[ljokerl]

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Dear |joker| and everyone reading this thread, I am looking for a new recommendation after my Rock It Sounds R-50 showed up defective (left earpiece sound dropping off depending on positioning of cable near earpiece housing). Rock It Sounds offered to refund my purchase amount, so I am now looking for an alternative.
 
I loved the clarity, detail, resolution and separation of the R-50, along with the airy presentation, but I felt it lacked a bit in terms of low-end body and weight. I compared them to my brother's BA200, and the BA200 brought back the more realistic body and weight I was missing, but lost the airy top-end and sounded less detailed and a bit too smoothed-over to me.
 
 In short, I am looking for an IEM that can give me the R-50's fantastic airy presentation and detail, but with a bit of the body, weight and low-end fullness of the BA200. I am open to both armature and dynamic drivers, but I feel armatures might give me more of the detail and resolution I love about the R-50.
 
Please help, |joker| and other knowledgeable members!

 
Unfortunately I haven't heard the BA-200 yet. Not sure of your budget but the PFE 232 would be an option for a clear-sounding BA-based earphone with plenty of bass punch. 
 
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Hello, I have $100 dollars ready to be dropped on some IEMs, I was going to get the Shure SE215s but they where sold out at my local distributor. After looking for a bit, these are my choices:
 
wait a little bit and get the SE215, for $100
 
get the Sony XBA1 directly from the sony store, for around $80
 
or save up a little and go for the XBA2, which are $150 at the sony store
 
based on value and sound alone, which are more worth it? The Shure dealer also have the SE315s for retail ($200) But I'm not too thrilled about paying that much for a single driver BA, though I do prefer the overall look of the Shure's more
 
Thanks,
 
Diego

 
I've only heard the XBA-1 briefly and the XBA-2 not at all. It will really depend on what you want from your IEMs - the SE215 follows an enhanced-bass signature with a warm tonal character. The XBA-1 is more balanced and neutral - its sonic competitors would be things like the UE 600 and Etymotic MC5. 

 

[Leveler]

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I've only heard the XBA-1 briefly and the XBA-2 not at all. It will really depend on what you want from your IEMs - the SE215 follows an enhanced-bass signature with a warm tonal character. The XBA-1 is more balanced and neutral - its sonic competitors would be things like the UE 600 and Etymotic MC5. 

But then, quality wise, they are similar?

 

[ljokerl]

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But then, quality wise, they are similar?

I've only heard the XBA-1 briefly. I had just the GR07 and Fischer SBA-03 with me and I didn't think it was as good as either of those, but it's also cheaper now. For me it comes down to the type of sound you want - it won't matter if the XBA-1 is technically better than the SE215 if you prefer enhanced bass, for example. 

 

[Leveler]

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I've only heard the XBA-1 briefly. I had just the GR07 and Fischer SBA-03 with me and I didn't think it was as good as either of those, but it's also cheaper now. For me it comes down to the type of sound you want - it won't matter if the XBA-1 is technically better than the SE215 if you prefer enhanced bass, for example. 

Thanks a lot for the advice, I'll wait some time and if the store doesn't call me to say the have some 215s in stock I'll pick up the XBA-1... I know I'll be happy with either but I like the 215s better aesthetically
 
Again, Thanks!
 
Diego

 

[Phosphenetre]

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Unfortunately I haven't heard the BA-200 yet. Not sure of your budget but the PFE 232 would be an option for a clear-sounding BA-based earphone with plenty of bass punch. 
 
 
I've only heard the XBA-1 briefly and the XBA-2 not at all. It will really depend on what you want from your IEMs - the SE215 follows an enhanced-bass signature with a warm tonal character. The XBA-1 is more balanced and neutral - its sonic competitors would be things like the UE 600 and Etymotic MC5. 

 
My budget is about USD 200 or less. The PFE232 is unfortunately too expensive for me.
 
After reading through your epic thread again from scratch (I cannot thank you enough for the amount of work and detail you put into this), I am closely looking at the Fischer Audio DBA-02 MkII and the VSonic GR01 as possible candidates. Of these two earphones, which do you think comes closer to a neutral, accurate signature with a bit more body than the R-50? I like the idea of the DBA-02 MkII, will it offer a bit more low-end body and presence without straying too far from neutral? The GR01 sounds like it falls more towards a warm sound than neutral.

 

[scootsit]

Just throwing this out there. Rumor has it, the GR01 will be ~$130 after 10 Feb.

 

[IIMaxII]

Why isn't this sticked?

 

[ljokerl]

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My budget is about USD 200 or less. The PFE232 is unfortunately too expensive for me.
 
After reading through your epic thread again from scratch (I cannot thank you enough for the amount of work and detail you put into this), I am closely looking at the Fischer Audio DBA-02 MkII and the VSonic GR01 as possible candidates. Of these two earphones, which do you think comes closer to a neutral, accurate signature with a bit more body than the R-50? I like the idea of the DBA-02 MkII, will it offer a bit more low-end body and presence without straying too far from neutral? The GR01 sounds like it falls more towards a warm sound than neutral.

 
Both the DBA-02 MkII and GR01 would work for you - it just seemed like you were looking for a more drastic change from the R-50. The GR01 and DBA-02 use the same driver and the sound signature differences you're looking at with them are at most a few dB here and a few dB there. The GR01 is slightly less neutral than the mkII but honestly I'd go for that just because it's more dissimilar to the R-50. Also, if the price drop does occur in a few days, it'll be quite a bit cheaper. 
 
