Jays j-JAYS Black

Upstart Swedish manufacturer Jays has come to the rescue of earbud afficionados with their new line of comfy inexpensive ECHs that have nicely impressed the geeky HeadRoom crew. The J-Jays model provides OK-to-decent sound quality, personalized fit options with four sleeve sizes, and solid noise-blocking ability given their 'shallow-fit' ECH style -- all at a really attractive consumer-friendly price. Expect solid audio improvements over the stock-issue earbuds typically given away with iPods, Mp3 players, and laptops!

The J-Jays earphones have a dynamic driver construction offering a clean bottom-end presentation and a forward albeit slightly thin treble range response. For the fussy listener, we could say the midranges could have used better transparency but at this nice price who wants to get all fussy? They come with 4 differently-sized silicon rubber eartip sleeves (Extra Small/ Small/ Medium/ Large) which actually manage a good degree of ambient noise-blocking. As always, the tighter the fit the better the ambient noise seal and the better the bass response will be. The J-Jays efficient 32 ohms impedance assures good performance from virtually any audio source with no dedicated headphone amp required. The J-Jays accessories kit is nicely loaded and contains the aforementioned sleeves, 2 detachable / joinable mini-cables (which together allow for about a 4.5 foot cable length), and an adjustable 'Y-cord' slider. There's no filter assembly needed in the J-Jay design. The cord can be worn either looping behind the ear or straight down -- whichever you prefer -- and is terminated to a 1/8" [3.5mm] gold-plated stereo mini-plug.