[pokepim]

Those JVC cost about 400$ here, so its even more expensive than B&O i was considering before.
Back to my question which of those 3 i suggested would be the best considering price/quality and bass?

 

[AtariPrime]

The Sony XB90EX has a 16mm driver. Is also very high-quality earbud, and Sony has been at this game long before most of its competitors even thought of making audio equipment.

By all accounts though it does require a burnin in period. I just received a pair and I'm burning them in now. But I will say this, they already are the best earbuds I've ever heard. I look forward to hearing the sound as it gets better. And will post my review soon.

 

[ryanjsoo]

  Technically, all sound is a movement of air.  As a result, you are correct, bass does require it as well, and more of it. 
 
Audiophiles, do like bass, but they do not tend to want it to be less prominent.  They go for a 'flat' sound under the argument that it is the way the artist intended.  The problem is that this isn't the way that the songs were often intended to be listened to, so the desire for a flat sound doesn't make any sense to me.  Music on CDs, .wav files, .mp3 files, etc. is often designed to play well across a wide variety of speakers.  An artist can never really know what kind of speakers, or how many speaks you will use, nor what amplifier, receiver, etc. so they have to create a middle of the road 'flat' CD that doesn't place emphasis on any particular sound.  However, if you go to that same artist's concert you will likely get nothing like the mix you had on the CD, and the music is often extremely bass heavy.  This creates the impression that the artist never intended bass to be flat with all the other sounds.  In fact, music created since probably 1950 or so tends to have a strong emphasis on bass.
 
But the balanced armature sound that so many audiophiles go for can never achieve the level of bass that was intended in many songs by the very nature of how the music is recreated with a balanced armature.
 
However, all this above doesn't mean much because I for one have never felt it mattered what the artist intended.  I grew up with equalizers.  I love them.  They allow you to listen to music how you want, emphasising this and deemphasizing that.  Quite frankly what the artist wants is completely irrelevant.  All that matters is that a given listener likes what they hear. If you want treble heavy, bass heavy, or a flat sound it is all good, just don't let anyone tell you that a flat sound is more truthful or better, if you like it, listen to it your way.  Its much like wine, the experts will disdain moscatos and ice wines but praising chardonneys and merlots.  But they are no better, no more sophisticated, they are just different from each other.  And if it tastes good, drink it.
 
Getting back to your question, perhaps rhetorical: yes, a good seal is important, and by the nature of a dynamic driver design, if properly made, will always produce better bass than a balanced armature. Regarding a rear vent, there are several that have vents in general. The Hippo VB noted above has a screw on the end of it that adjusts the bass quantity by altering distance and air pressure, VB = Variable Bass.  Generally a larger millimeter driver will deliver more bass, but not guaranteed, the air chamber, the vents, the distance, the materials, they all factor in.
 
The Velodyne vPulse is highly recommended by many but I didn't like the bass or the earbud.  It was very uncomfortable and I couldn't get a good seal, a common problem with the vPulse and likely contributed to my feeling that it had a lack of bass.

Fair enough, really depends on your preferences and the types of music you listen to. If you are willing to get the JVC`s off head fi, many users are selling them around $200, if you want bang for buck, klipsch x10`s and gr07 are probably the best sine they rrp around $100-150 new, maybe lower if you search around.

 

[briskly]

  Technically, all sound is a movement of air.  As a result, you are correct, bass does require it as well, and more of it. 
 
Audiophiles, do like bass, but they do not tend to want it to be less prominent.  They go for a 'flat' sound under the argument that it is the way the artist intended.  The problem is that this isn't the way that the songs were often intended to be listened to, so the desire for a flat sound doesn't make any sense to me.  Music on CDs, .wav files, .mp3 files, etc. is often designed to play well across a wide variety of speakers.  An artist can never really know what kind of speakers, or how many speaks you will use, nor what amplifier, receiver, etc. so they have to create a middle of the road 'flat' CD that doesn't place emphasis on any particular sound.  However, if you go to that same artist's concert you will likely get nothing like the mix you had on the CD, and the music is often extremely bass heavy.  This creates the impression that the artist never intended bass to be flat with all the other sounds.  In fact, music created since probably 1950 or so tends to have a strong emphasis on bass.
 
But the balanced armature sound that so many audiophiles go for can never achieve the level of bass that was intended in many songs by the very nature of how the music is recreated with a balanced armature.
 
