Intro
TL;DR: Probably one of Brainwavz' best releases yet, the Jive raises the bar for budget IEMs, combining a refined, detailed sound with Brainwavz' signature build quality and accessories.
Before I begin, I would like to sincerely thank Pandora at Brainwavz for providing the review sample of the Jive you see in this review. Please note that I am neither affiliated with Brainwavz or any of its staff, nor am I being compensated in any form for writing this review. All opinions expressed in the following review are strictly my own unless otherwise specified, and all photos are taken and own by me. Finally, please take the following review with a grain of salt.
Brainwavz’ products have always been about value for money. With each new IEM release they push the envelope for product value at each price point. Now, this week we're going to be taking a look at their brand-new IEM, the Jive. It's a $30 IEM marketed as being “tuned to perform like a balanced armature for only $30,” which is a pretty bold statement that, as experience has taught me, shows Brainwavz really has something big going on here. Let's take a closer look after the jump.
== Aesthetics ==
Packaging, Accessories
Again, Brainwavz blows me away with their accessories package that they manage to throw into each of their products. On top of the IEM case, you get two extra pairs of silicone eartips, their now-typical Comply foam eartips, a shirt clip, and a Brainwavz-branded cable tie. Oh yeah, and you get a 24-month manufacturer’s warranty – a recent change that applies to all Brainwavz products. (Yes, even the old Brainwavz products I’ve reviewed have a 24-month warranty now. So basically, as of this writing, I could apply for warranty on them even now.) It’s an impressive package that has outright blown me away, putting much more expensive earphones to shame whilst remaining at a bargain bin price point.
Design, Build, Microphonics
The Jive, being a (spoiler alert) top-notch budget IEM, checks all the boxes in the high-quality budget IEM category. Full metal housings? Check. Proper strain reliefs? Check. Solidly-constructed connector and Y-split? Check and check. From what I see, the Jive’s build is about as far as one could push the build quality of an IEM before having to make compromises in other areas or increase the price. They may not look the part, but they definitely are capable of holding up to abuse. About the only thing that might need improvement is the cable, which is a little thin above the Y-split and tends to be microphonic when worn straight down. Wearing them around the ear fixes this issue. Otherwise, no complaints here at all.Fit, Comfort, Isolation
The Brainwavz Jive’s housings allow for an easy fit with just about any type of ear. The three-size selection of silicone eartips should get you a good fit with the Jive, but if that doesn't work, there's the included Comply S-series foam eartips to fix that. The Comply eartips also happen to be the most comfortable out of the bunch, as the silicone eartips’ seal forms a vacuum in my ear which is a little annoying. In either case, both types of eartips on the Jive offer excellent isolation.
== Sound ==
Specs
Headphone Type | Closed-back in-ear monitor |
Driver Type | Single 9mm dynamic |
Frequency Response | 20 – 20,000 Hz |
Rated Input Power | 20 mW |
Sensitivity | 98 dB @ 1 mW |
Impedance | 16 Ω |
Weight | N/A |
Cable | 1.3m (~4’) round rubber-coated OFC cable |
Connector | 3.5mm (1/8”) gold-plated angled connector |
Accessories | 3x sets silicone eartips (S/M/L) 1x set Comply S-400 premium foam eartips (M) Hard carry case Shirt clip Instruction manual & warranty card (24 month warranty) |
Equipment, Burn-in
The source equipment used in this review is a fifth-generation iPod Touch and an iPad 3 directly running the Brainwavz Jive, and a PC running iTunes 12 and Foobar2k powering the Jive through a Schiit Fulla DAC/Amp. The EQ apps used in their respective test is TuneShell on iOS and Electri-Q on the PC. The eartips used on the Jive are mainly the included Comply eartips, although I will provide a comparison between the two in the following assessment. The list of the test tracks I listen to while reviewing the Jive can be sound here, although I will include links to specific songs in the review for a more direct point of reference.
The Jive was burned-in for at least 50 hours prior to writing this review – or long enough for the brain burn-in to settle. Out of the box I found the Jive to sound quite harsh in the treble region, and I later found that they, like other Brainwavz IEMs, absolutely require burn-in to tame them down. If you’re no believer of burn-in, and you aren’t impressed with the Jive so far, then give them a chance and let them run for at least 20 hours. You should notice a difference. In any case, let's get on with the sound assessment.
Sound Quality
I found the Jive to have a very tip-dependent sound signature that changes quite noticeably depending on the eartips used. I could go on all day comparing their sound signature with the many different pairs of eartips I have, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll be focusing on the ones that come included with the Jive itself. Let’s begin.Bass:
At first glance, one would think of the Jive as a budget IEM for the masses (sure enough, it is). As such, I expected a bass-heavy sound signature that I probably wouldn’t like. Boy, was I wrong. So, so wrong.
