[PhenomMusic]

  If this thing could sound like the XBA-3 with better treble extension.. I'm ONE BAJILLION percent in on one.. Please make my wishes come true!!!!
 
Gonna sell my Xba-3 right now!!

Yes!! your dream has come true......the highs are much better extended and controlled. From what I know, it does not spikes compared to the EX1000

 

[vwinter]

The H3 probably has more depth and layers better, which makes it sound more precise in imaging. Width though, the EX1000 runs away with by a country mile IMO. The EX1000 makes the H3 sound dark and closed in, while the H3 makes the EX1000 sound a bit flat and harsh in the treble. Timbre to my ears goes easily to the EX1000, as does clarity. But like I said before, the H3 has a tonality that is so evenly off across the entire frequency response that it's easy to get accustomed to it. The H3 has more detail in the mids and treble, but doesn't have as much of a range as the EX1000 in terms of being able to sound smooth and change to crisp.

Mids are a bit too recessed for my taste on the H3 for the most part.

Both are great for what they are. I like the EX1000 better for it's timbre, clarity, and dynamic ability to adapt to the music.

 

[PhenomMusic]

VWinter,
I'm glad that you picked up some of the areas that I didn't clicked for both of these Sony IEMs.  I agreed on most fronts. The H3 has better sound layers and what else. However, I find the EX1000 are more closed-in instead, whereas the H3 are more opened up. This could be different from person to person because one's perceived sound are very subjective.

 

[pietcux]

Let's wait till ythe new toy effect is gone for you. I was feeling the same first, but now the EX-1000 celebrate a huge comeback here....

 

[treal512]

Has anyone listened to the Sony XBA-H3 with the Hisound Studio-V 3rd Anniversary Edition? If so, what are your impressions on sound quality, soundstage, hiss, bass taming, etc? Thanks.

 

[DMinor]

Let's wait till ythe new toy effect is gone for you. I was feeling the same first, but now the EX-1000 celebrate a huge comeback here....

 
Old toy syndrome is chronic which makes it even harder to be cured.

 

[wgkwgk]

All,
 
I've read through the entire thread and have not found any comparisons with Westones--either the UM3x or 4.  (UM3x is my current reference IEM.)  Any comparisons, both quantitatively and qualitatively?
 
Thanks.

 

[Ars92]

  Hello,
 
I have the DT 990 250 and the XBA-H3.
 
The DT990 250 have better sound stage and is more "airy" compared to the XBA-H3. The XBA-H3 have much more bass and sub bass and the treble is very smooth but I like the treble of the DT990. 
 
I use the DT990 250 on my PC with the Creative Sound Blaster Z and the XBA-H3 on my Samsung Galaxy Note 3.
 
To sum up, the detail level, sound stage, clarity on the DT990 250 is better than that on the XBA-H3.
 
The XBA-H3 bass is one of the best and is more alongside the sub bass.
 
But you are comparing an OPEN full size headphone with an IEM. The XBA-H3 is more similar to the DT770 250 (which I used to own) than the DT990 250.
 
Hope I helped.

I have a note 3 and am contemplating between the fxz100 and the H3 (leaning more towards the H3 since its officially available where I am)
Do you use the H3 and the note 3 with a DAC? what sort of volume do you have the note 3 at? I have an FXT90 now and have to set the volume of my phone at about 70-90 percent depending on the music/video im hearing/watching. With my iTouch 5 even 50 percent is enough. Thats my only concern, because I REALLY dont want to have to use a DAC with my phone.
 
Thanks in advance

 

[Rip N' Burn]

I have the H1 and the H3. I will comment on the H1 since I had them first and listened to them the most out of the 2 so far. I am a big fan of how the the midrange is presented on the H1. It is forward, dynamic, and makes listening to music a pleasant experience. The bass is tuned towards more mid-bass and less sub-bass. Sub-bass is present but not nearly as present as the mid-bass. The highs are my biggest gripe so far. They have good extension but sound unnatural to my ears and when I turn the volume up the midrange tends to drown out the highs. I really like the H1 but I think the addition of sony's 'tweeter' driver would have added more refinement and present the highs more naturally like with the H3.

