Disclaimer: Jomo sent us the Jomo PLB sample for this review free of charge, it does not have to be returned. Many thanks! Jomo is not a sponsor of Headfonia.
About Jomo Audio
The following can be found on Jomo’s website under the „About Us“ section:
Jomo Audio is a Singapore local company founded by a broadcast engineer who worked in the field with extensive hands-on experience of video & audio mixing and signal broadcasting. In partnership with the experts from the hearing-aid business, by the inspiration from the Japanese word of “Takumi” or Craftsmanship Spirit, Jomo Audio crafts monitors that sound wonderful in ear and look splendid in hand. Started in the same year as the Singapore Golden Jubilee, Jomo Audio soon become one of most popular custom in-ear monitor brand in the South East Asia portable audio market. We kept challenging ourselves from all directions to keep up the spirit of innovation and the “Takumi” Craftsmanship Spirit that we in awe with.
Technicals
The beast is packed with three balanced armature drivers per earpiece. Jomo PLB (PrettyLittleBeast) comes with a traditional three way crossover design (one low, one mid and one high). The final sound goes through two stainless steel sound bores before it gets to your ears. Its impedance is said to be 19 Ohms, which is relatively normal for an in ear monitor. According to Jomo’s website the frequency curve goes from 20Hz to 20kHz, so nothing exceedingly special here. But since human hearing is also limited to 20kHz nothing to complain about, unless you have dog-like hearing.
Jomo has opted for the industry standard 2-pin connection, which ensures a secure and tight fit around the ear.
Package
The absolute first thing that I thought of when I unpacked the blue little iems was of Russian Matryoshka dolls. You get rid of the first layer to find a second and a third and fourth and so on. Jomo has carefully packaged their new universals in three layers before you get to your iems. First you have an almost cube sized hard cardboard outer housing that has Jomo’s logo in golden colour on top, after that you get a black leather jewelery-like flip-box that holds a blue aluminium cylinder in it. In this hard to destroy blue cylinder are finally your new toys, securely packed so nothing can possibly happen to them. Under the aluminium cylinder you can find the accessories:
Two pairs of semi transparent eartips (a third pair is already attached to the iems), three pairs of black double flange silicone tips, one 3.5mm to 6.35mm adapter, one flight-adapter and one cleaning tool. You will also find a nice metal warranty card in the box, which has a very premium feel to it. Jomo must have thought Why do packaging the usual way when you can go over the top? when they have decided for how to pack their jewels. This is the most meticulously packaged iem I have encountered so far. The aluminum cylinder actually reminds me of a skin-care brand that uses the same blue for their products.
Jomo PLB’s cable is said to be Plastics One’s reference cable. It has three conductors that split in the middle to four. It looks like a cheap standard cable and is nothing special. It is terminated to a 3.5mm right angled plug. The overall feel of the cable is very plasticy, just like the manufacturer’s name. Many people, me included, don’t like the memory wire as it can become uncomfortable, especially when wearing glasses, so I wasn’t too thrilled when I saw that the cable had one for each ear.
Build
The earphones themselves are made of hypoallergenic UV acryl with a Japanese hybird opal faceplate. The faceplate is partly covered with green light-reflecting sparkles on a blue background which looks almost identical to the one used for the transport cylinder. The bottom part of PLB is colored in a lighter blue than the top plate. I wish Jomo would’ve went with the same colour tone since it would look more complete in my opinion, but that’s just me. Anyway, carrying on.
The IEM itself is built in a droplet form, which resembles the typical custom IEM form. PLB’s nozzle is of shorter type, comparing to some other models from different manufacturers, giving a not so deep insertions. They however sit very comfortably and securely in my ears when using the right tips, which Jomo definitely has supplied. I’m usually a Comply tip kinda guy, but the clear silicone Tornado tips Jomo ships with their IEMs are by far the most comfortable and best sitting ones that I have ever let in my ears. They are so good that I use them on every universal IEM I can. Head-Fi has told me that those are Tennmak Whirlwind tips. Never heard of them, but they sure deserve some credit. Fit wise the Jomo PLB does very well, they are about the same size as Noble’s universal model Sage and perfectly sit in my ears. The 2-Pin cable is worn over the ear and takes away any pulling force of it. Isolation is as good as with any closed back IEM. They can’t block out all the noise that surrounds you, but they will definitely help you get rid of some of it.
Continue on the next page for Sound, Source matching and Aftermarket cabling