[noobzpro]

wah bro... I ordered few days earlier than you, but I haven't get any emails yet... Impressions reached them on 12 Dec thou...

Update: I just receive and FedEx email as well! Monday it shall be!

bro urs from jaben too? what time u heading down collect? immediately when it arrives or?

 

[noobzpro]

anyways anybody started playing cables on this bad boys yet? I am thinking if i should go with piccolino like i did with the 13s....but biggest issue is the cables break too easily...any alternatives?

 

[LCfiner]

Very nice impressions! very clear. good stuff. I owned the IE800 in the past and liked them and would agree with your comparison of the two. Roxannes have a bigger stage, more body and bass, cleaner treble.
 
In particular, I found IE800 treble to be a little thin and papery (sometimes prone to sibilance) but the Roxanne treble has more body to it.
 
 
 
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Originally Posted by hedphonz /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  Rox Unis - first impressions - hope its not too long
 
i got my roxanne Uni's 2 -1/2 days ago - listened for a total of about 9 hours so far using the Line out on my X5 paired with the Meier stepdance amp.
I have read that some people have to burn in their ears or the IEMs to appreciate the roxannes. I am no golden ears but I found the class of the roxannes immediately apparent and very happy I didnt have to go through a period of doubt or anxiety that i may have wasted money.
 
First impressions or things i noticed - ( I own Shure 846's and Sennheiser IE800's) so can only compare to these
 
Soundstage - immediately notice a huge, wide soundstage - feels like your listening in a large hall. Spacious comes to mind
 
Separation - vocals seem projected out in front, very smooth, very detailed. I was actually taken by surprise with first jazz female vocal track - i could hear breathing, gasping as if she was inches away from my ear. On tracks with just a singer, bass, piano it seemed like the bassist was way over on  one side and the piano way over on the other with the singer in the middle. On another track it seemed like one instrument was coming from the top left and the other from the bottom right. I have never heard separation to this extent before and I own a good desktop setup with the HD800's. Once i got used to the separation of sounds it became a case of just sitting back listening and grinning from ear to ear.  I love that about the roxannes
 
Bass- first listen, i couldnt hear much and they sounded flat and lacking warmth so dialled up the bass to 12oclock - for me that was the sweet spot. Bass became full and clear without appearing over bassy on any tracks. Im guessing that 12 oclock being the middle position JH have tuned them to suit most tastes at that point so there is room to go up and down. For me its perfect and have not once felt the need to pick up the tiny screwdriver to adjust. Bass is better than the 846's and the IE800's and they are famous for bass. I can feel rumbling and vibration similar to over ear headphones. On famous bass tracks like Way down deep by Jennifer Warne and Angel by Massive attack the bass came out in bucket fulls when the notes went down and listening to bigbeat techno (Underworld - Pearls Girl ) there are about a dozen synthesized drums going beserk and it never sounded so good to my ears.
 
Treble - i found it completely clear, smooth and rolled off, never sibilant at all except on known sibilant vocal tracks and the level of sibilance was less than the 846's or IE800's. The rolling off on the treble however didnt affect detail retrieval. A favourite album I know inside out is Rocks the House by Etta James - a live recording. In that club you can hear the audience whistle and cheer and shout comments etc. With the roxannes I was able to actuallly hear more clearly what some of the words the audience were shouting. I could also with the 846's, but not to the same level of detail. Treble is great - no complaints - I like a warm sound sig so the rox's suit me.
 
Fit and comfort - i was warned by Dragoonv on here that they were big - there not big their massive - i feel like i got 2 x boulders in my ears, if freddy flintstone had IEMs they would be the Rocksannes (excuse the joke). With the large size foam tips they stuck out like dogs balls and were not secure so changed to the medium tips and that reduced the protrusion so that i didnt feel like 2 rocks were about to fall out of my ears. As i will be listening to these almost exclusively at home and occasionally when travelling it wont be an issue but for me these aren't the iems to go jogging in. Bigger ear'ed people may be ok ? Also i found the seal was not difficult to achieve, with other iems i knew if i wasnt getting a good seal by just applying presssure inwards or outwards on the IEM and the sound would change hugely. With the medium foam tips there wasnt that much change to bass/treble levels when applying pressure so i feel confident that I have a good seal and the isolation was very good and blocked out more external sound than the 846's which wedge perfectly into your ear. I cant hear my cellphone ringing right next to me which i could before.
 
