[kiteki]

 
Quote:

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.

 

 
Thanks for that info, do you know what the output impedance of the E6 is? Did you source that data from anythingbutipod?
 
 

 

[nkkuma1]

Quote:

I don't think so. People will die for that Xtreme Bass. An IE8 with 4 drivers. Better separation, etc.
 

For the King, I refer to Sony! Once the mighty King and the god who created the whole portable music world. 
 
 

 

[Inks]

Posted by Kiteki
Thanks for that info, do you know what the output impedance of the E6 is? Did you source that data from anythingbutipod?

  No, most of my data is either from Sonove (Japanese site) or Markus Kraus (German). Don't know the OI of the E6 but the E7 is 0.2 (estimate) and the E11 is a bit most likely 0.1. I predict a 0.2 or 0.3 but at worst the E6 is a 0.7 (like the E5) as Fiio has said it's under 1 ohms [EDIT: seems the E6 is 0.9]. To note, the Leckerton amps (UHA4&6) have a <0.1 OI, lowest I've seen that's been tested to date. 
 
I mentioned the E6 for those using Ipods with high OI because it's the cheapest, most practical option. 

 

[tomscy2000]

The prices that Engadget quotes are in New Taiwan Dollars, converted to USD. Although the prices aren't too far apart, the XBA-4 isn't that terrible a deal, considering that the W4 is also 14000 NT here, and the SE535 is an exorbitant 13500 NT. So, these prices are really calibrated for the Taiwan market. You'll have to see the specific prices for the US or UK market before making a definitive judgement call on the MSRP.
 
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?

 

 

[Inks]

So, 475$ for the XBA4P (iphone version)....not that bad considering the EX1000 started out at 600$. With time I can see these dropping close to or below 300$.  I think the XBA4s are going to be priced in between the MDR7550 and EX1000 with the P version getting closer to the EX1000's price. 

 

[kaixax555]

Quote:

 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

OMG the XBA-1 around price range of Meelec A151, Soundmagic PL-50, Dunu Ares in Singapore
Wonder how it stands up among these strong competitors
 
And the higher end XBA should have passive crossover right? Did they state how many for the XBA-4?

 

[kiteki]

 
$89 SGD is cheap...... release?

 

[Inks]

 

 
And the higher end XBA should have passive crossover right? Did they state how many for the XBA-4?

    It really seems that no crossovers are involved. If this is true, this is a first for a BA configuration of more than 2. 

 

[kiteki]

No crossovers?!
 
I can feel the primal rage already.
 
Give me the 4!
 
 

 

[a_recording]

This would explain the low impedance as well. That's a really curious design choice but I suppose it makes more sense when one of the drivers is meant to be full-range.

 

[Inks]

Yes and it seems those specialized drivers have been tuned to only output those frequencies needed to give the full range driver that aid. 

 

[kiteki]

 
Expect violent hatred from all those "multi-BA setups are flawed" people.
 
"I am sensitive to phase shift and incoherency" bla bla.
 
 

 

[james444]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiteki /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I'm only swimming along the shorelines of the ocean of audio.

 
Quote:

Expect violent hatred from all those "multi-BA setups are flawed" people.
 
"I am sensitive to phase shift and incoherency" bla bla.

No offense, but do you really think your scornful attitude is appropriate here? You're still quite new to this hobby, what makes you so sure that you won't be able to hear incoherency in badly tuned multi-BAs yourself one day, after you've tried out more IEMs and gathered more experience? You're a quick thinker and gifted writer and quite a few folks here admire that, including myself. You don't need to look down at people to make yourself stand out from the crowd. jm2c.

 

[kiteki]

 
Hi James, sorry about that... it's just I've seen users attack crossovers several times, and say they're more sensitive to hearing crossovers than others (phase shift / incoherence etc.)... and now all of a sudden there's an IEM that doesn't have any crossovers??  My point is how will that affect their heightened sensitivity to crossovers?
 
I'm sorry if I'm cynical about the anti crossover debate, but I don't have a good experience with the debate so far, most of the time it seems like people are just attacking multi driver setups in theory just for the sake of it, rather than actually having heard the artifacts for themselves.
 
You're right I don't have much experience with the issue I just don't like it when people call things "failures" which they haven't even heard, I can't help react to that, and I couldn't help but laugh when Inks said that Sony aren't even using any crossovers.
 
There was a recent thread with "evidence" on why multi BA setups are flawed, he showed a picture of three overlapping frequencies, implying that crossovers aren't precise enough and so on, and now one of the foremost companies of audio are releasing their first batch of IEM's which will have severely (intentional) overlapping frequencies.
 
I haven't actually seen your thoughts on this issue and didn't mean to "look down" on anyone, I just have my moments... I hope my explanation sheds some more light on where I was coming from, sorry about that.
 
 
 

 

[lazy student]

Hi all, you can check the official pricing in Japan here: http://www.sony.jp/headphone/lineup/balanced_armature.html
XBA-1 = JPY 7455
XBA-2 = JPY 18375
XBA-3 = JPY 24675
XBA-4 = JPY 30975
 
XBA-1iP = JPY 8715
XBA-2iP = JPY 19635
XBA-3iP = JPY 25935
XBA-4iP = JPY 32235
 
XBA-S65 = JPY 8715
XBA-BT75 = JPY 24675
XBA-NC85D = JPY 43050