Dusty Chalk Posted June 10, 2011 Report Posted June 10, 2011 JHA may be recommending that JH16 is the better foundation, but the JH13 seem perfectly capable of the task. I wouldn't use that as the criteria, I'd use the criteria on whether or not you can really afford it (I know, a lot of times when I say, "pushing the budget", what I really mean is, "it's probably more than I should be spending right now, but fuck it", when in reality I should find another alternative).
jp11801 Posted June 10, 2011 Report Posted June 10, 2011 I'd wait until I could afford the 16 as the bass is stunning with this rig
grawk Posted June 10, 2011 Report Posted June 10, 2011 What do you feel like you're missing out on? Why do you feel like you need to upgrade?
Edwood Posted June 10, 2011 Report Posted June 10, 2011 Ed, if I got out a magnifying glass, the edges would look a bit ragged, but to the naked eye, it looks good. I'm pleased. I'm a wee bit frustrated as I have a cold right now, and my ears and nose are stuffy. Hoping things clear up fast so I can actually give this a good listen this weekend. Cool, glad it looks good to the naked eye in person, because it looks like ass in that Facebook pic.
Augsburger Posted June 10, 2011 Report Posted June 10, 2011 Well I guess one could say that my eyes are more naked than Edwood's and to me they look great.
bozebuttons Posted June 10, 2011 Report Posted June 10, 2011 Well JHA got me my new 3a/16 out right away,received it today after them getting the ones I sent back yesterday. Got everthing right this time.Even got the hoody. Fit seems ok ,but it goes very deep into the canals,I will give it a week to get used to it. Gain on this is set to high,volume knob barely turned. Listening to allison Krause paper airplane cd on my dell laptop via USB. Let the burn in begin!
boomana Posted June 10, 2011 Report Posted June 10, 2011 agreed re gain, and a wee bit bright, but I am still really happy. I'm listening to bright black morning light right now and smiling
comperic2003 Posted June 11, 2011 Report Posted June 11, 2011 Does anyone here think it wont be a waste of my money to have my current JH13 converted to the JH3A, since JHA is recommending that JH16 make a better foundation to build on? Even spending the money on the upgrade is pushing the budget, so a new complete JH3A/16 is out of the question. I was thinking it might even make more sense to just pair a new AlgoRythm Solo with Pico Slim and use the std JH13Pro a bit longer. HeadphoneAddict, I think you might be a headphone addict. Perhaps, you should use those headphone funds to hire boomana's addiction counseling services?
HeadphoneAddict Posted June 12, 2011 Report Posted June 12, 2011 Yeah, I'm an addict. Theoretically I have everything I should ever want, yet I want more even though I shouldn't be spending the money. With the JH3A one thing I'd be looking for is to have a little richer and more vivid midrange, with an increase transparency and out of head imaging. I've read that the superior phase alignment of the JH3A allows the IEM to completely disappear. In all honesty, my Macbook Pro > Amarra Mini > Pico DAC > Pico Slim > JH13Pro is pretty impressive already, but I really do hear some distortion in the lows at higher volumes that shouldn't be there. Switching to the DACmini > balanced SR-71b does the same. Those are volumes that I don't often venture to, but they really should offer more headroom if asked for it. When I switch to a medium power desktop amp like DACmini or Woo WA6 this becomes a non-issue, but a portable IEM shouldn't need a desktop amp to sound clean at high volumes. I'd imagine that a tri-amped JH13 or JH16 would do better in this regard (unless there is something wrong with mine, but I reported this portable amp distortion issue in my 2009 review and it's nothing new to me). Occasionally the very deep bass seems a little boosted and disconnected from the upper bass and mids, like having a subwoofer that doesn't quite reach up to meet the satellite speaker's lower end; but with most of my rigs and music this is not an issue. Still, if I could have the JH13 Bass and Treble with the mids of my ES5 I'd be happier. Now, I have to admit that the JH16Pro demo I heard at RMAF 2010 did fix the bass/midrange balance for me, but I don't know how representative that was vs the real custom fit version. I've found that demo's don't always sound like the final custom. I seem to recall the UE11Pro demo at CanJam 2009 was a bit better than the real thing in terms of the bass/midrange balance, and I was a little disappointed with the extra bass in the final custom.