To put things simply, the Jive’s low end is spectacular. There’s really nothing more to say about it without me rambling all day about how good they are. They exhibit great speed and control without the slightest hint of midrange bleed (Daft Punk – Touch). They also provide enough kick and extension for most consumer listeners to find sufficient for their tastes. I’ll say that until now, I’ve never heard a low-end that manages to cater to both consumer and audiophile ears with literally no compromises made. And at thirty dollars, no less.
With the Comply eartips, I found them to trade some of its power and extension in for an even tighter and more controlled bass response. At this point their low-end resembles that of a balanced armature. As it has a dynamic driver, the Jive obviously doesn’t completely match up to the speed and attack of a true balanced armature IEM, but they sure do come close for a $30 IEM. If this isn’t bass perfection, I don’t know what is.
Midrange:The Jive’s midrange has exceptional clarity and a rather cold tonality to them that is simply unprecedented for an IEM of this price. No musical instrument – electronic, acoustic, or vocal, you name it – sounds necessarily bad on the Brainwavz Jive. Guitars sound particularly amazing, with pianos coming quite closely. Personally I found vocals to be rather thin-sounding (Coldplay – Shiver), although that seems to be cause by their remarkably cold presentation, which I’m not going to complain about.
However, this is where the sound quality starts to get a little bit shaky. With a few sine wave sweep tests, I found the Jive to have peaks (basically emphasis on certain frequencies caused by housing resonances, driver tuning, etc.) around 3 and 6 kHz, which emphasises the overtones of most instruments. As I'm no acoustics expert, I can't really explain this in more depth, but what these peaks do is make the Jive sound – for lack of a better word – annoying. Instruments tend to sound a little too forward and in-your-face, which makes the listening experience quite fatiguing to my ears (Masashi Hamauzu – Sazh’s Theme). You can hear this emphasis on the stock silicone tips, although I did find the Comply ones to accentuate them even further.
I also found the Jive to not be able to retrieve smaller details very well, but in the end, though, you really can’t complain much about it, given that we’re still dealing with a thirty-dollar IEM.
Treble:
The Jive’s treble is pretty good, with great extension to the very top of my hearing range. It never sounds sibilant, and carries enough energy and edge to satisfy the more treble-oriented listeners. However, I didn’t exactly find them very capable in bringing out minute details in recordings. Then again, this is only with the included Comply eartips – having the stock silicone eartips will bring out more edge in the top-end, and sibilance becomes emphasized to the point of it getting a little irritating. Nonetheless, the Jive still goes far beyond the standards of budget IEMs.
Soundstage/Presentation:
IEMs usually have a hard time with soundstage, and as you may have noticed from my reviews, I often don’t go into detail with it. I guess that, in terms of space, I just find them all comparatively similar, regardless of price point. The Jive, however, stands above the rest of its similarly-priced brothers with excellent separation that I would much more often find on IEMs starting $50 and up. Completely unprecedented for its price. Seriously.
IEMs usually have a hard time with soundstage, and as you may have noticed from my reviews, I often don’t go into detail with it. I guess that, in terms of space, I just find them all comparatively similar, regardless of price point. The Jive, however, stands above the rest of its similarly-priced brothers with excellent separation that I would much more often find on IEMs starting $50 and up. Completely unprecedented for its price. Seriously.
Genre Proficiency:
To be honest, I never found the Jive to fail at any particular genre. I found them to take every genre I listen to and still perform beautifully. Acoustic or electronic, the Jive plays them all well. However, I found them to be more suited to slower, lighter music in contrast to heavier genres like dubstep, metal, and grander orchestral recordings. In those genres, I found them to really convey the rhythm and emotion better. That, or the synths in heavy EDM and dubstep just sound too grating to my ears.
Summary:
All in all, I find it very, very hard to nit-pick and complain about the faults of the Brainwavz Jive. Yes, they do have their faults, but I find them completely negligible especially when we consider the fact that the Jive is thirty freaking dollars. The Jive is simply excellent.
Other Media
Games:
When I judge a headphone or IEM on their gaming performance, I’m basically gauging how well they would be put to use as a gaming tool. In competitive first-person shooters and other games which make use of audio cues, a detailed IEM will help to bring out the details that matter in these types of video games (e.g. footsteps, gunfire, etc.). Personally, I feel like the Jive does a pretty good job as a gaming IEM, bringing out ample clarity to hear through the blanket of noise that often plagues large-scale FPS matches. They, of course, are easily outmatched by a number of options up the price ladder, but let's not forget that these reside at the very bottom of that ladder. For that, you can't go wrong with them.
Movies:
I found the Jive to play movies pretty decently as well. Unlike a lot of IEMs at this price that often have overbearing, bass-heavy sound signatures, the Jive takes a turn and heads in the opposite direction towards a cleaner, more clinical sonic approach that more often than not simply presents the sound without doing much else. Not that it’s a bad thing, though – this cleaner sound really helps to hear the details better. It’s no home cinema, but at least you can take them around with you.
EQ Response, Amplification
The Jive is responds to EQ very well, and with a few quick tweaks, hammers out the peaks in the stock sound signature and smoothing it down to a fine, luscious signature that I could listen to for hours on end. Quick 2 dB reductions to 3 and 6 kHz should do the trick.
