TDK BA200 - Impressions and Appreciation Thread - Page 35

So I received my BA200 and I have finally found what I was looking for. I am absolutley in love with the hd650s and struggled to find an IEM equivalent.I feel the BA200s come close. All listening was from the o2/odac. The bass is just behind the hd650 and gr07 in impact and quantity and is very tight and controlled. Only the sub bass is a little underrepresented. The mids are smooth without any upper mid harshness/peakiness and is  very close to the hd650 in quality. The highs are balanced, they are definitely "there" but are not shoved in your face. Again very clean and no frequencies seem over represented. I feel the BA200 is better than both the gr07 and R-50. The gr07 has really nice lows but I feel the lower mids and mid bass are recessed slightly. Almost seems like some frequencies are under represented. Also, there is some serious peakiness in the upper mids (very hard to listen to audiobooks with this one). The R-50 on the other hand is more balanced than the gr07 but lacks the clarity and body of the BA200 sound and the bass quality to me is a little lacking. At the $140 price the BA200 is the one to beat!

I do feel the sound is very tip dependent... the dual flanges really lacked bass and sounded very thin.  I wasn't too happy when I tried to use them with the dual flange tips but was surprised when I used them with some single flange tips that came with my rockit sounds r-50.

After eyeing these for what seems like seven months, I pulled the trigger today.  I really appreciate the work Tom put into the review (I've read & reread it quite a few times since it was published).. talk about thorough!  Amazon had these for ~$135 shipped.. which seems like an outstanding deal.

The comparisons to the HD650 are encouraging.. I haven't spent any significant amount of time with the HD650.. but in the brief time I had with it (driven by excellent gear too), I liked it a lot.. but liked the HD600 more (hence why I own it).  I'm very interested to see how these stack up to the GR07 MKII.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlySweep 
  I'm very interested to see how these stack up to the GR07 MKII.

Looking forward your comments/impressions! I have been eyeing repurchasing the GR07 for weeks now. It's like that girl I can't let go of.  And It's driving me up the wall waiting for the GR08.edit

I got the BA200 because of Tom's review also. When it hit $135 on Amazon about a week and a half ago, i jumped on it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlySweep 

After eyeing these for what seems like seven months, I pulled the trigger today.  I really appreciate the work Tom put into the review (I've read & reread it quite a few times since it was published).. talk about thorough!  Amazon had these for ~$135 shipped.. which seems like an outstanding deal.

 

The comparisons to the HD650 are encouraging.. I haven't spent any significant amount of time with the HD650.. but in the brief time I had with it (driven by excellent gear too), I liked it a lot.. but liked the HD600 more (hence why I own it).  I'm very interested to see how these stack up to the GR07 MKII.

That is a great price FlySweep buddy! I paid $10 more and still quite happy with the purchase. I think the BA200 easily surpasses the GR07 (and so does the dual dynamic IE800). The mids are incredible! And the vocals and some of the best I've heard (without being overly analytical). It's not beating the W4, but it's quite close, and that's a heck of a bargain for the current asking price. Can't wait to read your review. Happy listening.

I feel the BA200 is in a different league than the gr07. First time I can actually consider myself satisfied by a pair of iems, prior to this I always just made concessions as I didn't feel I could do better in the $100-200 class. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by muad 

I feel the BA200 is in a different league than the gr07. First time I can actually consider myself satisfied by a pair of iems, prior to this I always just made concessions as I didn't feel I could do better in the $100-200 class. 

That's interesting, because I feel I'm just making tradeoffs with the GR07 I remember. Depth for width, pinpoint imaging for out of head imaging, good upper mids for good lower mids, and so on. I don't want to make any definite statements, as definite as "to my ears" can be at least , because I don't have both at the same time.

Originally Posted by ericp10 

That is a great price FlySweep buddy! I paid $10 more and still quite happy with the purchase. I think the BA200 easily surpasses the GR07 (and so does the dual dynamic IE800). The mids are incredible! And the vocals and some of the best I've heard (without being overly analytical). It's not beating the W4, but it's quite close, and that's a heck of a bargain for the current asking price. Can't wait to read your review. Happy listening.

