So it's been a full year since I received my JH 13s from Jerry Harvey Audio, and in that time I have had some amazing musical experiences that are worth sharing. I know GeekHack isn't about audio but I have gotten enough questions about custom in ears to justify a proper review.
I posted my initial impressions here:
http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/174415-audiophile-tendincies-a-jh-13-review/ however I expect that this will be more comprehensive.
I should begin by explaining to anyone who doesn't know what custom in ears are (CIEMs). Basically CIEMs are in ear headphones molded specifically for your ears, usually used by musicians for live performances which they cant ware headphones but also cant risk having normal in ear headphones fall out all the time. Since their invention though they have become a staple of the audiophile community. The basic benefits of CIEMs are that they are more comfortable, have better audio, and more noise isolation than normal in ears. But more on these benefits further on. In order to get a pair of CIEM's you first order the model you would like from the host of companies that offer them including but not limited to JH Audio, Ultimate Ears, Weston, or Hier Audio. After deciding on your customization features, the diversity of which is spectacular if you have never ordered anything handmade, you make the purchase and everything is set in motion. The next step is to send the lab your ear impressions ( silicon imprints of the inside of your ears). In order to do this you have to contact a local audiologist, tell them you are crazy and purchased headphones that cost as much as the average Americans flat screen TVs and set up an apointment. Once that process is complete you send in the impressions and the wait begins.
2 Months after I ordered my Jh13s they arrived, including nothing but an anodized aluminum case with my name engraved on it (I used my 1337 photoshop skills to remove my name from the photo for privacy reasons), The headphones themselves, a cable, and a cleaning tool. No drama.
That said nobody really keeps the silly packaging and regardless this is an absolutely custom product that would only look generic if it had a box and everything. In short, I aint even mad.
The headphones themselves are an acrylic shell molded from your ear impressions and cast using UV curable resin. The color of that resin can be almost any color you want, but I choose black translucent with a titanium logo. For more money you can have any photo of your liking put on the headphones or have textured pace-plates. But when I was already paying $1100 for the headphones, $50 for ear impressions, and another $30 for UPS insured, tracked, and signed for shipping, I wasnt looking to spend any more money.
Now to the actual review. The Jh13's have 6 balanced armature drivers in each side, two low, two mid, and two high. This balance makes the JH13 great for an even frequency response compared to the JH16s that cost $50 more and contain an extra low driver per side. With that many drivers you achieve one important thing, absolutely no distortion... at any volume level. The three pairs of drivers are all connected using active crossovers and funneled through a tube to the end of the earpiece where there are three bores. Jerry Harvey recently patented a technology called preqphase which aligns the three streams of audio within a tenth of a second so that all three frequency ranges reach your ear at the same time. The JH13 is the "cheapest" headphone to offer the feature and I must say that there is an obvious benefit to this technology. While I never tried the JH13s pre phreqphase, compared to my triple fi 10s there are a couple big differences. For one, unlike most headphones the JH13s have no clear center to the audio. Often with other headphones I can pinpoint the crossover between left and right, but on the JH13s the sound stretches around without any interruption. Moreover, the clarity and separation between the instruments in the track is greatly increased. Other headphones seem muddled or even bassy in comparison. These are conclusions I came to on my own, and Jerry Harvey seems to be saying that this is the desired effect.
I will only briefly talk about the sound signature of JH13s and how "good" the audio is because I think that most people don't need to know how good the headphones are but if they are worth it. The JH13's are obviously great. With a proper recording, and decent bit rate songs, the JH13s really shine and produce some of the most detailed and realistic audio I have ever heard. While the mids arent quite as enjoyable as the LCD2s which I have used in the past, and the sound stage will never be good as a proper full sized headphones, the JH13s stack up against most of any headphones on the market.
So are they worth it? In order to answer that I think we need to further analyze the value proposition. When I originally considered which high end headphones to buy I was debating between the LCD2s which I actually had a $50 credit for, the Beyerdynamic T1s, or of course the JH13s. What made me decide the way I did was that with my active lifestyle I am always moving around and having to carry an amp and a bulky pair of headphones just didn't make sense. Moreover I liked the noise isolation of in ears because I often like listening to music in busy environments and being able to tune out to the rest of the world was always something I liked. The one thing that had turned me off in the past about in ears was the annoying ear tips that you would always have to jam into your ears and would so often get damaged. I was spending close to $30 on eartips every other month to keep my Triple Fis working. With Customs those problems were solved. The custom fit was always comfortable and didn't require any jamming or replacing, fantastic! In many ways CIEMs are perfect for me both physically and musically. That said who knows how much less I could have spent and still gotten the same results. I should mention that JH as well as a host of other companies do offer more affordable CIEMs that will be great if anyone wants the convinece of CIEMs but doesnt want to pay for "audiophile quality" audio.
Pros
- Portable
- Easy to drive
- Comfortable
- Custom expression
- Sound great against all in ears and most full sized headphones
Cons
- Expensive
- Reduced sound stage
- Take long to receive
- Requires the added effort of getting ear molds
One last thing has to be said about JH Audio and that is there customer service. Throughout my entire purchase and delivery process they were extremely helpful and always answered respectfully. Recently I decided to send back my JH13s to get cleaned and have them check out an issue that I thought was effecting the sonic signature of the left headphone. I sent them back and within a week I had a repair quote in my inbox. While the repairs were relatively expensive at $100, for a lab of less than 50 people I really appreciated the time that an actual person would put into examining my headphones and repairing them. Moreover when I got my headphones back they had included a brand new cable as well as a couple cleaning tools to tide me over. I can absolutely recommend JH Audio in terms of their support for their customers.
I have had JH13s for a full year now, and I have to say that they never get old. I can no longer turn back to other cheaper solutions now that I have experienced what great listening experiences are all about. I'm not saying that CIEMs much less the JH13s are the perfect headphones for everyone. In fact I think that most people shouldn't get them regardless of whether or not they can afford them. But CIEMs aren't just a purchase, they are an investment. Accompanied with proper customer service and a company that stands behind their products a good CIEM could last for many years. If they don't fit well they will re-shell them, if they get damaged they will fix them, ext.. In effect you are saving yourself from buying another pair of in ears for the rest of your life, or at least till wired headphones are no longer useful. When I think about how much enjoyment I have gotten out of them I never regrett it. For many spending this much money on headphones is crazy, and I admit, it is crazy, but life isn't about doing things that are good or valuable, its about doing things that make you happy, one thing that good music played properly in peaceful serenity can do for you in any mood, any day of the week.
Conclusion:
Dis aint the real conclusion, I hope you actually read this far
Geekhackers are all squares
Geekhackers are all squares
Geekhackers are all squares
Geekhackers are all squares
Geekhackers are all squares
Geekhackers are all :triangles:
Thanks for reading and feel free to ask questions or leave comments below.
