JBuds J2 Premium Hi-Fi Noise-Isolating Earbuds -Onyx Black
by JLAB
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of JBuds J2 Premium Hi-Fi Noise-Isolating Earbuds -Onyx Black
Customer Review: Good on-the-go earbuds
Summary: 5 Stars
JBuds J2 Premium Hi-FI Noise Isolating Earbuds (Onyx Black)
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Pros:
Great comfort, good sound, better than most other in-ear ones I've tried(jvc, philips 'surround sound', philips premium, others).
Amazing design and looks.
Generally good construction
The J2's isolate surrounding noise very well, a little better than the Koss Plugs do (my normal earbuds).
Cons:
Even after a burn-in, playing mp3's at 192kbit/s, the sound still doesn't match the $12 koss plugs, specifically in the very high and very low frequency ranges.
The cords are very durable, but also transmit more vibration and other sounds along the cord. When the cord touches your jacket or is just out in the wind, you hear it, and it is distracting.
JLabs is a great company, and I respect them for their amazing customer service!
The highs are a little muted, as is the bass. The low bass frequencies don't come out particularly well--I just can't hear some of the lower bass parts in certain songs. The Koss Plugs have strong and deep bass, which I like. They have clearer highs, but don't isolate sound nearly as well as the J2s. This is because the Plugs have holes on the outside of the earbud casing to vent backpressure [hence the deeper bass], whereas the J2's are sealed--hence the noise isolation, but also less bass. Sorry this turned into a comparison...
To the great people at JLAB,
Why does movement against the cords create a stethoscope-like effect? i.e. cord microphonics as another reviewer put it. It is distracting during any kind of activity--also the strain relief does not attach in any way to the cord, and consequently the cord can ride in and out of the casing/strain relief just a little...I imagine that the cord is just knotted inside.
Overall, great earphones. Just a couple annoyances, but easily overlooked, and subjective to music preferences:
If you want more balanced sound and more durable construction on-the-go, in noisier environments, go for the J2's.
If you want deeper bass, care more about sound overall, and won't be taking them in/out often, go for the Plugs.
Hope I could help.
***UPDATE Nov 09 ***
After considerable use, (burned in, had them for a year) the bass and overall sound quality and clarity have improved and now are GREAT! NO COMPLAINTS. I think it's a mark of a high-quality driver if it does require burn-in. All aspects of the construction remain stellar. I find myself appreciating many features that annoyed me initially--simply because they work! The silicone ear parts are durable, just don't forget to clean them :) Get these earbuds. you won't regret it.
Worth every penny.
Customer Review: Huge improvement over stock mp3 earbuds
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I have a few different sets of earbuds. For the price, these are the best by far. They have a lot of bass in them - something lacking with most of the other buds I own. I tested these on a Zune with a variety of music.
If you like techno, these do a nice job of separating bass from treble, with emphasis on bass. I listened to Garbage 2.0 at 192kbs and there was some distortion at the upper ends of the treble. This is apparent only when you blast them at full volume (or 11 as Nigel would say). That's not really a good idea to begin with. I'm pretty sure that whamming your ear drums like that for an extended period would cause you to end up with the hearing of a 70s era roadie. You don't want that, although some stuff NEEDS to be played LOUD!
I blame the distortion on encoding more than I do the buds. However, when I listened to the same thing with a set of Sennheiser HD-280 Professional Headphones (which are sold on Amazon) the distortion was much less. I think this is the essential difference between ear buds and cans - you hear more with the buds, but you hear more of the bad as well.
The noise isolation with these appears to be passive. You need to sort out which little set of ear bud cover things work best for you to get a good, tight fit. These come with three sets. The stock set worked for me. You can still 'hear' extraneous sound, but it's muffled. However, unlike non-fit-in-ear buds, these could be a problem if you 'need' to hear extraneous sound, like if you are on a bike in traffic, or in a busy place. But you know that. Rock out, but Rock safe.
The music these did the best with was Nora Jones and Amy Winehouse type vocal/bass heavy tracks. Decent encoding makes a huge difference with how much you will hear. It's the difference between listening to a splash in a mud puddle and a babbling brook - sure, both have water in them but one is clearer than the other.
In summary these are a huge improvement over stock earbuds that come with things like ipods. I have hi def earbuds leftover from my Zune 2 that work for me. However, they are more expensive than these and they are no longer included with new Zune 3s. So replace the ones you get in the box. You will be happy. I hear more with these than I do with Skull Candy earbuds (which are horrible) or the marshmallow Jlab ones that were popular last year. These also appear to be a LOT more durable.
Customer Review: A great set of quality-made headphones that work as advertised
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
The short: A great set of quality-made headphones that work as advertised by allowing you to hear greater audio detail at lower volume levels. Additionally, these can be very loud too if you feel like cranking it up.
The long: The JLab J2 headphones are, as the name implies, a 2nd version of the first JLab ear bud headphones. The first iteration of these headphones got mixed reviews at various sites. So I was a little hesitant to get these. However, I have been pleasantly surprised by the quality of materials and the better than expected sound.
I got these to use with my video iPod (also purchased at Amazon). I used the OEM iPod headphones because they didn't fall out when I exercise. However, iPod OEM headphones tend to sound a little `tinny' because they are slightly away from the ear canal.
