[Rip N' Burn]

Out of curisosity, does anyone have the H1and the H3?

I am really enjoying the H1's and have been very pleasantly surprised as to how good they sound.

Fairly obviously being a member of Head-Fi I am very much tempted by the H3's too. So if anyone does have both I am keen to know if the H3's are that much better than the H1's and would it be worth getting them?

Many thanks

Steve

 
I have both and think the H3 is better but how the midrange is presented with the H1 is making me hold on to them. I also use ortofon tips on both and those tips make the H1 and H3 sound more open to my ears. More of a difference with the H1 than the H3 compared to the hybrid tips.

 

[Fizban]

Out of curisosity, does anyone have the H1and the H3?

I am really enjoying the H1's and have been very pleasantly surprised as to how good they sound.

Fairly obviously being a member of Head-Fi I am very much tempted by the H3's too. So if anyone does have both I am keen to know if the H3's are that much better than the H1's and would it be worth getting them?

Many thanks

Steve

I heard the H1 and it sounded "complete", like it was the total package........
.........until I heard the H3.

In comparison, the H1 just has everything truncated vs H3.
I tried to like the H1 since it has a more convenient form factor.
Tried it. Twice.

Really could not put up with it.

To my very un-audiophile ears, the difference is huge.
So it's H3 all the way.

 

[SteveKiwi]

I heard the H1 and it sounded "complete", like it was the total package........
.........until I heard the H3.

In comparison, the H1 just has everything truncated vs H3.
I tried to like the H1 since it has a more convenient form factor.
Tried it. Twice.

Really could not put up with it.

To my very un-audiophile ears, the difference is huge.
So it's H3 all the way.

Oh dear I was afraid of that

 

[Fizban]

  Oh dear I was afraid of that

Aye.
 
T'was a sad day.
 
So to those who heard only the H1 and judged the Sony XBA-H series, it isn't a fair court.
 
H3 was radically better in all ways.
 
H2 was kinda meh.  Neither here nor there.
Definitely clearer and more dynamic than H1 but lacking in every way compared to the H3.
 
Once you go H3, you can't go back.

 

[chenxuanyi]

I have been using H3 for a while. It's really very source and record dependent. Vocals and Guitars were positioned behind the bass most of the time, thus making the vocals and guitar sound very distant.
 
I like the bass, gives very the overall presentation a very live feel to it, but really depends on records... It makes Hotel California (Hell Freezes Over) sounds superb but at the same time makes heavier rock music sounds blurry like Alter Bridge...
 
Anyone has the same experience?

 

[djvkool]

After months of consideration, I've finally decided to give this one a go

 

[james444]

  Vocals and Guitars were positioned behind the bass most of the time, thus making the vocals and guitar sound very distant.

 
Try the tape mod.

 

[Hayatesama]

Hi, I 've just bought the H3 recently and love it so far. It is my first high end IEM, i used to own an ATH CKM500 and an ATH CKX9iS, both sound great but the H3 is much better in term of pretty much everything except the comfort when wearing. I think I will get over it as soon as I mastered the way wearing it.
 
I have one question, is it a good (but probably wasn't) idea to wear the H3 when working out or in rainy weather ?. My CKX9iS mic and vol control kinda damaged when I used it extensively in rainy weather. As it is now it is the best idea not to use the vol control and set it to max permanently. My CKM500 I currently loan out to a friend who used to own a CKM500 which is out of commission. Probably it was trashed during his work out.
 
So I 'm really reluctant to put my lovely h3 through any of that. Rainy weather may be fine since I can put the music on hold until I get home but I afraid it is not the case with working out.
 
So Anybody who might have use the H3 extensively during working can tel me if it is a good idea or not.
 
BTW the sound stage is amazing it is like the music revolving around, when I try the SBH 80 today, the music punched direct in the middle which make me feel really unpleasant. H3 all the way then. 

 

[chenxuanyi]

James444: To restrict the movement of the dynamic driver to get a more balanced sound?
 
Hayatesama: I would wear it out for exercise or rainy weather. The profile of the headphones makes it a lot easier to get into accident with people, wind will cause a lot of microphonics and too much movement will loosen the insertion. Speaking from experience.

 

[BlinkST]

The H3 sounds excellent to me either out of my macbook or C5. I've never done the tape mod. 
 
To be a little more descriptive.. After lots of burn-in, songs tend to sound as they are being performed to you. The voices have a certain "height" to them and sound as if they are being projected towards you. Not super distant, but good enough for you to let down your guard. The music is wide, separated; some records even have echoes going on. The bass "hums" and rumbles is a pleasing way; nothing sounds out of balance to me. You'd believe it was an actual subwoofer if it wasn't for the fact that your surroundings don't vibrate. 
 
I've been letting these burn overnight for the past few weeks. 

 

[james444]

  James444: To restrict the movement of the dynamic driver to get a more balanced sound?

 
Exactly. I think it makes them overall better balanced and bass more controlled (though it's not a day and night difference). I like vwinter's description of its effect:
 

Just wanted to post/repost some quick impressions here:

Tape mod in place, they are veeeery good. Like reaaaally very good.

Here's the thing about the H3 IMO, without the tape mod, there is just too much dynamic driver in there throwing off a delicate balance of a coherent sound. With the tape mod in place, it balances it out a bit and let's you really hear what both the BAs and the Dynamic can really do without making you really focus on one and throw off that balance. And they are both veeeeerrry good.

...

 

[nudd]

To me the tape mod made a huge difference. I wouldn't have kept the H3 (simply too much bass for me) if it were not for the tape mod.

 

[chenxuanyi]

Did you all leave a small hole in the tape? I was reading about tape mod and one writer said it might damage the driver. Any take on this?

 

[james444]

Poking a hole with a thin needle is definitely recommended to prevent driver damage.

 

[nudd]

Yep. I used transparent tape, poke a very small hole using a thin needle and then applied the tape to the bass port. Using transparent tape makes it easier to position the hole. It is cheap and totally reversible what have u got to lose?