Just did a blind test between the 5 and 4S for volume, and to my surprise the iphone 5 sounded louder to me with my IEM's. As far as sound quality I don't think one's better than the other, it's more of the fact that they sound different and I actually prefer the 5.

Yeah I will try what you said (EQ), one time I accidently changed the eq in my iphone to bass booster. and it was god awful mids were beyond muddy lol. Actually everything was muddy besides the bass.

Yeah I have had these for a year and I'm not impressed. High's are recessed, Mid's sound meh, and bass is bloated. My first pair of supposedly high end headphones and even to me they don't sound much better than my apple earpod's. Let alone being worth $100, maybe $40. I also have to send them...

yes I have and like many others say, the bass on the xb500 is punchier or that it has more mid bass. But the low bass theres only SLIGHTLY more on the xb700. I like the xb500's more because they are much warmer than the xb700's. IMO

It's an ok EQ, but the highs on my iphone seem a bit harsh.

I can't notice much of a difference between the 5 and the 4s IMO. With IEM's or my M50's.

These headphones are great I'm a basshead and even though I own some better sounding headphones I find myself coming back to these, I like how warm they sound. I noticed they're discontinued so I bought two extra pairs.

I know this is an old post but, the sony xb500 are very warm without breaking the bank and with the right EQ can bring out the mids and highs without sacrificing the warmth