Mr.Jerry Harvey has been the driving force behind all of the industry's best balanced-armature in-ear monitor headphones for a very long time. Think of your favorite talented musician and chances are they use Jerry's customized earphones on stage and in the studio. Now finally flying under his own banner, the JH Audio 13PRO three-crossover, six-driver array is one of the truest, most immersive audio experiences we've gotten HeadRoom ears on. Scintillating sound quality and reference acoustic performance at the very pinnacle of headphone accuracy. Compare against top customs from others and prepare for a face palm!Review this product
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OMG
Posted by Darellmatt from Minneapolis, Minnesota on 2011-10-08Posted on JH Audio JH13 Pro
Recommend Product: Yes
Pros: Incredible clarity, sound stage, very comfortable
Cons: You can't really try them before you buy them
I struggled for over a year with the decision of whether to buy these. I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 800's, which are very satisfying to listen to, but they are a bit bulky for some settings and require a decent headphone amp to drive them.
My other hesitation was the hassle of getting custom ear canal impressions made. What finally took me over my resistance is that I was seeing an Audiologist for other reasons, and I decided to go ahead and have the impressions made.
Turns out that process was easier than I imagined, although neither headroom nor JH audio are really clear about the sequence of steps you need to follow. FYI they are this: order your JH13's first. When you place your order ask the sales person for the address to mail the impressions. Then schedule with your local audiologist and get impressions of the ear canal made, with your mouth open, and including an impression of the external ear. The audiologist will mail the impressions to you, and then you put the JH audio address on the box and mail them to JH audio. That's it. No big deal.
Worth it? Absolutely. Regarding comfort: I am listening as I write this. I have had my JH13's in for about 3 hours. I really almost can't tell they are there.
Except for this exquisite, transparent, ultra-realistic sound that envelopes me. The sound is pure, amazingly detailed, and the only thing the bass doesn't do is shake the walls. To say that the soundstage is vivid doesn't fully convey the experience. At the end of the day it's about enjoying the music. And that is what these in ear monitors.
One minor probem: they come with a custom engraved carrying case, engraved with your name. Which in my case, they misspelled.
The only other real problem with them is that you can't share the experience with anyone less devoted to high end audio than you are...
oh well...
35 out of 42 people found this review helpful. Did you?
Amazing IEMs
Posted by Asr from CO on 2010-02-12Posted on JH Audio JH13 Pro
Recommend Product: Yes
Pros: Killer sound quality, comfortable, totally isolating
Cons: custom fit (can't be shared or re-sold), some might find it bass-light
I've owned the JH13 since July 2009 (almost right after they came out) and since then it's been nothing but audio bliss in my ears! :)
But I'm getting ahead of myself and will explain a bit about the JH13 first. It's a custom IEM which means you have to acquire ear-mold impressions from your local audiologist (a separate cost that runs about $50-$150 depending on your area and where you get them done) to send off to JH Audio who then encloses their drivers into a customized acrylic shell replicated from your ear-mold impressions. There are lots of color options available for the acrylic shell, and you can also ask them to print a custom logo on it too. Getting accurate-fitting ear-mold impressions is extremely important because if the JH13 winds up not fitting well, it can be very uncomfortable and sound quality won't be as good otherwise.
With a proper fit, the JH13 is, well, pretty amazing. If all you've ever heard are cheap plastic earphones then the JH13 will open up a whole new world, at least provided your digital files are compressed at either a high bit-rate or are lossless. It has a remarkably "flat" response compared to a lot of other headphone brands that are sonically colored in one way or another (AKG, Audio-Technica, Grado, & Sennheiser for example) - no sibilance or otherwise peaky treble, neutral mid-range, and just enough bass for power & impact but not too much that it's bloated or flabby. What makes the JH13 especially good though is its combination of this "flat" frequency response with exceptionally good clarity throughout the spectrum (so you can hear every instrument discretely as opposed to them sounding like blended soup), a near-holographic soundstage (plenty of virtual air & space but not too much), and very quick impulse response (fast notes "pop" when needed).
It means that the JH13 is one of the least intrusive earphones or headphones that I've *ever* heard and that includes an absolutely huge array of headphones (to view them all, see my profile on Head-Fi, my username there is "Asr"). It sonically disappears extremely well and presents the music without imposing much of anything - which is an accomplishment because most headphones impose *something*. The JH13 is not a Grado, where upper mid-range is usually pushed forward and treble sometimes has too much snarl. It's not a Sennheiser, where you can sometimes feel like there's a curtain between you and the music and something else is masking the mid-range a bit. It's not an AKG K601/K701/K702 where there's excessive soundstage and the impulse response is sorely being held back.
It's a sonic tour de force that really just about beats down a ton of full-size headphones and then some. The only headphones I've heard that actually can beat the JH13 in at least one aspect? They cost in excess of $1K and most of them are discontinued - the AKG K1000, Grado HP1000, Sony Qualia 010, and Stax Omega II (MKI). The best part is that the JH13 can sound really good out of a computer or portable DAP with no external amplification - but if you wanted to formulate a proper hi-fi system with it, it will easily scale up with better equipment. Just buy the JH13 and you too can be amazed.
Isolation, you ask? This is a custom IEM - environmental noise becomes a non-issue. Even on public transit. I've worn the JH13 on both the bus and the plane and it's always a pleasure to be able to block out engine noise and screaming kids. :)
100 out of 104 people found this review helpful. Did you?
Worth every cent
Posted by Nacozari from Wisconsin on 2010-02-10Posted on JH Audio JH13 Pro
Recommend Product: Yes
Pros: Full and deep soundstage, amazing lows, crystal highs
Cons: Expensive, cannot be resold
I wavered for many months before buying these custom fit inner ear monitors. I was put off by the price, and I had bad experiences before with custom IEMs (poor fit, bad seal, etc.).
But I finally took the plunge, and am I ever glad I did. They compare favorably against other high-end headphones I have owned and tried, in fact they blow full-size headphones at the same price point out of the water. The sound is both incredibly realistic (many times, I've turned around, thinking someone was speaking to me, only to realize that I was hearing talking in the background of the recording), and better-than-real: the bass, while not bone-shaking, can be felt all over your body, and the level of detail makes you wonder if you've been bitten by a radioactive spider, and now you are endowed with Spidey hearing.
I was worried about the fit, afraid that I'd have to go through several rounds of tweaking the molds before I finally got the fit I liked, but I was very pleased to discover that they fit my ears perfectly, first try. The hard acrylic shell is actually easier on my ears than softer material, and the full outer-ear fit both ensures that it seats snugly and provides good (not fantastic, but more than good enough) isolation.
In short, it's hard to find anything bad to say about the JH13s. I've owned them for three months now, and my other headphones are just gathering dust.
55 out of 64 people found this review helpful. Did you?
