Jays to ship seven new earbuds this year, prestige x-JAYS included
By Darren Murph 
posted February 18th 2010 7:21AM
posted February 18th 2010 7:21AM
We hate to point out the obvious, but it's been a hot minute (or two, actually) since we've seen any new gear from Sweden's own Jays. Evidently the company's been hoarding up its wares for a mass introduction, as seven new products were brought to the public's attention this week. The new a-JAYS and t-JAYS are both slated to hit the market in Q1 of this year, with each series being available in three different styles with different sound features. Each will ship with a protective travel case, and for those with extra coin to spend, a gaggle of accessories should also be available. The x-JAYS (citing as the "prestige" model) will ship in Q2, and these are described as being the planet's smallest in-ear headphones with a quadro armature. Mum's the word on pricing, but we're guessing they'll be somewhere between "reasonable" and "are you kidding me?"[Thanks, Anders]
I dont care how prestigious they are I'm on Team Coco.
Good stuff, I love my q-Jays, best and smallest pair of sound isolators I've owned. The sheer tinyness of them made such a difference after wielding the tree-like Shures.
I hope they produce some with in-built music phone mic/button/volume combos cos at the moment that's the only thing the q-Jays are missing.
@samuelgibbs Really surpised you like your q-Jays....
I bought a pair of q-Jays - after the initial joy of the neutral sound, I realised that the use of filters to keep the drivers clear of crap was going to cause problems. You can't use them at the gym or after a shower, due to wet ears/warm wax causing the filters to block and ruin the sound.
After replacing the filters the 10th time I realised this was an expensive running cost for short lived quality... and the lack of bass was starting to get to me :P
When the left ear cable eventually went (being small ultimately meant the build quality suffered) I returned them to iheadphones.co.uk - who informed me that they'd stopped stocking Jays due to the poor build quality and resulting high returns.
So now I'm sporting the futuresonic atrio m5... have been very happy- build and sound quality has remained awesome, and they've been getting the exact same treatment as the q-Jays....
What this boils down to is, I've lost faith in Jays - so not really looking forward to their new products- I have very low expectations of what they'll bring out!
@Xell I'd have to say that actually the build quality of my q-Jays has been nothing short of great. They've survived longer than a pair of Shures that were twice the price (which were knackered through cable torsion) and I've not noticed any deterioration of the cable, bud or connector (which seems to be always were things tend to break for me).
I'm with you on the whole filter thing though, it's the only annoyance I've found, but I got 16 pairs of filters with them. Initially it was a monthly issue but I've since adjusted my morning routine to involve a bit of ear cleaning, which although is annoying has meant that I haven't had to change the filters in months. I've had similar experiences with some Etymotic ER6is though, so the wax on the filter isn't an isolated case, just to Jays.
I'm sorry that you've had a bad experience with them thought. I think they're about equal to my old Ety ER6is which I loved.
@Xell
I really liked my q-Jays, though the cable wore out after only a few months of reasonably careful use. I received a brand new replacement pair under warranty which was great, however eventually I lost these when they fell out of a pocket, argh! I bought a mid-price pair of Denons to replace them with (primarily because that was about all I could find at the airport I was at and I wanted something for the flight). These I still have and while they had much stronger bass, the overall sound quality was nowhere near the q-Jays (quite muddy bass), they didn't block outside noise very well, plus the cord was far far more prone to tangling which annoyed me no end. I was seriously thinking about getting another pair of q-Jays but in the end went with some ER-4Ps. IMHO the sound quality edges out the q-Jays, the bass is strong and crisp, and they block external noise incredibly well. On the downside they're far more awkward to handle than the q-Jays, you can't really lie down or sleep with them in, and the cord is annoying - quite heavy and inflexible up to the split, then thin twisted pair that's prone to tangling (and breaking?...). Overall I'm happy with them, especially wrt sound quality, but I do miss the small size of the q-Jays.
Based on my experience I'm pretty sure these new Jays will be worth serious consideration, especially if they've made the cord a bit more robust and have maybe managed to improve the bass slightly.
Does it come with a bag of chips???
No M-Jays??? NAILED IT!!!
Got to admit, while the presentation and design is pretty excellent on the j-Jays, the sound quality and fit was hit and miss. When it fit right it was good, but often i'd get 2 different pressures in the ears so the sound was unbalanced. An i've been using canal phones for 10 years now, these 'phones were definitely picky.
If only they sold b-JAYS...
@bigmak
I've been trumped!
We hate to point out the obvious, but it's been an eternity (or two, actually) since we've seen any non-cringe-inducing writing from Engadget's own Darren Murph.
I've used the q-JAYS for nearly 2 years now as my everyday buddy and they are just great!! I will for sure check out these new models from JAYS!!