The JLab J2 headphones advertise noise isolating (not noise cancelling) and claim you can hear greater detail at lower volume levels because of this. The noise isolation is the fact it is an ear bud that seals the ear canal. They are definitely correct when they say you can hear more detail. THESE ARE GREAT!
I used an audio splitter to listen to my iPod headphones and the JLab J2 headphones side-by-side. I was able to hear my music much easier with the ear buds in as opposed to the iPod headphones. This was at the same volume level, so I could actually turn it down some, which is better for hearing anyway. I also cranked these up and found them to be louder at top audio levels than the iPod headphones. Either way you go, these beat the iPod OEM headphones, which cost just as much.
PROS:
* High quality feel, made from good materials.
* 3 sizes of ear bud caps for different sized ears.
* NUMEROUS colors available to match your iPod, Zune, etc.
* Hear better audio a lower levels.
* Blasts audio at upper levels.
* Good value at this price.
CONS:
* Ear bud headphones require more frequent cleaning because they are actually in the ear canal.
* Shorter cord with an extension would be nice for those who wear armbands.
RECOMMENDATION:
I would highly recommend these headphones for any audio player, especially for an iPod. However, if you are not an ear bud fan, stay away.
Customer Review: The best ear buds that I have ever had
Summary: 5 Stars
Received Dec 2008
Pro:
Thick but flexible cable
Cables have good strain relief
Good sound quality
Comfortable
Con:
Wires into ear pieces seem a little loose
I like the cord feel and thickness. It is thicker than the Sony MDR-EX71SLA I have, but not as thick as the JVC HAFX33B. It is much more flexible than the JVC's, and quite close to the Sony's. The strain relief and attachments all seem to be firm except for the attachment to the earpieces. On both sides, the wire is free to move in and out of the earpieces ever so slightly. (maybe 1/16 inch) . I an a little concerned that repetitive motion here would cause an open (broken wire). I have identified this concern to JLab's customer support.
I need to use the small ear buds (the same as with the Somy's and JVC's). I like how securely the buds attach to the earpieces. You do have to work with them a little more than the Sony's to get them in place, but they stay on better. The JVC's just have a smooth shaft and the buds are constantly falling off. I think the comfort level is slightly better than with the Sony's and much better than the JVC's memory foam. The sound isolation is not quite as good as the JVC's, (the memory foam is quite similar to sound reducing ear plugs) but equal to the Sony's.
The sound quality is really good. I can hear more of my music with these as compared to the JVC's. The JVC's have a little too much bass which overpowers the rest of the spectrum. I cannot compare the sound quality to the Sony's, as I dissected them to determine root cause of their failure, and now they do not work at all.
Two features I wish these ear buds had:
1) Something to easily determine the right and left earpieces by feel lone. The JVC's had a little bump on the left earpiece that I really got used to, especially when putting the ear pieces on in the dark.
2) a right angle connector to provide even more strain relief on the cord.
All things considered, these are excellent ear buds at a terrific price. I have not had much luck with headphones and ear buds, but I think these are the ones that I have been longing for. They definitely have addressed the shortcomings that I have experienced in previous ear buds that I have owned. I plan on purchasing a few more of these to have on hand just in case I have a problem. I can always sell them to my coworkers when their ear buds fail.
Customer Review: Good Value, Great Service
Summary: 5 Stars
I'll start right off by saying that I am no audiophile. I'm just a regular person that wants decent sounding headphones without breaking the bank. I've used the cheap headphones they sell at Walgreens or Walmart and they sound like I'm listening to my music in a can connected to a string. So I have some standards, but I'm not super sensitive to very fine differences in sound. If you are an audiophile you probably want to ignore my opinion. If you are like me, you might find this review to be helpful.
I mostly listen to rock music, though I enjoy classical music as well. I've found that these JBuds play both well. It sounds good to me, I get good volume and they do a good job of blocking out outside noise. I sit right by an airconditioning vent at work so that matters. I usually just let them sit just in my ear. If I need extra noise blocking I push them in and they seal in like ear plugs. It's pretty nice. When I'm writing code or need to really focus, this is very helpful. The classical music, which has quiet parts is really quiet with no hiss.
The paper that came with the ear buds said they need to be broken in before they sound their best. I went to the JLab site and they have a little app that plays white noise, pink noise and some other stuff that is supposed to help this process along. I'd let that run when I wasn't listening to music. I've never heard of this before and I didn't notice a huge difference but I figured it couldn't hurt anything.
To me these ear buds hit the sweet spot of performance and price.
I would also like to mention the JLab service. I need to use the smallest tips that go on the end so that it fits my ears correctly. Somehow the set I got had a little tear or cut in one of the tips. I emailed JLabs and let them know and asked for another set of tips. They emailed back within an hour and priority shipped a whole new pair of ear buds. I think of that as exceptional service and for me that bumped these ear buds from a 4 to 5. If I lose these like I did the pair they replaced, I'll be buying from JLabs again. They've earned my business with their product and their service.
EDIT: I heard back from the rep at JLabs today and he said they didn't have the small tips in stock when he went to send me a pair so he sent a full set so I wouldn't have to wait. Very cool.