With regards to amping, the Jive doesn’t need any extra power beyond your phone or MP3 player to be listenable. Sure, better source equipment will make the Jive sound better, but the improvements will only be marginal at best.
Value
The Jive is, as of this writing, priced at $28 at Brainwavz’ parent site, MP4Nation. As I’ve said again and again in this review, the Brainwavz Jive is a completely unexpected IEM at this price. Sound-wise, its level of performance is simply outstanding in the overcrowded and oversaturated budget IEM market that Brainwavz has dropped it into. I mean, with a few tweaks to the build, they could very well be $50 IEMs and they’d still be pretty amazing.
Comparison
To properly judge just how awesome an IEM is, we’re gonna have to pit it against some of the best IEMs in its class. To be honest, though I don’t exactly have those “best IEMs in its class” (Xiaomi Pistons 3.0, Ostry KC06, Havi B3 Pro 1, or whatever the Chinese Brand forum thread hypes about every week), I do have a few notable IEMs that I feel are amazing in their own right. Let’s take a look.
Versus Brainwavz S0 ($50):
Versus MEE Audio A151P Generation 2 ($50):Another Jive vs. $50 IEM matchup, but this time, the A151P is armed with a balanced armature driver. I thought this would be an interesting matchup since I wanted to see just how closely the Jive comes to performing like a BA as Brainwavz advertises it. And I’m happy to report that it does come quite close.
The A151P is quite like the S0 in that it has a smooth, laid-back sound signature, but with the inherent speed of a BA and a much cleaner midrange. The Jive isn’t quite as speedy as the A151 but it sure does come close, and deeper, stronger bass response and livelier sound signature allows them to play EDM much better in my opinion.
However, the winner for this matchup personally goes to the A151 as I think they just sound better. They’re just a smoother and more relaxing IEM to listen to – perfect for those cold nights where you’re listening to The Fragrance of Dark Coffee while having a nice, hot cup of cocoa draped in a warm, cosy blanket. Yeah, that’s what the A151P does so well. And that’s why I love ‘em.
== Conclusion ==
I guess it’s kinda obvious that the Brainwavz Jive is one epic budget IEM. An unprecedented sound quality, encased in a solid beater build, wrapped in the trademark Brainwavz package, makes for one amazing budget IEM. That’s really all I could say. Should you get the Brainwavz Jive? If you’re looking for an excellent beater IEM to take out and about, I don’t see any reason not to.
Category | Score | Comment |
Packaging, Accessories | 8/10 | Carrying case, silicone and Comply eartips, shirt clip, and a two year warranty. You can’t get much better than that at this price. |
Design, Build, Microphonics | 7.5/10 | Solid metal housings and a robust, non-microphonic cable ensure this budget IEM won’t fall apart anytime soon. |
Fit, Comfort, Isolation | 8/10 | The Jive’s small housings allow for an easy, comfortable fit. Isolation is nothing special by IEM standards, but basically that just means they’re pretty good. |
Bass | 9/10 | Simply excellent on all fronts. With a quick, snappy punch that hits home and hits hard, it’s no wonder I love it so much. |
Midrange | 7.5/10 | Pretty excellent in its own right, but has fatiguing resonance issues that prevent it from shining completely. |
Treble | 8/10 | The Jive’s treble is energetic, but can come off as too harsh straight out of the box. Using Comply eartips and/or giving them some burn-in time will rectify this. |
Presentation | 7.5/10 | A good amount of width, decent depth and great imaging is one to impress at this price point. |
Gaming, Movies | 7.5/10 | The Jive’s excellent midrange clarity and subdued low-end response allows them to work very well as a secondary or beater gaming pair. These qualities might not make them very fun-sounding for movies, however. |
EQ Response | 8/10 | Quick tweaks to the resonance peaks smooth down the Jive and really make them shine. |
Value | 9/10 | |
Total | 8/10 | All this for under $30 dollars. The decision is up to you. That is all. |
Suggestions for Improvement
Smooth out the resonance peaks.
Make an improved, more expensive version. They’ll be a hit.
Shout-Outs, Gallery
Again, I would like to thank Pandora and Brainwavz for providing the sample of the Jive in this review. They have improved immensely over the past year and I’m very, very excited to see what they have in store for us next. You can check out the rest of the photos I took during this review here, and read some more of my reviews here.
As always, this has been thatBeatsguy of DB Headphones; thanks for reading!
About the Company
“At Brainwavz we have a simple mission, to produce innovative, high quality audio products with a dedicated focus on high-end sound at a realistic price. Our strength, success and product range is built on our unique relationship with our customers and users, a relationship that has produced a simple and obvious result. We give real-users real sound quality. 2014 will see Brainwavz pushing forward with an expanded product line, continuing with unique and innovative products, from earphones to headphones to audio accessories.”
Company website: www.yourbrainwavz.com
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