XBA-3/ XBA-30..The Appreciation thread. - Page 14

So I decided to go and buy a pair of these!  I hate this site so much.

 

My first impressions honestly weren't very good.  The treble stuck out way too much and almost hurt my ears.  These don't seem to be made for electronic music at all!  But moving onto acoustic music, they sound excellent.  But honestly, I listen to more electronica than anything else so I'm not sure if I'll keep these or not.  I'll have to give them more time though.

Have U try comfy UE TF10 tips? My fav so far.
Wider bore tip? I have a pair of my nephew beats lady gaga eartips with wide bore tips, will try it later with my xba 4.
Man, this J chord always make me stress. I dislike wear down ear, I more prefer use it over the ear, but the cable always fall...

I had a bit of the same issue when I first got mine. But no longer (and I have been predominantly listening to electronic music lately). I am not sure if it improved due to some burn in, or to the wider bore tips (which you should try if you can), or if I just got used to it.

Any chance you could post a link to a sample song that you are having difficulties with?

Well, I was having troubles with pretty much anything.  This was the first song I listened to though:

 

It could have just been that I had the volume turned up too loud?  It's not quite as bad this time around.  Still though, I feel they're sounding a bit metallic for me.  Metallic sounding, for me, is fine for things that aren't electronic...for some reason it tends to tinge the entire sound for an electronic song, possibly due to the extreme dynamic range compression.

Pick up mine this morning and my first impression was that they were lacking on top . Funny how we hear differently. I found they were somewhat too smooth and a little bit veil. But like DaBomd77766 said they are very good with acoustic genre and lucky for me it's my main genre of music.

 

I will try different tip's as suggested and will report back the result.  

 

Note:  This first impression was with the original medium tip out of my Sansa Clip+ playing Flac tracks.

Edited by Twinster - 11/12/12 at 11:39am

Could just be the type of headphones we're used to!  I also feel that because EDM tends to be so strongly compressed you hear the peaks in the treble a lot easier, for pretty much the duration of the whole track since practically every frequency is boosted to max.

 

Wild tune lol! I compared the xba3's to my mh1c's and brainwavz r1's. To me, the treble on the xba3's seemed brighter, more present, more detailed, more extended with more impact. I guess that would translate to what you said about the treble "sticking out too much". To me it didn't stick out too much, but it definitely did sound more intense (combined with the bass kicking in with a good seal). I like it a lot actually, but like you said, it could come down a lot to personal preference and other subjective factors. Anyway, that was an interesting experiment - thanks!

 

I really thought that was a cool tune as well, so feel free to post links to a few more (or PM me with them if you like). I have been listening to the Digitally Imported radio streaming app on my sgs2, which is all electronic music (trance, lounge, dubstep, techno etc) and have been really enjoying it (so much so, that I'm thinking of paying for their premium streaming - just finished the 1 week trial).

 

Cheers

Edited by waynes world - 11/12/12 at 2:06pm

Just use the XBA-3 this afternoon while working in the backyard (getting ready for winter). I've tried a new tip with big opening ( straight open ) with the Clip+ and my first impression remain unchanged. Dubstep was very good with solid bass quality. Acoustic is very good. Guitars and voilins sound very natural to me.

I still find their signature vary laided back and smooth but I would like more sparkle and air on top frequencies. Yes I like my trebles . It could be my age.

I will try them with other source later tonight and see if I can appreciate the Sony a bit more.

Here're some example of the music listened while working: Diego Barber, Radiohead, ES Posthumus, Dream Theather, Angele Dubeau, Some Dubstep mix.

Bought these couple of months ago for $222. Previously listened to all XBA models at the SonyStyle when it came out in the store. For me 1 & 3 sounded right for the music I listen to. Mainly Dance & Electronic.

 

These have great synergy with Z1060 walkman.

I think depending on the music, soemtimes the treble can be a bit too bright that high volume tingles my ears lol

 

Just tried comply eartips though - improves bass and smoothens out the treble alot.. like A -  LOT ... haha not as bright but still clear and no where near muddy like my old sennheisers !

 

Kind of felt wierd using comply as i never used those type of ear tips before but getting use to it now and personally the sound is abit better somehow ..

 

You reminded me to try the wide bore foam tips (from my R1) on the xba3 and re-play DaBomb's video. Holy crap that sounds good

Edited by waynes world - 11/12/12 at 5:29pm

One of the things I most appreciated about the R1. All those tips!

Looking forward to my xba-3's arrival.

If you wanted to know what type of music it was, it's moombahton - you might like dutch house too.  The artist is Knife Party and they are pretty great (made up of one of the members of Pendulum).

 Cool, thanks!

Finally heard the UE 900 tonight. It's what the TF10 should have sounded like, but IMO it doesn't beat the W4. The W4 sounds more refined to my ears. The UE 900 will have to go back tomorrow. Again, it's quite an improvement over the TF10. If there's ever a sale and it goes as low as say $200, it will be worth having, but not at $400. The packaging is outstanding though. That's pretty much all I will say about them. I enjoy the W4 way more than the UE 900.