[Jonamafun]

Apologies for the noob question. I'm currently using USB Audio Player Pro on Android as my music player. How do I go about translating and applying Rin's suggested EQ to this app's EQ interface?
 
Per the website, he suggests "a parametic equalization of -9 dB centered at 3.6 kHz with a Q-factor of 5.656".
 
As far as I can tell, I only have settings at 2K and 4K to play with?

 

[Tr1ppy]

Hi all,
Would the Fiio E18 be a good match for the Sony XBA4/40 in terms of the impedance?
 
Thanks

 

[senzen]

  Hi all,
Would the Fiio E18 be a good match for the Sony XBA4/40 in terms of the impedance?
 
Thanks

 
I haven't listened to the e18 but the xba-4 is extremely picky, it does sound great with a z1060 walkman so it probably pairs nicely with the newer f805, f885 or the A10 series.

 

[cuiter23]

  Hi all,
Would the Fiio E18 be a good match for the Sony XBA4/40 in terms of the impedance?
 
Thanks

Glad you took my suggestion for the XBA4/40 I will report back after hearing my XBA4's using my E07k as a DAC and AMP with my laptop (haven't done so in a while) rather than just an AMP with my iPhone. I did find it still quite sibilant with just the AMP paired with my iPhone though.

 

[cuiter23]

  Hi all,
Would the Fiio E18 be a good match for the Sony XBA4/40 in terms of the impedance?
 
Thanks

 
After auditioning some tracks with my E07k plugged in via USB to my computer, all I can say is that it does not get rid of the harsh treble although it does sound a lot less harsh overall than directly plugged into iPhone. I believe the E18 will be the same as it even has a higher output impedance than the E07k (0.3 vs 0.1) which in theory both should drive the highly sensitive 8ohm IEMs without a problem (which it does and reduces the hiss and noise) but its just the BA drivers on the XBA-4 is the root of the problem.
 
However. I went back to listen to some EDM tracks and I suddenly remember how much I love these with EDM even more. I was listening to "Encore" Produced by MAKJ and it was truly a great experience. The XBA-4s engage you so much into the music with its artificial and metallic highs which pair perfectly with these types of electronic tracks. If you do get them (I recommend the XBA-40s > XBA-4s) I highly urge you to listen to a well recorded "Encore" and listen for that first drum around 1:15 into the song.
 
MAKJ explained in one of his master class videos that for the first drum of the drop (At 1:15), he uses a hardstyle drum which grabs your attention right away. When I was listening for this passage with the XBA-4s I truly fell in love with the amount of bass it presents without masking the rest of energy present in the higher frequencies of the track. Hope this helped and good luck!   

 

[Tr1ppy]

   
After auditioning some tracks with my E07k plugged in via USB to my computer, all I can say is that it does not get rid of the harsh treble although it does sound a lot less harsh overall than directly plugged into iPhone. I believe the E18 will be the same as it even has a higher output impedance than the E07k (0.3 vs 0.1) which in theory both should drive the highly sensitive 8ohm IEMs without a problem (which it does and reduces the hiss and noise) but its just the BA drivers on the XBA-4 is the root of the problem.
 
However. I went back to listen to some EDM tracks and I suddenly remember how much I love these with EDM even more. I was listening to "Encore" Produced by MAKJ and it was truly a great experience. The XBA-4s engage you so much into the music with its artificial and metallic highs which pair perfectly with these types of electronic tracks. If you do get them (I recommend the XBA-40s > XBA-4s) I highly urge you to listen to a well recorded "Encore" and listen for that first drum around 1:15 into the song.
 
MAKJ explained in one of his master class videos that for the first drum of the drop (At 1:15), he uses a hardstyle drum which grabs your attention right away. When I was listening for this passage with the XBA-4s I truly fell in love with the amount of bass it presents without masking the rest of energy present in the higher frequencies of the track. Hope this helped and good luck!

