[StanD]

  Went back to using my Samsung Galaxy S3 for the XBA-H3 and I can say that the phone and IEM just does not pair well. Sloppy bass, recessed mids and highs. Come E18 and it sounds fantastic. Relatively tight bass (could be tighter), but mids and highs shine. So no-go with straight to a cell phone but with an amp or DAC/AMP and it sounds great.

Bummer, ain't it, I always used my GS3 with the E18,
The H3's driven directly from an Apple iPod Touch 5G sounds good to me, no pun intended.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

  Bummer, ain't it, I always used my GS3 with the E18,
The H3's driven directly from an Apple iPod Touch 5G sounds good to me, no pun intended.

I don't get why... this was the same with the H1s when I had them. The MDR-7550 sounded fantastic out of the GS3 though.. maybe I should've kept those instead of upgrading

 

[StanD]

 
I don't get why... this was the same with the H1s when I had them. The MDR-7550 sounded fantastic out of the GS3 though.. maybe I should've kept those instead of upgrading

The funny thing is that the H1 and H3 have a 40 Ohm output impedance and should be easy for the GS3 to drive. My XBA-3's which have a low impedance gave my GS3 a hard time and responded well when using an E12 for amping. Using an external DAC and amp sounded great with the GS3, that is if one likes living dangerously.

 

[Change is Good]

I believe the S3 already has a consumer friendly sound signature with bass emphasis, resulting in a bad pairing with bassy headphones.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

I believe the S3 already has a consumer friendly sound signature with bass emphasis, resulting in a bad pairing with bassy headphones.

Now that I think about it, a lot of great pairing with the S3 were bass-light or neutral HPs/IEMs.

 

[Change is Good]

I see you have been debating on whether to get the F887 or not. I say yes, very much worth it for the H3, especially if you can get one for under $400 new.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

What about a Japanese Z1? Those are better than F88x?

I see you have been debating on whether to get the F887 or not. I say yes, very much worth it for the H3, especially if you can get one for under $400 new.

 

[Change is Good]

Never heard it, but I do wish I had one for the 128gb storage. I bought the 64g F887 thinking that would be enough since I was just starting to rebuild my music library. Months and 20g later, with only 35g left, I'm no where near finishing my collection. And that's just 320kbs mp3s. It would now be full if I were storing all FLAC files.

I've read the sound quality between the two, however, is arguably very similar.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

I've heard the same. It seems the updates are making the sound closer to one another. I would hate to buy one and a new one comes out, seems they've been released for some time already yes?

 

[Change is Good]

Yea, it's been out for almost a year I believe. I had the F806 before upgrading to this fine little gadget.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

The DX90 is so tempting at that price...but then no Spotify Premium which is absolutely amazing at hearing all the new stuff and finding albums that are in the music threads.

Do the Sony stores have these in stock normally? I might find one locally to test out first.

 

[joey99]

Just a quick size comparison. I would've love to see the H3 in a matte black metal.
They all looks really nice but I just love touching that ceramic housing on the IE800.

 

[james444]

I believe the S3 already has a consumer friendly sound signature with bass emphasis, resulting in a bad pairing with bassy headphones.

  Now that I think about it, a lot of great pairing with the S3 were bass-light or neutral HPs/IEMs.

 

 
There are different versions of the S3 though, and it's possible that some of them aren't as flat.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

How do you test sources like this? Interesting stuff

There are different versions of the S3 though, and it's possible that some of them aren't as flat.

 

[violencer]

joey99, can you also compare mids and vocals between SE846 and UE900. How do you  think, is the SE846 successor of both H3 and UE900?