[B9Scrambler]

Hello again,


 
I figured I would start one thread to cover all J+- products covered, since there is a whopping three or so people who are currently showing interest in these.


 
So far the Wooden Earbuds and Stereo Headphones have been covered, links below;


 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/716784/j-wooden-iem


 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/720616/j-stereo-headphones-blow-you-away-sound


 
I went back to the Great Canadian Superstore today to buy another pair of the Wooden Earbuds (see what happened to them via the link above...hehehe), and saw that one of their newer products that I was eager to try but at full price refused to buy, was on clearance; the Bass Buds. These were a departure from all previous J+- IEMs I have seen, in that they added an inline mic, fabric cable, and actually decided to include more than just medium tips. Sweet.


 


Ugh....off to a bad start. Why move away from clean, easy to open packaging and choose blister packs? Whatever....lets see the headphone itself.


 



Build Quality:


 
Compared to the Wooden Earbuds and Metal Earbuds I've had, these are definitely a step down. The nozzle filters are lightly glued to the end of the nozzle, and are not recessed. Meaning, when you remove the tips the filter comes with it. The cable itself is also quite poorly wrapped. In two sections, by the plug and the left bud, there was actually a small hole melted through the fabric. Strain reliefs are non-existent.


 
On the plus side, the tips are WAY better than those included in previous offerings. They feel less plasticky, are slightly stiffer, and seal very well. I like the tips on the Wooden Earbuds a lot, but these are of higher quality, hands down. Another plus is the inline mic. Unlike the one on the Stereo Headphones, that used on the Bass Buds is actually pretty well built and sturdy feeling. No idea how well it works, yet. Finally, the housings are metal. Woot!


 
Sound Quality:


 
Based on how crappy the overall build quality is, I was feeling pretty let down, and was not expecting much. I'm talking Skullcandy Smokin' Buds levels of crapulence. I toss these babies in...comfortable...nice seal...good isolation. Cool beans.


 
I choose a song...actually a mix; a 45 minute Neurodanja epic. Time to play in the mud...let's go!


 
...


 
...


 
...


 
...


 
...


 
...


 
45 minutes later, and these headphones are f'ing GREAT, and this is out of the box. As much as I love the Wooden Earbuds, these are clearly a step or two above them when it comes to sound quality. I was expecting bass and mud, but what I heard was slightly veiled but perfectly acceptable highs, punchy but not overpowering bass, and great vocals. They are way more mid-forward than I was expecting.


 
Here's hoping burn-in is real, and the treble opens up, as that is by far the weakest part of their signature. What to listen to next...


 
- Scrambler


 
**Anyone notice anything off about them?**


 
The Burn Station


 


 

 
**Update Time**

 
I woke up this morning, tossed the 'Bass Buds' in a case, and strolled off to work. Per my standard daily routine, I opened all my programs, turned on Windows Media Player, fired up my white noise, and popped in these puppies expecting aural comfort all day long.

 
I must not have cleaned my ears very well this morning....nope...no water in there. Why is the right bud so much quieter? *Switched ears* Now the left is quiet...$%^&.

 
After work I stopped by Superstore for an exchange. No questions asked after a brief explanation of the issue.

 
The new ones seem to have slightly deeper bass, but mids and treble appear to be the same. The sound overall is slightly warmer, and a bit more smooth. The more balanced sound of the first pair was preferential though. Either way, these ones still sound excellent, especially for the cost.

 
On the plus side, these do not have any little burn marks on the cable, and the fabric seems more tightly wound. My suggestion: Take a good long look at them before choosing a pair to make sure the cable seems alright.
 
 
 
**More info**
 
 
These new ones have awesome sub-bass. They rumble oh so well; just listen to the opening build on Louder (Flux Pavilion & Doctor P Remix). Bass doesn't bleed into the mids either. I also gave them a whirl through Mendel's Subliminal Colors album which they handled with aplomb. They do have some very minor driver flex in the right bud, which is mostly a non-issue for me, but I know its a deal killer for some.

 

[nick n]

I'm taking a drive tonight to see what's there and possibly load right up..  Hutnicks got me thinking about possibilities.
 
Did you try a tip with a much larger opening  that might help the metal jobbers a bit also. Dollar store is great for cheap trial stuff like that.
 
Did you ever happen to notice the Blow You Away on ears cans are really close to the Marshall headphone shells?
This sort of thing is what I find most fun about this hobby. Do it yourself stuff.

 

[B9Scrambler]

  I'm taking a drive tonight to see what's there and possibly load right up..  Hutnicks got me thinking about possibilities.


 
Did you try a tip with a much larger opening  that might help the metal jobbers a bit also. Dollar store is great for cheap trial stuff like that.


 
Did you ever happen to notice the Blow You Away on ears cans are really close to the Marshall headphone shells?
This sort of thing is what I find most fun about this hobby. Do it yourself stuff.

They have most of their IEMs on clearance right now....good time to go.

 
Yup, but I actually like them most with the stock tips. They are pretty damn awesome as is. I was shocked at how nice they were especially given how mediocre (IMO) the build is. I'm hoping that again, I just got a poor example (Edit: I did....) and the rest are fine, as happened with the woodies.

