[vietzerg]

Ditto. It was the IEM that gave me this "eureka!" moment. Almost enlightening. Made me hate everything I have purchased prior to it.

Do you find the techincal performance of the N3 close to M7, or the M7 is on another league?

 

[RikudouGoku]

Being a Sony fan boy I want to try some other sets as well and Z5 stood out with the laid back treble tuning but the bass doesn’t seem like my thing. N3 already bleeds a bit especially when track gets a bit fast so I don’t think Z5 is for me probably.

Yes, avoid the Z5 for sure then.

Out of curiosity I did order a EX800ST from Japan, waiting to try them out. I guess I will see if my ears agree on the fitment.

These, NEEDS PEQ 100%, stock tuning is garbage but with PEQ (I use my own target for it) it is my favorite iem (alongside the EX1000).
If you dont want to use PEQ, get the XBA-A3, if you like the N3 smoothness in treble but want higher quality bass with less bleed but still similarly warm/bassy, the A3 is it.

 

[MudEnjoyer]

Do you find the techincal performance of the N3 close to M7, or the M7 is on another league?

It is close. The M7 is superior in terms of technical performance, but not by a significant margin, and the N3 is more fun and dynamic at the end of the day. In my opinion it is not worth the upgrade, unless you want to go for something like the M9, which is definitely on another league.

Despite people calling the N3 the “baby Z1R”, I feel the N3 is actually more similar to the M9 tonality wise. Going from the N3 to the Z1R, the lower mids are so scooped it feels like 1/3 of the song is missing until the brain adjusts.

 

[Raketen]

The ex800st will be way more polite and neutral. Though the bass mod improves bass, it never reached the epic levels ppl talk about. Just be ready!

Could you be thinking of ex1000? I remember with Ex800 the bass comes not just from the mod but a lot of EQ (& enough output power to sustain it). IIRC, probably because it was intended for pro applications, it had a quite high max input tolerance and could take a lot of bass EQ.

Though I think the XB90 was still considered the bassiest of the Sonys. Personally found they could both make more bass than I was comfortable listening to and still have some headroom (even being somewhat cautious with a demo ex800 and without the tape mod), while ex1000 had preferable quality to its bass but couldn't get as loud (or maybe I was just too scared to push it so far).

 

[jlmr26]

Hey guys. What aftermarket eartips would you recommend for the XBA-N3 that can help reduce or smooth out treble peaks. I'm currently using Sony's EP-EX11M eartips but I think I'm not getting a good seal with them because the treble is a little bit high. Thanks

 

[Vamp898]

Hey guys. What aftermarket eartips would you recommend for the XBA-N3 that can help reduce or smooth out treble peaks. I'm currently using Sony's EP-EX11M eartips but I think I'm not getting a good seal with them because the treble is a little bit high. Thanks

COMPLY T-200. They are what you're looking for. Alternatively TZ-200. They are the same, they got renamed.

 

[baskingshark]

Hey guys. What aftermarket eartips would you recommend for the XBA-N3 that can help reduce or smooth out treble peaks. I'm currently using Sony's EP-EX11M eartips but I think I'm not getting a good seal with them because the treble is a little bit high. Thanks

Foam tips or Final E black tips can tame treble.

FWIW, most consumers would class the N3 as a smooth treble IEM, so possibly it might be eartip seal causing you to perceive them as bright in the treble. Poor seal = loss of bass so the signature will be skewed bright.

 

[vietzerg]

Foam tips or Final E black tips can tame treble.

FWIW, most consumers would class the N3 as a smooth treble IEM, so possibly it might be eartip seal causing you to perceive them as bright in the treble. Poor seal = loss of bass so the signature will be skewed bright.

Agree. The N3's treble, though highly extended, is smooth already.