a-JAYS One review
Friday, 17 December 2010
Always good to see some new earbuds on the market – there are some shockers out there ... these look promising, so I set to.
For the audio reproduction test, I listened to my reference set of songs that stretch audio in various ways. This is a combination of tracks I love and know well, plus others I have noticed test frequency ranges and reproduction – it’s good to put a couple of tracks by maestros in your test suite, btw, like Kaki King – her guitar playing, up loud, should test any system, as would Marnie Stern’s.
My test suite:
1/ The Suit by Public Image (Metal Box, 1979) – big bass sound, reverby drums, and some piano you should be able to discern clearly through the bass and drums; the song was ripped from CD. Bass player Jah Wobble reputedly leaned his bass speakers up against the studio wall and mic’ed that for the recordings.
2/ Suite No. 4 In E-Flat Major, BWV 1010 : I. Prelude by Anner Bylsma is solo cello, and if you can’t hear his breathing and the impact of the bow on the strings before the note, your reproduction isn’t good enough. There’s also a pretty full gamut of notes and you should get the stutter of the bow across the deep notes, it’s awesome. In the middle there’s a pause and then some fast fretting – it’s a good test. This was ripped from a CD.
3-4/ Tropical Hotdog Night by Captain Beefheart. One of my favourite songs of all time demonstrates a wide range of tones from tight bass through Mexican style trumpets, a range of percussion (drums, marimbas …) and a fairly good demonstration of Don van Vliet’s vocals. And I know it really well, so I bought 128kbps and 256kbps versions via iTunes. With good ’phones you should be able to tell the difference – the better version is fuller with better mid tone development.
Besides, after just 10 seconds with the volume up, you can hear if ’phones and speakers can hack it or not … and again at 28 seconds.
[Please note – I am very sad as Don van Vliet AKA Captain Beefheart died 17 December 2010, aged 69.]
5/ Walking Man by Zoe Keating – the MacBook and Applescript user plays cello too, and uses the tech to layer it up so she sounds like several cellists all by herself. Bought on iTunes, it’s traditional cello played modern, demonstrating a nice meld of high-tech recording and style with.
6-7/ You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette – not a fave song but I noticed once that Alanis really pushes the limits of reproduction at a certain point in the song, at about 3:09 after the woo-woo bit. Once again I bought a 128kbps version, then a 256kbps to see if it was just a qualitative difference (it’s not). The bouncing and popping bass is good to focus on too, actually, and the guitar does a bit of panning trickery.
The better (256kbps) version is an extended mix that also has some bass chords at the beginning.
I first listened to the whole set all the way through on my reference Sennheiser HD320s, which have been discontinued.
This isn’t the best headset on the planet but they are very good. I’ve had them for 15 years and I know them really well. I mix with them in GarageBand and Logic (and play Call of Duty) with them. They’re very comfortable and you can wear them for long periods (ie extended Monday night fracs with the MadMacs' clan), if a little warm and fuzzy in tone.
Then I listened to the songs again with my Apple In-Ear Speakers ($143). These are marvellous – with two drivers in each earpiece, they are slightly warm but clear with a bass response that goes way down to an extremely impressive 5Hz (and up to 21kHz). Also, since they come with a range of silicon buds for different ear canal sizes, they end up fitting well and comfortably, while isolating sounds.
Note that the distortion points mentioned above do not occur with either of these reference units. The Apple In Ears sound distinctly clearer across the frequencies, particularly (odd considering they go a lot lower than the Sennheisers) in the upper mid and treble ranges.
Black and coolOK, let’s try the a-JAYs One, at the lower end of the range. They’re black and cool-looking, with a black ribbon (flat) cable that’s supposed to tangle less.
The immediate sound impression is crystal clarity, even these are called Heavy Bass Impact Earphones. The drivers are 8.6mm with the common frequency range (for earbuds) of 20Hz-18KHz, so not dramatic in either the bass or treble ends, so you’d have to hope for mid-range clarity.
And you certainly get that, to the point that you don’t really miss the lowest tones as your mind gets taken with the excellent reproduction of everything else. The only way I’d characterise the sound overall is of a slight lack of warmth or colour – but this may be just what you’re after. You certainly end up with clear sound reproduction even when you’re in a noisy environment.
In fact, they really point out the difference between 128kbps and 256kbps iTunes files, so you may regret buying the cheaper, lower-resolution versions of your favourite tracks – and this is important, as many headphones out they’re don’t let you hear the difference at all.
These may be the cheaper of the JAYS options I tested, but they’re well made, with the stereo minipin gold-plated for better transmission.
They also come in a slinky black case which slides open to reveal four additional pairs of buds, so you’re going to end up with a comfy fit regardless of ear shape or size. The Apple In Ears come with three sizes of sleeves – the JAYS' extra buds range from small, medium, large, extra large and extra extra large.These just slide on and off. There’s even a full, printed-in-eight-languages user guide, which explains audio concepts as well as explaining what’s what. Conclusion — these Swedish earbuds are classy and no mistake. They sound very good indeed, but if you’re an ace of bass, you might want a pair with lower bass response. They are more comfortable and more precise-sounding than the standard Apple earbuds though no rival to the In Ears, and they represent a really good price for such quality.
What’s great — The sound is clear, loud, fast and tight.
What’s not — Not really enough bass for hip hop etc, despite the name.
Needs — Someone who wants better black buds for a great price.
4/5
What — a-JAYS One Heavy Bass Impact Earphones, NZ$79.95
System — Earphones in Standard black, driver: 8.6 mm Dynamic Speaker
Sensitivity 95dB @ 1kHz. Impedance 16 Ohm @ 1kHz
Frequency Response 20 Hz–18 000 Hz
Isolation JAYS Sound Isolating Sleeves
Size (L)18.3 x (W)11.8 x (H)13.8 mm
Weight 14 grams (0.49 oz)
115 cm (45 in) TPE coated flat tangle free cable
Straight, gold-plated stereo plug 3.5mm (1/8 in)
Available from — Available from MagnumMac and online at yoobee.com. Also available at most Apple retail shops, online at TotallyMac, and TelstraClear, and marketed via MacGear, manufacturers' site is JAYS SE.
