JBuds J2 Premium Hi-Fi Noise-Isolating Earbuds (Black/Chrome Silver)
by JLAB
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List Price: Our Price: $13.95 You Save: $36.00 (72%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $11.08 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of JBuds J2 Premium Hi-Fi Noise-Isolating Earbuds (Black/Chrome Silver)
Customer Review: The absolute best cost-benefit ratio for earbuds
Summary: 5 Stars
Simply put: (1) these are the best small earbuds I've owned in my life, in terms of cost-benefit ratio; (2) jlab is one of the most amazing companies I've experienced, especially in terms of costumer service. I'll explain myself:
(1) Even though I'm not an audio expert or professional, I am an avid audio consumer. I listen to a lot of music, of many different genres, both in front of my computer and on the go. I also enjoy testing the capabilities of my earbuds watching movies. The J2s have simply given me the best audio immersion experience I've had so far. Of course, I've tried jaw-dropping headphones at professional stores that may sound even better than these little jewels, but you will need to pay 5 or more times the cost of these buds to get something remarkably better. The cost-benefit ratio of this item is unbeatable.
Before owning a pair of J2s, I had two (!) pairs of Sennheiser CX300-B Earbuds (Black)s. I'd personally classify those Sennheisers as the direct competition of the J2s, taking into account the price range and the technical performance of both. I found that the Sennheisers delivered a crisp high-range and an overall high quality sound, but these J2s out-performed them in the bass range, were comparable in the mid-range, and are *very decent* in the highs anyway --overall, they deliver a very wide range of frequencies with outstanding clarity. And if you are really missing that bit of highs, you can easily attempt to compensate by using your device's equalizer -- and note that you can't really pull the same trick if your earbuds don't deliver powerful bass. This J2s can, and oh how they can. You'll really feel that bass pumping in. If you like this, and you are looking for a pair of extremely portable earbuds that help you feel connected to your music even if you are out inside a noisy bus, I would emphatically recommend the J2s. Plus, the J2s' construction is very sturdy. The cable is slightly thicker than the Sennheiser's (added benefit: they hardly, if ever, get entangled), the jack is solid, the cord length is ideal (I'm 5'10"), and the fit in my ears is just perfect. What else could I ask for? I love these little things. I use them every single day of my life.
**NOTE**: JBuds insists on this a lot, but I'll repeat: "burning in" the earbuds is crucial for attaining optimum performance. They have audio samples on their site that you can leave on repeat for 24 or more hours. You'll notice the difference immediately.
(2) About two and half months of using these buds very aggresively, I started listening to a light distortion in my J2s. I had seen how jlab replied lengthily to negative comments on amazon.com, so I decided to send them an email describing the issue in detail. They replied in less than 24 business hours, and said that the problem wast most probably a short in the wiring, and that the buds were covered under a one year warranty. And I received a brand new pair as a replacement!!! This is really outstanding costumer service. It was this experience that led me to write this review. A full five stars for these buds. I hope it helps to pull back that 3.5 average a bit higher up.
Final note: I liked the minimal packaging of these j2s. It's great that they're thinking more about the content, and less about the "shell" of this item, for the sake of the environment.
Customer Review: Good price, but definitely not the best
Summary: 4 Stars
Review:
The build quality and comfort for these sub-$15 earbuds is great. However, the sound leaves more to be desired.
