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Are single BA's superior to multi-BA's (and everything else)? Take the poll!

Poll Results: Which tech is the most accurate?

 
  • 30% (3)
    Single BA
  • 30% (3)
    Multi-BA
  • 10% (1)
    Dynamic
  • 30% (3)
    Electrostatic
  • 0% (0)
    Planar Magnetic
10 Total Votes  
post #1 of 6
11/20/12 at 10:29pm
Thread Starter 

As far as accuracy is concerned, single BA's seem to come the closest with the fewest compromises compared to multi-BA's, dynamics, and even most full-sized cans. 

 

Focusing mainly on single vs multi-BA, there don't seem to be many multi-BA's without compromises in FR, IR and delay. There is a lot of room for subjectivity here, but by the numbers it seems that single BA's like the ER4S do better than everything else out there when accounting for an accurate diffuse field reference.

 

So if accuracy is the goal, are multi-BA's totally worthless to this end? It certainly looks like nothing short of electrostats can compete.

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post #2 of 6
11/23/12 at 11:29pm
"Accurate" in terms of what? Low distortion? Bandwidth? Damping? How much does the implementation of the technology come into the argument?

Or are we talking about of a more subjective opinion of what sounds most accurate to the listener? Just because something has low distortion, etc. doesn't mean it'll sound best. The Etymotics are a great example; they measure (and sound, I own a pair) very well, but my basic 2-way bookshelves that use an aluminum cone 4.5" driver, dome tweeter, and 2nd order crossover sound much more accurate and natural to me. But that doesn't have to do with the technology, that has more to do with how my ear perceives sound.

So what's the question exactly? biggrin.gif
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post #3 of 6
11/23/12 at 11:50pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by OJNeg View Post

"Accurate" in terms of what? Low distortion? Bandwidth? Damping? How much does the implementation of the technology come into the argument?
Or are we talking about of a more subjective opinion of what sounds most accurate to the listener? Just because something has low distortion, etc. doesn't mean it'll sound best. The Etymotics are a great example; they measure (and sound, I own a pair) very well, but my basic 2-way bookshelves that use an aluminum cone 4.5" driver, dome tweeter, and 2nd order crossover sound much more accurate and natural to me. But that doesn't have to do with the technology, that has more to do with how my ear perceives sound.
So what's the question exactly? biggrin.gif

That's a great question. I take accurate to mean comprehensive audio reproduction respecting the figures you mentioned and a few others: bandwidth, low distortion, flat frequency response, square wave forms and impulse response. I'm sure there are more but those figures are a good starting point imo for a discussion about the best audio reproduction tech currently available.

There are definitely trade offs to be made and part of the discussion is which tech offers the least compromise. So far there are 3 votes for three different technologies.

Also this topic I think is best left at headphones and iems to keep things a bit more simple. After all, speakers are what we use to establish reference sound when designing headphones and iems.
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post #4 of 6
11/24/12 at 2:58pm

IEMs: one full-range dynamic driver (my vote) because of the wide frequency response and low distortion even at high volume - something a single BA has problems with

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post #5 of 6
11/24/12 at 7:15pm
I voted Electrostat because they're the most exotic! wink.gif
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post #6 of 6
11/26/12 at 5:28pm

I have an Earsonic SM3 and a pair of XBA-3 IEMs for BAs, and the Sony EX-1000 and many other dynamic IEMs and headphones.  At the end of the day, I still prefer dynamic driver headphoens and IEMs because the sound is so much thicker and more rich.

 

Most BAs sound anemic to me because the decay of all the notes is too fast.

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