THE PLUS:
-Good overall resolution
-Wide airy soundstage
-Decent imaging
-Well balanced enough fo a W shape
-Good transparency
-Cheap price
THE SO-SO:
-unatural timbre
-inconstant bass with too much resonance
-lack of note weight and attack lead
-not very well controlled attack
-fuzzy micro definition
-clinical musicality
TONALITY: 7.2/10
TECHNICALITIES: 7.8/10
CONSTRUCTION: 7.5/10
SOUND VALUE: 8.2/10
CONSTRUCTION
Quite good for the price even if it have not a detachable cable. Housing feel very sturdy with thick all metal construction and bullet shape IEM promise easy fit. Back of the JD3 is beautifull and the red and blue color is a good idea that permit easy left right recognition.
The mic work well and have a volume control which is a plus. All in all, for 20$, FIIO did a great design and construction job.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS
TONALITY:
Slightly bright bassy W to V shape with warm bass impact, cold mids and treble and softed attack edge in all region apart upper treble to add a sens of air.
TECHNICALITIES:
Pretty good for the price, resolution is good but lack precision in proper definition so it feel a bit forced. Dynamic is rather lean and lacking weight apart bass part and a more spiky treble region. Treble doesn’t extend very far and lack snap and a bit of control. Transparency is good enough. Let’s say JD3 seem half cook when it come to technical presentation but the drivers have great potential.
TIMBRE:
Thats the most problematic part of these IEM, timbre is dry, thin and even a bit metallic in upper region. Very displeasant, especially for vocal and instrument like violin. Texture feel fuzzy, not realist. If you are all about lushness, run away from JD3, if you want a clinical but not overly bright or dull tone, it might please your ears.
IMAGING:
It’s very decent, thanks to the strange transparency of JD3, but lack of definition edge cancel proper visualization of instrument placement and make you dig in some kind of homogeneous fog. Listening right now to Gogo Penguin ”Signal in the noise”, presentation is very messy and mixed up, as if all instrument were in the center apart when cymbals occur or some percussions wich i can vaguely spot on right-left sid, but just a part of their amplitude (splashy one). When it come to highs, its better separated and we have more sens of space between each instrument strokes.
SOUNDSTAGE:
It what make you feel JD3 have some kind of imaging property, since its quite wide and deep in a oval way. Still, its not an immersive presentation and feel a bit distant at time…
BASS is both punchy and light in weight, similar to Lea IEM in that regard but less textured, separation is rather bad and you have important resonance veil when fast bass line appear. If your addicted to thick round slam, go elsewhere, here its a dry sloppy punch that you get and sub bass offer an airy rumble, which is clean enough but can swallow kick presence. About this kick presence, it’s very well done when their no bass line-round and punchy, it’s hard to descibe but acoustic bass sound shouty due to lack of bass flexibility, at they end, bass performance is imprevisible and can go from wow to yuck. Not suggested for acoustic music like jazz, nor for rock since it’s not very fast, more for…to be honnest I don’t even know, this is how much the low end is unstable in it’s performance. I think it’s better to avoid music with rumble and deep bass extension.
MIDS are the less impressive part of the JD3, because this range is greatly influence by timbre since it’s the one for vocal and well, I don’t think anybody will be enamored by vocal presentation of the JD3. Don’t get me wrong, they are clear enough and presence is OK if sure a bit boxy and lifeless, but timbre is just unpleasant and scratchy to the ears. This is less problematic for piano and to some extend electric guitar (even if scooped in attack edge and shouty). Back to the vocal, female vocal have amplitude unbalance and singing can sound like yealing when amplitude go up.
TREBLE is another strange imprevisible beast, it feel like it dig good amount of micro-details yet it doesn’t recover whole sound info of upper range. Attack can lack control and snap in some part, micro-definition is poorly restitute in mid treble as if it go thru a blender. Percussion are overly metallic with a dry brilliance to it and resonance that can be confound with sparkle. Still, in upper range we do have sparkle and air and a sens of openess, in fact, the highs are the most lively part of JD3 as well as crisper, cleaner presentation and it seem to float above the rest of music.
COMPARISONS
VS TANCHJIM TANYA
Notably warmer with thicker and more natural timbre. Better balanced and cohesive as a whole but strangely even if the Tanya is the one with open back, it doesnt sound as open and airy as JD3. Tonality of JD3 is more wonky W shape, vocal are leaner, colder and bit more recessed. Details retreival go to JD3. Soundstage is wider deeper with JD3. Brighter JD3 have more splashy treble. Kick drum presence and punch have more presence and overall bass is cleaner but more resonant and less weighty. Imaging is more precise with JD3. Treble is notably more agressive and less well balanced than Tanya.
While Tanya is inferior technically, i can enjoy music with them which isn’t fully the case with JD3.
CONCLUSION
While I can’t convince myself the JD3 have a very musical tonality, I can’t conclude it’s a bad IEM due to the more than decent level of technicalities it deliver for the price. If you want to taste a crisp bassy sound with very open soundstage and high level of resolution and don’t care that much about timbral accuracy and critical listening perfectionism in micro-definition, the FIIO JD3 is a good introduction to pseudo-analytical sound signature that isn’t too bright nor too boring to listen too.
No Borders Audiophile 