Overall the roxies are a significant step up in SQ over the 846's and IE800's and I am big fans of both those . For the first time i feel that these are end game as far as IEM's go. I can now focus on reaching the top of the chain in my sources. I think that a hugo will be on the xmas list for starters.
 
Im still surprised to be so impressed so soon - i am hoping that they may sound even better over time

 

 

[InfiniteGene]

bro urs from jaben too? what time u heading down collect? immediately when it arrives or?

I ordered direct from JH... saved loads of $$$...

 

[adammax]

  Rox Unis - first impressions - hope its not too long
 
i got my roxanne Uni's 2 -1/2 days ago - listened for a total of about 9 hours so far using the Line out on my X5 paired with the Meier stepdance amp.
I have read that some people have to burn in their ears or the IEMs to appreciate the roxannes. I am no golden ears but I found the class of the roxannes immediately apparent and very happy I didnt have to go through a period of doubt or anxiety that i may have wasted money.
 
First impressions or things i noticed - ( I own Shure 846's and Sennheiser IE800's) so can only compare to these
 
Soundstage - immediately notice a huge, wide soundstage - feels like your listening in a large hall. Spacious comes to mind
 
Separation - vocals seem projected out in front, very smooth, very detailed. I was actually taken by surprise with first jazz female vocal track - i could hear breathing, gasping as if she was inches away from my ear. On tracks with just a singer, bass, piano it seemed like the bassist was way over on  one side and the piano way over on the other with the singer in the middle. On another track it seemed like one instrument was coming from the top left and the other from the bottom right. I have never heard separation to this extent before and I own a good desktop setup with the HD800's. Once i got used to the separation of sounds it became a case of just sitting back listening and grinning from ear to ear.  I love that about the roxannes
 
Bass- first listen, i couldnt hear much and they sounded flat and lacking warmth so dialled up the bass to 12oclock - for me that was the sweet spot. Bass became full and clear without appearing over bassy on any tracks. Im guessing that 12 oclock being the middle position JH have tuned them to suit most tastes at that point so there is room to go up and down. For me its perfect and have not once felt the need to pick up the tiny screwdriver to adjust. Bass is better than the 846's and the IE800's and they are famous for bass. I can feel rumbling and vibration similar to over ear headphones. On famous bass tracks like Way down deep by Jennifer Warne and Angel by Massive attack the bass came out in bucket fulls when the notes went down and listening to bigbeat techno (Underworld - Pearls Girl ) there are about a dozen synthesized drums going beserk and it never sounded so good to my ears.
 
Treble - i found it completely clear, smooth and rolled off, never sibilant at all except on known sibilant vocal tracks and the level of sibilance was less than the 846's or IE800's. The rolling off on the treble however didnt affect detail retrieval. A favourite album I know inside out is Rocks the House by Etta James - a live recording. In that club you can hear the audience whistle and cheer and shout comments etc. With the roxannes I was able to actuallly hear more clearly what some of the words the audience were shouting. I could also with the 846's, but not to the same level of detail. Treble is great - no complaints - I like a warm sound sig so the rox's suit me.
 
Fit and comfort - i was warned by Dragoonv on here that they were big - there not big their massive - i feel like i got 2 x boulders in my ears, if freddy flintstone had IEMs they would be the Rocksannes (excuse the joke). With the large size foam tips they stuck out like dogs balls and were not secure so changed to the medium tips and that reduced the protrusion so that i didnt feel like 2 rocks were about to fall out of my ears. As i will be listening to these almost exclusively at home and occasionally when travelling it wont be an issue but for me these aren't the iems to go jogging in. Bigger ear'ed people may be ok ? Also i found the seal was not difficult to achieve, with other iems i knew if i wasnt getting a good seal by just applying presssure inwards or outwards on the IEM and the sound would change hugely. With the medium foam tips there wasnt that much change to bass/treble levels when applying pressure so i feel confident that I have a good seal and the isolation was very good and blocked out more external sound than the 846's which wedge perfectly into your ear. I cant hear my cellphone ringing right next to me which i could before.
 
