[gmahler2u]

 

[Bluebear]

  "the Roxanne sounded warm, with treble that seemed slightly pulled back. All the detail was there however. I couldn't understand why, so I asked Jerry about it afterwards. He said that the treble on the Roxannes was designed to be flat and neutral, with no peaks unlike other IEMs such as the JH13" source: http://www.headphiles.org/index.php?t=msg&goto=269719&



seems like i will pass on the Roxxane :< and wait for the next Serin series or go for another CIEM for now, glad that i didn't pre order.

 

 

Seems it's been said many times the Roxanne is a darker sound than the JH13/16.

 

Originally Posted by Bluebear /img/forum/go_quote.gif
...
 
Sound quality: 
Looking pass these small fit issues, I would say that the overall sonic performance is top-notched as expected from such an expensive IEM from JH. I don't own the JH13/16 FRs, so I cannot tell you how similar or different they sound to Roxanne, but the Roxanne comes across to me as some would describe it as dark or slightly V-shaped. Others may beg to differ so I don't want to go into that area but rather focus on comparing Roxanne to my 1plus2 here. The moment I connect up the Roxanne to my AK120+Pico SLIM and put them in my ears, my initial reaction to Roxanne's signature is that it is rather bass heavy. My hands immediately went for the screwdriver to turn the bass dial all the way down to minimum. At the minimum position, the bass is still there but much more mild and manageable to my ears (I'm not a bass head). I slowly turned the dials on both left and right channels up from min to max while listening to tracks and observe the change to the sonic signature. (This is 1 very convenient feature of Roxanne over AS-2/ASG-2 in that you can tune the bass to your liking while listening to the music). Anything over midway on the bass dials starts giving you the feeling of a real woofer in a home hi-fi setup. At maximum setting, you really feel like being in a room with a woofer at full blast and the music reverberating all over you. The variable bass feature of Roxanne is also very well done and I didn't detect any distortion or negative impact on the music across the frequency at any dial position (it sounded excellent even at max setting). Next I will try to describe its sound. When it comes to sound signature, I should say Roxanne is closer to my ASG-2 than my 1plus2. Those of you who have read eke2k6's comparison between ASG-2 vs 1plus2 will know how I feel A/Bing between Roxanne and 1plus2. I quote eke2k6 comment here.

eke2k6: "A/B'ing these two iems is actually pretty difficult because they're so different. Switching immediately from the 1Plus2 to the ASG-2 will produce a bloated and muddy mess, while going from the ASG-2 will find the 1P2 sounding tinny and bright. Of course, things right themselves once the brain is allowed to reorient itself to each of the signatures."
 
Comparison: 
This is not to say Roxanne lacks clarity compared to 1plus2. It does in fact reproduce all other details well even amidst the heavy bass at max setting. My main issue with Roxanne when it comes to its signature is that it gives you the feeling that the music is closed up inside your head. I feel that I am in a small room blasted with loud music and heavy bass. On the other hand, 1plus2 is just like what eke2k6 said, it sounds tinny and bright when you just switch over from Roxanne. But after adjusting my brain for a while, it is back to its normal crisp, spacious and very detailed presentation to my ears. 1plus2 gives you the feeling that you are in a huge concert hall full of air and the music comes from all over instead of from inside your head. The music from 1plus2 also sounds more laid back and distant while Roxanne's sounds much closer to you. However, the bass of 1plus2 clearly loses out to Roxanne if you are those who likes heavy impact bass. Each time when I switched over from Roxanne to 1plus2, I have an urge to turn up the volume knob on my Pico SLIM to make up for the softer bass on 1plus2. On the other hand, switching from 1plus2 back to Roxanne gives me the feeling that I have just lost some sharp details of my music. Running through my collection of music tracks comparing Roxanne to 1plus2, I find that Roxanne excels in my Rock/Pop music collection but 1plus2 clearly wins when it comes to Classical/Acoustic genre when bass does not play a major role in the music. IMHO 1plus2 is a better all-rounder for me since I prefer the huge spacious airy feeling it offers over Roxanne and the "not-so-impactful" bass effect can be fixed more or less with the volume knob turned up (You just don't get the reverberating bass effect in an enclosed room from Roxanne which I can live without).

 
I have the same impression that it is not as spacious as 1plus2 with less instrument separation (soundstage) and the treble is not as forward even at minimum bass setting when I demo'ed it at Mook and then again at Jaben Singapore. Everything in the highs come across clearly but just do not take the front stage. With the bass dials pushed up higher, it just weakens the impact of the highs even more. I guess it is just typical of the JH house signature in the case of Roxanne but only with the highs tuned down to be neutral and flat compared to JH13/16 in order to fix the occasional overly bright/sharp treble. Ironically, it kind of impacted the overall highs in a negative sense with the added bass boost from Roxanne. I guess if your usual listening genre of music is rock/pop/heavy metal types, then Roxanne will be an excellent match since it will definitely bring out the best of these tracks. But if your preference is mostly classical, acoustic, etc, then it is better to look elsewhere.

 

[Mimouille]

They fit quite fine actually. After prolonged use (i.e. 6 hrs? I did say I was going to totally immerse myself into these earphones for this week) though my ears do hurt a little but that's 'cos I'm too lazy to swap to a smaller tip. They fit in fine and seals throughout the whole time I have them on and they don't pop out.

I ordered the custom version but I am curious, how do they compare to the 1plus2 in terms of fit? Isolation? And possibly SQ?

