[HiFiChris]

@shane55
 
Good write-up of your impressions. 

 
 
Interesting how perceptions of the cable can differ - I find it to be one of the best non-twisted/braided cables, being totally free of any tangling, very flexible and not springy.


They are not that neutral (the lows are undeniably a bit north of neutral and on the warmer side, comparable to the InEar StageDiver SD-2), however they are very well balanced and really nice IEMs.
As said in my review, at the beginning I was quite sceptical whether they were really good sounding or just average TWFK dual-drivers, but after first listen, I was very positively surprised what they got out of the TWFK in terms of resolution, soundstage and overall sound.

 

[Brooko]

Agree with Chris on the cable - I love it.  Seems quite flimsy, but in reality Kevlar reinforced and apparently very strong.
 
I'm with Richard as far as the neutrality goes though - or maybe I should say natural-ity.  The bass to me doesn't sound at all emphasised and I think it is more natural sounding than most of the other IEMs I've heard. Agree with you on the balance - magical!
 
One thing I think we can all agree on though - Jays knocked this one out of the park.  Still one of my favourite monitors at the moment, and likely to remain that way for a long, long time I think.

 

[shane55]

Well...!
Yeah, I understand why you say they are 'on the warmer side', and I agree that they are warmer than the DBA-2 (BA). And that's a very good thing, as the BA's are ice-freakin'-cold, and this gives the Q's a bit more naturalism. Acoustic instruments had the solidity they should. Not just tones and notes, but sonority and a 'body'. Thankfully not nearly as warm as my W4's. 

 
Boxed up this tour set last night, and I miss them already.
 
Cheers

 

[HiFiChris]

Yeah, I can very well agree on the "natural" tonality. And it also heads into the neutral-ish direction, sounding very balanced without colouration.

---------

As much as the W4/R are technically strong and extremely capable, I couldn't really stand their tonality right from the start - (quite) strong mid-bass hump, ground-tone bloom and that "relaxed-gene" dip in the middle treble, making the mids sound too white-washed and relaxed.
They are technically very strong, but just collecting dust for years as I don't really like the tuning.

 

[sd4f]

I have a question about these, more from a practicality stand point. Can they be pulled apart to clean the sound nozzle easily? I read somewhere that the tips can be pulled off or something, is this the case? Eventually ear wax builds up inside everything, so it would be much easier to get from behind, and clean it thoroughly.
 
I'm not someone who has ventured into high end earphones, but my first and only reasonably decent earphones were UE700's, which personally I enjoyed, alas, they are probably not long for this earth. The impression I got from them makes me want to stay with a decent TWFK earphone. While I would prefer to not spend a lot of money, I am concerned about the durability of the earphones (the UE700's are small and comfortable for me, durability not very good though) and everything seems to point to these q-jays, except for the price as I could get two pairs of UE900's for only $20 more than a single set of q-jays.
 
Main thing is, if I'm going to be spending this sort of money on earphones, I'd want to get at least 10 years out of them, if not more, and I use my earphones quite a lot with a lot of different audio sources, mostly on the poorer audio side of things. While it's a lot more than I'd like to spend, if the product is exactly what I want, then I'd be happy enough to buy it.

 

[shane55]

Yeah, I can very well agree on the "natural" tonality. And it also heads into the neutral-ish direction, sounding very balanced without colouration.

---

As much as the W4/R are technically strong and extremely capable, I couldn't really stand their tonality right from the start - (quite) strong mid-bass hump, ground-tone bloom and that "relaxed-gene" dip in the middle treble, making the mids sound too white-washed and relaxed.
They are technically very strong, but just collecting dust for years as I don't really like the tuning.

 
Good description of the W4. Until my (second to last) B2 died a couple months ago, they sat idle in a cabinet. I pulled them out of desperation. Previously I had used them for travel only... a sound signature to relax me during flights or when needing to relax before sleep. Zzzzzzzzz. For me, their severely rolled-off highs define the majority of what I find wrong with them. Zzzzzzzzz

 

[PetCed]

  I have a question about these, more from a practicality stand point. Can they be pulled apart to clean the sound nozzle easily? I read somewhere that the tips can be pulled off or something, is this the case? Eventually ear wax builds up inside everything, so it would be much easier to get from behind, and clean it thoroughly.
 
I'm not someone who has ventured into high end earphones, but my first and only reasonably decent earphones were UE700's, which personally I enjoyed, alas, they are probably not long for this earth. The impression I got from them makes me want to stay with a decent TWFK earphone. While I would prefer to not spend a lot of money, I am concerned about the durability of the earphones (the UE700's are small and comfortable for me, durability not very good though) and everything seems to point to these q-jays, except for the price as I could get two pairs of UE900's for only $20 more than a single set of q-jays.
 
Main thing is, if I'm going to be spending this sort of money on earphones, I'd want to get at least 10 years out of them, if not more, and I use my earphones quite a lot with a lot of different audio sources, mostly on the poorer audio side of things. While it's a lot more than I'd like to spend, if the product is exactly what I want, then I'd be happy enough to buy it.

There is a threaded removable metal front nozzle on these with 55 laser cut holes to stop dirt from passing through, yet being acoustically transparent. Just wash them under hot water and blow them clean afterwards. We also have a 2 year warranty and the cables are exchangeable with threaded connectors. 

 

[Brooko]

Hi Peter - nice to see you here!
 
Still loving the new q-Jays, and they remain one of the best IEMs I had the pleasure of reviewing in 2015.

 

[nmatheis]

My take on the new q-JAYS: LINK.

 

[audio123]

q-jays treble is too hot. I wont even be considering them!

 

[Bina]

It's, but it gets significantly better with impedance adapter.

 

[nmatheis]

However, I found (and measured empirically) that impedance adapters reduce bass response in addition to attenuating the treble peak. In short, an impedance adapter was;t the solution I was looking for. I'm hoping JAYS tones down the treble peak in the next iteration because these have so much going for them. If they do, I'll buy!!!

 

[audio123]

q jays treble is hotter than dn2000j. im done

 

[HiFiChris]

q jays treble is hotter than dn2000j. im done

Very interesting, I find it exactly the opposite way. There is a peak in Q-JAYS' treble, but is in the upper treble. DN-2000J's treble has more level in the middle highs where I am personally more sensitive, so I find the DUNU to have the "hotter" treble.

But it's good to hear some opposite impressions, as not everybody's perceiving sound identically or sensitive to the exact same areas.

 

[nmatheis]

I measured Q-JAYS as having a peak between 8-9kHz. Another headfi'er I spoke with measured the same with two pair. Does that align with your experience @HiFiChris?