To get the most out of these i use them with normal buds, as the foam ones reduce treble as per usual with foam, without foam in nozzle as it reduces clarity and with the cable over ear because it allows for the earphone to be in a better position.
 
I bought them from harvey norman for $197 AU, which is cheaper than ebay, hence why i bought them.
For normal retail price (AU $450) they aren't worth it, but for $200? I couldn't buy them quick enough.
 
My comparison point is my sennheiser ie8's with a sony walkman as a source, so im used to ridiculous bass.
 
Treble sparkle is annoying, but forgivable.
Seperation is great due to multiple drivers.
Space is average, especially compared to ie8 which have more space than a truck.
 
Bass is great, its stays even and detailed when you turn up the volume, unlike the ie8 which just get boomy. (boomy is fun for a bit though)
Bass is probably a strong point, due to the super woofer and woofer it has excellent detail, extension and is clearer than glass. It even managed to suprise me with how low it goes, and im used to the ie8 which are practically mini subwoofers!
 
There overall presentation of sound is not very loved, and many people seem to dislike them but once you mod them and put them in "correctly" they sound very good.

$450 is just too much though, which is why my "local" audiophile store no longer stocks them, which is a shame beacuse i wanted to try the xba-3.
 
The deisgn is good, very comfortable, but j cord is too long on one side, and too short on other, but it barely bothers me, having no shirt clip does. Leather carry case is cool but too big, so i use sennhesier pouch, hybrid buds are great, i wont bother getting anything else for them.
 
TBC.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other comments:
Its a good thing i got them too because i had majorly stuffed up the ideal eq setting on my walkman (it has a custom eq), so my music sounded terrible, even though i thought it was fine.
 
I now use the eq the xba-4's "gave me" for everything, with slight modifcations, and now my ie8's sound much better... Only took me another pair of earphones to figure that out.
 
Ill clean this up and make it sound like it written by an adult later.
 
Ti's a real shame the xba-4's cost so much and are so unpopular.
 
 

My first impression of a sony walkman e-series was from when i listened to one my friend had in school.
I don't have a clue what my impression was though.
But some time that year, or early next year i bought one, the latest model at that time.
I went home, and copied my music straight on there, just drag and drop. 
 
Then is started playing music.
The custom eq was brilliant, it made everything so much better than the ipod's set eq's, i could tune the eq to what i thought sounded best, and remove some harshness in the treble i encountered on my ipod.
Then I selected clear bass, and put it on maximum (3).
The bass was instantly lifted into the realm of normal sound, it was no longer recessed and quiet, but at the same time it was carefully balanced so it didn't overpower everything else.
 
(Well at least, thats what i thought at the time, in actual fact the cx 300II are very muddy and have too much bass so it actually sounded crap, but better than with an ipod)
 
To this day I haven't seen anything nearly as good as clear bass. I've tried ipods, beats audio on my laptop, itunes, windows media player, and a couple of mp3 players, and nothing has even come close to perfecting the balance of bass like it can.
 
Clear bass simply makes up for the lack of bass prevailent in most sources and headphones/earphones.
 
At the moment i have a pair of IE8's, and the custom eq combined with clear bass brings out my music better than anything else i've tried, the clear bass is simply unmatched because it brings out the bass from its dark depths. It is limited by the frequencies the player will produce though, it barely goes below 60hz.
 
Battery life is good, around 40 hours.
Build quality is great, screen is good, buttons are great, user interface is great, I especially love the 5 brilliant bookmark list feature, which makes the ipod's playlist feature look pathetic.
 
The 4gb mine both has is tiny, but only recently has it become a problem. 
 
 
Proper review:
 
The eq on the walkman is one of those things that is simple, yet complicated. I've adjusted my preset
 
 
 
 
 

Bass screws work if you have some bass to begin with, ie. not using an ipod.
Soundstage is brilliant.
Sound is a bit unbalanced, have use aggresive eq with walkman.
bass is phenominal.