T-JAYS: Swedish Music Loving Earphones?

The Swedish based company JAYS, known for their extended product line-up, has been continuously getting more popular and while we have reviewed some of their products in the past we now decided to do a review of their complete T-Jays line.

T = True to you

According to the official website, the T-Jays have been specially developed to provide ultimate comfort whether you’re wearing your earphones for just an hour a day or using them to enjoy your music all day long.

All Jays T-Jays (1-2-3 and 4) have the same astonishing and simple “Slimline” design but the materials used are different. They’re actually quite cool looking, very small & light and can be worn both normal as over the ear. Each T-Jays has its own extension cord and I have to admit this actually came in very handy. Basically you can choose between a standard cable length of 60cm, and an extension cable giving you a further 70cms to play with.

As Jays focuses on the comfort I actually was quite surprised finding out I had some problems using the T-Jays. When wearing them in the normal way, cable down, the small back of the unit hurt my ear, it just feels sharp. I know I have small ears but even my friends who also tried the T-Jays reported back to me with the same issue without having told them of my findings. So we were all kind of forced to wear them “over-ear” but I always do that, so no problem. Everyone knows a good fit is essential to get the best sound out of an IEM and this definitely is the case for the T-Jays. I took me some time to find the best tip for each ear, so it’s really a good thing they are delivered with 5 pairs of tips.

 

Visually I really like the design of the T-Jays and I think the concept is great, just two small remarks for the designers: why a large straight 3.5mm plug and not a simple small L-shaped connector? It really isn’t that pocket friendly in my opinion. And then there is the tangly cable, but unfortunately lots of IEMS have that problem. I didn’t experience any special cable noise with the T-Jays though.

 

General sound

On their website you can read that“The JAYS trade mark sound is an inspiring performance with a balanced stable and quick bass, a tickling mid frequency and a comfortable ear friendly treble” and after having listened extensively to all four models I agree with this general impression. I didn’t use any kind of amplification while testing these IEMS as they are meant to be used straight from a DAP or Phone but for all four IEMS the sound is very balanced and instrumental separation is done well, very enjoyable!

 

 

 

T-Jays One: “Delivers great tonal detail and its deep, warm bass notes enhance your music, lifting it into another dimension”

I completely agree with the warm notes and the deep bass part. This earphone is very laid back and focuses a lot on the bass section. It’s a looser kind of bass, not the tight and punchy kind but the better you can get the T1 to fit, the better your bass gets. Detail and soundstage wise this T1 is limited, not delivering any “body” and the treble is not extended but the balance is amazing for such a cheap earphone and instrumental separation is very well done. Too bad it rather sounds closed and not airy, really just giving you the basic package. Then again, for more or less 25€ I think the price/quality ratio is fair. I would recommend using it for listening to popular hit list music and R&B where the bass quantity is “important”.

 

 

T-Jays Two: “Offers up a little bit of extra power and breath of sound needed to deliver that amazing ‘goose bump’ feeling which comes from watching your favorite band live.” “Engaging Deep and Heavy Bass”

The differences between the T1 and the T2 in my opinion are minimal. Soundstage indeed is a bit wider and there is just that bit more detail but it isn’t a night and day difference, in exchange you do get a couple more accessories… Focus still is on the (same) bass section making this another laid back and truly dark sounding IEM and of course you also get the same balancing which is good. All the characteristics of the T1 described above can be found in this T2. Sound wise you don’t get that much more as the T1, of course you get the extra accessories but those don’t give me goose bumps. It is priced at around $60, double the price of the T1, probably partially because of the accessories. As said above, Hip hop and R&B sound best with these.

 

 

T-Jays Three & Four:” A crisp, clean and natural sound is what T-JAYS Three and Four provide; anytime, anywhere. Instrumentals and vocals are reproduced in exactly the way the performers originally intended. A vented bass port on the back with an acoustic filter effects a bass response which is snappy, precise and deep and vocals which are crystal clear and uplifting”

So this is where they were hiding the good stuff! Finally the sound is open and clear, the laid back bass character has made room for more air and detail. Especially the increase in detail level is quite huge. Where the bass before was just quantity it now has nice detail and it’s more punchy, I like it a lot. The same can be said of the highs that now have more extension and detail while not being harsh or too detailed. The mids are a lot clearer and present as well and balance is excellent with a good layering as with all the other versions. The T-Jays 3 and 4 are both very nice to listen too, they actually are as good as identical but the big difference is the Four has the iPod, iPad and iPhone controls. Version 3 and 4 are definitely my favorite sounding T-Jays, well designed & good sounding. What more do you want?

 

 

Recentely I reported that the iPhone control of the B&W C5 was having issues with the JustAudio µha-120 and so I tried the T-Jays 4 with the Fiio E10 and exactly the same problem appeared: the 3.5mm plugs to control the iDevices do not like amplifiers, pretty weird. Another small issue when wearing the T4 over ear is that the iPhone control will be next to your cheek instead of under your chin, but it didn’t really bother me.

The T-Jays 3 is priced at +-70€ and that is a very good price/quality ratio. The Four is priced at +-100€, probably because of the extra Apple controls.

