[tomscy2000]

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I am always interested in new silicone ciems, they have so many advantages over acrylic and the only advantage of acrylic is customization, which I actually don't care about. I am gonna put these things on to listen to music while isolated from my environment not to look nice nor cool 

I am even thinking getting Tzar 350 and silicone custom sleeve from SE 

 Crazy music lover is crazy.

Same here. I was interested in silicone specifically for its superior isolation characteristics. However, acrylic is definitely much easier to put on and remove, and that's actually quite important for usage.

 

[sethsez]

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My review of the BA4 is up HERE, which covers many other custom IEMs as well. I'm not sure it came out quite as clear as I wanted in terms of my feelings for the BA4  - there's a word count limit,  and I likely went over my allotted amount anyway. 
 
So to clarify - the BA4 (along with the UM Merlin) didn't receive our general "Stuff We Like" recommendations. Not because I dislike the Merlin or BA4, but rather because they are somewhat more specific in their application. Neither is really a general use type of IEM where you could be safe recommending it to most people for most music. To be fair though, for people who like their respective sound signatures, the Merlin and especially the BA4 are actually better than some of the more universal recommendations. In fact for some people the BA4 might be the choice of that whole collection. And don't forget it costs roughly half compared to most others. 
 
I do really enjoy classical on the BA4. Been listening to a lot of solo piano stuff, and Yo Yo Ma, and Vivaldi, etc and the BA4 is super impressive when used with a good source/amp. My Sansa Fuze just makes it seem meh but the iHiFi960 brings it to a whole other level. 
 
I don't want anyone to walk away from that InnerFidelity article thinking the BA4 is not a worthy choice. It absolutely is, as long as the context is considered. I imagine the upcoming BA5 or BA6 would have been more competitive in terms of being similar in character to some of the others. 

 
Great article!

The BA4 looks like a great monitor, one of the best in its price range, for actual monitoring.  Which isn't of much use to audiophiles but is invaluable to musicians who might not want to pay $1000+ for accurate monitoring on stage.  Because of this, I really wouldn't mind seeing him leave it as-is, filter and all, and focus on other models for music listening.

 

[project86]

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Great article!

The BA4 looks like a great monitor, one of the best in its price range, for actual monitoring.  Which isn't of much use to audiophiles but is invaluable to musicians who might not want to pay $1000+ for accurate monitoring on stage.  Because of this, I really wouldn't mind seeing him leave it as-is, filter and all, and focus on other models for music listening.

 
Thanks!
 
The filter on the BA4 is not supposed to be a very big change. I'm thinking like a 1dB difference or so, at most. So it should keep the same spirit as the one I have, while maybe giving it just slightly more universal appeal. But yeah, the BA3 and BA5 will supposedly be far more friendly to us regular listeners. I know the BA2 is for sure very pleasing for casual listening - I love that little thing. 

 

[Deviltooth]

The Inner Fidelity reviews were excellent and Cosmic's offering came across as highly competent. Has anyone got a hold of the BA3 yet?

 

[Guldkrull]

I'm going to order one as soon as I can but there's no news on when the monitors and cables will arrive and Phil hasn't answered for over a week...

 

[davidcotton]

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Same here. I was interested in silicone specifically for its superior isolation characteristics. However, acrylic is definitely much easier to put on and remove, and that's actually quite important for usage.

I'm sure most of the regular readers on this thread will be aware of my fit issues by now.  What is strange is that I just didn't have those on the right side with the only silicone custom I tried (minerva mi3).  Fitted first time.  Of course the kicker was that a)the left side died on me and b) they couldn't get my left side correct!
 
Cheers

 

[davidcotton]

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I'm going to order one as soon as I can but there's no news on when the monitors and cables will arrive and Phil hasn't answered for over a week...

Try again this week.  Seems Phil was out on business and doesn't always get emails forwarded it seems.

Cheers

 

[Marleybob217]

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I'd say it's somewhat less boosted than either the Ety or the Heir Tzar 350. But not by a huge amount. It's roughly similar in style to those models, with the main emphasis around the 3kHz range and then another small peak higher up than that. It does come across as flat most of the time though. 

Alright thanks. I don't think these are the models for me then. I'd rather have a slightly warm presentation than a slightly glaring presentation.
Anyway, I'm extremely satisfied with the tdk BA200s atm. So I'll wait just wait till the BA200 poops out (until it breaks).

 

[hatecrew1992]

hey guys,
 
just was curious if anyone could maybe compared the HY3 with the Heir Audio 3.Ai, I am mostly listening to EDM and Metalcore with some classic to spice things up every once in a while, and those two have come to my attention so any info would be really nice
 

 

[blueangel2323]

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Thanks!
 
