I have received my JH13 Pro's today, in exactly five days, via Fedex. No duties, no delays, no problems. Now before I tell you more I have to warn you about two things: first of all, I am at work for a week and my cable is at home so I can't tell you anything about the sound until Tuesday. Secondly, I'm not too bothered about it as I'm not as young as most of the people here so I'm not really desperate to give them a listen. I've had my share of great headphones, I am not easily impressed and I don't have too many expectations from a pair of IEMs (although I have thoroughly enjoyed most universals, my favourites being UM3X), be it high end. And I don't expect JH13 Pro to replace any time soon my Phonitor - Ed.8 combo.
Having said this, I will describe you my experience with UM.
I have sent an email to ask for a quote and I have received a polite answer and a quote in a reasonable English in less than 24 hours. None of the emails has been signed so I can't really tell you who I've been communicating with but the experience has been nevertheless entirely pleasant. Shortly after the emails I have sent the IEMs together with my earmoulds done in an ordinary Boots pharmacy in UK (another great experience with a phono-audilogist who didn't charge me a penny for his work, materials and time!). It took more than two weeks via Royal Mail 1st class to have the parcel delivered. Then a short email from UM - we've got the parcel, the phones and moulds look alright, we can do it, please make the payment, which I've done the next day. A few hours later another message - thank you for the payment, time to sit back, relax and...wait. And I've waited (actually I almost completely forgot about the JH13 Pro's because of an issue with my Ed.8 which is now, almost at the same time, on the way back from Ultrasone) for exactly four weeks. Then another email with the good news and a Fedex tracking number (which actually worked after about 12 hours).
Now because Im sure you're eagerly waiting, there isn't much to criticise about the outer shells, which are close to perfection in most respects, including the artwork which is exactly how I wanted it to be. The fit is perfect, there are no pressure points, no edges, although it will take a while to adapt to the tightness, seal and deep insertion.
Looking at the inner work however, there are a few things to notice. First of all the armatures are not perfectly aligned, left to right. While the original looked almost like a mirror image, the drivers inside one UM shell are placed about 3-4 mm higher and on a slightly different angle compared to the other side. I don't think it's a big issue, at least not for me since I have a small hearing deficit on one side anyway, but I thought it's worth mentioning it. Also the holes drilled in the shell are...well...hand made, one smaller, one larger comparing left to right. But these are small things and probably insignificant and, to be honest, I'd rather have a perfect fit with the above shortcomings than several earmoulds done, redone and sent to the States several times.
Unfortunately I will not be able to tell you more until Tuesday or Wednesday but, all in all, I am positively surprised and happy with the outcome, provided my new, posh IEM doesn't sound worse than UM3X. I hope not!
