[rawrster]

I wonder how much those exotics would cost

 

[buffalowings]

Quote:

I wonder how much those exotics would cost

one million dollars...or err $125

 

[RockaRolla]

Quote:

I just ordered the ES5 with exotic Pacifica Blue last week. 
 
Will post some pics when it arrives.

 
cool dude! was drooling over pacifica blue too
 
cant wait for your pictures!
 

 

[b0ck3n]

You guys are totally ruining everything for me, I thought I was set on the 16s but now I'm not so sure. I guess I'll have to e-mail both and ask for their printer specs

 
I had a 1 hour listening session with the ES5 universal demo, and two 1 hour listening sessions with the JH16 universal demo. I won't try to describe either of them, I simply haven't heard enough headphones to build a good reference point, but I will tell you how I think they compared to eachother. The things that stood out for me as negatives for the ES5 were that the highs seemed recessed to me - bit too smooth for my liking. The 16 highs were slightly brighter and more sparkly to me. Upper ES5 bass had more thump than the 16s, the 16s had more of a low rumble, giving the ES5 bass a quicker and tighter but less engaging/moving feel. I felt that there was a slight mid forwardness to the ES5, whereas the 16s appeared more balanced to me (weird huh?).
 
I do most of my listening with a pair of HiFiMAN RE-ZEROs, so that's basically my reference point right there. The 16s are more similar to the RE-ZEROs than the ES5 is, so that may very well be the very reason why I prefer the 16s. I also felt that the 16s were more versatile and played well with many different genres as they're not as coloured, while the ES5 made an accoustic live performance sound as if you were there in a way that the 16s couldn't quite match. I sure do wish I could buy both

 
Quote:

If you search for Sonic or whatever his aliases were, his pics look even better than the 'post processed' ones IMO.  Reading impressions of owners supports the pics from my reading.  I haven't seen any JH art that impresses me let alone appears acceptable honestly.  For JH I would go for something simple or etched I think.  Or use a third party for art.  So it sounds like you've heard the JH16 and ES5?  Care to elaborate??
 

 

[dogears]

+1 on this. In the meantime, I'll stick with my A70 and wait...
 
Quote:

When it comes back, if you keep it and run it through try to post some impressions on how they compare on the DAP threads.

 
Back to the topic: choosing art for customs is a pain

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

I do most of my listening with a pair of HiFiMAN RE-ZEROs, so that's basically my reference point right there. The 16s are more similar to the RE-ZEROs than the ES5 is, so that may very well be the very reason why I prefer the 16s. I also felt that the 16s were more versatile and played well with many different genres as they're not as coloured, while the ES5 made an accoustic live performance sound as if you were there in a way that the 16s couldn't quite match. I sure do wish I could buy both

 
Yeah I can agree to the bolded part for sure.  Nothing I've heard in ear so far matches that feeling the ES5 demo gave me.  Not sure how close my Xcape is to the REZero but the ES5 loses nothing up top to them.  I certainly didn't get the rumble you mention but the ES5 gave me more slam and impact than any of my dynamic drivers had even.  I'll definitely give the 3A/16 a listen someday though. 
 

 

[Girls Generation]

How would you say the w1000x's signature (minus soundstage) compares with the ES5's? Similar? Completely different? I'm wanting an IEM that will fill in the rest of my tea cup with what the w1000x+stepdance combo did/will not. Opting for 3A+16, not entirely sure though.

 

[daveDerek]

Quote:

You guys are totally ruining everything for me, I thought I was set on the 16s but now I'm not so sure. I guess I'll have to e-mail both and ask for their printer specs

I had a 1 hour listening session with the ES5 universal demo, and two 1 hour listening sessions with the JH16 universal demo. I won't try to describe either of them, I simply haven't heard enough headphones to build a good reference point, but I will tell you how I think they compared to each other. The things that stood out for me as negatives for the ES5 were that the highs seemed recessed to me - bit too smooth for my liking. The 16 highs were slightly brighter and more sparkly to me. Upper ES5 bass had more thump than the 16s, the 16s had more of a low rumble, giving the ES5 bass a quicker and tighter but less engaging/moving feel. I felt that there was a slight mid forwardness to the ES5, whereas the 16s appeared more balanced to me (weird huh?).
I do most of my listening with a pair of HiFiMAN RE-ZEROs, so that's basically my reference point right there. The 16s are more similar to the RE-ZEROs than the ES5 is, so that may very well be the very reason why I prefer the 16s. I also felt that the 16s were more versatile and played well with many different genres as they're not as coloured, while the ES5 made an accoustic live performance sound as if you were there in a way that the 16s couldn't quite match. I sure do wish I could buy both

b0ck, did you listen to the jh13? maybe that's the answer for you. the 16s felt more balanced to you than the 5s - well the 13 is more balanced than the 16.

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

b0ck, did you listen to the jh13? maybe that's the answer for you. the 16s felt more balanced to you than the 5s - well the 13 is more balanced than the 16.

Well, he said the ES5 had less treble and less bass than he wanted, so....
 
I can confirm for a fact that the ES5 is designed without what might be considered a treble spike to some in the JH13/16.

