[rasmushorn]

Today I already received my Black Friday gift for myself. I had the new q-Jays on loan for a few weeks last year. I might have never had the chance to listen to these if it wasn't for a loaner tour in Denmark, arranged by Claus from www.hoved-grej.dk. Back then I was very impressed with the design and also the sound of the q-jays. So they have been on my list ever since. I was just about to buy a pair when they had the price reduction in the summer. Now the black friday offer was too good to pass. 
 

 
More pictures in this album:
https://flic.kr/s/aHskhTokhg
 
I received the box today and OH WOW - I am glad I bought these. Unboxing for the second time was just as good as I remember the first time. I am working with user experience and UX-design in hardware and software in my job so having the pleasure of unboxing the Q-jays is just a perfect pleasure. Listening to them right now from 24-96 high rez files on my iPhone 6S  --> CLAS --> Quickstep is even better. 
 
I just want to repost my review from a year ago. 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/jays-q-jays-v2-0/reviews/14146

 

[rawrster]

I got these in the mail Thursday after purchasing them last weekend. It arrives in 4 business days which was impressive considering free shipping and it went from Sweden to USA. The unboxing experience felt more like a high end cellphone than an earphones. It is definitely packaged like a premium product.

I haven't owned a TWFK earphone in a long time and these appear to be tuned well. There is some brightness but I'm still going through various tips to use with them. I wish there was something similar to the Shure olive tips that fit these as that would probably be perfect.

 

[Brooko]

I got these in the mail Thursday after purchasing them last weekend. It arrives in 4 business days which was impressive considering free shipping and it went from Sweden to USA. The unboxing experience felt more like a high end cellphone than an earphones. It is definitely packaged like a premium product.

I haven't owned a TWFK earphone in a long time and these appear to be tuned well. There is some brightness but I'm still going through various tips to use with them. I wish there was something similar to the Shure olive tips that fit these as that would probably be perfect.

 
I use the Olives on mine - and yes, it is perfect

 

[Raketen]

I'm using olives as well, cut out the wax-guard part though, kept them from getting deep enough to fill out my canal which wasn't a problem with the included comply foams

 

[rawrster]

I figured they would be a tight fit so didn't want to buy them for no reason. I'm using Sony hybrids now which have a larger core. I'll have to pick up the olive tips tomorrow then.

I do wish these came in a more common connector as I don't like the right angled plug but seems no choice there.

 

[jagu]

I'm using olives as well, cut out the wax-guard part though, kept them from getting deep enough to fill out my canal which wasn't a problem with the included comply foams

Thanks for the tip! I'll cut them out as well!

 

[Raketen]

Thanks for the tip! I'll cut them out as well!

Well everyones ears are different! Let me know if you figure out a good way to do it, I just try to roll the foam back as far as possible and clip the very end of the plastic bit easy to damage the foam this way.

I wrote that weirdly though, I just meant it seemd to hold the earpiece a little further outside my ear which seems to be the root of sibilance issues for me, even with other earphones.

 

[jagu]

I have weird ear canals and it's always a challenge to get a good fit. That's one of the reasons when I purchased CIEM four ears ago. For the q-jays I cut the wax guard of the olives and I get a better fit now. I also twist the earphone so the cable points backwards, looks somewhat weird but gives a deeper insertion at least for me. Over the ear also improves the fit but then the microphone cannot be used.

 

[bonson]

Regarding the olive mentioned earlier, Is this the good reference Shure EASFX1-10 M?

 

[rawrster]

I went to the store today and bought a set of 5 tips. The price seemed to have gone down as I remember purchasing them for just under $20 years ago and now it's just over $10. It's a bit of a tighter fit but works well and since it's a tight fit they should be secure so won't get stuck in your ear when taking the earphone out. Isolation is much better and this may just replace the Pinnacle P1 I have as my main earphone. I do think it's crazy how I got these for under $200 but they sound very good so far.

I have weird ear canals and it's always a challenge to get a good fit. That's one of the reasons when I purchased CIEM four ears ago. For the q-jays I cut the wax guard of the olives and I get a better fit now. I also twist the earphone so the cable points backwards, looks somewhat weird but gives a deeper insertion at least for me. Over the ear also improves the fit but then the microphone cannot be used.

I have no issues with over the ear and microphone use. The microphone is just to the side of my mouth so shouldn't be an issue. It's in the same area as my Westone bluetooth cable and I've never had issues with microphone use on that either.

 

[bonson]

Unfortunately Shure olive are not available on Amazon Europe at the moment. So I tried the foam made with 3M earplug like the Mandarine tips presented on Best iem tips thread p8. It s works pretty well. Very comfortable. Not too much pressure in ear after expansion. But seems to tame brightness a little.
This is my 2nd high end iem at this price range after my RHA T20 that did not impressed me and the shell were too heavy. But with q-jays I feel it s clearly an other sound quality level reached.

 

[rasmushorn]

Unfortunately Shure olive are not available on Amazon Europe at the moment. So I tried the foam made with 3M earplug like the Mandarine tips presented on Best iem tips thread p8. It s works pretty well. Very comfortable. Not too much pressure in ear after expansion. But seems to tame brightness a little.
This is my 2nd high end iem at this price range after my RHA T20 that did not impressed me and the shell were too heavy. But with q-jays I feel it s clearly an other sound quality level reached.

I have the T20 and q-Jays as well. I would say they are good at different things. I agree the q-jays are in a higher league for neutral and clear sound.
Also there was a price difference in the beginning when q-Jays came out. With the new price q-Jays are the best deal all over if you like that signature.

 

[bonson]

@rasmushorn
"Also there was a price difference in the beginning when q-Jays came out. With the new price q-Jays are the best deal all over if you like that signature."

True that. I wouldn't imagine to buy the q-jays if it was not the offer.

 

[Raketen]

$400 for a dual-BA seemed more like a "luxury fashion product" pricing than normal headphone pricing, especially since products of similar driver config and SQ generally cost half as much or less. Though, since owning them I do not think it is totally unjustified as the build quality really does seem a cut above after extended use.

Thnking about the $260 I paid, still a "luxury" item but qualities are distinguished enough in this budget that it is not difficult to recommend, and even after the <$200 sale I am still at ease with the purchase considering how much use I have got out of them this year.

 

[ClieOS]

Some offer more SQ than build quality, while some offer more build quality than SQ. At least with q-JAYS, I think it is fair to say it is a fairly balanced between the two. I also think it is lesser on that q-JAYS is priced too high but the fact that the market is flooded with cheaper stuff that makes the contrast more obvious. I paid $350 for the single driver Etymotic ER4SR - by number alone, probably even has worst value than q-JAYS. Though to be frank, I still think they both worth their price tag to me.