JH Audio JH16 Pro with Freqphase Custom In-Ear Monitor Review [2013]

JH Audio's in-ear monitors are no strangers to us. Since we first reviewed the JH16 Pro back in 2010, they've become our go-to set for music on the go, their pro-spec price tag the only real reason not to recommend them to anyone but the most dedicated of music lovers or musicians. Now comes the refresh, introducing JH Audio's new Freqphase technology to the JH16 Pro and JH13 Pro lines. Promising the world's first phase-coherent audio in an earphone, piping every part of the sound to your ear at the same time, the claim is a more accurate soundstage and more natural and authentic sound. Read on for our full review.

The new and old earphones might share the same name, but inside things are very different. In fact, while the balanced armature drivers of our existing pair are carried forward, the internal layout, crossover system, and even the tubes that run from the drivers down the ear canal are redesigned. Efficiency is also down, thanks to the new crossover, though only by a couple of dB. The biggest change is the approach to sound that JH Audio has evolved to, and that's called Freqphase.

The first JH16 Pros were lauded – not just by us – for their accuracy and for the strength of their sound. They also had a reputation for being somewhat bass-heavy, emphasizing the low-end by virtue of the double dual low drivers, whereas the JH13 was known for being somewhat less expressive in that way, as it had a single dual low driver in each earphone.

It's only when you switch between old and new that you really notice the difference JH Audio has achieved. The original IEMs are excellent, certainly, but the new ones feel incredibly cohesive: they also have a far broader soundstage, more like a great, focused speaker setup than earphones. Within that soundstage each part of the recording gets its own position, too, something you can differentiate during playback rather than have all of the sound merged into one.

Some of the edge has been shaved from the bass, though the JH16 Pros are still capable of making your ears throb with the right track. Perhaps more important than the power is how the balance of the bass overall has been tempered, with an immediacy that cuts out any suggestion of flabbiness, and an evenness that means all of the low-end sound sits together in balance, rather than being punched through in places in the frequency curve.

Moving up to the mids is a seamless affair, with clarity that doesn't take away their warmth and complexity. Some IEMs we've tried neglect the midrange, relying instead on great slabs of bass and piping trebles to mask an uninspiring middle section, but that's not an accusation we'd level at the Freqphase-blassed JH16 Pros. Instead, you get more of the differentiation between instruments and lower-end vocals that the bass driver displays, each part sitting together in the whole.

Then there's the treble, which takes the stab and sparkle of the original IEMs and makes it tauter Vocals do particularly well, standing clear of the background music while still a part of it, though instrumental and classical music benefit too. You need a high-quality source file to get the most from it, of course.

Freqphase's real magic isn't so much in the balance of each part of the frequency curve, but in how the improved timing sets out the audio in a more natural, realistic way. This isn't just sound spread around from left to right, but with real depth: you can tell how the orchestra was arranged in classical music, for instance, while live band recordings are more authentic.