 
They are hilariously similar to the Marshalls....wow.

 

[TwinQY]

I'm thinking that somehow I will spend more money on multiple pairs of these than I will spending on actual groceries when I get there on the weekend. Curse you!

 

[B9Scrambler]

Soo...I thought these bass buds were wired and labelled backwards, as the tilt of the nozzles suggested. However, they are designed to be worn over ear, which I rarely do. Works for me.

Woot.

 

[B9Scrambler]

Nick....Twin.....you guys pick up any of these puppies? If you got the 'Bass Buds' I'm eager for your impressions as so far I am loving them. The replacements are a little more versatile than the first pair as well due to the increased bass.
 

 

[TwinQY]

NO WOOD!!!

A surprising lack of wood here on the West Coast (as Huts so eloquently puts it).
 
Updates after the break. I'm having skittles and tofu tonight...

 

[B9Scrambler]

  NO WOOD!!!
A surprising lack of wood here on the West Coast (as Huts so eloquently puts it).


 
Updates after the break. I'm having skittles and tofu tonight...

 
That hurts me right here *points d....never mind*

 
I hope you like em. For under 10 CAD I think they are pretty badass. Definitely like them more than the Panasonic RPcrypticstuff, J+- Woodies and Metal Earbuds, UE100, Headrush Rhapsody (which I have come to realize are crap minus the bass), Sony XB50, etc. While they are nowhere near as good, I have no issues switching from the NarMoo S1 to the Bass Buds. They are just a good listen in general IMO. I'm listening to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrt423z1K1w on them right now actually. They are awesome for EDM.

 

 

[nick n]

Wooden't ya know.
 
There was none.
Was so ticked off that I grabbed what passes for sushi there and drove home without getting any Bass ones. I may go back for them yet.
Since we are posting pics i think I left my woodies around here somewhere, will take me a bit of time to find.
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 
 
nope it is not mine, had ya there for a second though.
 

 

[B9Scrambler]

  Wooden't ya know.

 
There was none.
Was so ticked off that I grabbed what passes for sushi there and drove home without getting any Bass ones. I may go back for them yet.

Boo....

 

[TwinQY]

  Since we are posting pics i think I left my woodies around here somewhere, will take me a bit of time to find.
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

nope it is not mine, had ya there for a second though.

Knowing you, the real deal is likely a lot worse. Those walls are barely covered with soot and grime. And that's not nearly enough Red Bull.
 

 
I hope you like em. For under 10 CAD I think they are pretty badass. Definitely like them more than the Panasonic RPcrypticstuff, J+- Woodies and Metal Earbuds, UE100, Headrush Rhapsody (which I have come to realize are crap minus the bass), Sony XB50, etc. While they are nowhere near as good, I have no issues switching from the NarMoo S1 to the Bass Buds. They are just a good listen in general IMO. I'm listening to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrt423z1K1w on them right now actually. They are awesome for EDM.

So I had to acclimatize myself by cranking out the trusty MT300s. After only listening to possibly the best IEM I've ever heard for the past two weeks, even real life has started to not do it for me anymore. I'm going to give myself one or two more hours of listening before saying anything certain.
 
One thing I can say for certain is that they marked the channels wrong

 
And I'm not sure why the Pink version was 6 dollars cheaper than the Black version.

 

[B9Scrambler]

  Knowing you, the real deal is likely a lot worse. Those walls are barely covered with soot and grime. And that's not nearly enough Red Bull.

 
So I had to acclimatize myself by cranking out the trusty MT300s. After only listening to possibly the best IEM I've ever heard for the past two weeks, even real life has started to not do it for me anymore. I'm going to give myself one or two more hours of listening before saying anything certain.

 
One thing I can say for certain is that they marked the channels wrong

 
And I'm not sure why the Pink version was 6 dollars cheaper than the Black version.

 
I'm sure they will sound like crap if you've been listening to the best IEM ever over the last two weeks...these little guys don't stand a chance.
 
I would double check on the channels...not that I'm doubting you, buuuuut I thought the same thing, and was wearing them backwards for the first day. They're actually meant to be worn over ear....put em on that way and everything falls into place. Although, I would not be shocked if they definitely did mark the channels incorrectly. QC does not seem to be JPMs strongest quality.
 
I didn't know they had different colored versions. They only had black ones with black tips and black ones with grey tips at my location.
 

 

[B9Scrambler]

Driver swapped woodies are officially in progress. I found a pair of Turtle Beach M1s that I thought I tossed (dead cable) and decided to donate the drivers to the project. They were a fairly nice sounding IEM....probably the best pair I owned prior to the JVC T90s. I hardly had them chance to use them before the cable died...not sure if the drivers have been 'burned' in 

 
Its been a bit of a struggle to fit 10mm drivers in 8mm housings, but it is definitely possible. Updates to come as I continue the project.

 

[B9Scrambler]

Modded woodies should be complete tomorrow, unless I can't find my soldering iron.

