[avorite]

 From press releases there is 
 
 
$89 singapore dollars for the XBA-1
 
and $499 SGD for the XBA-4
 
 
Sony Launches Balanced Armature-powered Earphones - HardwareZone.com

 

[gaspir324]

Less than 300€. Sounds like a good deal.

 

[Aevum]

the armatures look nice. and bringing their own design in insted of using knowles like everyone and their dog seems cool.
 
Im just wondering becuase sony went from zero expiriance with armatures to a quad armature earphone.
 
The scematics show little if any information about the crossovers.
 
Anyone can put 2-4 armatures togather and call themselfs a high end earphone manufacturer. but we all know that the secret is in the configuraion, imput impedance and crossover.
 
550 S$D... that puts it at around 330 euros. thats SM3 V2 and westone4 cash.
I really hope Sony can put its money where its mouth is.
 

 

[goodvibes]

X-overs may be part of the driver design. They share the full range unit. Next up adds a tweeter and then the next 2 up add woofer then sub. If these drivers are this purpose built, a cap in front of the tweeter will be all that's needed for the 2 way and you can build lowpass into woofers by intentionally winding the armitures with significant inductance. I have no idea if this is what they do but it could have something to do with their low impedance as it would then require less inductance (extra winding) to achieve something like that. Still hard to do in small package so they probably use mechanical filters.

 

[svyr]

Keep in mind for the very low impedances: 8 ohm(xba-3) and 12 ohm (3) you will get problems (bass roll-off and dips/bumps along the way to 20khz) with some portable players... e.g. http://rmaa.elektrokrishna.com/Comparisons/Comparison%20-%20Cowon%20D2%20-%2012%20-%2048%20Ohm.htm

 

[Spyro]

Absolutely nothing to base this against but I hear a very unrefined sound.  Heavy siblance top to bottom.
 
Hope I am wrong.

 

[Inks]

Due to their low impedance and high sensitiviy, you will want to use players with the lowest output impedance for a flatter frequency response. This isn't anything new though, the SE530 and TF10 also change a lot depending on the player's output impedance. The players with the lowest output impedance are:
 
S:Flo2: 0.4 ohms
Clip+/Fuze?: 0.5 ohms
Iphone 4: 0.9 ohms
Gogear Vibe: 1.5 (estimate)
Fuze+: 1.8 (estimate)
Iphone3GS/Nano 6G: 2 ohms
Cowon J3/X7: 2.1 ohms (estimate)
 
@Spyro, That Cowon above has at least 8 ohms or more of output impedance and thus will noticeably mess up the frequency response of many multi-BA iems. I will personally only go with these options, otherwise an amp like the E6 will help those other ipods via LOD.

 

[TheAndre]

Some more news http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/18/sony-releases-xba-balanced-armature-headphones-eleven-times-ove/
 
 
I think Sony failed again with it's non-detachable cables. Are there many people willing to fork out 475$ for headphones that have non-detachable cables?

 

[shotgunshane]

Westone sure has sold a lot of $400+ but then again the price has consistently come down.
 
Quote:

Some more news http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/18/sony-releases-xba-balanced-armature-headphones-eleven-times-ove/
 
 
I think Sony failed again with it's non-detachable cables. Are there many people willing to fork out 475$ for headphones that have non-detachable cables?

 

 

[davidcotton]

Westone also has a proven warranty system in place in case of failures.

 

[Sylafari]

Sony USA offers 90 day warranty for the MDR EX1000 or EX600 -.- 
Really 90 days only?!

 

[wnmnkh]

Quote:

Absolutely nothing to base this against but I hear a very unrefined sound.  Heavy siblance top to bottom.
 
Hope I am wrong.

Do you already have them?

 

[germe83]

Sony's warranty on their headphones is my main gripe with them. I can understand a 90 day warranty for a $20-30 pair of headphones, but just cant be comfortable paying $500 dollars on a top-tier iem with only a 3 month warranty. That's just stupid. 

 

[davidhunternyc]

Here's what I'm waiting for: XBA-4 vs. IE80!

 

[Gilly87]

No joke...it might determine my first over-$200 phones