The ones i tried are at a dealer, so it may not be representative.

After listening to the JH i still preferred the momentums or nad hp50 over them any day, which unless i have really queer taste, should not be the case. I'm guessing those were wrongly tuned or something.

 

 

the dealer does not tune them, try again, 28 posts in and a "returning member" run while you can 

 i have really queer taste

 

Maybe you should actually listen to the JH's before giving an opinion instead of pretending you did. Or go on over to head-fi and post away. Lots of pretenders over there. 

I did. 

I forgot, pretending to hear a earphone gives obvious benefits like healing cancer. If they were good, they were good, but they weren't. Thus the confusion, cause thus far Tyll's recommendations have not been wrong for me.

listening to obviously ill fitting generic sample phones isn't the same thing as actually listening to the customs.

listening to obviously ill fitting generic sample phones isn't the same thing as actually listening to the customs.

Bingo!

If possible, have Jerry insert the universal demos for you.  He actually looked inside my ear and took a spider out that was in the way!  Wait, no...

 

What, he did do was notice that my canals were deep or bent some way or something and he worked to insert the foamies right.  Best seal I've ever had with a demo as a result.  Still not close to real CIEM, but a truly decent approximation. 

 i have really queer taste.

 

Hey, what the fuck did I do to you to deserve that insult?

 

It's here!

Quick impressions to those who may be interested (from using them with an iPod Classic and the GS-X/Abrahamsen combo):

 

• The sound signature is warm, with very thick sounding mids, which may give an initial impression of too much bass even with the knob at the minimum. But this impression fades away quickly and it all sounds very balanced and coherent;
• It manages, at the same time, to sound very transparent and clear;
• Treble in particular is exceptionally clear and extended but it's not at all invasive – treble presence is close to perfect for me;
• All the BA earphones I've heard (and I've heard quite a few) seem to have a certain characteristic in the mids... an ever-so-slightly plasticky character somehow.The Roxannes are an exception;
• Bass adjustment works well and makes it sound like a subwoofer when at max, but it's not gonna see much use here since it has even more than enough bass at the minimum.

 

Overall the sound is completely different from the JH13s (non freqphase at least, which is what I used to have), which sound a bit more dry in comparison. I have a Unique Melody Mentor demo on loan and this one (which is fantastic BTW) is much closer to the 13s. I'm really liking it, but unfortunately it's gonna have to be sent back for a refit because it's extremely uncomfortable as it is

Congrats on the new acquisition.  

 

It looks like they did a much better job of finishing your case.  Mine is comically sloppy, with glue drops where they shouldn't be.  I guess it's an early adopter price.  

 

I trust that Abrahamsen DAC is very good?  The Roxannes really expose the limitations of my portable sources.  I suspect that even the Lavry DA10 is holding them back.  Too bad I don't have $8500 for Lavry's new Quintessence.

 

How's the noise floor with the GS-X?  I've found the Roxannes are considerably more sensitive than the JH13s, making noise floors a real hassle.  And I can't use resistors with them, as the treble falls off dramatically.

Edited February 19, 201412 yr by nnotis

Thank you!

 

The case is much better than some I've seen at the other place, but it still has its flaws. Using CF was a bold move. The resin's got quite a few bubbles and the fibre itself is not properly aligned in many places. It's pretty cool, though!

 

About the Abrahamsen, I think it's great. I also have an Electrocompaniet ECD-1 in the living room's speaker set-up and I honestly can't tell one from the other. They both simply sound natural. They'll be here for a long time, as I see no reason to upgrade. I am thinking about getting the new Sony ZX1 to go with my Roxys however.

 

About the GS-X, it's pretty much dead silent with the Roxannes. They are indeed quite a bit more sensitive than my previous JH13s, but I still can't hear anything from the amp on low gain unless I max the volume (with no music on, obviously) – and 12 o'clock is a lot louder than what I'd be comfortable with already. On medium and high gain there is some noise, but that doesn't matter much since the JHs have to be used on low gain. And bear in mind that the amp and the PSU are stacked with nothing in between, so that might be a culprit to some extent!

Edited February 19, 201412 yr by Leonardo Drummond

Congratulations!  Arriving at a point where you see no reason to upgrade is a very good thing.  Intuitively I would expect all your components to provide a spectacular audio experience and reading your post just confirms my assumption. Enjoy!

Edited February 20, 201412 yr by Augsburger

Thank you, Ausburger

About the GS-X, it's pretty much dead silent with the Roxannes. They are indeed quite a bit more sensitive than my previous JH13s, but I still can't hear anything from the amp on low gain unless I max the volume (with no music on, obviously) – and 12 o'clock is a lot louder than what I'd be comfortable with already. On medium and high gain there is some noise, but that doesn't matter much since the JHs have to be used on low gain. And bear in mind that the amp and the PSU are stacked with nothing in between, so that might be a culprit to some extent!