 
Thanks for the feedback mate! Yeah I am leaning towards the XBA 40 as I do prefer an iem with a darker signature with massive sub-bass presence, a lot more so than mid-bass. I prefer warm/dark/smooth as I am very sensitive to treble hence what my brain will end up "hearing" is a more balanced sound. And I prefer sub-bass to mid-bass due to my interest in underground EDM music such as DnB and Deep House (starting to become a very popular genre in the UK )
 
And just like the OP of this thread http://www.head-fi.org/t/653564/review-xba-3-vs-xba-30-vs-xba-40 I need to have an IEM with minimal leakage as I dont want to disturb my work colleagues in the office. So the sealed BA unit of the 40 will hopefully acheive that.
 
You are correct in that the E18 has a zout of around 0.3ohms so I hope this will be okay to drive the 40s and allow the super woofer to come into play often. I guess if the treble becomes sibilant I can use EQ to dial it down a little, perhaps you can also try that on your XBA-4's?
 
Do find that the XBA-4 can distort easily with a track that has lots of bass?
That was my one major gripe about my pair of Klipsch X10's; I really loved their sound sig, it was warm with a fair amount of detail yet with good sub bass presence and quality. But every time I turned up the volume a little or enabled the bass boost on my E18, the single BA driver ended up distorting.

 

[Fidelity King]

Anybody here willing to lend me their mdr 7550, I'd like to compare them to some other earphones. 

 

[memo.alive]

UPDATE: Sony MDR 7550 and XBA-40

In the time since I wrote this original comparison, I've since gotten the Sony 7550 and the XBA-40. I actually prefer both IEMS over their corresponding partners. I've updated this post with some brief notes about the differences between the models.

MDR 7550 vs EX1000



EX1000 on the left, the 7550 on the right.

The 7550 (also known as the EX800ST) is the professional monitor version of the EX600/EX1000 line, priced between the two. Like the EX1000 the 7550 is made in Japan and each left/right earpiece is individually matched.

DESIGN / COMFORT

The 7550 has a more 'industrial' look, and there are a number of key differences in the build. Firstly, the 7550 body is made of plastic vs. the EX1000's magnesium alloy shell. The cable is longer, at around 1.6m. The earguides are also longer, while the earpieces themselves fit the same way but I get the sense that they are slightly heavier. Thanks to the longer cable I find the 7550 much more convenient for home use connected to a desktop amplifier. The cable is a little less supple than the EX1000's cable. Overall fit and finish is great, though the EX1000's 'premium' materials really stand out.

There is an acoustic filter in the nozzle of the 7550. It's worth noting that impedance drops from 40ohms on the EX1000 to 16ohms on the 7550. This means that the 7550 gets loud very quickly; something to note if your source has channel imbalance issues at lower points on the volume pot.

SOUND

Essentially the 7550 sounds like a EX1000 with a 3dB reduction applied on the high frequencies. This may not sound like much, but 3dB makes a significant difference in reducing the sometimes sibilant / shrill peak that the EX1000 has. This in turn means that higher volumes are more tolerable on the 7550, and the entire IEM sounds warmer as a result. The trade-off is that the 7550 loses a bit of the sense of air or spaciousness that the EX1000 has. However, the wide soundstage of the EX1000 is still a feature of the 7550 - this seems to be a result of the ear-hanger design. I think the tuning of the 7550 is much easier to live with for a variety of music. However, people after an analytical sound will probably prefer the EX1000.

The 7550 is warmer than the EX1000 but is still on the lean / dry side of things. The 7550 still has a bit of the nasal grain / edge to the sound that the EX1000 has.

CONCLUSION

At a lower price and equivalent (though tonally different) performance to the EX1000, I think the 7550 is a fantastic IEM which I find easier to recommend than the EX1000. However, neither IEM is suitable for portable use - though the less aggressive highs of the 7550 probably make it safer for the ears at higher volumes.

XBA-4 vs. XBA-40



The XBA-40 is the updated version of the XBA-4, so far only available in Japan (I think?). For a while, it was unclear if the XBA-40 was actually any different from the XBA-4. Big props to Carlsan, who took the plunge and confirmed that the XBA-40 did have sonic differences!

Here's a video I made about the XBA-40, if you like that kind of thing. The same information is summarised in a different way below, but this is a good chance to have a look at what the XBA-4 / 40 actually looks like in person.



If you like the video check out my channel!