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

You guys are totally ruining everything for me, I thought I was set on the 16s but now I'm not so sure. I guess I'll have to e-mail both and ask for their printer specs

 

JH Audio were sometimes doing hand painting on their acrylic shells which was, well, not picture perfect. I am not sure if they still do this. On the other hand, if you pay for their carbon fibre end pieces, the printing can look fantastic and the whole effect is extremely slick. Definitely check with them as to what they are doing now.
 
Sonic's ES5s show how good the Westone printing can be. I think the key with any IEM manufacturer is (1) think through and tell them how the art is to fit onto the end piece and (2) provide them with a high quality high DPI picture file.
 
Personally I am a fan of simple translucent shells with a bit of color but that is why there is chocoalte and vanilla.
 

 

 

[music_4321]

Quote:

Dave, coffee is a touchy subject today. My downstairs coffee shop just closed.

As for these exotics, they are cool but I'm a dress down kind of a guy. I like to think that my Smoke 5's show my masculine but sensitive side. Or somethin'.

Smoke 5's? Is that a new type of gun/ weapon or a new brand of cigarettes?  

 

[cooperpwc]

Nothing is better than a gun to show one's sensitive side! 

 

[b0ck3n]

I did, and I should clarify that I'm not actually looking for an entirely flat frequency response - I pretty much get that with my RE-ZEROs EQd for a slight bump (2-3db concentrated at 64hz) in bass response. I want a fun set of earphones that let me lose myself in the music, and while I think all three are fully capable of that, the 16 gets the slight nod. I generally prefer coloured bass to coloured mids. I think the ES5 reminds me of old 80's HiFi speakers my granddad used to play me, organic and lifelike, while the JH16 sounds like modern Hi-Fi speakers - is this making any sense to anyone? The 16 have bigger soundstage and are also less intimate than the ES5 to my ears.
 
I wonder how much of the smoothness and laid-back-ed-ness (

) the ES5 showed me can be attributed to it being a universal. I would love to see some FR curves of the ES5 but haven't found any anywhere.
 
And I have to agree that the Westone artworks looks sharper, less jagged and overall alot higher resolution than JHA artwork - this might seem like a silly thing compared to sound signature in a $1000 earphone, but I've commissioned my favourite artist to do the artwork so it's definitely important.
 
The ES5 might require more "brain burn" to fully adjust to their signature, which is quite different than what I'm used to with the cold and dry 555s and RE-ZEROs, but in the end I might enjoy them more.
 
Bah, I fired off an e-mail to the shop that kept the ES5 demo, hoping they didn't return them to Belgium just yet. They won't bring the W4 in which is a shame, as I understand it (based on HPA impressions) it's the universal IEM that comes closest to mimicking the ES5 sound. I found the UM3x to show similarities in signature to ES5 while less transparent and detailed, but was shot down by HPA on that one. They do keep the UM3x though so perhaps a longer session with those to find out if it's a sound that could grow on me wouldn't be a waste.

 
Quote:

b0ck, did you listen to the jh13? maybe that's the answer for you. the 16s felt more balanced to you than the 5s - well the 13 is more balanced than the 16.

 

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

The Westone pics look like they've had more post processing done to them though. I'm sort of on the fence between the ES5 and the JH16, slightly preferring the sound signature of the latter. The silicone tips do sound comfy though and the art is of great importance to me aswell.

Is there anything besides those pictures that leads you to believe that the Ws have higher quality artwork?


Quote:

Look at the galleries for one.  The resolution just looks sharper.  Click on the samples:
 
http://www.facebook.com/JHAudio?sk=wall&filter=2
 
http://www.westonemusicproducts.com/customer-art-gallery

 

I took some pics at Westone in January - 5mp iPhone 4 camera:
 

 

 

 

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

You guys are totally ruining everything for me, I thought I was set on the 16s but now I'm not so sure. I guess I'll have to e-mail both and ask for their printer specs

 
I had a 1 hour listening session with the ES5 universal demo, and two 1 hour listening sessions with the JH16 universal demo. I won't try to describe either of them, I simply haven't heard enough headphones to build a good reference point, but I will tell you how I think they compared to eachother. The things that stood out for me as negatives for the ES5 were that the highs seemed recessed to me - bit too smooth for my liking. The 16 highs were slightly brighter and more sparkly to me. Upper ES5 bass had more thump than the 16s, the 16s had more of a low rumble, giving the ES5 bass a quicker and tighter but less engaging/moving feel. I felt that there was a slight mid forwardness to the ES5, whereas the 16s appeared more balanced to me (weird huh?).
 
I do most of my listening with a pair of HiFiMAN RE-ZEROs, so that's basically my reference point right there. The 16s are more similar to the RE-ZEROs than the ES5 is, so that may very well be the very reason why I prefer the 16s. I also felt that the 16s were more versatile and played well with many different genres as they're not as coloured, while the ES5 made an accoustic live performance sound as if you were there in a way that the 16s couldn't quite match. I sure do wish I could buy both

 

 

The demo ES5 might have been recessed for you, but my ES5 full customs have a little more treble energy than the demos or my JH13Pro. And more treble energy than my Westone 4. It's a very smooth and refined grain-free treble like the HE-6 full size phones, so nothing to worry about. (W4 treble is also very refined and grain free, and while extended and not rolled off the treble is not as noticeable as the ES5).