[Tr1ppy]

Cheers

And finally, before I pull the trigger, I just want to know about any sound leakage from the earphones when played at above average listening levels. I plan to use them at work and dont wish to disturb my colleagues.

Am I right in thinking that it wont be much due to the sealed BA design of the housing?

Thanks

 

[sledgeharvy]

Curious.. In today's market.. Are the XBA-40's still one of the best Quad-BA driver IEM's in terms of Price/Value, Sub-Bass, Instrument Seperation, Details..?? Or has something taken the reigns?
I am looking at getting the Siny XBA-A2's but have always been interested in trying these.. I have the XBA-3's and still enjoy them.. But am curious how much Bassier these are with that extra BA driver tuned for Sub-Bass. Anyone with some incite would be awesome and greatly appreciated. I am just curious as to whether it would be Bassier than a Dynamic driver BA hybrid.

 

[Gandasaputra]

Words of advice from an owner of XBA-40 using Sansa Clip Sport : it needs serious burn-in to get rid the shrilly treble. At first thought the earphone did not pair well with the Clip Sport. The upper mid / lower treble was downright uneven and harsh straight from the box - I mean really that harsh. It made cymbals and percussion sound like scratching a black board with a rusty nail. "Shh" notes were too prominent too. I was at the verge of returning the earphone; however, I gave it a chance through burn-in.
 
I heavily burned the XBA-40 for 5 days (with 3-4 hours of rest) of drum and bass tracks from bassdrive.com from my laptop at 60% volume when I sleep. Even when I am off to work, I burned the earphone from my Samsung S5, on charged, with Hiroyuki ODA's tracks on repeat and shuffle non-stop. I stuffed the earphone on a ball of sock to prevent the sound leaking in my office.
 
Now most of treble harshness were gone, with a little hint of sparkle enough for my treble tolerance, and the XBA-40 sound really awesome now. The bass is unbelievably good, especially coming from BAs. The super woofer does good job on it.
 
But dam, XBA-40 is really good, straight from my Sansa Clip sport, Sansa Clip Zip, and Rock-boxed Clip Zip. No amps were used. I will review this earphone in a mean time. Highly recommended for bass lovers.

 

[Niouke]

Is there anything in today's market that come close to the XBA-40's sub bass and stage detail? Or am I in to order a new pair?

 

[Gandasaputra]

  Is there anything in today's market that come close to the XBA-40's sub bass and stage detail? Or am I in to order a new pair?

 
That'd be the Xiaomi's Hybrids. Costing 1/4th of the price ( $17) it offers deeper bass and less harsh treble than the XBA-40; yet, better comfort as well. I got it from Gearbest and purchased the black and the white. I opt their stock tips because they do not seal well due to their conical shape so I used ATH's Solid bass ear tips or this stock tips, which also works, for better fit.
 
The XBA-40 also sounds more colored than the Xiaomi too and it takes some time (or brain burn-in) to get used with the XBA sound so I hardly recommend these. 
 
On top of that the XBA-40 sales seems to flop out as I saw in Akihabara @ January 2017 there were clearance selling those for 10,000 yen ( about $90-100 USD) and no one ever picked em up so I guess it is not popular or it gets out-competed by newer earphones.

 

[Niouke]

On top of that the XBA-40 sales seems to flop out as I saw in Akihabara @ January 2017 there were clearance selling those for 10,000 yen ( about $90-100 USD) and no one ever picked em up so I guess it is not popular or it gets out-competed by newer earphones.

 
I guess I'm gonna wait then, thanks!