Excellent review, you are really improving your writing skills. The best part is the comparisons and a new way to do it. Fun to read and got the point, thanks.

Thanks a lot man

Great review mate. Especially liked the part about N3 vs E5000, my conclusion was same as well.

Now I'm gonna re-watch Ong-Bak and Raid Redemption because of all these fighting analogies haha.

Thanks bro! Raid Redemption, I love that movie as well, good choice.

When I had the N3 and compared with E5k, I found the E5k to be nowhere as exciting as N3 after swapping the cables of N3. E5k is perhaps the most boring iem i have heard in it's price point, a complete lack of sparkle even after a powerful pairing.

@areek Thank you for your comment! Yes, the E5K is not the IEM I would recommend for people looking for « sparkle ». The E5K is one of the most divisive IEM I am aware of. Worship it or dismiss it. We are not on the same side in that regard, apparently. Diversity makes our hobby interesting. The N3 got a lot of playing time recently. What IEM of yours brings you the most satisfying experience?

I had the exact opposite experience with N3 and found it to lack bass depth and the midrange was nowhere near as rich sounding as the E5000. Also sparkle noticeably improves on the E5K going balanced and Clear tips.

@kmmbd The midrange and the bass certainly are the reasons why some people like the E5K so much. The dark tonality and the rolled-off treble let some others cold or, as @areek said, the sought-after energy and excitement are not going to be found in any case. Going balanced and the Final Clear tips is the way to go for me as well and even if these mods won't turn the E5K into a clarity and speed monster, they improved the dynamic, the "tightness" of the overall sound signature and detail retrieval. About power, it's not the power itself that counts, but how it is transmitted to the transducer. Power without control is useless. We can laugh at this statement, fair enough, but I have been spending years with N3 and E5K, switching tips, cable and sources, and the current setups do it for me. Still, the N3 with my mods is not really far from the E5K.

That was a really fun way to do comparisons. Learned a lot too haha. Great review !!

Anyone reading this owes it to themselves to hear the XBA-N-3 with a 1A changed to “J” region and MrWalkman DMP-Z1MK2. The N3 was just too bass laden for my tastes and was over shadowed by Chinese IEMs with more BA drivers filling out the midrange and treble detail. Though now with the included cable somehow the Walkman 1A with aftermarket firmware is bringing this IEM up to a previously unknown level. The MK2 edition should be out a couple days from now.

I also have the Kimber and MUC-M12SM2, may be changing cables too!

Cheers!

Thanks @Redcarmoose for your input. As stated in my impressions, the right set of tips and a potent source with good amping also transformed the N3. I am glad you have found your own way to make your N3 sound much better than before.

Interesting read. Thanks to you, one is coming my way soon. Actually I've auditioned it before once, and to be really honest, I wasn't all that impressed. Maybe that's also because I had the EX1000 and and the MH1C (MMCX modded), which is THE bang for the buck with a similar signature to the N3. Even the guy at the store I was auditioning at who personally owns the N3 was impressed with the MH1C. But since now the MH1C is awaiting repairs for a faulty MMCX connection and I need some sort of contrast to my EX1K, I was thinking why not revisit this? Also because I want to try an iem with a straight cable instead of an earloop as wearing one with a mask sometimes creates a a whole new hassle.

As a daily driver for outdoors use, what do you think of the isolation, occlusion effect and cable microphonics? I heard the MUC-M12SM2 provides better microphonics than the stock cable.

P.S
Nice pics

Hi! I never used my N3 outdoor, but I got pretty good isolation with the JVC Spiral Dots tips. It’s not CIEM level, for sure, but it’s more than sufficient. For example, if I am listening to the N3 while my wife watches TV, I don’t hear the TV. If the TV is off, my wife confirmed that she doesn’t hear the music leaking from the N3. You should be ok for commuting. Regarding microphonics, the MUC-cable is an improvement over the stock cable, but there could be slight microphonic anyway. Difficult to avoid. However, it has never disturbed me so far.

So i just got them, and I quite like them! They are very similar in tonality to the MH1C, but very refined in all areas with a wider soundstage. Despite the weird shape, they fit and seal well, unlike the IER-Z1R. I'm having no qualms with the stock tips or cable either, so I'm gonna keep it stock for now. They don't sound that dark to me actually, just nice to be detailed enough and not sound sibilant. I can hear the BA tonality in the upper mids and highs, but they play well with the DD and not disrupt the listening experience. Overall, a consumer-friendly sound signature that's hard to hate, yet not skimping on technicalities. A very welcomed contrast to my EX1000.