 

Conclusion:

I like the concept of JAYS.se, their design and their approach to the business. It is clear the T1 and T2 are not audiophile level earphones but the T3 and T4 are very nice. I wouldn’t say they are the best on the (huge) market but I have been using them each day so far, that says enough. Each T-Jays earphone is very well balanced and layered which I like a lot. I’m pretty sure the T1 and T2 are marketed to an audience who just wants something better as the standard earphones. I would surely recommend the T-Jays Three which is a good overall iem with a slight focus on the bass that is very nice to listen to.

Go check out the complete (huge) product line from Jays on their website. You can also find a list with all the retailers and a good write-up about the how and why of the business. I enjoyed reading it. Thank you Jays.se for providing us with the review samples!

3.5/5 - (2 votes)
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Lieven is living in Europe and he's the leader of the gang. He's running Headfonia as a side project next to his full time day job in Digital Marketing & Consultancy. He's a big fan of tube amps and custom inear monitors and has published hundreds of product reviews over the years.

23 Comments

  • Reply December 10, 2011

    arwald

    Hi Mike, currently I’m using v-jays as my portable headphone and I love it. But now, I consider replacing it with an IEM for a better isolation. Do you think T-Jays Three would be a good upgrade? Or is there a better option in $100 range? Mainly I listen to Progressive Rock, J-Pop and Slow Rock. I plug my headphone directly to my notebook. Thanks

    • Reply December 10, 2011

      Mike

      Arwald, sorry I really can’t comment on this since Lieven did the reviews on the T-Jays.

      • Reply December 12, 2011

        Spencer Chan

        Poor Lieven, never gets credit for his work! 

    • Reply December 12, 2011

      Lieven V

      If you like the company sound of Jays and your v-jays, then the T3 looks like the iem for you. You could also check something like Brainwavz m2 and Audio Fischer Eterna Rev1 (and so many more)

      • Reply December 13, 2011

        arwald

        Thanks Lieven (sorry for not look at the author first before asking). I’m gonna try them on local store then.

        • Reply December 14, 2011

          Lieven V

          Don’t worry about it. Enjoy the T3 and keep us posted 🙂

  • Reply December 11, 2011

    Shootthemoon18

    Thumbs up on the clear and concise and honest review!

    how is the isolation for t3& t4? do you have any recommendation for poor isolation earphones/headphones?

    • Reply December 11, 2011

      Lieven V

      Thank you. Do I get it right that you are looking for poor isolating earphones?
      The better the fit on the T3/4 , the better they isolate out the external sounds, yet I have for more isolating iems than the T-Jays

      • Reply December 11, 2011

        Shootthemoon18

        Ya. i was looking for poor isolating earphones or headphones.

        i am incline to earphones more as i feel they are easier to drive. i know portable headphones are not hard to drive, i feel that earphones’ soundstage is more complete without an amp. correct me if im wrong.

  • Reply December 12, 2011

    yohan

    Hi there, 
    thanks a lot for the review. “A crisp, clean and natural sound is what T-JAYS Three and Four provide” How do these stand compared to the Etymotics mc-5 ? 

    • Reply December 12, 2011

      Lieven V

      I haven’t heard the E mc5, sorry Yohan

  • Reply December 15, 2011

    Peter Thompson

    I’ve got the T3’s. I bought them in Singapore while travelling on business and my Shure iem’s died. The main deciding factor over other brands at the time (Shure again, Klipsch, and a couple of others) was the confirt of these for me.

    Especially the bent over design which allows me to wear them on the airplane with my head on the pillow without undue stress. Having the extension also makes it super easy to get up, disconnect mid-cable, and take a walk to the bathroom without a lot of extra cable, or having to reach down and unplug the jack from the seat.

    They are pretty good isolation on the plane for me as well.

    Finally, I really like the ultra flexible cord. Makes it easy to wrap up and tuck in my travel bag.

  • Reply December 23, 2011

    Hoki

    Just as a small hint for people who feel they have a little problem with the fit of the Jays’ ear buds. I suppose the earbuds on the t-Jays and a-Jays are the same. On my a-Jays 3 I’m now using Panasonic replacement earbuds. Philips will fit as well. They are a little softer than the Jays and don’t tend to crawl out of the ears. They also provide a nice seal on the earphone itself. Since I changed them I’m realling enjoying my Jays. So if fit has been an issue, that shouldn’t disencourage anyone to get them 🙂

    Holger

  • Reply December 23, 2011

    Guest123

    Interesting, but I think I rather have a Westone T1 over a Jays T1…

  • Reply January 31, 2012

    Jeff Kong

    Hi Lieven, thanks for this article. I was wondering how does the T-jays three compare to the Shure se215 in terms of its sound stage? Additionally are the cables on the t-jays fragile? 

    Thanks! 

  • Reply December 16, 2012

    john wood

    Bought the T-Jays T3 for on the go, pretty pleased. Its worth mentioning that wearing the cables over the ear makes a HUGE difference to cable noise. Worn normally you get a lot of noise from clothing rub.

  • Reply January 29, 2013

    Paul Ignacius Labsan

    How’s the soundstage of T3 and T4?

    • Reply January 30, 2013

      L.

      Hi Paul, I honestly can’t remember, it’s been too long

  • Reply January 30, 2013

    dalethorn

    I got a Dirac DSP for t-Jays Four (Jays Curves) and it really cleans up the sound. Bass is still good but not murky, mids are well balanced, and highs sparkle like a thousand dollar headphone.

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