IEM with extended bass, low distortion, neutral signature (XBA-A3?)

[uwneaves]

First off, thanks for taking the time to read this post. Its a bit long and ramble, which I apologize for in advance .
 
I am looking for a higher end IEM that has extended (but not exaggerated or bloated) bass response and low distortion even at high volume levels. Additionally, the overall tonal balance should be reasonably neutral, without any sharp dips/peaks. In terms of my preferences for what I had listened to before, I have an Audeze LCD-2 and find them to be amazing, and a VISO HP50 and find them excellent too. Prior to these two headphones, I had a Sennheiser HD580 and found them very good, except for the bass (extension and quality/distortion at louder volumes). I would likely be buying the IEM's second hand, with a budget of around 700 USD. I plan on using them while travelling (including by plane) and working out, so comfort when using over extended periods of time, noise isolation, and portability are also considerations.
 
I was considering the Shure SE846; however, according to http://clarityfidelity.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/shure-se846-blu-iem.html, they have higher levels of odd-order harmonics due to being a balanced armature design. I also considered dynamic driver designs, but seems most have some issues with treble levels being too low, or have excessive bulky cables (cardas EM5813). This brought me to hybrid designs, such as the Sony XBA-A3. My only reservation with these is that utilizing two BA's for mid-treble could lead to higher odd-order harmonics in these regions. I read in another post on this site that Sony's proprietary BA design minimizes the odd-order harmonics issue, but cannot find another other information or measurements to support this.
 
Anyways, any/all suggestions are welcome. I very much appreciate any input you may have

 

[kimvictor]

So let me break it for ya. A3s are V shaped and definitely not neutral sounding. I owned a Z5, which sounds almost identical to the A3. I also owned a SE846, and they're also far from neutral. From your taste in headphones, it seems like you like a slightly warmer sound than flat. 
 
Why not consider CIEMs? If you buy them used, you could probably get a decent high end CIEM. 
 
Here's an actual measurement of the A3.
https://www.seeko.co.kr/zboard4/zboard.php?id=cool_review&page=3&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=off&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=448
 
The THD does exceed 1% in the bass range, but it's still not bad purely in terms of audible distortion. But they have a V shaped tuning. 

 

[Strauss95]

Highly recommend the Sony MDR 7550. Some reviewers have claimed it's treble is rolled off, but I find it very flat across the spectrum. Has excellent sub bass extension, and fantastic smooth mids along with solid treble. They are not super expensive, so it's worth a try IMO. They are my favorite IEM at the moment. 

 

[kimvictor]

  Highly recommend the Sony MDR 7550. Some reviewers have claimed it's treble is rolled off, but I find it very flat across the spectrum. Has excellent sub bass extension, and fantastic smooth mids along with solid treble. They are not super expensive, so it's worth a try IMO. They are my favorite IEM at the moment. 

Lol. I think I was the reviewer who claimed that the 7550 had rolled off treble. And it absolutely is. Few different measurements show this. Whether you hear the roll off(or mind it) really depends on what you like, but other than that, the 7550s are pretty good. They're relatively flat and does have exceptionally low distortion. They're also built like a tank. Although if isolation matters, forget it.
 
Measurement: http://rinchoi.blogspot.kr/2012/11/sony-mdr-7550.html
My review: http://www.head-fi.org/t/679045/review-sony-mdr-7550

 

[uwneaves]

Thanks for the suggestions . Having the measurements for the A3 is great. Seems they still do suffer from higher third order distortion, which I don't think I'll like. I noticed the frequency response are diffuse far field. What's the difference between that and the corrections innerfidelity apply? Their Z5 measurements show a warm tilt, but not as extreme as in the A3 measurement.

This is probably a stupid question, but I am thought CIEMs had to be custom molded to get proper fit?

I had looked at the MDR 7550, but had decided against due to the isolation and treble. It was in the running though.

In the meantime, I found the Dunu D 2000. Seems to have a slight warm tilt (or even V shaped), with extended bass and treble, low distortion, and good isolation (according to innerfidelity). Any comments on those?

 

[kimvictor]

Thanks for the suggestions

. Having the measurements for the A3 is great. Seems they still do suffer from higher third order distortion, which I don't think I'll like. I noticed the frequency response are diffuse far field. What's the difference between that and the corrections innerfidelity apply? Their Z5 measurements show a warm tilt, but not as extreme as in the A3 measurement.

This is probably a stupid question, but I am thought CIEMs had to be custom molded to get proper fit?

I had looked at the MDR 7550, but had decided against due to the isolation and treble. It was in the running though.

In the meantime, I found the Dunu D 2000. Seems to have a slight warm tilt (or even V shaped), with extended bass and treble, low distortion, and good isolation (according to innerfidelity). Any comments on those?

Well, few websites began using their own "target" compensation, showing how much an IEM deviates from the target. I'm not so sure which target innerfidelity applies. Many reviewers can confirm that the A3 sounds very much like the Z5. 
 
You do need to custom mold your CIEMs. So you can buy a second hand one and get it remolded by a CIEM maker. This could get expensive, but resale values of CIEMs are low, so you might be able to find a good deal on one.
 
The D2ks are U shaped. Here is a review of it(a very good one too).