I'm new to the sony lines having been away from them for years lol XB is the extra bass line then? BA is balanced armature as you say, so XBA is extra bass/balanced armature? lol
There's something very appealing about the sound to me with the N1, switching between the ZN I can feel the N1 sound more meaty, full bodied, however with clear vocals. The ZN are a tighter sound across the board, the bass and sub bass (wow) in particular is super controlled and tight and energetic (up until I heard the N1, I thought the ZNs were quite bassy earphones lol), the bass on the N1 are great but when switching over from the ZN sound more boomy, on some tracks like Breath by Prodigy, the heavy bass rumble can be a bit much. If the N1 had the bass/sub bass of the ZN that would be ideal. Which leads me to think whether the N3 would be better suited for me... I read earlier in the thread that they're not has heavy handed in the bass department as the N1.
I own the N3 and the ZN. To be honest, the N3's bass I find are far superior than the Zn's. The N1/N3 when properly amped and EQ'd you will get the most benefit from. The ZN maybe perceived to have more bass, but I think this is false, as the mid-bass is emphasized or tuned that way. If you play with the EQ a little bit more, I am confident that the N1's bass would be more significant than the ZN; You may notice that the ZN's bass will distort and hit the ceiling a lot quicker.
The only advantage I find that the ZN have is that is gives a more 3D sound, the spatial sound qualities are hard to beat. But having said that, I find the comfort and cables of the ZN are horrendous compared to the N3. The N3 I find are more revealing, in a way that if you have a weak link in your setup, it will be very apparent. It wasn't until I switched to higher quality, beefier cables that I noticed I was getting the full sound.
Now, whenever I play music or watch movies or play games, it's literally like I am in a club or movie theater. Lol.