[papomaster]

Hey all!
 
I have bought a pair of fischer audio dba-02 in early december, which I have used for three weeks with a sony 600 series mp3 player. After that, I have recieved a Hifiman HM-601 (with RE-0, which I have already bought) and started to put it in use this week. After reading many comments about the included EQ messing up the sound, I turned it off and started to listen to some music. Big surprise: where is the bass gone? It is incredibly detailled (using FLAC files on discs I know perfectly), the soundstage is well-defined, but the sound is quite bright with upper mids and treble being accentuated. Lower mids are very thin, and bass is very hard to hear on most tracks. 
 
When I was using my sony DAP, I was using the custom user EQ to boost the bass slightly and also used the dynamic bass enhancer which worked quite well. Now, I had this problem with most IEMs I have used (shure e4, etymotic er4p) using various DAPs, and from the comments I have read on the forum the DBA-02 seem to mate quite well with the HM-601 without using the EQ. My question is: is there something wrong? Is there owners of the DBA-02 + HM-601 that can chime in and give me their impressions about the sound they get from the combo? Maybe burn-in, different encoding or something else can be done to correct the sound.

 

[shane55]

Improvement for me came in the form of trimmed Comply P-Series tips. Trimmed flat to the core on the insertion side, rolled tight and inserted deep... bass improves, no harsh highs or stidence.
Highly recommended if you're not already doing this. The DBA's (like some others) are very tip / fit / seal dependent.
 
Good luck.

 

[Anaxilus]

You've been using your DAP's EQ and 'effects' to compensate for a poor fitting tip it seems.  If you are in the market for an amp I can tell you the Arrow will fix whatever bass issues you have and do so cleanly.

 

[papomaster]

Interesting. I also remarked that I get a lot less isolation than what I was used to with my etymotics. Which models of comply tips would work on the dba-02 tips?

 

[shane55]

Quote:

Interesting. I also remarked that I get a lot less isolation than what I was used to with my etymotics. Which models of comply tips would work on the dba-02 tips?

As I stated two posts above... I use the Comply P-series (standard). If you have short canals you might find the T-100 or Tx-100 also work well.
 

 

[papomaster]

When you say "trimmed to the bone", what do you mean exactly? And does the threaded core help the tips stay in place?

 

[shane55]

Quote:

When you say "trimmed to the bone", what do you mean exactly? And does the threaded core help the tips stay in place?

 
That's 'trimmed flat to the core', not bone. Also nothing here is threaded. The core is the black, solid plastic tube inside the foam outer 'shell'. The leading (tapered) overhang... the part that goes in your ear first, is cut off flat (not beveled or at an angle). It is trimmed down to the tip of the black plastic tube.
The tube (core) of the Comply eartip is what slips over the tube of the DBA-02. It's a tight fit, and that's good as it won't (or shouldn't) come off and stay in your ear.
 
I really don't know how else I can describe this.
 
Good luck.

 

 

[papomaster]

I just bought a set of P-series. Whenever it arrives I'll leave some comments on the sound.

 

[mvw2]

The DBA-02 is bass light.  There is no getting around this.  Even with EQing, the presence simply isn't hearty enough to really fill out the presentation.  Back when I got mine, I did post some that they seemed best geared for deep insertion.  With certain earphones, this can prevent some oddities in the sound as well as warm the tone and provide more bass presence.  The Sleek Audio SA6 earphones are a good example of this.  The SA6 seemed specifically geared for deep insertion.  If used shallow, they just sound off.  The DBA-02 is another candidate that I consider to be useful worn this way.  The housing does get in the way though, so depth can only be so much in the end.  Even then, and the unfortunate nature of many BA based earphones, the bass presence is on the lean side.  I did like the treble driver on the DBA-02, but I did feel the bass driver could have been a different choice.  It simply doesn't compete with the high end and is the shortcoming of the earphone.  For example, the DBA-02 with the same low frequency driver as the Custom 3 would be very interesting to hear, or maybe the one from the CK90Pro.  Outside of the double units found in the Triple.Fi 10 or Westone 3, there aren't many single bass units that go really low well nor are hearty, and that's sort of what the DBA-02 kind of needs.  Now this may not be a big concern for analytical use, but for broad spectrum listening, it could stand to be a little more expansive.  It's just an aggressive treble driver paired to a low frequency driver that simply can not compete.  Find one that does, and that earphone could be significantly better.

 

[Anaxilus]

It really sounds like you never got to hear the bass as close to balanced w/ the rest of the spectrum as some of us have.  Your comments strike me more like those along RE0 and ER4 lines.  Bass presence on my DBA is right on line w/ the rest of the spectrum and it pops and punches when needed, more so than the CK10 could manage.  My only complaint is the low end bass extension.  Are you looking for a more 'fun' type of bass to go w/ the more accurate spectrum of the DBA?

 

[papomaster]

I got the comply tips yesterday, and after some trial and error got the fit to be quite "ok". By "ok", I mean I get far better isolation than with the tri-flanges but still everything seems covered with a blanket. There is still very little bass. I tried trimming the end of the tips (the foam part that goes beyond the end of the inner tube), and will try them again while commuting tomorrow to find out if I can achieve the "deep fit" people seem to have got here.