[227qed]

Okay, XB90EX arrived today. Basshead worthiness confirmed. Very pleased with bass quality and quantity.

First test with the iCAN, very nice! Really surprised how good they sound for the price! Immediately pleased on all fronts. This could be dangerous for the wallet down the road.

I was initially pretty skeptical of iems after getting the really disappointing MEE X7 plus. The purchase was made due to the following paragraph from a wirecutter roundup:

"One thing worth mentioning, however, is these guys have a LOT of bass. The bass has pitch to it, though with a slight touch of resonance that can overpower the upper frequency ranges in all kinds of music, especially in EDM and hip hop. If you are someone who likes to crank your subwoofer, you might be a fan of the X7. But for folks who like a bit more balance, we think you’d be happier with one of our other picks."

Total garbage IMO, not basshead in the slightest, I didn't like a single thing about them. I hadn't been that disappointed since getting the beyerdynamic dt770 under the impression they had a lot of bass as well--the treble nearly killed me. Of course, these purchases were made prior to frequenting the bass threads on headfi, so thank you friends for showing me the light of bass.

Anyways, the xb90ex has a very respectable amount of bass straight out of the note 4 with the built in spotify eq. Everything is nice and clear, the mids are pleasing, no harshness up top. These are going to work great for me. The build quality is nice, had no trouble at all with the fit, something I struggled with on iems past.

I've always liked Sony products and these are no exception.

10/10, 2 thumbs up, 5 stars

Thank you for the recommendations everyone! Basshead satisfied.

 

[aiaosu]

Anyone have any suggestions on tips for Sony EX800ST/7550?

 

[Hawaiibadboy]

Anyone have any suggestions on tips for Sony EX800ST/7550?

Comply or even better is sure seal "L" size made for the bravo series

 

[groovyd]

ER-4s is a bass monster, you just have to EQ the bass up and it will deliver all you ask for and clean.

 

[aiaosu]

Comply or even better is sure seal "L" size made for the bravo series

Thanks. Warrior1975 was sending me some sure seal tips, so I'll give them a try when they get here.

What's your thoughts on damaging drivers by taping? I'm assuming the port releases considerable pressure that would go into your eardrum instead of out of the IEM.

 

[Taggerung]

 
Comply or even better is sure seal "L" size made for the bravo series

What tips do you use for your 1964 U8? Because of the long nozzle, how do silicone tips with a wide opening work? It would seem that the nozzle just goes past the tip and end up touching your canal.

 

[aiaosu]

ER-4s is a bass monster, you just have to EQ the bass up and it will deliver all you ask for and clean.

I haven't tried the ER4S, but I haven't found BA's to have the slam a dynamic has. I've also noticed a lack of subbass in the BA's I've had. How does the ER4S fair in those areas? Isn't it a single BA?

 

[LouisArmstrong]

ER4P doesn't slam much but goes real deep.

 

[aiaosu]

ER4P doesn't slam much but goes real deep.

Kool...learned something new. I never would have guessed that about the ER4S or a single BA.

 

[groovyd]

ER-4s is about as close to perfectly flat as is possible in an IEM.  What this means is it takes very well to EQ and applying some good bass boost will deliver serious bass slam as other's put it on here.  The difference is this will be very precise tight bass slam, not boomy sloppy loose.

 

[vapman]

Thanks. Warrior1975 was sending me some sure seal tips, so I'll give them a try when they get here.

What's your thoughts on damaging drivers by taping? I'm assuming the port releases considerable pressure that would go into your eardrum instead of out of the IEM.

It's not a problem of pressure buildup in the IEM housing, so no need to worry about that. The vent reduces bass in exchange for much more detail and soundstage and by extension creates a more balanced sound.
 
I've used the small size sureseal tips too, i think you just need to make sure you get the ASG line sureseals and not the Bravo line sureseals.

 

[aiaosu]

So, why potential driver damage by covering the vent?

 

[vapman]

So, why potential driver damage by covering the vent?

I've never heard of it causing damage. Many other dynamic driver IEMs have no vents and are fully enclosed. Where'd you hear it could damage them? Not saying you're wrong, just trying to figure out what you heard.

 

[aiaosu]

From rinchoi.blogspot:
"ON SECOND THOUGHT #3: There is an acoustic vent on MDR-7550's housing, working as a depressurizer, just like that of Sony Ericsson MH1C, or that of AKG K3003. Blocking the vent will greatly boost the sub-bass, along high frequency extension.

However, it is worth to note that not only the vent prevent the drivers from getting damaged, acoustic vents sometimes contribute to a better transient characteristic of an IEM within the ear canal, especially when the diaphragm is of a high compliance."

I read it somewhere else also. Maybe I'm missing something or misunderstanding.

 

[Hawaiibadboy]

From rinchoi.blogspot:
"ON SECOND THOUGHT #3: There is an acoustic vent on MDR-7550's housing, working as a depressurizer, just like that of Sony Ericsson MH1C, or that of AKG K3003. Blocking the vent will greatly boost the sub-bass, along high frequency extension.

However, it is worth to note that not only the vent prevent the drivers from getting damaged, acoustic vents sometimes contribute to a better transient characteristic of an IEM within the ear canal, especially when the diaphragm is of a high compliance."

I read it somewhere else also. Maybe I'm missing something or misunderstanding.

 I think this is about damaging the drivers acoustic playback performance.
 
The blocking of the vent does not have much audible effect beyond raising sub-bass ad closing the very large stage into regular stage territory. It would be far more likely that a voice coil gets scorched /de-laminated before anything happened to the driver due to ventilation modding.