 

Justin is the shit for making one amp to drive them all, except stats.  Enjoy listening.  I'd recommend shooting high when finding a portable set up for the Roxannes.  Maybe that Sony fits the bill, I haven't heard it myself.  I'm using an iPad mini and a Pico DAC/amp, which is excellent.  But it doesn't achieve the dream of sounding as focused as my desktop source.

I've yet to hear a better portable than the HM-901, including the new ($$$$) AK240.  Sure, it's big and a little clunky to use, but you just can't beat the sound quality.

Justin is the shit for making one amp to drive them all, except stats.

 

Indeed! One of the things that I like the most with headphones is the possibility of having completely different sets, to be used in different days with different music, conveniently. So now I own 4 headphones (apart from the Roxys) that couldn't be more dissimilar from each other. And if I want just one amp to drive everything... the GS-X is really hard to beat!

 

I've yet to hear a better portable than the HM-901, including the new ($$$$) AK240.  Sure, it's big and a little clunky to use, but you just can't beat the sound quality.

 

I actually used to have the HM-801 and liked it a lot, but nowadays I don't see much of a reason to go into the kilobuck DAP area... when on-the-go the last 10% of performance don't matter much to me if I'm honest. A friend of mine is going to Japan soon, so I'll get the ZX1 for around 700 bucks, which is a good deal!

 

I'm confident it won't be as good as the HM-901, but form factor, memory and UI kind of seal the deal for me!

Edited February 21, 201412 yr by Leonardo Drummond

I've yet to hear a better portable than the HM-901, including the new ($$$$) AK240.  Sure, it's big and a little clunky to use, but you just can't beat the sound quality.

I'd love to hear one of those.  But I'm totally wedded to using my iPad & Optimus G Pro as digital sources and interfaces.  I wonder if there's a mini USB DAC & amp as good as the 901?  Maybe the Chord Hugo is it, but at the price they're asking, I'm not inclined to buy and find out.  And It seems as though its amp isn't best suited to uber sensitive IEMs.  It's pretty hard to interpret anything from its Head-Fi thread though.  I love seeing pictures of people plugging HD-800s into their new Hugos.  I wonder how long it'll be before someone posts about how well it handles K1000s?

I've yet to hear a better portable than the HM-901, including the new ($$$$) AK240.  Sure, it's big and a little clunky to use, but you just can't beat the sound quality.

 

I agree - my HM-901 sounds more like a desktop rig with my custom IEM than a portable rig.  I keep a 64GB SD card loaded with FLAC in it for using in my bed.  But using the Perfectwave DAC Mk2 > ZDT > JH16Pro and others is pure bliss.

 

Often it's more convenient to use my CEntrance HiFi-M8 with macbook and IEM while surfing the web, but it's not as rich & warm sounding, nor as refined, although equally as spacious and open.

 

Like Nick, I have often used my Pico DAC/Slim with iPad and IEM, and it's quite good together, like a mix between the warmth of the HM-901 and the treble of the CEntrance.

 

I almost exclusively use my JH16Pro FreqPhase and ES5 at home with these rigs, but use my older JH13Pro or ES3X for travel (so in case I lose one it won't be my best).

Both my JH13 cables failed. Purchased a Moon Audio silver dragon as a replacement. 

 

It works. Sounds a little better. Feels like a quality cable.

 

Got My Roxanne’s in yesterday.  Leonardo did a great job of describing their sound already. I’ll just say that the main characteristics are:

 

Rich/thick/warm without being congested, very polished and refined (rounded leading edges, never sharp or thin), very three dimensional soundstage with accurate timbre for all instruments. Lots of detail but doesn’t throw it in your face.

 

For now, I set the bass slightly above the lowest setting. The fit isn’t bad, but I may need to send it in as well. 

 

... I may need to send it in as well. 

Uh-oh.

^ yep, and so it begins, right? 

But they said they've improved, so you have to give them the chance to make it right.

I probably shouldn't be saying this publicly, but I did manage to fix it myself sanding some bits, and now it doesn't hurt anymore! Sending it back would be a nightmare – lots of money on shipping, on more taxes once they come back (Brazil FTW) and probably some long waiting times. So I took the risk and I guess it paid out.

 

Rob, it's interesting that now that I'm getting used to it I'm finding that the bass isn't at all heavy at the minimum. It is indeed the mids that give this impression (to me, at least). It's now set at 9 o'clock and it seems to be a perfect setting for me.

Edited February 26, 201412 yr by Leonardo Drummond

Yes, I settled at 9 o'clock as well. The bass adjust is odd. It doesn't sound like it gives a bass boost, it sounds "thick" at the lowest setting and just seems to fill in with bass as you turn it up. Strange and hard to explain.

 

Anyway, glad you were able to fix the fit yourself. That would have been a mess to deal with being overseas.