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Just throwing this out there. Rumor has it, the GR01 will be ~$130 after 10 Feb.

 
Good stuff.
 
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Why isn't this sticked?

That's up to the admin team. 

 

[NewForce]

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Thanks a lot for the advice, I'll wait some time and if the store doesn't call me to say the have some 215s in stock I'll pick up the XBA-1... I know I'll be happy with either but I like the 215s better aesthetically
 
Again, Thanks!
 
Diego

Leveler, I've tested XBA-1 last year. To me,
 
1. Bass response not articulate (muddy?)
2. Mid & treble clarity was not good and soundstage are not good either.
 
Lastly, it's not even 1/3 of what TDK BA200 capable of.

 

[iBringDaLULZ]

Quick question: Has anyone converted all of Joker's IEM statistics from the spreadsheet into a relational database yet? I feel like using this to brush up on my database-building skills but I don't wanna waste my time on it if it's already been done D:

 

[johnnycr]

Thanks for all these reviews Joker.  I have a question for you (or anyone else).  I'm looking to get a pair of IEMs under $20 and I'm overwhelmed by the options.  I'm really interested in the Meelectronics M9s for accessories, build, sound quality, etc.  However, I see that you gave the JVC FX40s a much better score on sound.  Both got 9/10 for value.  Are the JVCs a better buy on the basis of sound alone?  I guess what I really want to know is whether the difference in SQ is enough to overlook the limited accessories, quality, etc. of the FX40s? 

 

[thesuperguy]

I've been monitoring your reviews and advice on this thread for quite a while and I must ask, how have you become so adept at distinguishing the quality of sound, any minor fluctuations and being able to give a rating on sound essentially out of 100? I seem to have quite some trouble at noticing these small changes in sound quality and because of that, I am apprehensive in investing in a higher end pair of earphones even though I really want to do so. I currently own the VSonic GR99s and possibly plan on upgrading to either the Rock-it Sounds R50 or perhaps the Etymotic HF5. I'm just scared that this upgrade won't sound like much to my seemingly untrained ears.
 
How do you do it and do you have any advice for others?

 

[ljokerl]

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Quick question: Has anyone converted all of Joker's IEM statistics from the spreadsheet into a relational database yet? I feel like using this to brush up on my database-building skills but I don't wanna waste my time on it if it's already been done D:

 
Not that I know.
 
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Thanks for all these reviews Joker.  I have a question for you (or anyone else).  I'm looking to get a pair of IEMs under $20 and I'm overwhelmed by the options.  I'm really interested in the Meelectronics M9s for accessories, build, sound quality, etc.  However, I see that you gave the JVC FX40s a much better score on sound.  Both got 9/10 for value.  Are the JVCs a better buy on the basis of sound alone?  I guess what I really want to know is whether the difference in SQ is enough to overlook the limited accessories, quality, etc. of the FX40s? 

 
That's why they both have the same value score- the FX40 wins on sound (technically, though I don't personally like its signature) while the M9 is better in other ways. Accessories may not be a big deal but I do prefer the fit of the M9 over the FX40, too. If you're going to give up the accessories you might as well just get a Philips SHE3850 or 3590 instead. Sound is up there with the FX40 and it's small and comfortable. The only area where it loses to the FX40 IMO is cable noise, which is still not that bad if you wear it over-the-ear. 
 
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I've been monitoring your reviews and advice on this thread for quite a while and I must ask, how have you become so adept at distinguishing the quality of sound, any minor fluctuations and being able to give a rating on sound essentially out of 100? I seem to have quite some trouble at noticing these small changes in sound quality and because of that, I am apprehensive in investing in a higher end pair of earphones even though I really want to do so. I currently own the VSonic GR99s and possibly plan on upgrading to either the Rock-it Sounds R50 or perhaps the Etymotic HF5. I'm just scared that this upgrade won't sound like much to my seemingly untrained ears.
 
How do you do it and do you have any advice for others?

It's just experience, plus the ability to A:B a lot of different products and read what has already been written about them quite extensively (the first 10 or 15 sets I bought were all past head-fi favorites). All of my scoring is hierarchical, done via a series of direct A:B comparisons. The scale was also a 20-point scale originally, then 40 points, and now 100 points. I think anyone can learn to distinguish finer differences given time and a few different sets of headphones. The GR99 and an R-50/HF5 would be a good start as they're quite different. You will want to use the higher-end set exclusively for a while and then more back to the GR99 - that way you'll notice the changes more easily.

 

[thesuperguy]

Thanks, and I would also like to ask if my Fiio E6 amp connected to my ipod would make a worthy improvement in sound for either the R50 or the HF5 for the inconvenience of having that extra bit of stuff to carry around and the slightly annoying square bulge coming out of my pocket

 

[scootsit]

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Thanks, and I would also like to ask if my Fiio E6 amp connected to my ipod would make a worthy improvement in sound for either the R50 or the HF5 for the inconvenience of having that extra bit of stuff to carry around and the slightly annoying square bulge coming out of my pocket

Only you can make that decision. Do you already have the E6? Are you using the LOD cable? I would guess that it would make a bit of a difference, given the lower output impedance. I would consider the E5 over the E6, if you haven't bought one yet.