Cool! How would you compare the noise isolation with the MDR-1A's?

Whoa, not a lot of love for the original hybrids here. I'd never switch them to an IEM that's constantly being described as "shrill", "harsh" and "shrieky" in the highs.. 

  I've solved it now, all it took was a little bit of bike oil.  

My HD 4.30 sounds awesome but the headband has started to make creaking sounds where it connects to the cup. It creaks when I move my head or jaw. You can only hear it when wearing the headphones but it's pretty annoying when you just want to hear the music.

Aren't they the 2nd generation of hybrids?

Yeah they feel really sturdy. The only other pair I've owned in this price range that had better build quality was the Sennheiser Urbanite, which was built like a tank (but doesn't sound as good as these IMO). I think they're comfortable. The pads are really soft. If your ears aren't too large...

I got the HD 4.30 the other day and I must say they are very decent sounding. Lots of bass for a Sennheiser headphone. At first I thought vocals sounded a bit tinny and a little distant, but I don't hear it like that that anymore. Must have gotten used to the sound quickly! Great build...

    there is no evidence supporting physical "burn in" as a real thing, and sources barely mean anything when it comes to IEMs, unless you use a really old and crappy DAC

damn, still no L shaped plug.

  Those are going to be a pain to clean now..

I always baby my stuff, but these broke in the headband when I was putting them on my head. my first pair had a faulty driver. no quality control, no customer service; good riddance.   but yeah they did sound amazing.

they break after a short while anyway. crappy build quality, and non-existent customer support at that.

crap it's great you guys have girlfriends. just wanted to say I find the mdr-7506 to be bright but that they're nicely balanced up by the great bass response. I guess I like that V shaped response.. good for music listening, for me at least.

they worked (and i dried them with rice for a few days) but the bass had basically disappeared, i had to order new ones : ) good they're cheap.

When did you order them?

I'm pretty sure, otherwise my pair is faulty somehow. They don't sound bad at all, just more balanced and less bassy than my previous Hybrids. I thought these used to have about the same bass impact as the Piston 2's... Now the Pistons have a noticably bigger rumble than the new Hybrids.  ...

got my third pair today, and xiaomi has definitely tuned down the bass on these now..

  First I ever heard of it!

Nadja, Boris, Sunn O))) and The Body are extremely heavy sounding bands and I think these headphones give that kind of music a nice dark rumble. Modern black metal like Agalloch and Wolves in the Throne Room are other heavy bands that I love listening to with these cans.   EDIT: I must add...

  if you're used to that kind of low frequency sound, sure. I wasn't really at first, I thought it only suited certain genres.. but now I can blast anything from Sabbath to Deicide and it will sound great, especially at louder volumes. double bass drums sound absolutely massive.

these are really growing on me. not sure if it's burn in (probably just mental burn in) but they don't seem overly bassy anymore, just warm and fuzzy with good detail. comfortable as hell too!

double post

thanks for replying! wow, I found that these headphones respond very well to electronically produced bass beats. however, once a bass guitar plays a pronounced bassline, it sounds really boomy and cavernous... I can't imagine what it would sound like with the bass boost on. these headphones are...

I got the XB950AP today, but I find the mid-bass very boomy. How is the XB950BT in comparison? With the bass boost turned off, that is.

yeah I'm wondering this too. do the AP and BT sound the same when wired (bass boost off on the BT)?