However, all this above doesn't mean much because I for one have never felt it mattered what the artist intended.  I grew up with equalizers.  I love them.  They allow you to listen to music how you want, emphasising this and deemphasizing that.  Quite frankly what the artist wants is completely irrelevant.  All that matters is that a given listener likes what they hear. If you want treble heavy, bass heavy, or a flat sound it is all good, just don't let anyone tell you that a flat sound is more truthful or better, if you like it, listen to it your way.  Its much like wine, the experts will disdain moscatos and ice wines but praising chardonneys and merlots.  But they are no better, no more sophisticated, they are just different from each other.  And if it tastes good, drink it.
 
Getting back to your question, perhaps rhetorical: yes, a good seal is important, and by the nature of a dynamic driver design, if properly made, will always produce better bass than a balanced armature. Regarding a rear vent, there are several that have vents in general. The Hippo VB noted above has a screw on the end of it that adjusts the bass quantity by altering distance and air pressure, VB = Variable Bass.  Generally a larger millimeter driver will deliver more bass, but not guaranteed, the air chamber, the vents, the distance, the materials, they all factor in.
 
The Velodyne vPulse is highly recommended by many but I didn't like the bass or the earbud.  It was very uncomfortable and I couldn't get a good seal, a common problem with the vPulse and likely contributed to my feeling that it had a lack of bass.

Dynamic drivers will do most things better than a balanced armature within the same frequency range, as a note. Balanced armatures can skew heavily towards the bass and put out plenty of subbass through the usage of multiple bass receivers and other techniques; this is critically dependent on seal quality. The nature of the sealed ear canal means that you don't need massive drivers to get good low-frequency reproduction because it is moving air in a very small space.

 

[radiohead14]

  Technically, all sound is a movement of air.  As a result, you are correct, bass does require it as well, and more of it. 
 
Audiophiles, do like bass, but they do not tend to want it to be less prominent.  They go for a 'flat' sound under the argument that it is the way the artist intended.  The problem is that this isn't the way that the songs were often intended to be listened to, so the desire for a flat sound doesn't make any sense to me.  Music on CDs, .wav files, .mp3 files, etc. is often designed to play well across a wide variety of speakers.  An artist can never really know what kind of speakers, or how many speaks you will use, nor what amplifier, receiver, etc. so they have to create a middle of the road 'flat' CD that doesn't place emphasis on any particular sound.  However, if you go to that same artist's concert you will likely get nothing like the mix you had on the CD, and the music is often extremely bass heavy.  This creates the impression that the artist never intended bass to be flat with all the other sounds.  In fact, music created since probably 1950 or so tends to have a strong emphasis on bass.
 
But the balanced armature sound that so many audiophiles go for can never achieve the level of bass that was intended in many songs by the very nature of how the music is recreated with a balanced armature.
 
However, all this above doesn't mean much because I for one have never felt it mattered what the artist intended.  I grew up with equalizers.  I love them.  They allow you to listen to music how you want, emphasising this and deemphasizing that.  Quite frankly what the artist wants is completely irrelevant.  All that matters is that a given listener likes what they hear. If you want treble heavy, bass heavy, or a flat sound it is all good, just don't let anyone tell you that a flat sound is more truthful or better, if you like it, listen to it your way.  Its much like wine, the experts will disdain moscatos and ice wines but praising chardonneys and merlots.  But they are no better, no more sophisticated, they are just different from each other.  And if it tastes good, drink it.
 
Getting back to your question, perhaps rhetorical: yes, a good seal is important, and by the nature of a dynamic driver design, if properly made, will always produce better bass than a balanced armature. Regarding a rear vent, there are several that have vents in general. The Hippo VB noted above has a screw on the end of it that adjusts the bass quantity by altering distance and air pressure, VB = Variable Bass.  Generally a larger millimeter driver will deliver more bass, but not guaranteed, the air chamber, the vents, the distance, the materials, they all factor in.
 
The Velodyne vPulse is highly recommended by many but I didn't like the bass or the earbud.  It was very uncomfortable and I couldn't get a good seal, a common problem with the vPulse and likely contributed to my feeling that it had a lack of bass.

 
good post and my thoughts exactly. as for my suggestion to the OP, my current favorite bass IEM is the Sony XB90.. has excellent sub-bass that you could really feel, good isolation, comfortable for its bigger size, and durable, as i've commuted with it everyday here in NYC for a year, and it has survived drops, being stepped on, and getting caught at subway passengers' bags, clothes, etc..