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Yeh, that was me. I went to place my order for the JH13/3a when I noticed it had dissapeared from the website!
Although a number of people have said in the past (before any units were shipped) that with the bass control you can get the 16 to mimic the 13, the spec definitely says that the bass control operates from -0 to + 12db and I certainly can't imagine ever wanting a 12db boot on the 16's from what I've heard listening to a demo pair of JH-16's.
Warp08 also said " I know I won't touch the "Bass" dial too many times" so I also asked on FB for clarification on the bass control, whether it's purely boost or if it can apply a bass cut.. If it can't and now that the option for getting the 13/3a combo has been pulled, that would be a deal breaker for me and I'd just stick with the non active JH13 pro. I'll wait and see what JH reply but in the meantime if any of the lucky souls that have received theirs can perhaps confirm if the bass control can apply a cut to the bass?
Every time I logon to this thread, there is always another interesting development.
I love my JH13 Pros because their neutrality offers great synergy with the warmth of my HifiMAN HM-602's TD1543 DAC as a source (forget the TWag for a second). I love my JH16s more with the WhipMOD/WhipLOD/Pico Slim combo, although I do admit that certain reference tracks like those on the Bella Sonus Enamoured album produce a slightly overdone bass impact, but for the overwhelming majority of the albums I listen to that combination works just fine. I need to add the obligatory "to my ears" because not everyone hears the same way, as we know and we don't listen to the same genres either.
However, the JH-3A is a different beast because of the DSP. It does change everything. Can you make the baseline the same as the JH13s? Sure, it's already very, very close to that. Can it be further adjusted for those who prefer even less bottom end than the JH13s can provide? Why not? It's just a another parametric setting, all you need to know what freq range and the -dB you want it dropped. Before you couldn't do any of this, the best you were able to do is pick a different IC or IEM replacement cable (say silver vs. copper or vice versa) to tune the SQ to your liking.
Those of you who've read my ancient JH13 vs. JH16 review know that essentially the JH16 Pro is a superset to the JH13 Pro, because it's a triple-bore architecture vs. dual-bore and its quad-bass driver cluster can provide a much superior punch to anything the JH13 is capable of. Particularly in live recordings, drum or beat-centric genres this is a major plus and a lot closer to true live music experience than the purist "studio" experience in many ways. I have the luxury of owning both and use them selectively. With the JH-3A, it simply doesn't matter since you can have them set the baseline to whatever you want it to be and get rid of the default 50 Hz/6dB "bass hump" default on the conventional 16s altogether.
This is just my opinion, based on my experience with these products, Your mileage may vary. For the record, I have had no knowledge of JHA cutting the /13 option until I've read it here, but I think it makes sense, since there is really no downside--except whatever minor price difference there was between the two packages--which was not much to begin with.
As far as impressions of the JH16s based on the demo shells...well, those only provide but a mere glimpse of what the fully customized product can do, because of the universal tip. Try pushing your own shells a bit further in or out and see what that does to the SQ. I bet only 1 out of 10 attempts manage to position those demo shells even remotely close to the ideal position for optimum frequency phase mix hitting the eardrums. The irony is that it's still better than most universals out there, so people do order them based on that.
Sorry for the rant. Just tune me out, if not already...
JH Audio We are only offering the JH3A with JH16 now. 42 minutes ago
