To me the sony xbr950bt were just ok, at 100.00 they were a very good deal. pros massive bass, sometime too much, mediocre mids, good treble, fantastic fit for round pads I prefer oval pads better, very comfortable more than the backbeats pro, ultra light, zero fatigue. Cons way too much bass with bass boost, I had to lower volume with this setting and I can tolerate bass, battery lasts a good about of time, sounded too closed in to me not open at all, almost mono-ish, turning on high quality sound aptx was a PIA. I don't want to sound like a fan boy, but the plantronics backbeat pro are an eye opener for a bluetooth headphone. The logitec ue 9000 sounded better to me than xb950bt, more clear, more open, better quality bass, it's an oldie but a goodie, for the same price.
Strange, I would say they severely lack highs (the Sony XB).
Although they are a bit like the House of Marley Liberate XLBT in this: both lack highs without EQ, but respond well to EQ.
Ok, none of them ever get to the crispy detailed highs of the Plantronics backbeat Pro, yes. But it is impressive how they improve with some EQ. This make me think, what had the producers in mind? Could they not boost highs already with the internal amp/dps?
You do not sound as a fanboy to me, because I have suggested the Plantronics to you
Yeah, bass quality was one of the issues I wanted to address. It was underdamped, so there was not much focus or precision at stock. Modded does have better focus, but the quantity leaves much to be desired, because... well, they simply don't have a lot of bass to begin with.
Now that I have obtained a MDR-Z7, and I have regained my ATH-ES10 for portable use, I'm starting to feel the limitations of the XB950BT creeping up to the powerhouses. It's still a very nice bluetooth headphone, but I think I'm just asking for too much from it.
It's still the best bluetooth headphone I have heard, of course. Heard the MDR-1RBT, and I wasn't hearly half as impressed. I haven't heard the Fidelio M2BT... but will try that one when I get a chance.
Bill, which other BT Headphones did you try?
Btw, the MDR-1 did not impress me either.
They sounded overall better than the MDR-XB to me, with more highs, more balanced sound.
But, not so good to justify the price over the XB.
The Soundstage was definitely better than the XB though. THe XB have almost null soundstage.
I personally take the XB not so much seriously. They are cheap enough to be bought as a funny headphones for bass moments.
I would not lose too much time trying to make of them something else with 20000 Mods but I will love to read your news about other mods. If you have that passion it must be surely be funny for you to see how can you push a Headphone into territories that for some reason the manufacturer was too lazy for.
I do not know how much they can change their nature though.
Their nature is a basshead headphone of middle budget with decent overall sound quality.
And for what they cost, I think they do well what they promise to do.
I of course still wish something like the Fidelio but with bassboost. So that I can not only have lot of bass, but also good quality bass. Which I cannot say of the XB.
Maybe after CES we'll see that happen!
