Sony XBA-H1 and XBA-H3 Hybrid Dynamic and BA IEM

[a_recording]

http://ohm-image.net/opinion/audiophile/earphone-geeks-xba-h3h2h1-hands-on

Interesting;

Earphone Geek is a pretty well-known audio blogger here in Japan.

 
That's our very own shigzeo!
 
The link is down now so I might bug him on Twitter.

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

Shigzeo seems to be echoing the Japanese impressions from before, almost word for word! Glad I'm getting the H1 now.

 

[Zalithian]

  I disagree that a BA can match a Dynamic in Bass Quality . Sure they can match them in amount, and if multiple bass BA used, then in extension as well. But in the Timbre, Texture and Decay of Bass I have never heard a BA produce the sounds just right, like a very well tuned Dynamic can. Thats my opinion.
Then again I mostly listen to electronic music, where the bass sounds aren't exactly life like, so BA's are just fine for me

 
I don't disagree with that. Dynamics have their own problems though, why is why they're not the only show in town

 

[kimvictor]

I guess this is really interesting.
Here are kinds of iems.
BA.
Dynamic.
Hybrid.
Electro-Stat(only from stax!)
 
I've heard all except the electro stats. But I do feel like BA can outperform dynamics, but they do need many BAs to move the air like dynamics do.

 

[shigzeo]

   
 
The link is down now so I might bug him on Twitter.

It should be up again. My server is good, but on stilts. 
 

  Shigzeo seems to be echoing the Japanese impressions from before, almost word for word! Glad I'm getting the H1 now.

Pssst: those are not MY impressions. They are a translation of the views held by earphone geek. I should have been more explicit in my post. Thanks for the vote of confidence though.

 

[DMinor]

I think pure BA's is done for me after trying the 4Ai. 4Ai is not bad but I am just used to the dynamic sounding (airy, energetic and fresh).

 

[kimvictor]

  I think pure BA's is done for me after trying the 4Ai. 4Ai is not bad but I am just used to the dynamic sounding (airy, energetic and fresh).

Well, 4Ai is a kind of bright iem from what I know. You should try more fun and dynamic BAs.

 

[DMinor]

  Well, 4Ai is a kind of bright iem from what I know. You should try more fun and dynamic BAs.

4Ai is definitely not bright to my ears, maybe a little more on the warm side.

 

[kevms89]

So is 9mm dynamic good? I ask because the H2 has a 13.5mm driver and the H3 a 16mm.

Interesting because the H1 and H2 both have 1 dynamic and 1 balanced, the difference is the 9mm and 13.5, I wonder what makes them so different?

 

[jekostas]

So is 9mm dynamic good? I ask because the H2 has a 13.5mm driver and the H3 a 16mm.

Interesting because the H1 and H2 both have 1 dynamic and 1 balanced, the difference is the 9mm and 13.5, I wonder what makes them so different?

 
Driver size means nothing in terms of IEMs.

 

[kimvictor]

So is 9mm dynamic good? I ask because the H2 has a 13.5mm driver and the H3 a 16mm.

Interesting because the H1 and H2 both have 1 dynamic and 1 balanced, the difference is the 9mm and 13.5, I wonder what makes them so different?

Well, if they are fancy polymer drivers, I doubt the driver size would do much. They just like putting bigger drivers so the specs looks fancy. But really, driver size doesn't matter too much. Generally, bigger driver means better sweet spot, but that means almost nothing in terms of iems. Also, 9mm is good enough for natural bass production.

 

[a_recording]

  It should be up again. My server is good, but on stilts. 

 
OT: but I thought you used a squarespace server? Don't those things run on Amazon servers?

 

[shigzeo]

   
Driver size means nothing in terms of IEMs.

Oh my friend, it does. Until just very recently, small drivers simply were too rigid to resolve low bass. Of course, large drivers may have been too soft to render upper mids and highs. Today, a large driver can do it all and do it very well. Still, the amount of air moved by a large driver is much more than a small driver. So impact as well as resolution, can be improved by a large driver, especially when in conjunction with a balanced armature. 
 
I'm very very keen to hear the new earphones (remember all I did was roughly translate the article) as I'm rather impressed by the Astrotec AX60, which has a few problems that I hope Sony will have skipped. I met another Japanese reviewer (editor of Headphone Book) who wasn't impressed by either the new Sony Walkmans or the earphones, but he is rather staunch in his contempt of Sony.

 

[DMinor]

 
 

 

[shigzeo]

   
OT: but I thought you used a squarespace server? Don't those things run on Amazon servers?

Yes, it is a good server. But it has random drop outs that have nothing to do with traffic. It happens about once a month and last from 10 minutes to an hour. So while I ADORE squarespace, I wonder just a bit about their server.