I had the W4 a few months back and liked them.. the midbass hump was too prominent for me.. but other than that, it was a pretty well tuned, cohesive phone.  The BA200's mostly linear, gently elevated bass response looks great to me (GR07-ish).  The praise for the midrange is something I decided I simply have to hear.  What sold me though was, believe it or not, the treble.  Numerous reviews have stated it's very clean and detailed.. but smooth and gently rolled off.  I'm not partial to bright or dark phones.. again.. just phones that are well deisgned & those that possess cohesive tuning.  I'm excited to hear a universal, dual-BA IEM that's said to have such a well-proportioned soundstage (at this price point).. that's harder to come by than I thought it would be.  Most have above average width, but lack depth.  We all know the number of BAs are hardly an accurate gauge of an IEMs abilities.. but the fact it's said to come very close to, if not exceeding (by some accounts) the W4 is quite special.  I'd be interested to know what BAs TDK used too.. I think I read they were specially sourced for TDK.

How would you assess the BA200's tonal accuracy and texturing abilities?  The W4 did well with this.. but the ever present midbass warmed up the (lower) midrange too much, coloring the midrange too much.

I agree with Flysweep. Modding the W4 with wide bore tips and adding impedance helps, but I do wish it had a bit less bass. BA200 sounds interesting. 

Sorry for the digression, but any TDK IE800 listeners here? I'm using one currently, and from what I know its closely related to the BA200, with a more balanced bass.

No, but I want to be.  Haha.  How are the highest highs of the ie800?  I find the only drawback of the ba200 is the very highest highs are not very airy.  Here is a review I did of the ba200.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-UDH5ehFEU&feature=youtu.be

I'd like to try the ie800 if they're similar with better high treble...

Quote:

Originally Posted by proton007 

Sorry for the digression, but any TDK IE800 listeners here? I'm using one currently, and from what I know its closely related to the BA200, with a more balanced bass.

I have both. I think the IE800 has more bass than the BA200 (unless you get some long deep insertion silicon tips, then both are about equal, but the more dynamic sound wins). The BA200 is also more forward and more of a mid-focused earphone (although the IE800 is mid-focused somewhat too). Imaging is phenomenal in both, but the IE800 gives more separation and airiness around instruments. It's like the share the same TDK smooth house sound, but the more I listen I don't know if it's exactly fair to call them the dynamic or balanced armature version of the other. You get something different in sound even you own both. A few days ago I felt I like the IE800 more than the BA200, but today I'm not too sure. To be honest, I probably like both equally for different reasons. Each win and lose in certain areas, but both are very good products.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericp10 

 

 

I have both. I think the IE800 has more bass than the BA200 (unless you get some long deep insertion silicon tips, then both are about equal, but the more dynamic sound wins). The BA200 is also more forward and more of a mid-focused earphone (although the IE800 is mid-focused somewhat too). Imaging is phenomenal in both, but the IE800 gives more separation and airiness around instruments. It's like the share the same TDK smooth house sound, but the more I listen I don't know if it's exactly fair to call them the dynamic or balanced armature version of the other. You get something different in sound even you own both. A few days ago I felt I like the IE800 more than the BA200, but today I'm not too sure. To be honest, I probably like both equally for different reasons. Each win and lose in certain areas, but both are very good products.

I would have been perfectly happy with the ba200 if the highest highs were more open and airy.  Take tape noise for instance.  The BA200 made high tape noise sound like a HUSSSS instead of a HISSSS.  Not sure how else to describe it.  Things like music with rainfall in the song lost the truly "realistic" atmosphere because the rain didn't have that really high open crispness.  This wasn't a "huge" lack, but just a lack.  Would you say I'd be happy with the IE800 in that regard?  Do you find them clearer and more airy at the highest end?

Quote:

Originally Posted by luisdent 

I would have been perfectly happy with the ba200 if the highest highs were more open and airy.  Take tape noise for instance.  The BA200 made high tape noise sound like a HUSSSS instead of a HISSSS.  Not sure how else to describe it.  Things like music with rainfall in the song lost the truly "realistic" atmosphere because the rain didn't have that really high open crispness.  This wasn't a "huge" lack, but just a lack.  Would you say I'd be happy with the IE800 in that regard?  Do you find them clearer and more airy at the highest end?

I wouldn't call the IE800 exactly crisp.

I guess I should have been paying more attention to what you were writing eric... I thought when you were talking about the ie800 that you meant the sennheisers :P

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Originally Posted by muad 

I guess I should have been paying more attention to what you were writing eric... I thought when you were talking about the ie800 that you meant the sennheisers :P

Ah, no.  I just found out about the TDK IE800.  I've heard it's similar in ways to the BA200, but it's a dual dynamic...