[Earl49]

I don't really know how to respond. They both sound like..... very nice guitars. It's not like I can put in pink noise and get an EQ curve as an output. Everyone hears and plays a little differently with their own mental image of what an acoustic guitar should sound like. I sometimes get to hear mine played from out front. The angled Emerald sound hole provides a monitor function when I'm playing that a more conventional center sound hole does not provide. One of my favorite places to play is sitting in a chair that faces into our bay window. Then I am surrounded on three sides with glass in the dining room, so there are plenty of immediate reflections. I like what I hear with all of them.

For me, the X30 is a little too boomy in the bass (like a Martin dreadnought) and the X20 is just right (like a very rich-sounding Taylor GA). I like most Rainsong guitars too. While the parlor sounds pretty good, aesthetically and visually the body size & shape just don't work for me. I am tempted to put heavier strings on my X30 and tune it down to C-c like a pseudo baritone. The low end power would be asset there.

Emerald is good about accepting returns from stock with a one-week trial period. You will have to absorb some of the outbound shipping and all of the return shipping to Ireland, so figure about $200 invested in a test drive - if you return. Something similar could be arranged with Elderly Instruments or LA Guitar Sales if they happen to have a JM-1000. I know that both have a trial period too and are good to work with.