JH Audio 16v2 Pro Review

JH Audio 16v2 Pro Review

Review of in-ear headphones JH Audio 16v2 Pro

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For those of you who don't know, JH is Jerry Harvey: renowned sound engineer and designer, founder of several iconic brands, and the world's foremost expert on multi-driver headphones. Far from the first generation of rock and pop stars, from the Rolling Stones and AC/DC to Eminem and Celine Dion, has been using his products for quite some time now. Today we have on review one of its most advanced developments: . Unique headphones with a dozen drivers per channel!

Acquaintance

JH Audio traditionally does not skimp on the packaging and packaging of its premium headphones, the new model is no exception: already one luxurious portable case made of solid aluminum is enough to imbue with due respect. The detachable cable, ordered from the famous company Moon Audio, is also made to the highest standard: eight strands of the purest oxygen-free copper, a braided structure and a special polymer sheath with almost zero microphone effect.

The cable runs behind the earcups and connects to the headphones with professional four-pin connectors, while additional screw clamps provide a firm grip that won't break even if you accidentally snag on something. The shells are made of special high-strength polycarbonate and are decorated with a mother-of-pearl finish with the company logo and model name, but the main thing is their anatomically accurate shape, successfully adapted to the structure of the auricle. This form is the result of a careful analysis of thousands of individual ear impressions that the company has accumulated over many years of work on professional custom models.

As a result, JH 16v2s behave almost like real custom ones, screwing tightly into the auditory canals to a depth unattainable for ordinary "station wagons". The physical sensations when using them are also reminiscent of custom models: maximum tightness with minimal pressure on the ears. True, in order to achieve an optimal fit, you have to tinker a bit - by the way, this also makes them related to custom ones.

JH Audio 16v2 Pro Review

Device

In their top-of-the-line in-ear headphones, JH Audio's designers use a three-way circuit to maximize the frequency range, combined with dual - or even quad - drivers on each band. Both technologies work well in conjunction with each other: multiband allows you to choose the optimal emitters for each frequency range, and paired "blocks" provide enhanced feedback and compensate for dips at the boundaries of these ranges that occur due to the operation of crossovers. The only drawback of this approach is the high complexity of the design, caused by the need to coordinate the sound of many reinforcing radiators.

The 16v2 Pro has a particularly large number of them: it uses an impressive combination of a dozen armatures! Four of them are responsible for low frequencies, two for the middle, and four more for the upper range. Each group of emitters outputs sound to a separate waveguide, which is a curved steel tube. The shape and length of the waveguides is precisely calculated taking into account the speed characteristics of each frequency range: for low frequencies it is shortened, and for high frequencies, on the contrary, it is significantly increased. This proprietary development of JH Audio engineers is called FreqPhase: it ensures perfect matching of all frequency sections and eliminates phase discrepancies between sound emitters, due to which ordinary multi-driver headphones may not sound clear and transparent.

Another proprietary technology implemented in the new headphones makes it possible to calibrate the return in the bass register using a special control on the cable: you can increase or decrease the sound level of the four low-frequency drivers in the range of +/-10 dB. This makes it easy to change the musical style of the 16v2 Pro, turning them from monitor headphones for connoisseurs of jazz and classics to bass for fans of rock or electronics. Or back.

sound

First impressions of listening to 16v2 Pro can be misleading: if wind or violin instruments on well-known records suddenly sound too harsh and shrill, it’s not a skewed tonal balance, but exceptionally high detail in the midrange and treble registers, due to which headphones mercilessly reveal any studio flaws. It is not for nothing that in many music studios these models are used to control the quality of the recording! So it's almost impossible to enjoy badly mixed and compressed music in them. But high-quality material (not necessarily in the form of weighty files in one-bit DSD 256 format, the advantages of headphones can be clearly heard on the good old 16-bit / 44.1 kHz) is rewarded with an abundance of the smallest details, which surround the sound of musical instruments.

JH Audio 16v2 Pro Review

The speed, depth and clarity of the bass gives the headphones complete control over the rhythm section. Beats are not washed out and do not mix into mush, bass drums, cymbals, floor and mounted toms of any size - everything is perfectly audible even on heavy drum solos in the most aggressive heavy metal albums. The vibrations of the guitar strings on Keith Rowe's "Harsh" record are heard with breathtaking clarity, and their decay can be easily traced down to the subtle vibrations of the air that continue after the chord has long died out. Plucking the strings, hitting the keys and other sharp sounds are played clearly, with surgical precision, and are clearly visible against the general sound background - in terms of the ability to bring the smallest sounds out of the shadows, to give them relief and tangibility, these headphones can easily compete with the most expensive electrostats.

Eventually

With a unique design and outstanding sound, JH Audio 16v2 Pro lets you hear music exactly as the engineer and musicians heard it. An excellent choice for the most demanding stereophile!

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