[vikinguy]

I haven’t ever heard sibilance on any of my JM headphones. I bought Arya Organic to AB with XTC 2 and the reason I sold organic was the slight instances of spicy treble. I LOVE Hifiman headphones too.

I really like Organic but my XTC 2 is just perfect to my ear.

 

[Bjorn154]

The other thing that can be said about high resolution phones like the XTC is that they can be ruthlessly revealing of not only recordings but also of associated equipment up the chain, my Benchmark HPA4 amp being one such animal. If your electronic chain has a certain character, as most do, your headphones may not be the driver of the sound you hear but your associated equipment indeed be the culprit.

Well said. I am using an Auralic Aries G1, a modified Bel Canto DAC 3.7 and a 2023 Burson 3X GT with V7 Vivid op-amps and upgraded power supply connected with Wywires Diamond and Platinum cables. There is no hint sibilance or other unwelcome distortions on my 32 Ohm XTC2’s. Having strived for the lowest noise floor possible the detail is amazing!

Well said. I am using an Auralic Aries G1, a modified Bel Canto DAC 3.7 and a 2023 Burson 3X GT with V7 Vivid op-amps and upgraded power supply connected with Wywires Diamond and Platinum cables. There is no hint sibilance or other unwelcome distortions on my 32 Ohm XTC2’s. Having strived for the lowest noise floor possible the detail is amazing!

Just to make sure I am listening to Norah right now - her S’s can be particularly hissing on lesser equipment- and no hint of sibilance.

 

[Alien HP]

Just to make sure I am listening to Norah right now - her S’s can be particularly hissing on lesser equipment- and no hint of sibilance.

Can you listen to Easy On Me by Adele? People report it has harsh notes when listening with the new Emperyan II headphone for example. So I wonder how the XTC 2.5 handles it with different tunings.

 

[Bjorn154]

Can you listen to Easy On Me by Adele? People report it has harsh notes when listening with the new Emperyan II headphone for example. So I wonder how the XTC 2.5 handles it with different tunings.

Had not listened to that one for a while and I can see where things can go awry. I tried it with both the 64 Ohm tuned with enhanced bass/detailed slightly on the warm side and the 32 Ohm ultra resolution. Neither had any hint of sibilance. The 64 Ohm is smooth as can be without any hint of harshness. With the 32 Ohm it becomes even more voice forward but while it may not fall in the relaxing territory it is not harsh by any means just hyper realistic. You almost feel like you could touch her face while with the 64 Ohm you are watching her from a slight distance.

Had not listened to that one for a while and I can see where things can go awry. I tried it with both the 64 Ohm tuned with enhanced bass/detailed slightly on the warm side and the 32 Ohm ultra resolution. Neither had any hint of sibilance. The 64 Ohm is smooth as can be without any hint of harshness. With the 32 Ohm it becomes even more voice forward but while it may not fall in the relaxing territory it is not harsh by any means just hyper realistic. You almost feel like you could touch her face while with the 64 Ohm you are watching her from a slight distance.

To elaborate if I was to advise someone the 32 Ohm ultra resolving should probably not be your first and only XTC2. The 64 Ohm is more user friendly and somewhat forgiving while with the 32 Ohm will give you the good, bad and ugly in equal measure. On great recordings this can be very exhilarating but any little flaws will surely stand out. More for intense analytical listening than kicking back in your chair and drift off into the music like with the 64 Ohm.

Can you listen to Easy On Me by Adele? People report it has harsh notes when listening with the new Emperyan II headphone for example. So I wonder how the XTC 2.5 handles it with different tunings.

Got the 2.5’s out this morning. Had to get some sleep. They are tuned linear down well below human hearing, detailed slightly on the warm side. Of the three these are my favorites with this particular song. No sibilance or harshness. A very intimate experience with her voice very detailed, supremely smooth and emotional. Adele in general sounds amazing on these HP’s and you really get the feeling you are there with her on this emotionally charged album. Her arrangements are pretty simple so it’s all about her and her voice really.

Can you listen to Easy On Me by Adele? People report it has harsh notes when listening with the new Emperyan II headphone for example. So I wonder how the XTC 2.5 handles it with different tunings.

I think it is important to note that the tuning is very system dependent. You are not going to make a reference level system out of a crappy streamer hooked up to a noisy HPA by tuning. If anything these amazing HP’s can reveal every flaw. However, by tuning them say a little warmer the flaws may not stand out so much. Both my reference systems have been designed first with a low noise floor in mind so very detailed but with a slightly warm touch. Keeping in mind these are what would amount to $15-20K front ends so I should be able to expect being able to use extremely detailed HP’s without the system getting in the way.
Thats why it’s so important to speak with John not only about your listening preferences but also about what the strengths and weaknesses of your system are and what you want to highlight or possibly de-emphasize. With what other HP could you do that?
Happy listening!