 

[AnakChan]

I ordered the custom version but I am curious, how do they compare to the 1plus2 in terms of fit? Isolation? And possibly SQ?

 
For my ears, they fit better. But that's cos I have the Uber cable on my 1Plus2 so I'm always afraid to bend them too much.
 
Different SQ altogether. For me I feel the 1Plus2 to be slightly U-shaped even with the Uber cable. The Roxannes have a fuller blossoming midrange.

 

[VisceriousZERO]

Oh I am really excited to hear your impressions!! Could you do a small unboxing with a few pics ??? Haha just to give us some of the moment as a holiday gift??!

I was planning the same

 

[Shini44]

   
 
 
I have the same impression that it is not as spacious as 1plus2 with less instrument separation (soundstage) and the treble is not as forward even at minimum bass setting when I demo'ed it at Mook and then again at Jaben Singapore. Everything in the highs come across clearly but just do not take the front stage. With the bass dials pushed up higher, it just weakens the impact of the highs even more. I guess it is just typical of the JH house signature in the case of Roxanne but only with the highs tuned down to be neutral and flat compared to JH13/16 in order to fix the occasional overly bright/sharp treble. Ironically, it kind of impacted the overall highs in a negative sense with the added bass boost from Roxanne. I guess if your usual listening genre of music is rock/pop/heavy metal types, then Roxanne will be an excellent match since it will definitely bring out the best of these tracks. But if your preference is mostly classical, acoustic, etc, then it is better to look elsewhere.

i went and ordered the new Flagship of Unique Melody , the Mentor (10 drivers) , was planing to get Roxxane till i heard the highs are dark, with a warmer sound than the JH line.

 

[EveTan]

  i went and ordered the new Flagship of Unique Melody , the Mentor (10 drivers) , was planing to get Roxxane till i heard the highs are dark, with a warmer sound than the JH line.

Whoa, guess I haven't been following the latest news. But another 10 driver model? I was only aware of the Roxxane and the Noble one...guess these high number drivers are becoming the norm.

 

[Mython]

  Whoa, guess I haven't been following the latest news. But another 10 driver model? I was only aware of the Roxxane and the Noble one...guess these high number drivers are becoming the norm.

 
'Mentor' strikes me as being quite a cheeky name - almost as though UM perhaps think they are 'schooling' their competitors, LOL!
 
Still, like JH, UM do know what they're doing, so I'm equally as happy to see them pushing the boundaries of CIEM design, just as Jerry is (though I still say 'kudos' to Jerry for the intelligent underlying rationale to his approach in conceiving the Roxanne - i.e. seeking to address impedance-vs-frequency response issue in treble region)
 
Just to help avoid this JH thread going off at a tangent, here's the dedicated UM Mentor thread:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/696358/unique-melody-mentor-debut-in-tokyo-e-earphone-festival
 
FWIW, it looks like it's quite substantially boosted in the bass region (not a positive aspect, for me, as I really loved the relatively flat approach of the Miracle)
 
 
.

 

[robm321]

I'm regretting ordering the Roxanne's after hearing all this. Wish those that said the Roxanne's were a more refined JH-13 would have mentioned that the highs suck and it sounds nothing like the JH-13.

 

[bobeau]

 
I have the same impression that it is not as spacious as 1plus2 with less instrument separation (soundstage)

 
Is this more of a consequence of having a vented IEM vs. sealed?  1plus2, EX1000, Flat-4, etc, where you trade isolation for an out-of-head staging experience (similar to open vs. closed headphones). 
 
Or do you feel there is something else to it?

 

[Mython]

   
Is this more of a consequence of having a vented IEM vs. sealed?  1plus2, EX1000, Flat-4, etc, where you trade isolation for an out-of-head staging experience (similar to open vs. closed headphones). 
 
Or do you feel there is something else to it?

 
Excellent question!
 
I suspect phase coherency will play a role, too.

 

[bobeau]

I'm regretting ordering the Roxanne's after hearing all this. Wish those that said the Roxanne's were a more refined JH-13 would have mentioned that the highs suck and it sounds nothing like the JH-13.

 
We still haven't heard from any people with customs.  There's several here who already have 13s w/ custom Roxannes incoming.  
 
I'm esp. looking forward to ALRAINBOW's impressions as he has both the 13s and 16s.

 

[jlcichocki]

I'm regretting ordering the Roxanne's after hearing all this. Wish those that said the Roxanne's were a more refined JH-13 would have mentioned that the highs suck and it sounds nothing like the JH-13.

I would be profoundly surprised if that's the end consensus from all you experts that the Roxanne sucks and you regret your orders. I was blown away by the improvement over both 13 and 16. Can't wait to experience the sound with custom carbon ears.

But again, I've had every cheap piece of crap hanging on my ears for 10 plus yrs. No real experience or qualifying comparison.

 

[bearFNF]

I'm regretting ordering the Roxanne's after hearing all this. Wish those that said the Roxanne's were a more refined JH-13 would have mentioned that the highs suck and it sounds nothing like the JH-13.

I must have missed where someone said the highs suck...I have heard some (including me) say they heard some issues with the highs, but by the same token these were from the demos and Jerry said he would review it and fix it if he needed to.  Until we get them and have a chance to listen to the final product all else is "impressions" of what it could be...
 
Oh and you cant blame anyone but yourself if you bought it without first hand experience...others can tell you what they hear but its up to you in the end.

 

[ChainRazer]