Balanced armature IEM recommendation

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christo4 

Hello everyone!

 

I am in need of some assistance.

 

I have recently taken an interest in IEM's and from my research i have found that the BA ones are supposed to be better than the Dynamic Driver ones.

The problem is that my budget is around 50 pounds (more or less) and i haven't really found any usefull advice regarding these headphones...

 

So now I am asking you guys to help me pick a good headphone in my budget. 

It's been over a week and i still can't make up my mind. (Maybe I'll even buy a Dynamic driver one if it's worth it).

If you are looking for accuracy, detail with a focus on the mids but often with anemic bass, then BAs are for you. If not, look elsewhere. What genres of music do you listen to?
 

Unless you find some fake BA earphones on eBay, you will have trouble finding anything at $50.  Your budget will need to grow to around $100-150 to get into most BA driver earphones.  You can check Amazon.com which has Etymotic HF5 phones on sale for $95 if dark blue is OK -- it's very dark blue and a flat finish, so it doesn't look weird.

Right now, Amazon has the Etymotic MC5 on sale for just over $50.  These are not true BA drivers, but a "moving coil" driver that is a cross between a BA and a dynamic driver.  Not as clear sounding as the HF5, but very good for $50-60.

There is a BA earphone from MEElectronics, the A151 on Amazon for about $55 -- the reviews there about "bad sound" are people who obviously can't figure out why it doesn't have slammin' bass.  But the A151 doesn't get a very good SQ review here on head-fi.org -- sound is too grainy, I think.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kmhaynes 

Unless you find some fake BA earphones on eBay, you will have trouble finding anything at $50.  Your budget will need to grow to around $100-150 to get into most BA driver earphones.  You can check Amazon.com which has Etymotic HF5 phones on sale for $95 if dark blue is OK -- it's very dark blue and a flat finish, so it doesn't look weird.

 

Right now, Amazon has the Etymotic MC5 on sale for just over $50.  These are not true BA drivers, but a "moving coil" driver that is a cross between a BA and a dynamic driver.  Not as clear sounding as the HF5, but very good for $50-60.

 

There is a BA earphone from MEElectronics, the A151 on Amazon for about $55 -- the reviews there about "bad sound" are people who obviously can't figure out why it doesn't have slammin' bass.  But the A151 doesn't get a very good SQ review here on head-fi.org -- sound is too grainy, I think.

The only grainy part about the A151s is the trebles, because of the roll-off. They're also sensitive to bad sources.

There are BA IEMs for <$100, such as the SoundMagic PL50s, MEElec A151s, Jays s-Jays and Sherwood SE-777, all of which use the Knowles Siren drivers.

If you listen to classic and rock then all of these should be fine. Just don't try them with electronic music.

yeah i was going to recommend either the A151, TDKBA100, pl50, or even phonaks perfect bass. but single BAs might seem limited to what you're accustomed to with dynamics, esp. the A151

You could still be able to get single armature if you are okay with used phones in the classified section, although you have to be patient and always check

I don't kno about your assessment of BA sounding better than dynamics, if anything, i find the more bang for buck phones to be dynamics, single ba's i tried have an issue of not being able to keep my bass levels happy which dynamics do not, if you are adament about having a BA, i echo the opinion on the phonaks, they were very impressive when i tried them at a head fi meet, you should be able to get them at your budget since they go around 90US$ retail, used would be less.

brainwavz m2, the thing with single BAs is either you get an emphasized bass and treble roll off or good bass extension, but not bass emphasis, and really nice treble (etymotics)

There are so many options in your price range for dynamics, i think you should really check out jokers thread, someone who actually has heard a handful of budget friendly phones. I could make a recommendation on one but it seems to get outdated pretty fast as new dynamics seem to come out every week. That price bracket is so competitive, i really think there won't be a huge drop off in sound quality, rather, zero in on the sound signature you prefer and other factors such as isolation, build quality, form factor, etc.

I would recommend the xears lines of phones, i have tried the xears blackwood tdIII, and apart from the driver flex, they offered an upfront mid/bassy sound, goes well with pop music. The coupon code may still work, making them at your budget if not cheaper ( check the xears thread, i forgot the coupon code ) The vsonic is one to look at as well, the vsonic gr06 can be had around 60US, and has the most impressive accessory package i have seen for phones in that price bracket, i'm not really sure what their sound sig is, but there are many ppl who already own them, im sure someone can chime in 

Also, keep your eyes peeled for Sony's new BA line; I think the XBA-1 is about ~50£ for street prices. Also, the MEElec A161 should be the new flagship of their line; it employs a single BA, and looks much like the Fischer Audio SBA-03.