jp11801 Posted June 12, 2011 Report Posted June 12, 2011 not typical Sunday brunch music but Back In Black is rocking through this set up. Bass is a monster, nice guitar crunch and Brian Johnson is tattooed on my brain. Great stuff and worth the wait. I may eventually have the gain lowered and I would love to spend a day and fine tune the eq to my personal preference. While it is great as is. I'd love to experiment with a lift from 125 to 400 hz or so and a dip around 7khz. Listened to Led Zep ll last night the early master from Barry Diament and it rocked, great layering and details were astounding. Jimmy Page ran 3-5 guitar parts on most tracks and it was really cool to hear them all in greater detail.
blessingx Posted June 12, 2011 Report Posted June 12, 2011 (edited) Hey JP, keep the impressions coming. I know you were/are limited with connection options, but now that you've had a few days, how do you invision using mostly (rig-wise)? Laptop, portably, analog setup, etc.? And EQu app could be a fun way to experiment if you're using your phone. Edited June 12, 2011 by blessingx
The Monkey Posted June 12, 2011 Report Posted June 12, 2011 Jp, is there any way for the end user to tweak the settings as you've described?
jp11801 Posted June 12, 2011 Report Posted June 12, 2011 Hey JP, keep the impressions coming. I know you were/are limited with connection options, but now that you've had a few days, how do you invision using mostly (rig-wise)? Laptop, portably, analog setup, etc.? And EQu app could be a fun way to experiment if you're using your phone. I see it as predominantly a laptop rig and think ( hope ) that the Halide Bridge and Moon Audio BNC adapter will raise the level even higher. I also have an AES to mini SPDIF on order from Moon to go from the Sonic 305 as well. Once that is set up I'll be experimenting with EQ. I am a firm believer that most people have no fucking clue how to use EQ and a little goes a long way. I did take it to an outdoor beer spot yesterday and used it with a LOD from my phone. Sounded great a bit softer in volume than the USB and less leading edge speed. Jp, is there any way for the end user to tweak the settings as you've described? No not unless you got the program Jerry uses to program the DSP settings. He talked about opening it up but I could see that as a customer service nightmare given some of the people purchasing the unit. I wish Jerry had added one more switch to allow for two EQ settings on for what I think in mainly flat and one with a dip in the sibilance range and a low mid lift. This might help shitty recordings.
The Monkey Posted June 12, 2011 Report Posted June 12, 2011 It definitely would be cool if Jerry opened up the program, with the ability to always revert to the original settings. That ability would be mandatory, though.
blessingx Posted June 16, 2011 Report Posted June 16, 2011 If I could pick the brains of those more knowledgeable than I... There's a bit of confusion over the mini-spdif input of the JH3A. I've asked Jerry about use of the normal mini mono coax plug, and although he's trying to help, he's basically sent the same image a couple times without addressing the mono question. Attached is his document containing that image. I'm a bit confused at the L/R input. Is that analog? Anyone here have a guess if a digital mono plug would work from the illustration? Just trying to get 1s and 0s inside the thing (well, that and actually get the thing). Any help would be much appreciated.COAX.doc
Dusty Chalk Posted June 16, 2011 Report Posted June 16, 2011 I wouldn't mind confirmation, but I don't see how a regular old mono plug is supposed to work. I'm presuming he provides some sort of breakout cable? It's a tip-ring-ring-sleeve, where the tip is the digital, the two rings are analog, and the sleeve is ground. You could just home-brew something so that the two sleeves weren't connected to anything, but I wouldn't use a regular mono plug (?), I would use that exact same connector.
blessingx Posted June 16, 2011 Report Posted June 16, 2011 I should mention at an earlier "days away" point, I had the cable already built. So it's sitting here. I'm just trying to confirm it's not going to work before investigating the retermination options (those analog points on the plug are throwing me). Trying to get in place for the JH3As eventual arrival (and avoid one more delay). And Dusty, no breakout.
