[jimspecb]

long time member that rarely post and had learned to avoid headfi from time to time to avoid over-spending...  just want to say that it seems like the special Amazon's price is back.  Although not quite as low as before... it's pretty close.

 

[Hrim]

I bought the H3 for 180EUR. Edit: bought from Amazon.fr
 
Maybe I've been spoiled by headphones, but I don't get where they are so great. I have no bass (and no, I'm not using beats usually) and even at that price, I am wondering if I should keep them.
 
Is it something I'm missing? I tried every tips but it doesn't really change anything. I am using my macbook pro retina jack and will try later directly from my pc Asus Xonar.
 
I tried some .mkv, it wasn't great. I tried some mp3, it wasn't great. I tried some flac, it wasn't great. 
 
The thing is, I expected full immersion and large sound. It just feels okay-ish.

 

[Hisoundfi]

I bought the H3 for 180EUR.

Maybe I've been spoiled by headphones, but I don't get where they are so great. I have no bass (and no, I'm not using beats usually) and even at that price, I am wondering if I should keep them.

Is it something I'm missing? I tried every tips but it doesn't really change anything. I am using my macbook pro retina jack and will try later directly from my pc Asus Xonar.

I tried some .mkv, it wasn't great. I tried some mp3, it wasn't great. I tried some flac, it wasn't great. 

The thing is, I expected full immersion and large sound. It just feels okay-ish.

what you are describing is the opposite of what everyone else is hearing. It's a seal issue, or you were scammed, or you have a defective pair.

 

[james444]

  I have no bass (and no, I'm not using beats usually)

 
http://www.sensaphonics.com/test

 

[Hrim]

what you are describing is the opposite of what everyone else is hearing. It's a seal issue, or you were scammed, or you have a defective pair.

 
 

   
http://www.sensaphonics.com/test

Oh thank you so much! I managed to re-try each tips with the test you linked and I think it was indeed a seal issue.
 
I used a song for the "calibration" which may not have been a bright idea.
 
Since these are my first in-ear plugs, I have quite a hard time to make them fit properly. 

 

[Hisoundfi]

Oh thank you so much! I managed to re-try each tips with the test you linked and I think it was indeed a seal issue.

I used a song for the "calibration" which may not have been a bright idea.

Since these are my first in-ear plugs, I have quite a hard time to make them fit properly. 

Seal is everything with iems. If you don't have a good seal, it will be a bassless hunk of hissy junk.

Even the width of the bore on each tip will change the way your iem will sound.

Try to get the absolute best seal you can without making your ears too uncomfortable, and enjoy them.

Looking forward to your impressions

 

[senzen]

Ok people, I've read this thread with interest but here's my particular question: I really enjoy my XBA-4 on a Z1060 Sony Walkman (to its detractors: the walkman is probably what makes it shine, and I got it much cheaper than MSRP), and even an old A844; I also have a Sony ex300 and Sennheiser cx300 for when I feel like having booming bass. I've read your impressions of the XBA-H3, the pros and cons: would the H3 be sufficiently different and enjoyable for me? I intend it to complement the XBA-4, not replace it. If not, which $200ish iem would you recommend? I realize it's a long shot and it all depends on each of us individually, to give you a better idea my current music list on the z1060, moslty flac and 320 mp3 is:
 
Red Blondehead, 23, misery is a butterfly
Stereolab Aluminum tunes, Emperor Ketchup
Gruff Rhys American Interior
REM Automatic for the people, Reveal
Garbage Beautiful garbage, bleed like me, not your kind of people, version 2.0
Rumplestitchkin Somersault, Small Time Hero, Consider it done
Cloud Control Dream Cave
Spoon Girls can tell, kill the moon, transference
Ladytron Gravity the seducer
Massive Attack Heligoland
David Bowie Heroes
Air, Moon safari, talkie walkie
Ravi Shankar Philip Glass passages
Hot chip the warning
Utopia soundtrack
The essential Michael Nyman band
Franz Ferdinand you could have it so much better, tonight
 
Thanks!

