[kimvictor]

And note about burn-in. The one that I've heard was a store demo that has been in the store ever since H3 got released in Korea. I'm pretty sure it got good 50+ hr of use time since then. So I really can't comment on whether burnin changes anything.

 

[drews]

I received my XBA-H3's today...  I currently own the EX1000 and the (underrated) EX7550 and until recently had the XBA-40 and XB90EX too.  I agree with all your impressions (except that I find the soundstage to be very 3-dimensional but not especially wide).  I think anyone who liked the XB90EX will love these. 
 
I'm definitely going to keep these despite their shortcomings since they are utterly non-fatiguing and can often sound very musical and engaging.  They also complement my EX phones since they sound so different...
 
If the EX1000 is like a Sennheiser HD800 then the XBA-H3 is like an Audeze LCD2 running with a bass-boost... 
 
Quote:

   
At the risk of being the only one who hears them that way, the stock H3's bass is bloated and definitely muddy next to the EX1000's. Their stock bass quality isn't even in the same league imo.
 
The tape mod mitigates the problem somewhat, but I'd still rate the EX1000's bass quite a bit higher. To me, the H3 are more like a fun alternative to the EX1000 and besides their wide out-of-head presentation, they've actually more in common with Sony's XBA line than the EX's sound signature, at least in the mids and highs.
 
And before anyone brings that up again

, yes I'm aware of the EX1000's spiky treble (imo it's rather lively than fatiguing and can be tamed with an additional layer of cloth when needed), but apart from that, the latter are easily more balanced, elegant and hi-fi sounding in my book. Next to the EX1000, the H3 sound like Sony's upgrade offering to the Beats crowd, a technically excellent and arguably audiophile offering at that, but I'd be highly surprised if the former and latter were seriously meant to target the same audience.

 

[james444]

If the EX1000 is like a Sennheiser HD800 then the XBA-H3 is like an Audeze LCD2 running with a bass-boost...

 
Dead-on! 

 

 

[zaim]

@drews compared to the XB90's would you say the H3's Sub bass is similar ? 
 
I'm was ready to buy these but Amazon have increased the price from £170 to £213

 

[bauer24]

Wouldnt the xb90 be a better comparison with the xba-h1?
 
How does the bass compare between the two?

 

[drews]

  @drews compared to the XB90's would you say the H3's Sub bass is similar ? 
 
I'm was ready to buy these but Amazon have increased the price from £170 to £213

 
From memory, I think the bass response in general is quite similar but without the extra BA drivers pushing the mids and highs through the "bass blanket" produced by the dynamic driver the EX90 sacrifices the pinpoint imaging that you can get from the H3....
 
Drew

 

[pietcux]

If one compares the frequency graphs from Golden Ears, then there is more subbass on the EX90. The XBA-H3 has a rolloff towards the subbass starting around 100 Hz. Or a midbass peak stating there, depending on where you come from. So the XBA-H3 is no pure bass head can, but quite bassy on non electronic music.
But the sound quality of the EX90 is nowhere near the H3 no matter which frequency range one looks at.

 

[zaim]

If one compares the frequency graphs from Golden Ears, then there is more subbass on the EX90. The XBA-H3 has a rolloff towards the subbass starting around 100 Hz. Or a midbass peak stating there, depending on where you come from. So the XBA-H3 is no pure bass head can, but quite bassy on non electronic music.
But the sound quality of the EX90 is nowhere near the H3 no matter which frequency range one looks at.

 
Hmm, just having a look at the graphs.
 
90EX
 

 
H3
 

 
After 50hz the roll off is steep, however at 20HZ the difference in DB is probably upto 5?
 
XBA-4
 

 
The graph above confuses me, When I had the XBA-4 I certainly couldn't hear the very low sub bass frequencies much even with an Amp, at the time my XB40 sounded a lot better (Sub Bass) but according to that graph its quite similar to the XB90. Or am I reading these wrong ?

 

[james444]

^ I get great subbass extension on my XBA-4.

 

[drews]

If one compares the frequency graphs from Golden Ears, then there is more subbass on the EX90. The XBA-H3 has a rolloff towards the subbass starting around 100 Hz. Or a midbass peak stating there, depending on where you come from. So the XBA-H3 is no pure bass head can, but quite bassy on non electronic music.
But the sound quality of the EX90 is nowhere near the H3 no matter which frequency range one looks at.

 
I still think of the H3 as a bass-head IEM (i.e. most consumers are bass-heads, I'm not thinking of pipe organ enthusiasts)....  Still, the H3 has elevated bass even down towards 20hz compared to the Golden Ears "target" or a more neutral IEM like the EX600, which starts rolling off around 300 Hz:
 

 
I definitely agree that it's better than the EX90 across the board...
 
Drew

 

[vwinter]

^ I get great subbass extension on my XBA-4.

Yea, I agree. Maybe it something akin to this: sometimes I get the feeling (or literally don't get the feeling) that there could be a bit more weight behind the very low end of the XBA-4, a tactility reaching out to you of sorts.

 

[Jackson 6]

test

 

[Jackson 6]

Compared the H3 with the ie 800. The Senn was smoother, better mids, same kind of detail and sound stage, the H3 had better attack and treble. Give the nudge to the Senn's, but not at 4x the price, and the H3 is no country cousin. 

 

[james444]

Yea, I agree. Maybe it something akin to this: sometimes I get the feeling (or literally don't get the feeling) that there could be a bit more weight behind the very low end of the XBA-4, a tactility reaching out to you of sorts.

 
I agree too. Tbh, I haven't listened to them from a flat source in a while, since I usually use these EQ settings. (mid-spike down as Rin suggests, plus a few db off 200Hz, which brings their subbass out)

 

[pietcux]

   
I agree too. Tbh, I haven't listened to them from a flat source in a while, since I usually use these EQ settings. (mid-spike down as Rin suggests, plus a few db off 200Hz, which brings their subbass out)

So if this was about a first person shooter, you where a cheater....
But I will also start working with eq sometimes I think.....