Got the 2.5’s out this morning. Had to get some sleep. They are tuned linear down well below human hearing, detailed slightly on the warm side. Of the three these are my favorites with this particular song. No sibilance or harshness. A very intimate experience with her voice very detailed, supremely smooth and emotional. Adele in general sounds amazing on these HP’s and you really get the feeling you are there with her on this emotionally charged album. Her arrangements are pretty simple so it’s all about her and her voice really.

Still stuck on Adele with the 2.5’s. These 2.5’s are truly amazing closed back HP’s. The perceived soundstage approaches the open back and they really do not come across as any other closed back I have encountered.

 

[oldson]

I haven’t ever heard sibilance on any of my JM headphones. I bought Arya Organic to AB with XTC 2 and the reason I sold organic was the slight instances of spicy treble. I LOVE Hifiman headphones too.

I really like Organic but my XTC 2 is just perfect to my ear.

this is very interesting.
i was tempted by the Organic before i bought my XTC1.
although i am happy with the XTC1, i do now wish i had gone "all out" for the XTC2 instead.

i am now interested in a closed XTC , either the XTCc, 1.5 or 2.5.
big price difference from bottom to top, but i dont want to repeat the same mistake.

 

[Bjorn154]

this is very interesting.
i was tempted by the Organic before i bought my XTC1.
although i am happy with the XTC1, i do now wish i had gone "all out" for the XTC2 instead.

i am now interested in a closed XTC , either the XTCc, 1.5 or 2.5.
big price difference from bottom to top, but i dont want to repeat the same mistake.

The 2.5 is pretty amazing!

 

[rlawry]

I had the XTC-C ^1.0 and now have the ^2.5. The sound on both was from the same family, using a beryllium driver (64 ohms for the 1.0 and 32 ohms for the 2.5) and nearly scapel tuning for the 1.0 and Wolf Hawk for the 2.5. You can't go wrong with any of the closed XTC as they have a full, warm, immediate sound with perfect bass that is deep and punchy, only called for when the recording calls for it. The 2.5 just has a little more of everything a headphone enthusiast could ask for but if you are on a tight budget I don't think the XTC-C 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 would be a big compromise in sound quality.

A recent regrettable buying experience of an audio product makes me want to give a shout-out to JM and his brand of customer service. When I tried to buy another audio product I was not able to buy it on their website as there was no product listing, stock level, or estimated ship date. I had to email the company to receive a PayPal invoice, pay for it upfront, and over the period of several weeks I was forced to contact them repeatedly when the product was not shipped after missing multiple delivery dates. Finally, out of exasperation, I cancelled my order and it took another week for the payment to be refunded to my PayPal account. Needless to say, I will never vote with my wallet to buy anything in the future from these clowns. This miserable experience seems to be occurring more and more these days and it makes me wonder how these dealers expect to keep my business, let along anyone else's.

My experience with these incompetent vendors stand in stark contrast to JMAE. When I placed my recent order for my XTC-Closed ^2.5 Euphoric Xtreme Trip phones, I was able to place the order and pay for it on the JMAE website. I immediately received an email from John who sent me pictures of available earcups, drivers, earpads, specifications, tuning options, and cables. John built the phones to my order over the weekend and shipped them on Monday across the country in 2 days. He followed up and asked me how I liked them and offered to change anything I didn't like for only the cost of shipping. Fortunately the phones were perfect and nothing had to be done but I felt reassured John was sincerely interested in my experience and willing to go the extra mile to maximize my comfort with the phones.

This type of customer service seems unfortunately to be becoming all-too-rare these days, particularly since it appears companies often use Covid-19 as a lame excuse for their lamentable poor customer service. I certainly know where my next audio products purchase will occur.

Congratulations to JM.

 

[Bjorn154]

A recent regrettable buying experience of an audio product makes me want to give a shout-out to JM and his brand of customer service. When I tried to buy another audio product I was not able to buy it on their website as there was no product listing, stock level, or estimated ship date. I had to email the company to receive a PayPal invoice, pay for it upfront, and over the period of several weeks I was forced to contact them repeatedly when the product was not shipped after missing multiple delivery dates. Finally, out of exasperation, I cancelled my order and it took another week for the payment to be refunded to my PayPal account. Needless to say, I will never vote with my wallet to buy anything in the future from these clowns. This miserable experience seems to be occurring more and more these days and it makes me wonder how these dealers expect to keep my business, let along anyone else's.

My experience with these incompetent vendors stand in stark contrast to JMAE. When I placed my recent order for my XTC-Closed ^2.5 Euphoric Xtreme Trip phones, I was able to place the order and pay for it on the JMAE website. I immediately received an email from John who sent me pictures of available earcups, drivers, earpads, specifications, tuning options, and cables. John built the phones to my order over the weekend and shipped them on Monday across the country in 2 days. He followed up and asked me how I liked them and offered to change anything I didn't like for only the cost of shipping. Fortunately the phones were perfect and nothing had to be done but I felt reassured John was sincerely interested in my experience and willing to go the extra mile to maximize my comfort with the phones.

