Jomo Audio Haka review
- expatinjapan
'No crossover, no phase cancellation, just powerful and coherent pure sound.'
Unboxing
Gorgeous in black
A wide selection of tips (single and double flanges), a cleaning brush and two adapters.
A nice carrying case for the protection of your precious
A lovely cable. Two pin. Very supple with a touch of firmness and strength.
The Jomo Haka is a single BA model which sounds more like a dynamic driver or multi BA IEM.
Build
Product Details
'No crossover, no phase cancellation, just powerful and coherent pure sound.
Limited by the physical size of driver, Balanced Armature technology were believed that cannot produce full spectrum of sound so that multiple drivers with electronics passive crossover and acoustic damping has to be used to create something with decent bass, smooth mid range and sharp high frequencies.
We studied existing single BA driver IEMs in the market and the result was not very pleasant. We kept challenging ourselves to see what we can deliver by using the minimum number of driver and how we can make it better.
Working closely with well-known Balanced Armature technology supplier, we were not satisfied with what they can provide off the shelf. We went one step further, to design a new Balanced Armature driver with our own specification. Brainstorm and discussion meeting with the engineers, samples were made and tested over and over again. Multiple rounds of pre-production demo and peer critique with industry insiders. Haka is the result and answer of our hardworking`.
The photos speak for themselves.
Solid one piece build and decent metal nozzles.
One BF BA.
Fit is nicely done. the IEM sits nicely in the ear held in place by the tips with no undue rubbing on my inner ear. the cable connection is nicely angled to hug the upper ear and the angle and length of the nozzle is perfect for my particular and beautiful ears.
Super smexy curvature
Price
US$377.00 or Singapore $499 with standard cable.
US$529.00 or Singapore $699 with Effect Audio Ares II cable.
(Prices may slightly vary depending on exchange rates).
Specs:
Single Proprietary Precision Balanced Armature Driver (1 BA).
NO crossover
3D printed ergonomic semi-custom shell design
FR: 20Hz - 20kHz
Sensitivity: 107dB
Impedance: 18 ohms @ 1K Hz
Solid Brass nozzle
Artwork limited to black color only.
Sound
The Jomo Audio Haka is a single BA. I had to go back and check the specs and also message Joe of Jomo to triple check. To my ears it performed as a decent dynamic driver or multi BA IEM. Color me surprised.
I did the usual exhaustive burn in of over 100 hours to please believers and non-believers (who don't care anyway).
Listening was done with a variety of tips until I as usual settled on on go to tips for fit and comfort the JVC Spiral Dots.
I used a variety of daps such as the iBasso DX200 (amp 1), Opus #2, Fiio X7ii, Opus#3 and Echobox Explorer, Opus #1 and 1S, Shozy Alien+, Shanling M3s and an ipod touch 6G to get a lay of the land of the average performance one could expect across a field of daps. In summary the usual suspects.
The tracks used in testing were mainly FLAC 16/44 on shuffle to give my brain and ears the unexpected.
I don`t really think about the price of an item much anymore when I receive it. I just get the mail, unboxing photos, a little listen and take some notes, then leave it on burn for the burn in brethren and also to lessen the possible new toy syndrome. it then joins the review queue and I pick up the item occasionally and listen and take notes then put it back into its place in the queue based on first come, first served (rarely broken). This also serves to get a better sense of the item even though I could probably pump out something fairly accurate in 48 hours or a week perhaps. But I could never be fully sure I had plumbed the possible depths and idiosyncrasies of the review item.
Later when the item comes closer to its turn in the queue it joins my everyday carrying stock of daps, IEMs and next review items as I cross check with tips, cables, other earphones and daps etc to get a hopefully true and accurate sense of the items sound.
Often lastly I set up the headphone switcher box and have several sessions where I volume check with a SPL meter and reconfirm my findings. It is a lengthy process.
Some reviews write themselves due to the excellence of the item, the build or the sound overall is coherent and pleasurable regardless of my preferred sonic signature etc. others are more of a struggle due to the opposite of the above.
The Jomo Audio Haka is one of the former.
Armed with a Single BA and housed in a strong shell the Jomo Audio Haka stuns at first glance. It bears a resemblance to a shell design that has seen a popularity of late. Also having only one BA it is at the forefront of what I expect to be a mini wave of single BA earphones coming out (such as the Campfire Audio Comet).
But I have digressed enough off topic, where the focus of this section should strictly be the sound and not my methodology although essentially they are intertwined. Some may be inthralled, most probably are thinking 'I skipped all the way to the sound section for this!?'.
'Thats all folks!' I mean 'On with the show'
The Jomo Audio Haka performs well at moderate levels and doesn't need a huge amount of volume to satisfy.
I comes across as fairly even across the board, verging on a reference, linear signature with a decent tinge of mids to fill it out. female vocals are smooth, rounded and gorgeous.
It is very coherent and well tuned as I expect after hearing and reviewing several Jomo Audio models.
Treble is sweet and not over extended, reaches just far enough to open everything up without ending up sibilant. Companies seem to be on the ball generally when it comes to treble these days.
Bass is present but not hard hitting as in a defining feature, it is strong but with a softness to it, a still lingering deep boom boom with enough speed to please.
Sound stage is just above medium. Lots of height, vocals central within the skull slightly towards the forehead, medium width, slight depth.
Instrument separation is good, the limited sound stage impacts upon this at times. But generally has enough air and a sense of space. a brighter dap alleviates this to some extent.
Layering becomes improved as one goes up the chain of daps, although even at the low-fi end it still pleases.
On some tracks it became a bit brittle as the volume was pushed too far (beyond usual comfort levels), whereas on other tracks they were fine - so perhaps this was more the recordings themselves rather than the earphones I would surmise. But is one BA and not a DD.
The Jomo Audio Haka scales well as I moved up and down the dap chain.
best matches were with neutral daps, then bright and finally warmer daps (to my ears).
A good all rounder the Haka performs well with a variety of genres, one the right set of tips is decided on its just plug, play and enjoy.
Overall
The Jomo Audio Haka is a single BA that doesn't skip on performance.
As I shuffled from soft sultry vocals oozing with luscious mids or switched to an electronic dance track with underlying melody of bass and overlying treble beep beeps or the guitar and drum laden cacophony of rock music new and old the Haka performed respectfully throughout.
It is a mainly linear earphone that is an excellent all rounder for many genres which I would more expect from a decent dynamic driver earphone than a single BA IEM.
As mentioned before I had to message JOMO AUDIO and recheck that this was a single BA earphone.
A bass that is solid and lingering, yet not over powering, a nice taste of mids to bring out the body with a well tuned treble and with vocals softly floating just above it all.
With a medium sound stage, and an instrument separation that favors a brighter dap, the Jomo Audio Haka also scales well up the dap chain with layering and detail increasing.
I would use a neutral, then a brighter and lastly a warmer dap with the Haka.
The fit and sound I viewed favorably and enjoyed listening to without fatigue or discomfort.
The Jomo Audio Haka is a single BA in ear monitor that veers to a more balanced linear sound with a touch of warmth in the mids.
Thank you to Jomo Audio for sending Head pie the Jomo Haka for review.
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