[jant71]

People missed it but some XBA-2 were going cheap on ebay. ~$40 to $50 shipped from Canada...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Sony-XBA-2-Balanced-Armature-In-Ear-Stereo-Headphones-/251152855080?pt=US_Headphones&hash=item3a79e07028
If I had known i would have grabbed one.

 

[Swimsonny]

Thats very cheap and they are definently worth that much!

 

[sinquito]

Quote:

Yeh, could give it ago but if the XBA-3 is also half price, that seems to be a lot better so I'd give that ago.
The R-50 and DBA-02 use the same driver but are using different dampeners and tuning meaning they sound different. They do sound simar but different, I prefer the DBA-02 so I keep that but no longer have r-50. My DBA-02 has a small cut in wire but still works fines, I may get it recabled. As for the ex1000 they were my best but no longer, in fact they are on loan to my mate now. It's my Heir audio 4.Ai that steals the show, truleu amazing but I now have 4 CIEMs on the way.
And keep subbing more to come, glad you like it!

Unfortunately only the XBa 2 are half off their price, I would go for the xba 3 or 4 otherwise, those Heir are on another league, they are like universal custom made. The 3.Ai isnt that expensive, maybe latter I would go for something like that, the CIEMs are on whole another level, I don't think there are many universal that can match a Custom.

 

[Swimsonny]

Quote:

Unfortunately only the XBa 2 are half off their price, I would go for the xba 3 or 4 otherwise, those Heir are on another league, they are like universal custom made. The 3.Ai isnt that expensive, maybe latter I would go for something like that, the CIEMs are on whole another level, I don't think there are many universal that can match a Custom.

Hmm well now you can get cheaper customs, check out the custom ears stuff and the cheaper models of them will very unlikely not live up to my Heir (i will have two of there models soon so will say for sure) and the fit ear to go 334 is meant to be better than a few CIEMs.
 
If your gonna go for an Ai then if you want a fun bass V shape then go with the 3.Ai, want transparency and neutrality then the 4.Ai (i have only tried the 4 so take it with a pinch of salt) but i can not recommend the 4 enough!
 
Okay, yeh the 3 seems to be better than the 4 from most reviews but yeh, well if you wanna give the two a go why not... or save up for a heir!

 

[sinquito]

Yeah, I know that there are a few  universal that are better than many CIEMs, but those are few and sparse, honestly I am always looking for the best bang for my buck, I can't say what would be my next purchase after I get the sony xba 2, I need to save to buy something better than my B2.

 

[alwaysec]

guys, i've reserved a pair of xba2 which is on sale at $58. do you think it is a VERY good price for it? have to take bus or ride motobike to pick up from a shop  tomorrow. i am a bit lazy

 

[alwaysec]

also, how does it compare to Brainwavz B2? i missed its last sale. 

 

[Swimsonny]

Quote:

guys, i've reserved a pair of xba2 which is on sale at $58. do you think it is a VERY good price for it? have to take bus or ride motobike to pick up from a shop  tomorrow. i am a bit lazy

That is a very good price, congratulations!
Quote:

also, how does it compare to Brainwavz B2? i missed its last sale. 

I prefer the B2 by a fair bit personally but they have less bass and more treble happy and analytical but they have a lot better transparency, midrange and detail retrieval!

 

[alwaysec]

thanks, swimsonny.
 
i will ride to the shop to pick it up during lunch time. 

 

[Closingracer]

I recently bought a pair of Ebay ( there really isn't a risk since you can create a ticket asking for a refund if they are fake and if they dont can do a Ebay buyer protection on the seller) for about $65 since there was no huge risk other then time consuming. Now to me from unboxing videos and pictures they do look legit but i am wondering do they require Burning in? ( Sorry this is my first foray into BA type of Earphones

 

[gilnfld]

Nice reviews! I always look at the exploded diagrams of the Sony and see the foam in the tubes and always think removing it would make the XBA-2 a better phone by lessening the bass and freeing up the mids and treble more....

....i joined up cause I wanted to thank you so much for this suggestion re; foam in tube. I had similiar suspicions about the effects this foam has on the sound but untill I saw the diagram I never entertained the possibility of removing them as I assumed they were glued to the main housing of the drivers. after lookng at the diagram more carefully I decided to take the plunge as it appears the foam is only attached to the plastic surrounding drivers. was a bit challenging to get it all out but I did it. the difference is 'enormous' folks. the mids and highs are significantly richer and the bass is tighter. to say its a noticeable improvemet would be an understatement....

gs

 

[jant71]

Glad it worked out! I've had enough Sony's to know it would The question is why did Sony do it like that and leave it. So many underwhelming impressions on the XBA-2. You could always go back further and improve on many of the Sony phones by removing or halving foam or removing screens that were too thick and muffling the sound.