 

[mpawluk91]

Ok people, I've read this thread with interest but here's my particular question: I really enjoy my XBA-4 on a Z1060 Sony Walkman (to its detractors: the walkman is probably what makes it shine, and I got it much cheaper than MSRP), and even an old A844; I also have a Sony ex300 and Sennheiser cx300 for when I feel like having booming bass. I've read your impressions of the XBA-H3, the pros and cons: would the H3 be sufficiently different and enjoyable for me? I intend it to complement the XBA-4, not replace it. If not, which $200ish iem would you recommend? I realize it's a long shot and it all depends on each of us individually, to give you a better idea my current music list on the z1060, moslty flac and 320 mp3 is:

Red Blondehead, 23, misery is a butterfly
Stereolab Aluminum tunes, Emperor Ketchup
Gruff Rhys American Interior
REM Automatic for the people, Reveal
Garbage Beautiful garbage, bleed like me, not your kind of people, version 2.0
Rumplestitchkin Somersault, Small Time Hero, Consider it done
Cloud Control Dream Cave
Spoon Girls can tell, kill the moon, transference
Ladytron Gravity the seducer
Massive Attack Heligoland
David Bowie Heroes
Air, Moon safari, talkie walkie
Ravi Shankar Philip Glass passages
Hot chip the warning
Utopia soundtrack
The essential Michael Nyman band
Franz Ferdinand you could have it so much better, tonight

Thanks!

hey man not to rain on your parade but I'm pretty sure the xba4 won't sound right out of a walkman z, to sufficiently drive the xba4 you need a super low output impedance like below 1 ohm for sure. As for the xba h3 im sure the walkman z will do a superb job driving them. The iPod touch 4 even has enough juice to make them sound half decent

Funny thing is i posted this on my walkman f887 while listening to the xba h3

 

[senzen]

hey man not to rain on your parade but I'm pretty sure the xba4 won't sound right out of a walkman z, to sufficiently drive the xba4 you need a super low output impedance like below 1 ohm for sure. As for the xba h3 im sure the walkman z will do a superb job driving them. The iPod touch 4 even has enough juice to make them sound half decent

Funny thing is i posted this on my walkman f887 while listening to the xba h3

 
The thing is... I'm telling you they sound great, I'm listening to both the xba-4 + Z... Thanks anyway.

 

[mpawluk91]

The thing is... I'm telling you they sound great, I'm listening to both the xba-4 + Z... Thanks anyway.

I'm glad to hear it man truly, I always loved the walkman z. I just remember reading that it had like a 5 ohm output impedance. That's not bad at all, hell the ak100 has a 20 ohm output impedance!

 

[senzen]

I'm glad to hear it man truly, I always loved the walkman z. I just remember reading that it had like a 5 ohm output impedance. That's not bad at all, hell the ak100 has a 20 ohm output impedance!

 
I guess the proof is in the pudding! The Z is yet another finicky Sony product, just like the XBA-4 which goes missing in action when connected to other devices... But man do they sound nice together.

 

[Duncan]

Treble is a funny thing, sounds

I guess the proof is in the pudding! The Z is yet another finicky Sony product, just like the XBA-4 which goes missing in action when connected to other devices... But man do they sound nice together.

Define nice?

To me the combination is less than stellar (but, if you like it that is your prerogative / perception which no-one can take away from you) - by defining what you like with that particular setup, we can work out whether the HA3 will be good for you or not...

To make it clear, if you like the combination you have, great - just need to know your reference point (even if only musical taste etc.)

 

[james444]

hey man not to rain on your parade but I'm pretty sure the xba4 won't sound right out of a walkman z, to sufficiently drive the xba4 you need a super low output impedance like below 1 ohm for sure.

  The thing is... I'm telling you they sound great, I'm listening to both the xba-4 + Z... Thanks anyway.

 

Actually, the XBA-4 will become overall more balanced with higher output impedance. As a downside their spike at 4kHz will increase. But to people who're not sensitive in that region, they may overall even sound better than from a low output impedance source.

 

 
(source: Rin's blog)

 

[BillsonChang007]

As a owner of XBA-4, with low OI, they sound rather bassy and hollow-ish. With high OI, the bass rolls off a little and sound brighter xD

 

[Change is Good]

Anyone else willing to exchange different eartips? I would love to try some jvc spiral dot lovelies, or even some complys.