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11 New Sony BA IEMs
Nov 14, 2011 at 7:44 PM Post #301 of 845
Its not the first time i take that risk. As soon as my december paycheck comes in, and if you´re willing to do that favor. i´d be glad to paypal or wire you the cost + shipping of the XBA-4SL. gaspir 324 posted before.
 
 
 
Nov 15, 2011 at 5:41 AM Post #302 of 845


Quote:
aevum said:
Any japanese head-fi members willing to pick them up for the rest of us.
 
Btw : werent there any services that will buy stuff in japan and mail it out ? or companies like audiocubes which will ship it from japan ?
 
19,000 yen ? thats 180 euros. add shipping and customs and its still cheaper then the SM3v2, W4 or SE535..
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Tenso is a forwarding service in Japan that works great. 
 
Nov 15, 2011 at 3:16 PM Post #305 of 845
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I was very happy to be able to buy things (specifically earphones) at the much lower Japanese prices. 
 
Nov 16, 2011 at 9:51 AM Post #307 of 845
I could swing by the Sony permanent showroom in Ginza tonight and sample the XBA prototypes for an hour or so. I am glad I did as I came out with more firm impressions than at the Fujiya festival last months...
 
Sampled music:
 
  1. Tuna Fish Emiliana Torrini Love In The Time Of Science
  2. Caramel Suzanne Vega Suzanne Vega Close-Up, Vol 1, Love Songs
  3. El Pajaro Lhasa De Sela La Llorona
  4. Anyone and Everyone Lhasa Lhasa
  5. Zoom Giovanni Mirabassi Trio Out Of Track
  6. Too Old To Die Young Bushman's Revenge Jitterbug
  7. Puppet Yael Naïm She Was A Boy
  8. In The Flesh? (2011 - Remaster) Pink Floyd The Wall (2011 - Remaster)
  9. Money (2011 - Remaster) Pink Floyd The Dark Side Of The Moon (2011 - Remaster)
  10. Farewell My Love (Featuring Archie Shepp) Charles PAsi Uncaged
  11. Moonglow Salvagnini Quartet Giant Moon
  12. Paper Tiger Beck Sea Change (HD tracks 24/96 > 44.1)
  13. Gérard Les Têtes Raides L'An Demain
  14. 11-Heartbeat HeadFi and HDtracks Open Your Ears
 
Listening gear: iPhone (lossless) > Moon Audio Blue Dragon LOD > RSA Tomahawk (High gain, typically listening at 8-9AM with these). Note that I also tried direct from the iPhone and got pretty similar results (volume halfway) except for bit more loose bass.
 
Listening impressions in chronological order:
 
XBA3: 
  1. Well extended in the highs (similar to XBA4) with good sparkle but neither shrill (Money from Pink Floyd 2011 remasters sounds just right) or artificial sounding.
  2. On the other hand, bass was too emphasized, even boomy sounding through the Tomahawk (bit less forward driven straight through the iPhone but still too much for me) so I quickly moved up the ladder to XBA4
 
XBA4:
  1. Very pleasant sounding with a rather "loudness" type equalization curve which makes it preferable for moderate to low level listening.
  2. I quickly realized that unfortunately, the demo unit had the woofer busted so I had to switch to the version with built in mic.
  3. It was extended at both ends (could hear all Hearbeat samples clearly from the HDTracks/Open yours ears sampler).
  4. Soundstage was nowhere near convincing with more left to right panning than anything which may be due to a combination of source / iem / universal fit / phase shift across the drivers.
  5. Tonal balance was very good (but clearly deviating from neutral). Drivers are very well blended together and I could not pick up any resonances or harshness.
  6. Detail / low level resolution was excellent baring in mind that isolation isn't perfect and source is pretty limited so it's not home rig type of detail retrieval but nevertheless totally satisfying.
  7. Prat is excellent, I was tapping the foot the whole time.
  8. Overall, my impressions is that it kills se315 (unfair comparisons since the Shure is a single driver unit but price wise they're not that far in Japan) and I might actually prefer it to my Sensaphonics 2xs (which unfortunately or not died on me again a week ago or so).
  9. Issues: bulky, sticks out , poor isolation (maybe because I have small ear canal and couldn't seat them in fully). Cable is flimsy so I am not sure about sturdiness.
 
XBA2:
  1. These reminded me much more of the SE315 (and price wise they're similar) with more emphasis on the midrange and the treble very rolled off compared to XBA3 and XBA4.
  2. However, its bass extends lower and/or is more forward than that of the SR315. For instance, I can't really feel the last heartbeat sample on se315 but it may be a touch firmer than the Sony.
  3. The SE315 feels like midrange only and dynamically compressed so the XBA2 (same price in Japan I believe) is a no brainer.
  4. Overall, I liked the XBA2 better than XBA3 as I thought its bass was more natural sounding to me (not as forward and not boomy). I wish Sony did not shelve down the highs as much but fortunately I can turn to the XBA4 for this.
  5. Very compact (but still sticks out a little bit compared to an angled driver like Shure's SE series), it fits perfectly in my (small) ears and I could get reasonable isolation.
 
 
Conclusion:
  1. It is a bit difficult to decide between the XBA2 (not as extended low / highs but very compact and most comfortable for my small ears) and XBA4 (much better listening experience but at the expense of bulkiness and somewhat poorer fit to my ears).
  2. I believe I will go with the XBA4 though as the price is still reasonable in light of the sound it delivers (does not replace my home rig but I could probably live happily with just that!).
 
 
Nov 16, 2011 at 2:15 PM Post #308 of 845
@arnaud: thank you kindly for the impressions, my friend. I'm now all the more eager to pay the XBA4 a visit. 
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Nov 20, 2011 at 11:59 AM Post #312 of 845
Thank you for the heads up. I'm still trying to figure out the whole Tenso process. I registered for an address and all, but I've no idea what to put in for certain fields when checking out on Amazon.jp. 
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Nov 20, 2011 at 1:18 PM Post #314 of 845
Unfortunately, the site to which you linked in the following statement no longer works, my friend:
 
Thankfully I found this which can be quite useful and gave me an easy of mind when it came to inputting the right address.
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