The JH13v2 Pro is an attractive IEM with a name and look screaming of quality. But at $999, are these IEMs a good choice for you? Today, let’s take a closer look with this JH Audio JH13v2 review!
JH Audio JH13v2 Pro Review
In the Box
-JH Audio JH13v2 Pro earphones
-detachable proprietary 4-pin cable with 3.5 mm termination and variable bass adjustment
-variable bass adjustment tool
-machined aluminum carrying case
-Comply foam tips (s, m, l)
-Silicone tips (s, m, l)
-cleaning tool
-documentation
Design
Look and Feel
The 3D printed shells of the JH Audio JH13v2 Pro have a smooth glossy black finish. However, the real show stopper is their mahogany faceplate, with teal, reflective Jerry Harvey logo. Holding them in my hands, they feel extremely strong and well made. Most impressively, the connectors of the cable to the earpieces screw on via a machined aluminum locking collar. They have a sense of heft which gives me trust in their strength.
Comfort and Fit
The JH Audio JH13v2 Pro has a moderately large size with long nozzles. As a result, they rely heavily on the fit of the eartips in the ear canal, as well as the cable’s earhooks. I have relatively small ears, and found a wonderful seal particularly with the small comply foam tips! Once I found the seal, the earhooks wrapped easily behind my ears. No part of the actual IEM touched my ears. As a result, they were remarkably comfortable.
Cable
The cable of the JH Audio JH13v2 is made by Moon Audio, and features Jerry Harvey’s proprietary 4-pin connectors, which attach to the top of the ear pieces. It has four individually insulated conductors per side, which twist together until all eight meet in the middle. Then the eight conductors braid down for the rest of the cable. However, the most noteworthy part of the cable is the variable bass pod. This lets the listener choose the amount of bass in the signal. And the most beautiful part of this bass attenuation, is that it has a very natural feeling. In other words, the IEMs sound great with the bass all the way up or the bass all the way down. At its loudest, the bass still sounds natural and clean.
The range of frequencies affected by the attenuation is extremely wide, and thus it has a naturalness which is able to maintain its sense of harmonic complexity. The only thing I wish was different about the bass pods, was that the controls be detented so one could easily make both the left and right equal.
Drivers
The JH Audio JH13v2 Pro is made up of eight balanced armature drivers powered by SoundrIVe technology. They have two separate drivers dedicated to reproducing the low, middle, and high frequencies. These drivers all work in tandem with the Triple Bore and FreqPhase Steel Tube Waveguide technology, which directs the sound to avoid resonances and maintain proper phase relationships for full harmonic complexity!
Sound
Low Frequencies
The low frequencies of the JH Audio JH13v2 Pro, even when attenuated to their quietest level, have a beautiful feeling of stability and harmonic complexity. When bumped all the way up the bass has an added feeling of depth, strength, and groove. It’s worth noting that due to the wide range of frequencies affected by the bass attenuation, when the bass is at its fullest, the volume of the IEMs feels louder in general, and quieter when fully attenuated. That said, regardless of the position of the bass pod, a sense of punch and sturdiness is apparent in the low end. There is a boost around 40 Hz and again at 60 Hz, and these boosts are evenly distributed as the bass pod is set to release more bass.
For example, when I was listening to the song I’ll Show You by Justin Bieber (with the bass in its loudest position), the low frequencies of the subsynth feel expansively low with a feeling of solidity and foundational sustain. Additionally, the kick has a great feeling of punch and energy, while maintaining a healthy separation from the sub synth.
When listening to the same song with the bass in its quietest position, the kick remained with a similar level of punch, but its emphasis was more focused on what would be the beater. But more obviously, the feeling of the sub synth was very different from the other position. It still had a feeling of extension, but it was quieter and seemed more delicate as opposed to fully solid foundational feeling of the loudest position.
My favorite pod position for this song was right up the middle because it gave that feeling of sturdiness while also maintaining a sense of balance.
Middle Frequencies
The middle frequencies of the JH Audio JH13v2 Pro are amazing for rock music! I rarely start a section like this with a statement like that, but it was too remarkable to not be the first thing I mentioned. Emphasis in the low-mids around what sounded like 200 Hz gave a feeling of energy and stability to the midrange, with a little bit of extra energy to bass guitars, cellos, keys, and other midrange rich instruments.
The middle part of the midrange seemed super full and even, with tons of harmonic complexity and thickness. Then, a boost at the bottom of the high-mids, around what sounded like 2 kHz, provided a sense of presence and strong attack to snare drums, electric guitars, strings, and vocals. Lastly, a cut at around 1 kHz provided a wonderful feeling of separation from purely midrange instruments from those with more high-mid information. It gave vocals a step forward, and separation from other instruments set further back in space.
For example, when I was listening to the song Thrash Unreal by Against Me!, the guitars sounded super full and extremely harmonically complex. They existed fully, but with wonderful separation from the bass guitar which sounded groovy and energetic. The snap of the snare drum was amazingly powerful and punchy! Additionally, the vocal felt forward and present with a great marriage of articulation and fullness.
Due to the wide range of frequencies affected by the bass pod, I found the midrange affected by it settings. In this song, I enjoyed the bass set to ¾ loudness because it gave an extra sense of energy and movement to the bass. It also seemed to set the presence of the snare to an aesthetically pleasing level for my taste, being a little bit less sharp and more warm than when set to a quieter level.
High Frequencies
The high frequencies of the JH Audio JH13v2 have emphasis in the lower treble around what sounded like 6 kHz. This boost gave tremendous articulation and attack for vocals, cymbals, strings, and keys. However, depending on the vocal, this translated to a little bit of sibilance. Additionally, I felt a cut in the upper treble around what sounded like 9 kHz. As a result, it shaped the top feeling of the highs a little bit unrealistically, but provided an attractive sense of separation between the chunkier lows of a high-hat, for example, and the airy highs of the breath of a vocal or the sustained harmonics of a cymbal.
For example, when I was listening to the song Stuff by Miles Davis, the high-hat had a unique feeling of attack than usual. It had a feeling of thickness which gave it a nice feeling of separation from the ride cymbal. Additionally, the trumpet had a greater sense of presence and articulation than normal, bringing it forward in the mix and great separation from the cymbals. That said, the cymbals had a little bit of a backward leaning feeling to their texture due to the cut in the upper treble. In terms of extension, the highs did have an upward lift to the cymbals and horns, but it was a little bit quieter than I would usually prefer.
Soundstage
The soundstage of the JH13v2 Pro had nuance across all three dimensions. The feeling of depth a subtle and aesthetically pleasing feeling of expression and extension. Additionally, the width has nuance, but can sometimes become cloudy if the bass pods left and right are not set exactly to the same position. For the most dramatic feeling of width, setting the bass pods to their quietest settings was best. Lastly, the sense of height was very well done, with wonderful contrast between the extension of the lows and the emphasis in the highs.
For example, when I was listening to the song Shout Mountain Music by Old Crow Medicine Show the contrast in depth between the far off mandolin and hand claps from the forward, intimate lead vocal and fiddle was dramatic! Additionally, the width spaced itself with nuance and specificity between the centered upright bass and vocal and the wide panned fiddles and background vocals. Lastly, the feeling of height had wonderful placement. The upright bass sat solidly in space down below my chest with a great sense of extension. It contrasted well from the high feeling from the strings, although the highs had a less dramatic feeling of extension.
Overview
Overall, the JH13v2 Pro is a super fun IEM. It has a comfortable fit and attractive look. Its bass adjustment pod makes it adaptable to various song needs, which makes it versatile! My favorite genres for the IEMs were rock and pop because of its thick and harmonically complex midrange.
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