Overall the roxies are a significant step up in SQ over the 846's and IE800's and I am big fans of both those . For the first time i feel that these are end game as far as IEM's go. I can now focus on reaching the top of the chain in my sources. I think that a hugo will be on the xmas list for starters.
 
Im still surprised to be so impressed so soon - i am hoping that they may sound even better over time

 
 
I'm sure you will be continued to be surprised and impressed by Roxanne with more burn in (100hrs)/ brain burn in etc. After a few days of listening, try the shure and sennheiser again to confirm your impression.
 
The sound of Roxanne really opens up at higher volume than your comfort zone. Probably volume match it.

 

[adammax]

I ordered direct from JH... saved loads of $$$...

I saved more money ordering through Jaben. I've sent to JHA 4 times and still counting.

 

[noobzpro]

For me my jh13 5 refits so i went with jaben to be safe la....their service also great so im ok la....

 

[InfiniteGene]

  I saved more money ordering through Jaben. I've sent to JHA 4 times and still counting.

I sent my JH16 back once for refit using my reshelled TF10 with good fit, the made a new shell for me and updated the artwork for me....
 
Cost me US$1482.80 for carbon Roxanne... No way you gonna get the price anywhere now... (factor out the 6mths w/o my JH16 + the 8mths of waiting time...)

  For me my jh13 5 refits so i went with jaben to be safe la....their service also great so im ok la....

I used my JH16 for the shell, thus shouldn't have any issue this time... I shipped via fedex and they charge me lower rate for priority shipping... lol...

 

[JAG87]

I agree with almost everything hedphonz said, he's drawn pretty accurate impressions after a surprisingly short listening time. I've had a custom Rox for 7 months now and I've put more hours into them and anyone here guaranteed (because it's my only piece of gear), and just about the only thing I disagree with is what he wrote about the sound stage. It's surely bigger on Rox than any other BA iems, but IMO it's not bigger than IE800. But that's just me. Everything else he said is pretty much spot on including the bass tuning, I also find 12pm just right.
 
Also there is no sibilance with Rox. If you are hearing sibilance you must have a bad fit.

 

[Lieon]

I agree with almost everything hedphonz said, he's drawn pretty accurate impressions after a surprisingly short listening time. I've had a custom Rox for 7 months now and I've put more hours into them and anyone here guaranteed (because it's my only piece of gear), and just about the only thing I disagree with is what he wrote about the sound stage. It's surely bigger on Rox than any other BA iems, but IMO it's not bigger than IE800. But that's just me. Everything else he said is pretty much spot on including the bass tuning, I also find 12pm just right.

Also there is no sibilance with Rox. If you are hearing sibilance you must have a bad fit.

Guess I should reshell my uni Rox because I'm hearing sibilance even with a good seal :/

 

[nevin]

Very nice and details review!!!! 
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Quote:

  Rox Unis - first impressions - hope its not too long
 
i got my roxanne Uni's 2 -1/2 days ago - listened for a total of about 9 hours so far using the Line out on my X5 paired with the Meier stepdance amp.
I have read that some people have to burn in their ears or the IEMs to appreciate the roxannes. I am no golden ears but I found the class of the roxannes immediately apparent and very happy I didnt have to go through a period of doubt or anxiety that i may have wasted money.
 
First impressions or things i noticed - ( I own Shure 846's and Sennheiser IE800's) so can only compare to these
 
Soundstage - immediately notice a huge, wide soundstage - feels like your listening in a large hall. Spacious comes to mind
 
Separation - vocals seem projected out in front, very smooth, very detailed. I was actually taken by surprise with first jazz female vocal track - i could hear breathing, gasping as if she was inches away from my ear. On tracks with just a singer, bass, piano it seemed like the bassist was way over on  one side and the piano way over on the other with the singer in the middle. On another track it seemed like one instrument was coming from the top left and the other from the bottom right. I have never heard separation to this extent before and I own a good desktop setup with the HD800's. Once i got used to the separation of sounds it became a case of just sitting back listening and grinning from ear to ear.  I love that about the roxannes
 