I never considered myself to be an audiophile, even though my music collection is all in 320kb/s MP3 files or better (FLAC, mostly). I just have all my music like that because I figure it's future-proofing. I have a lower-midrange set of speakers for my MacBook Pro right now - the Logitech's Z-2300's - so when I have enough money to get something high-end, I'm sure I'll be thanking my past self for having high-quality music. Logitech Z-2300 THX-Certified 200-Watt 2.1 Speaker System (Silver)
I've also owned a pair of shure e2c earbuds, these Jbuds are actually a replacement for them, because the shures got water damaged (don't wear them for working out!). Shure E2c Sound Isolating Earphones
Having what I would call a moderate range of music and music technology experience, I can definitely say that the JBuds have the worst quality out of the whole bunch. That's not surprising - Shures are built for quality and it's common sense that the much larger speakers would be able to deliver a better sounding experience. However, the change is more than noticeable. After getting the JBuds in the mail, I turned on iTunes and put it on shuffle. The first song that come on, Fantasia in D Minor, sounded normal on my Z-2300's. The highs, mids, and lows for me were distinct and nothing sounded off. When I plugged in the JBuds though, the highs were squeaky. Whenever there were lots of high notes strung together in rapid succession (about half the song) I actually heard some static or shaking of some sort in my ears. I never heard anything like that on my Shures.
I played a few more songs and noticed the same thing, these JBuds really don't reproduce high notes that well.
Now, does this really matter? For a pair of $15 earbuds, I think it doesn't. These earbuds are superior to the standard ones that come with iPods or Zunes, so this little investment will have your ears jumping with joy.
If, like me, you find yourself turning into something of an audiophile, I would definitely recommend purchasing a pair of Shure's or another higher-quality earbud. Personally, I feel the need to get something over $100 a little ridiculous, so I'll probably get my old E2C's again, but your mileage may vary.
Pros:
Cheap
Solidly built
Good range of sound
Good at Isolating outside noise
Cons:
Not the best at reproducing highs
Don't stand up to higher-quality earbuds like E2C's from Shure
Final Say:
For 70% of the people looking at these earbuds, I think you'll have no problem with them at all.
10% may want something better but figure the price is low enough to justify staying with them.
20% will want something that more expensive and higher-quality earbuds provide, like superior noise cancellation and sound reproduction.
Customer Review: Jbuds J2/You don't get what you pay for (REVISED) 02/10/2010
Summary: 3 Stars
I got my "Jbuds J2" today. First of all, the packaging which Jlabs claims helps reduce waste is NOT SO. I think they're selling customer returns to us as if they were new.
I am highly dissapointed at the piece of garbage I received today, wrapped in a hefty zip-lock bag and with the cables all bent and twisted, BTW one of the things they say in the instructions is do not bend the cables excesively, it was pitiful to receive such a lame product. What if I bought it as a gift?!!!
This is totally not presentable.
enough with the packaging.
The silicone tips arrived bent and deformed out of shape, I had to straighten it out and it is so thin that it fails to give a good fit to the ear canal.So the noise isolation is not that good, I had to replace with better quality tips I had from an old set.
"Break in period" (REVISED) I RELUCTANTLY followed Jlab's instructions and went through the burn in process, using their website link and lo and behold, it did make a difference. So I have to eat my words on the break in issue. They sounded much better while they lasted.
Just one thing. Thes Jbuds J2 are worth 10-14 dollars at best. I don't buy that gimmick of the 69.99 dollar value and huge savings.
At 10-15 dollars they are goog earbuds.
Of course since this item arrived all twisted and bent, it only lasted two weeks. But it only took one email to Jlab throught their website and I got same day response and in 3 days I receive a brand new set of Jbuds in their original box and in sealed plastic blister as shown in the Amazon product page, beautiful package! At no cost to me and no hassle
(this was in my original review)
"If Jlabs customer service truly exists, I would like to hear them convince me that these are not bought in BULK at pennies a pound to be sold here like they were worth gold.
Convince me about the "break in period".
Convince me that I should keep buying any other garbage from such a bogus company as yours.
I ususally return junk to Amazon, but this time I would like to see how Jlabs responds.the ball is on your court now Jlabs."
I was very upset with the product I recieved, but Jlab's superb customer service changed all that. I still cannot give this item a 5 star rating since they are a bit uncomfortable and the sound is good but could be better, but if I could I would give Jlab a 5 GOLD star rating for the way they responded.