 

[waynes world]

  I have a note 3 and am contemplating between the fxz100 and the H3 (leaning more towards the H3 since its officially available where I am)
Do you use the H3 and the note 3 with a DAC? what sort of volume do you have the note 3 at? I have an FXT90 now and have to set the volume of my phone at about 70-90 percent depending on the music/video im hearing/watching. With my iTouch 5 even 50 percent is enough. Thats my only concern, because I REALLY dont want to have to use a DAC with my phone.
 
Thanks in advance

 
I think you must mean AMP (the note 3 has a good dac).

 

[SKilleT]

  I have a note 3 and am contemplating between the fxz100 and the H3 (leaning more towards the H3 since its officially available where I am)
Do you use the H3 and the note 3 with a DAC? what sort of volume do you have the note 3 at? I have an FXT90 now and have to set the volume of my phone at about 70-90 percent depending on the music/video im hearing/watching. With my iTouch 5 even 50 percent is enough. Thats my only concern, because I REALLY dont want to have to use a DAC with my phone.
 
Thanks in advance

Hello,
 
The XBA-H3 Paired with the Note 3 is really good. But what I did is, I rooted my Note 3 and installed Viper4Android. 
 
Oh my god man, it's perfect now. Simply perfect. 
 
What I did I played just a little with the equalizer provided by the Viper4Android App and enabled Field Surround and Viper Clarity OZone+ and I swear to you now I use the XBA-H3 more than the DT990
 
The sound settings in the stock Note 3 is really bad but if you disable sound effects its good. If you want to use Surround and Equlizer then in my opinion you have to root your Note 3 and install Viper4Android. 
 
Otherwise if you want to listen to the XBA-H3 the way it was intended to be used then it should be perfectly fine too.
 
That's after all my opinion and your experience may differ than mine. 
 
Hope I helped.

 

[ericp10]

The H3 probably has more depth and layers better, which makes it sound more precise in imaging. Width though, the EX1000 runs away with by a country mile IMO. The EX1000 makes the H3 sound dark and closed in, while the H3 makes the EX1000 sound a bit flat and harsh in the treble. Timbre to my ears goes easily to the EX1000, as does clarity. But like I said before, the H3 has a tonality that is so evenly off across the entire frequency response that it's easy to get accustomed to it. The H3 has more detail in the mids and treble, but doesn't have as much of a range as the EX1000 in terms of being able to sound smooth and change to crisp.

Mids are a bit too recessed for my taste on the H3 for the most part.

Both are great for what they are. I like the EX1000 better for it's timbre, clarity, and dynamic ability to adapt to the music.

 
 
Wow! we certainly don't hear the same earphones the same way. The EX1000 is the most painful nice sounding earphone I've ever heard. The treble is torture to my ears. And I don't hear the H3 mids being recessed at all. To me the H3 is what the EX1000 should have sounded like (with a bit extra bass). 

 

[DannyBai]

Wow! we certainly don't hear the same earphones the same way. The EX1000 is the most painful nice sounding earphone I've ever heard. The treble is torture to my ears. And I don't hear the H3 mids being recessed at all. To me the H3 is what the EX1000 should have sounded like (with a bit extra bass). 

X2

 

[vwinter]

Wow! we certainly don't hear the same earphones the same way. The EX1000 is the most painful nice sounding earphone I've ever heard. The treble is torture to my ears. And I don't hear the H3 mids being recessed at all. To me the H3 is what the EX1000 should have sounded like (with a bit extra bass). 

X2

Oh you guys.

Maybe we hear them exactly the same and just perceive and prefer them differently.

The H3 has elevated bass and treble relative to it's midrange. I don't know what else to say lol. The mids sound recessed compared to other stuff I have on hand atm and have heard recently, and they certainly don't sound forward in general.

I think the tuning of the H3 is ripe for it's time, but the tuning of the EX1000 is timeless.

They're both great.

 

[DannyBai]

I think your tolerance for treble is insane. That's where I find the EX1000 a mess and unlistenable. The 7550 fixed that issue but doesn't produce the whole sound of the H3 for me. I can hear that its consumer oriented sound but for someone with stricter preferences, it hits all the areas. It might not be for the purists.