Bass- first listen, i couldnt hear much and they sounded flat and lacking warmth so dialled up the bass to 12oclock - for me that was the sweet spot. Bass became full and clear without appearing over bassy on any tracks. Im guessing that 12 oclock being the middle position JH have tuned them to suit most tastes at that point so there is room to go up and down. For me its perfect and have not once felt the need to pick up the tiny screwdriver to adjust. Bass is better than the 846's and the IE800's and they are famous for bass. I can feel rumbling and vibration similar to over ear headphones. On famous bass tracks like Way down deep by Jennifer Warne and Angel by Massive attack the bass came out in bucket fulls when the notes went down and listening to bigbeat techno (Underworld - Pearls Girl ) there are about a dozen synthesized drums going beserk and it never sounded so good to my ears.
 
Treble - i found it completely clear, smooth and rolled off, never sibilant at all except on known sibilant vocal tracks and the level of sibilance was less than the 846's or IE800's. The rolling off on the treble however didnt affect detail retrieval. A favourite album I know inside out is Rocks the House by Etta James - a live recording. In that club you can hear the audience whistle and cheer and shout comments etc. With the roxannes I was able to actuallly hear more clearly what some of the words the audience were shouting. I could also with the 846's, but not to the same level of detail. Treble is great - no complaints - I like a warm sound sig so the rox's suit me.
 
Fit and comfort - i was warned by Dragoonv on here that they were big - there not big their massive - i feel like i got 2 x boulders in my ears, if freddy flintstone had IEMs they would be the Rocksannes (excuse the joke). With the large size foam tips they stuck out like dogs balls and were not secure so changed to the medium tips and that reduced the protrusion so that i didnt feel like 2 rocks were about to fall out of my ears. As i will be listening to these almost exclusively at home and occasionally when travelling it wont be an issue but for me these aren't the iems to go jogging in. Bigger ear'ed people may be ok ? Also i found the seal was not difficult to achieve, with other iems i knew if i wasnt getting a good seal by just applying presssure inwards or outwards on the IEM and the sound would change hugely. With the medium foam tips there wasnt that much change to bass/treble levels when applying pressure so i feel confident that I have a good seal and the isolation was very good and blocked out more external sound than the 846's which wedge perfectly into your ear. I cant hear my cellphone ringing right next to me which i could before.
 
Overall the roxies are a significant step up in SQ over the 846's and IE800's and I am big fans of both those . For the first time i feel that these are end game as far as IEM's go. I can now focus on reaching the top of the chain in my sources. I think that a hugo will be on the xmas list for starters.
 
Im still surprised to be so impressed so soon - i am hoping that they may sound even better over time
 

 

 

[LCfiner]

Guess I should reshell my uni Rox because I'm hearing sibilance even with a good seal :/

 
hmm. maybe the seal is there but the insertion depth isn't enough? I have my selection of test tracks that I use for sibilance testing for headphones and the roxanne doesn't exhibit pronounced sibilance. It'll show what's on he recording but doesn't make sibilance any worse than what's recorded. if anything, I notice less sibilance because of the darker tuning of the roxanne.
 
for reference: using small comply T500 tips. sources: Emotiva DC-1, AK120, lots of  256 mp4s, a few FLACs

 

[JAG87]

Guess I should reshell my uni Rox because I'm hearing sibilance even with a good seal :/

 
I don't know what to tell you , I abandoned universals for this reason. Besides comfort, much of the sound is due to how the IEM sits in your ear, a proper fitting CIEM has no rivals. You can get a good seal with universal, it's just not always a sure thing. Even once you've found your ideal tips, things can change on a daily basis based on temperature, humidity, oils, and so on. Not so much with CIEMs.

 

[adammax]

Coming from a CIEM, I dont find the Rox sibiliance at all though.

 

[Lieon]

Thanks for sharing guys. Appreciate it. I've never done customs before so am a bit hesitant at the moment. I might consider reshelling my uni rox if it still exhibits sibilance after fitting the comply tips. I must say that it currently sits quite far out of my ear due to the sheer length of the Hifiman bi-flange tips, maybe that's the issue. Never knew that sibilance could be caused by a shallow insertion...