recstar24 Posted June 17, 2011 Report Posted June 17, 2011 Facebook post - no more jh13/3a "By now, most of you have probably heard that JHAudio has decided not to offer the JH3A with the JH13. Â After much testing and tuning, Jerry has found that the JH16 circuit works best for optimal detail and accuracy out of the amp. Â The 13 circuit just didn't match up. Â When the bass knob is turned down, the 16 circuit is +2db of boost at 5oHz. Â (The passive 13 has a built in boost of 6dB at 50Hz.) Â Â With the amp + 16 combination, you have the ability to have the lows much lower than the 13 and much higher than the 16. Â This circuit is accurate to 23k, so everyone should be able to set the bass to their preference." Â
tim22 Posted June 17, 2011 Report Posted June 17, 2011 I listened to my JH13's out of an (inexpensive) dac/amp from my computer and was blown away by the improvement over my iphone. I'm wondering what's the current state of portable amp/dac combo's for ipod/iphone? Anyone have any recommendations?
HeadphoneAddict Posted June 17, 2011 Report Posted June 17, 2011 I listened to my JH13's out of an (inexpensive) dac/amp from my computer and was blown away by the improvement over my iphone. I'm wondering what's the current state of portable amp/dac combo's for ipod/iphone? Anyone have any recommendations? On a tight budget I like the iBasso D4 a lot for $220, but there is some very low volume channel imbalance at the lower end of the volume pot. If you like to listen very quietly, like when going to sleep while wearing your IEM, then feeding the D4's line-out into a Pico Slim works very well for a wide range of volume levels including insanely low volumes. I'm currently using the Pico DAC-only to feed my Pico Slim, but the improvement of the Pico DAC over the D4 DAC isn't huge although it is there. I still prefer this combo over the original Pico Amp with built-in DAC, and the Slim is more portable so I can use it with my Nano/iPhone and leave the DAC attached to my Macbook at home. If you didn't need to use it portable with an iPod/iPhone, then the CEntrance DACport is an excellent choice for USB only input, but that wont work with how you want to use it.
Dusty Chalk Posted June 17, 2011 Report Posted June 17, 2011 I listened to my JH13's out of an (inexpensive) dac/amp from my computer and was blown away by the improvement over my iphone. I'm wondering what's the current state of portable amp/dac combo's for ipod/iphone? Anyone have any recommendations?You mean, besides the JH13? Really? That's like a joke on this site. When we recommend nothing else, we recommend the JH13. Alright, maybe electrostatics, but that is the mafia a select few. I mean, srsly...
Dusty Chalk Posted June 17, 2011 Report Posted June 17, 2011 Facebook post - no more jh13/3a "By now, most of you have probably heard that JHAudio has decided not to offer the JH3A with the JH13. Â After much testing and tuning, Jerry has found that the JH16 circuit works best for optimal detail and accuracy out of the amp. Â The 13 circuit just didn't match up. Â When the bass knob is turned down, the 16 circuit is +2db of boost at 5oHz. Â (The passive 13 has a built in boost of 6dB at 50Hz.) Â Â With the amp + 16 combination, you have the ability to have the lows much lower than the 13 and much higher than the 16. Â This circuit is accurate to 23k, so everyone should be able to set the bass to their preference." Â (pouts) It's just going to take me that much longer to save up. And I mean, months save up, not weeks. Perhaps years.
Fitz Posted June 17, 2011 Report Posted June 17, 2011 You mean, besides the JH13? Really? That's like a joke on this site. When we recommend nothing else, we recommend the JH13. Alright, maybe electrostatics, but that is the mafia a select few. I mean, srsly... srsly peter? He was asking about amps/dacs to use with the JH13, not other earphones.
Dusty Chalk Posted June 17, 2011 Report Posted June 17, 2011 Sorry, I'm slightly inebriated -- you are correct, he was asking about DAC/amp. I say Pico. Headamp Pico DAC/amp. With the ...what is it, camera kit? No, that's the iPad -- how does that work with the iPhone/iTouch?
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