Quote:
Originally Posted by
Techno Kid 
I'm surprised that you like the XBA-3 more than the BA200, I've heard the Sony and I thought it was like a poor mans TF10 personally. Also how you think the PFE 112 is more spacious sounding than the BA200 is a mystery to me as well. The PFE doesn't have a large soundstage and the BA200 is quite a bit wider so that's just strange but I also think the SM3 has a very large soundstage and others think its closed in sounding but I've never heard the 112 described as spacious.
Let me clarify a few things ;). First the xba-3 is nowhere near as good as the ba200... on most sources. On my 5 ohm or so ipod touch it sounds completely different and has more bass and clarity than the ba200 with a more v-shape. However, the more I listen to it the less I like it in general, as I'm starting to become familiar with the nuances and sound properties of the set. I fin they have strange noises in the treble and not enough mid. However, on the ipod classic they sound worse being more treble heavy, and on the amp they simply sound horrible. When I had said I liked them more I had a) been listening to them on the ipod and b) not been familiar enough with them at first and the greater treble and bass seemed like what the ba200 was missing (it is missing a bot of both).
However, on any other source not only do the xba03 sound worse, but the ba200 sound BETTER. Not by much, but still better. So in that regard the ba200 is the clear winner there. ANd you are correst that the ba200 is more spacious, but you can see that if i were listening to it on a source with boosted treble it would seem more spacious. And the xba-3 still does have the brighter high highs. But the neutrality of the ba200 makes their space much more realistic.
The pfe 112 soundstage is somehow different. When I listen to the ba200 i think i'm always slightly distracted by the lack of that really high crisp airy-ness that I prefer. When I listen to the pfe112, even though the high airy-ness isn't loud compared to the other frequencies, it is there. It is more soft and laid back, but the frequencies are clearly represented. Add to the the slightly more detailed mids and to me most songs exhibit a cleaner more "open" sound. I would actually call the pfe warmer than the ba200 in some regards, being a bit more mid-centric and smooth in the mids. However, the details they pull out at any given frequency allows me to hear more of the realism of most instruments which to me translates to a better sound stage. And by sound stage I mean the general sense of "being there" in the music hall or wherever. If the ba200 had that little more treble presence, I would say they would probably be more than the pfe, but without that for me it takes away from whatever sound stage they would have had.
I guess it would be like having a nice dinner with a dead fly on the plate. Even if the dinner looked better than your friend's the fly would just get in the way and you could more easily enjoy your friend's plate. :-P
Anyhow, I would now consider the xba-3 almost on the horrible scale. I have no use for any headphone that can't be relatively easily transferred between sources. No other set I've 'ever' used has changed so much based on the source, and not in a good way...
