I could remember, they share similar signatures, but Angie is just slightly less resolving and sound probably as wide a soundstage as the Roxanne (which is huge for an iem to begin with).
 
Are they worth their price? I would say if the increase in quality compared to the Roxannes might not warrant the price difference, but if money wasnt a worry i would choose the Laylas anyday of the week. But if you want me to give an honest opinion, I would say the money is better spent on getting a very good rig before you think about jumping straight to this. But if you have cash to spare why not right. As always, YMMV.

 

[germanturkey]

   
without the carbon fiber...

well, that does absolutely nothing for sound.  its just fluff.