This type of customer service seems unfortunately to be becoming all-too-rare these days, particularly since it appears companies often use Covid-19 as a lame excuse for their lamentable poor customer service. I certainly know where my next audio products purchase will occur.

Congratulations to JM.

Second that!

 

[andrewchoppa]

A recent regrettable buying experience of an audio product makes me want to give a shout-out to JM and his brand of customer service. When I tried to buy another audio product I was not able to buy it on their website as there was no product listing, stock level, or estimated ship date. I had to email the company to receive a PayPal invoice, pay for it upfront, and over the period of several weeks I was forced to contact them repeatedly when the product was not shipped after missing multiple delivery dates. Finally, out of exasperation, I cancelled my order and it took another week for the payment to be refunded to my PayPal account. Needless to say, I will never vote with my wallet to buy anything in the future from these clowns. This miserable experience seems to be occurring more and more these days and it makes me wonder how these dealers expect to keep my business, let along anyone else's.

My experience with these incompetent vendors stand in stark contrast to JMAE. When I placed my recent order for my XTC-Closed ^2.5 Euphoric Xtreme Trip phones, I was able to place the order and pay for it on the JMAE website. I immediately received an email from John who sent me pictures of available earcups, drivers, earpads, specifications, tuning options, and cables. John built the phones to my order over the weekend and shipped them on Monday across the country in 2 days. He followed up and asked me how I liked them and offered to change anything I didn't like for only the cost of shipping. Fortunately the phones were perfect and nothing had to be done but I felt reassured John was sincerely interested in my experience and willing to go the extra mile to maximize my comfort with the phones.

This type of customer service seems unfortunately to be becoming all-too-rare these days, particularly since it appears companies often use Covid-19 as a lame excuse for their lamentable poor customer service. I certainly know where my next audio products purchase will occur.

Congratulations to JM.

And it's this customer experience that will ensure jmaudio will grow and grow as a brand. One of the best in the business IMO

 

[MillionAntz]

I have purchased a lot of headphones in my search for my “perfect” headphone and nobody has come close to the level of customer service JM Audio provides!

 

[phoneslave86]

I used to do sibilance tests just about every day for a long time with the XTC very detailed. I was able to tune my audio system with them to zero sibilance to extreme sibilance on extreme sibilance test song with the same tuning. I like my system sitting several notches into sibilance, it's a nice compromise. Most songs have zero sibilance, some will have very little, and a few will have a bit that's annoying sometimes. Imaging and clarity is lost if watering it down and I like to push it a bit. I've noticed high sibilance and digital grain go together for me in the past. My system is quite a bit less sibilant, near zero grain or very little and more revealing on average than before. Reducing noise, improving source feed, clocks, pairings and synergy all help.

My open backs have massive bass no doubt with extreme bass tuning. I love it, drums and horns are grand like this. My system has even more bass now with 20A large gauge dedicated lines. The perf leather pads were extremely boomy/reverb and my system was very euphonic, very warm when I got those. I've been able to use them with my system now with no difference in tuning and those pads. I still can't use the cut-out version of perf or I get some undesireable muddling/boom/reverb. I can tell just a few more neutral cables or tweaks I could use it if I wanted to. Perf leather not-cut out has less boom/bass/reverb if things are over the line of maximum in the pairing and will be easier to control a bit. I think these are great pads but I still like fuzzy the most overall, swapping them when I want is the ideal world. The bottom can kinda fall out of the music to speak with these though if something is off or not synergized right and fuzzy will clear it right up every time if that issue is there. When things are right for these pads they will sound full and natural nothing weird of course. Very nice punchy sub bass, nice focusing in some mids and upper that is unique to them. It's a nice option to have but won't work with some pairings. They do not work with Ibasso DX320 with tube amp 14 on some songs with this tuning, would have to retune the headphone to make that work.

I did quite a few big upgrades and added more neutral/reference interconnects to my system. Imaging has scaled quite a bit more. No telling the limit of these headphones. Even my Jot 2 is liquid, no rough edges, nothing like it used to be and it's strange to hear it like that. I often think it's a tube amp if I forget about it. Eye opening about the digital potential.

 

[oldson]

how good is the isolation on the closed back models folks?
interested in all 3 current models

 

[Bjorn154]

how good is the isolation on the closed back models folks?
interested in all 3 current models

My wife has not complained like she does with the open back - she has still not quite understood that I am not blowing my ears out with the open. From a listeners perspective I would say ok but not great. The AC fan when running at home still has a little of that white noise effect at lower volumes but nothing too intrusive like the open.

 

[rlawry]

I have to use closed-back phones as I listen to music through them early in the morning in my living room that is just outside our bedroom where my wife is still asleep with the door open. Since she is easily awakened by any noise whatsoever including the booming crash of a feather hitting the floor I need good isolation from music leaking out of the headphones. I have never received any punishment for waking her up with the XTC-Closed ^2.5 (or the ^1.0 when I previously owned a pair), so my take is that they don't leak much sound nor do I hear much outside the phones while listening.

 

[ozz007]

XTC close 2.5 are very good for isolation. Wife is happy now lol