DESIGN

The biggest difference in design with the XBA-40 is probably that the packaging is much nicer and better thought out. (lol.) The XBA-40 and XBA-4 are essentially identical - the one difference being that the XBA-40 supposedly uses a higher quality cable and also has a plastic sheath with serrations / grooves along the surface that supposedly help to reduce tangling.

SOUND

Like the 7550 compared to the EX1000, the changes in the XBA-40's sound are subtle but actually quite significant in the perceived quality of the IEM. The XBA-40 has noticeably corrected the metallic shimmer of the XBA-4. The treble is now smooth and delicate rather than brittle and a little shrill. Bass also seems a little deeper and tighter. The overall result is that the XBA-40 sounds more natural, with better timbre - however without the edge in the treble the XBA-40 actually sounds a little darker than the XBA-4! If you liked the XBA-4 but was put off by the metallic treble tone, the XBA-40 will make you happy. All the other qualities of the XBA-4 - the stellar imaging and fun, engaging sound - are all present in the XBA-40.

If you did not like the XBA-4 because of its dark, even congested tone however, you will find no improvement with the XBA-40. I'd be curious to see if there were any differences between the XBA-3 and 30.

CONCLUSION

The XBA-40 is a welcome improvement over the XBA-4 and for the current low low price on Amazon Japan I give it a hearty recommendation for any fans of electronic / EDM / otherwise synthetic music. Is it worth upgrading over the XBA-4? If you really love the XBA-4 (like I did) and are curious about the changes that Sony made, and if you can find a buyer on the F/S forum for your XBA-4, then yes I suppose so.

With the changes made with the XBA-40's sound I think that it's definitely worthy of consideration for top-tier status alongside the Earsonics SM3.

Thanks for reading!

1. If you liked my videos, check out my channel
2. My XBA-4 / XBA-40 / EX1000 / 7550 comparison
3. Read my comparison of the Momentum, MDR-1R, Z1000, TMA-1S, M50 and UE6000
4. Talk to me about gear on twitter @lachlikesathing

After practically spamming you over twitter, I decided it would be best to keep things focused. I've been researching for a lot of sony top of the line or audiophile in-ears. Now from what I've found there are 3 models on my radar, of course there's the 2 pairs of XBA-4 I own (From the first moment I listened to something even mp3 with those I fell in love, that much that I bought 2), I've owned the pair for over 3 years if not more, the XBA-Z5 and the MDR-EX1000.

Now, this past months, especially over the weekend a revelation occured for me, I finally tested the true power of my SRS-X9 / X99 speaker with 24bit FLAC. I know, I should be ashamed of using that beauty with lossy content.

Now, precisely yesterday (or more specifically today the early hours) I heard this track in 24 bit using my iphone with my XBA-4s ('Drew' by Goldfrapp) and to me the sonic dimentionality was quite something (please take note that this was the first time for me listening to such a cinematic and atmospheric track in such a lossless quality source).

Now, after that, the audiophile bug in me started itching so, today in my spare time at the office I started researching new in-ears from Sony that could become the successor for my XBA-4s. Little did I know that I'm in no position to call my self even an "audiophile aspirant" since I've read your review and other people's comments telling it how it is about the XBA-4s.

Now I come to you since from what I read you've had experience with the 3 (let's just now stop talking about my current headphones, since it's just pointless for this purpose), here's my question, and also too all you guys here reading me.

What would you recommend for me to purchase as the successor for my XBA-4s? The MDR-EX1000 (I've managed to locate a couple units online, although not confirmed yet) or the XBA-Z5?

I would use this new pair as my audiophile listening device, although I'd be using them with my iphone SE (I know, not so much audiophile with that) for listening from lossy to FLAC 24bit.

I'd really appreciate the help on this one.

Regards!

 

[mochill]

You must get the vsonic gr07x

 

[memo.alive]

You must get the vsonic gr07x

Thank you for the suggestion I'll research those as well!

 

[memo.alive]

Also I didn't mention it but, I hear from pop to very alternative, hip-hop, left field or even cinematic tracks, I've read the Sony ones depending on the music tastes are appropriate, so, sorry I forgot to mention that in my first reply.