Thank you Jlab for showing me I was wrong about your company!
With this type of customer service I can buy with confidence!
Customer Review: Appropriate for sub 15 dollar pricing
Summary: 3 Stars
I've had Bose buds for a couple years now, but they don't get the power out of my iPod that I need to enjoy my music, so I've been experimenting with lower power earbud options. I've tried Sony, Panasonic, the apple buds, and now Jbuds. When I saw the JBuds positioned as 80 dollar headphones special priced at 13.99 on Amazon I was very hopeful.
I won't trash the JBuds I bought at the special price since I think I got a good pair of 15-25 dollar earbuds for 13.99... but they definitely do not rank with the high end buds like Bose ($99), Shure ($149), and VModa ($129) like their "full retail" price indicated to me. And I have allowed a full 72 Hour burn in before reviewing.
The buds are very comfortable and I get a great volume out of them... but the audio quality is lackluster in my opinion. My musical tastes range from Heavy Rock/Guitar to Celtic ambience and I'm finding globally that the spacial seperation is way too exaggerated. On powerful musical exercises the bass and treble will create some sort of flutter that is very annoying, apparently caused by some destructive frequency collision relating to the porting and drivers. I've not found a good way to adjust settings that will allow me to get a sustained full range experience from them. I've read other reviewers and perhaps the range will "burn in" eventually, but after 5 days of use I figure they are what they are. As a compliment, they have a much better sound than my more expensive Plantronics bluetooth headphones;)
All that being said, and trying to turn away from my obvious opinion about the sound "quality"... I do compliment the effective noise cancelling quality of these buds. If I need to put up an aural wall in the cube farm these buds do a great job. Music volume can be minimal and still block out 99% of the noise going on around me which is a good plus. Additionally the cord is long enough for me to actually be able to use them in my iPod while on the go or working around the house. So I am ultimately pleased with the JBud J2 product and hope now that the longevity factor works to my advantage.
Would I buy them again? sure, as a pair of beaters to avoid damaging my more expensive buds while i work outside or am travelling/on the go.
Would I recommend them to a friend? Only after setting expectations that they are a great sub $25.00 product.
Customer Review: Nice Little Earbuds
Summary: 3 Stars
I'm not big into earbuds, but I also don't feel right walking around with big "earmuff" headphones listening to my MP3 player.
My usual complaint with earbuds are that they are uncomfortable. Generally I can leave these in my ear for about an hour before they start to get uncomfortable. I just pull them out for a few minutes and put them back in and it'll be another hour before I have to do it again. I may not be using the proper sized ear plugs though. The mediums were on by default but they wouldn't stay in my ears. I might try them again later.
As far as the sound goes it's pretty clear and loud enough for an earbud. The bass really sucks though. I guess I shouldn't expect much out of tiny little earbuds, but I can tell a huge difference between these and my big headphones. There's pretty much no bleed in or out of the sound though. When I have them on they're almost like earplugs even when no music is playing.
My one HUGE complaint is the length of these headphones. While plugged into my ears the cord hangs down to about the middle of my shin. Maybe they're doing this to please the 7 ft basketball player crowd, but a normal person doesn't need that much length. These are even longer than the factory iPod earbuds. You might not think it would matter, but I'll be damned if I can go anywhere without the slack getting caught on something and ripping the buds out of my ears.
If you like using earbuds and don't mind giving up some low-end sound then these will probably perform to your satisfaction and remain fairly comfortable.
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After about 6 months I broke these headphones out of frustration. After leaving them in my hot car for a few hours, on several occasions, I plugged them into my player and I would only get one channel. I'd pull the plug in and out and twist it around until I got a good sound. This never happened when I left them in my air-conditioned house. One day I just couldn't get the sound to come in correctly so I smacked them on the dashboard until they broke. Not very durable headphones. I'm using a cheap, 5-year-old set of headphones now and I have no complaints.