The filter on the BA4 is not supposed to be a very big change. I'm thinking like a 1dB difference or so, at most. So it should keep the same spirit as the one I have, while maybe giving it just slightly more universal appeal. But yeah, the BA3 and BA5 will supposedly be far more friendly to us regular listeners. I know the BA2 is for sure very pleasing for casual listening - I love that little thing. 

Great review! To be fair, a lot of people actually like the Ety sound (not me!), and none of the other models in the roundup are anywhere close to the BA4's price!
 
How does the BA2 compare to the BA4, besides having more bass?

 

[project86]

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Great review! To be fair, a lot of people actually like the Ety sound (not me!), and none of the other models in the roundup are anywhere close to the BA4's price!
 
How does the BA2 compare to the BA4, besides having more bass?

 
Thanks!
 
The BA2 is less refined, less detailed, and doesn't have as much focus on the "audiophile" aspects like layering and depth to the soundstage. What it does have is a very pleasing overall sound signature, with ample bass, clear mids, and good extension up top. It's so good in fact that although I've been using ToTL customs non-stop for the past few months, the far cheaper BA2 does not sound bad at all when I switch to it. I love how it's tuned, for a non-offensive sound, yet not overly polite or boring. 
 
You can spot the deficiencies in the BA2 compared to high-end models, but they are such that they don't really grab your attention. It's very well done. In fact, the BA2 might work better for a larger number of users as compared to the BA4 - which sounds crazy, I know. 

 

[blueangel2323]

Sounds very promising! Can't wait until they're available later this month. Does anyone have both the BA2 and the HY3 (regular bass version)? How do they compare? Is it worth the extra 50 euros to get the HY3 over the BA2?

 

[AmberOzL]

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Sounds very promising! Can't wait until they're available later this month. Does anyone have both the BA2 and the HY3 (regular bass version)? How do they compare? Is it worth the extra 50 euros to get the HY3 over the BA2?

It depends on what you are after for. You don't like Ety sound, maybe HY3 could be a good choice for you.

 

[certel]

Great work on the review project86!!
That one will certainly help a lot of people choosing the right ciem. Hat off!

And as you are one of few (or maybe the only one) who have listened to the BA4 i would like to ask you if you also have ever listened to the Apple Dual Driver IEM, not the ones that comes bundled with ipods and iphones (they suck!), i mean their $100 IEM. I've asked Phil about a comparison between the two and he says that he acctually really like the Apple dual driver and that the BA4 is pretty similar but better in ever aspect. But when i read your comments on the BA4 im starting to wonder if BA4 is really what i want..
I do really like the apple dual driver iem but think they are missing the punchy bass i want when listening to for example dub step or heavy electronic music.. I don't want alot more bass, just a tad. I'm no bass head!
If you havent heard the Apple dual driver, have you ever heard the Shure 535? Those are the only two iems that i have ever really liked. I have to admit that i haven't heard that many iems, but pretty much any other iem i've tried have sounded to muffled or just to damn bad..
For example i didn't like the Shure 215 at all, they were way to muffled for my taste. I need more detail in the upper frequencies.

So based on what i've said here, do you think i would like the BA4 or shall i rather go for the BA2 or maybe HY3 (not XB)?

 

[project86]

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Great work on the review project86!!
That one will certainly help a lot of people choosing the right ciem. Hat off!

And as you are one of few (or maybe the only one) who have listened to the BA4 i would like to ask you if you also have ever listened to the Apple Dual Driver IEM, not the ones that comes bundled with ipods and iphones (they suck!), i mean their $100 IEM. I've asked Phil about a comparison between the two and he says that he acctually really like the Apple dual driver and that the BA4 is pretty similar but better in ever aspect. But when i read your comments on the BA4 im starting to wonder if BA4 is really what i want..
I do really like the apple dual driver iem but think they are missing the punchy bass i want when listening to for example dub step or heavy electronic music.. I don't want alot more bass, just a tad. I'm no bass head!
If you havent heard the Apple dual driver, have you ever heard the Shure 535? Those are the only two iems that i have ever really liked. I have to admit that i haven't heard that many iems, but pretty much any other iem i've tried have sounded to muffled or just to damn bad..
For example i didn't like the Shure 215 at all, they were way to muffled for my taste. I need more detail in the upper frequencies.

So based on what i've said here, do you think i would like the BA4 or shall i rather go for the BA2 or maybe HY3 (not XB)?

 
I've heard the ADDIEM briefly, and think it is roughly in the same family of sound signatures compared to the BA4. So Phil is definitely on to something there. The Shure E500/SE530/SE535 is pretty different though. More bass than the BA4 and comparatively rolled off top end.