 
On the other hand, these Bass Buds are awesome. I can't think of another IEM I've been more impressed with lately. MJ's Thriller sounds f'ing amazing. Supertramp's Cannonball sounds phenomenal; Lots of detail, clear punchy bass, forward vocals. These are great for that cheesy late 70s, early 80s classic rock

 

[TwinQY]

I've not had time to do much other than listen to these, so here we go. Not even tried to open them up, sorry nick.
 
We're not off to a good start with the housings. The "metal" on the housing is thin and they way they're corrugated feels tacky in my fingers. I didn't even enjoy the sensation of inserting them. The filters are indeed very poorly held on by very little adhesive. They fell off immediately. The cable has one of those fabric sheathes, but at least they're not as kinky as the cables on the infamous Monos. My first listen was with the stock tips, which are middling but nothing to complain about either. The bores are nice and large. Later on I will discover that this plays in its virtue in that smaller bores screw up the treble and close up some of that openness.
 
When I first put them into my ears immediately I thought "crunchy". Maybe some part of it had to do with the Skittles (could not waste a trip to PooperStore buying just earphones, people would look at me and I don't like being judged). I finished the box and soldiered on. The sub-bass is immediately noticable and it is ample, decays nicely, and has great texture. But it's after 100Hz where things go a bit iffy. In fact a lot of things go iffy.
 
But maybe I should backtrack and get to what's really the main qualm I have with this - that they pretty much screwed up on the housing. I mean these are actually not half-bad drivers, dare I say decent, but the horribly tacky and thin metal does no favours in regards to resonance, dips across the treble are prevalent. The edge on the midbass has a hollowed out effect. If you can visualize an impulse response, it's as if they resolve but there's this weird tizzy overhang that doesn't make things sound bloated (okay, this might lead to one of the good parts I'll touch on later, that after EQing these do not have irredeemablely thick decay), and then it settles pretty fast. But the effect is still there and it makes things sound overly crisp down low. The only thing they seemed to have done to address anything acoustically was to poke a very visible hole in the back, that seemingly fixes nothing. In fact if you cover it the paper-y bass effect continues while the bass becomes more dampened and dull. They literally seem as if they are crumbling away at the sheer quantity of bass output it's forced to produce at times. Driver flex during insertion is pretty average and I'm used to that particular level of flex.
 
The first things I tend to do if I don't have time to play around with things physically is to go to EQ. The bass can still manage to be quite good however after some EQ. a -6dB on the low shelf with a pretty low Q and they become more easily controlled and the edge problem is minimized. Same goes with the treble. Now they are much more open-sounding than the MT300s and the bass feels a lot faster and tactile. Where the TDKs get you with that huge, fun decay, they are also not very malliable in that respect, and these puppies are. Although they still choke on some pretty fast passages that albeit even some full-sized stuff can't keep up with properly (but some of the really good BA-based stuff and of course the HD800 among other things, have no problem with). And that sub-bass is still there, very pleasant.
 
The mids are actually, pretty decent. They are not the last word in detail but they are pretty good in terms of tonality. That's the thing with the tuning on this IEM, that once you tone down the bass that the housings simply can't handle, you see how these drivers can really get. They are not completely linear of course and sometimes there's a bit of nasalness but overall the tonality is still pretty good. I played around with 1-2kHz and that helped with tonality a lot. With the rate things are going I could probably solve a great deal of the midrange and treble with EQ alone which is again, signs of a good but misused driver.
 
With treble the situation seems less dire once the bass is settled down. There are primarily two, pretty emphasized dips but the rest seem fairly balanced apart from a few nudges here or there. These are slightly wider and more open-sounding than the MT300s. The TDKs seem pretty good with size at times but then you realize that center imaging is a bit too distant to be right and they still play in a pretty defined zone. The J's are not expansive but they are acceptably good.
 
So what do we take away from this on the practical? I think it's that with dynamics a housing made of some thin sheet of metal would be less preferable than some injection-molded housings that would likely yield something much better-sounding and more maintainable. These OEMs put out thousands of these products on a constant basis but somehow these had the unfortunate luck of being held inside some particularly crappy design.
 
What can we take away from this on the abstract? Despite these drivers being able to sound quite good at times, this is not an uncommon occurance in the IEM world, that dynamics on cheap-os can sound decent. This should not even come as a surprise, and for those that do find things like this to be surprising, I'd say are an unfortunate afflictee of a very prevalent attitude in the audio community. But I'll get off the soapbox for now. All in all I think these are ripe for a transplant to another home, perhaps someplace else with a little more play room like the woodies. I've also considered drilling a hole with a press on the back of these housings and going on from there, if only just to remove the blantantly inaccurate L/R markings from my sight.
 
If any other Canadian comes across these for the $8 I found them, I'd say they'd be a sort-of-reliable source for driver donors but there might be better ones out there. If you know someone that's stuck with these tell them to play around with them a bit more because they are redeemable. And for those who get these, and they seem great for the price to them, I have to say that I evaluate sound on a holistic scale where price just doesn't factor in. This is out of what I've seen and sometimes out of neccessity, so when I say these can manage to sound fine, I'm saying in comparison to many other things. Now I'd be fine to bring in price when I'm considering other more tangible things like willingness to chuck across a room or to use on a marathon.