[Syliano]

Thanks for this one, I was thinking about the XBA-2. But thanks to your review I am definitely not getting the XBA-2. Thinking about the sennheiser IE8 or Ety HF5. I had the UE700, pretty much loved it, but hated the build quality. It kept breaking on me within 2 or 3 months. 
Whats your opinion on the creative aurvana 3? 

 

[nikp]

Quote:

Thanks for this one, I was thinking about the XBA-2. But thanks to your review I am definitely not getting the XBA-2. Thinking about the sennheiser IE8 or Ety HF5. I had the UE700, pretty much loved it, but hated the build quality. It kept breaking on me within 2 or 3 months. 
Whats your opinion on the creative aurvana 3? 

 
Cheers. Sorry, haven't had a chance to listen to the CA3 yet. The Sennheiser IE8 has quite a different sound signature compared to the UE700. It may not suit your taste since you really like the UE700.

 

[suman134]

you cant fight a ue 700 at that price , $120 . cuz here ie8 goes for nearly double .
 

 

[Yggdrassilious]

^ What he said.
 
If you like UE700, the only similar IEM in value and performance would be the Brainwavz Beta when it was on sale for $120. It's been pulled off market for some reason but rumored to be back in June.
 
Of course the HF5 would be an excellent choice as well. IE8 however would be very much different.
 
As for Aurvana IE3, I did not like it - the housing is bigger than W4 and XBA-4, which kind of ruins the comfort a little, and the sound was not too impressive. It sounds good, but I think the Aurvana 2 for $50 sounds just as good.
 

 

[suman134]

my money got lost in some other things , but i swear to god , as soon as i get $180 , i will get the xba-3 .

 

[eortizr]

I had the XBA-1 good sound , clean and clear, but the bass was just not there at all, you really have to work hard on getting them into a sweet spot in order to get some bass... gonna try XBA-2 and see how it goes...

 

[suman134]

can some one say how the xba-1 fair against cc51 and ue 600 ?

 

[Seasonyy]

Nice review, I wish could have a test in Sony local store.

 

[ayrton612]

Thanks for the review! Just a question, how is the MDR-EX310 compared to the XBA-1? The price is pretty similar and I couldn't decide between them :/

 

[JK1]

Quote:

I had the XBA-1 good sound , clean and clear, but the bass was just not there at all, you really have to work hard on getting them into a sweet spot in order to get some bass... gonna try XBA-2 and see how it goes...

Imo the XBA-2 is too expensive at around $200. Even if it gets down to around $150, I wouldn't consider it. There are so many good IEMs under $100 that I don't feel any need to even consider any over $100. What is interesting is that there are now many interesting IEMs under $50. Aside from just the sound, fit is very important for an IEM, so for the time being I am not even willing to buy IEMs over $50. Imo the XBA-1 will probably drop to just under $50 within a few months. There are too many other good IEMs under $50, and not enough people eager to spend $50+ on an IEM. Since IEMs are often so difficult to return, that makes people even more reluctant to buy ones over $50. Even if they like the sound, they might not like the fit. I have some IEMs that I rarely use since I don't like how they fit me.

 

[dnullify]

I was at the sony store at the mall last weekend and tried all four, xba-1 2 3 and 4.
 
Let me just say this is the first time in a while i've been floored by a sony product. I gotta say that the XBA-3 is probably the best of the bunch, to my ears at least. It's amazing how smooth they sounded while being so balanced. I swear, if i had the money on me at the time, i would probably have payed full retail. the XBA-4 had slightly more detail and separation, but was indeed sibilant. I really think at the price/performance the xba-3 is the peak.
 
I liked the xba-1 and 2 as well, and they all have the same signature which i thoroughly enjoyed. Forward mids and full bass while still being open and detailed. Best, most controlled and fullest bass i've ever heard out of a BA, and probably any other IEM i've tried to date. Full while still entirely appropriate with the right amount of impact (without being painful to my sensitive ears). 
 
Right now it seems the XBA-1 is $80, 2 is $200, and 3 is $280.
 
I must agree though, that at the price point the XBA-2 may have a hard time competing with the many other options in the sub-$200 area.
 
I listened to 2 the least, but i'd say that if the 1 drops to $50 it would be a strong contender. If the 3 should somehow go to $200-225 I'd probably buy them. At the current price however, i'm still not sure whether the XBA-3/4 are worth it, granted i would probably say the same thing when faced with the other top-tier IEMs like W4s. They were fantastic, but still $280/350 is a lot of money.
 
Not entirely sure whether it's the new-sound or whether they were actually that good, but i really did enjoy them thoroughly.
 
Oh and the fit was fantastic as well. I guess I know where I'll be next time i'm dragged to the mall.
 
 
 
edit: apparently the xba-3 can be had for $190-ish... Interesting. Probably time to start saving up the pennies!

 

[suman134]

we have xba-3 here for $180 , hows that !!

 

[JK1]

Quote:

we have xba-3 here for $180 , hows that !!

That's a step in the right direction, although I think these should  be priced $49 for the XBA-1, $89 for the XBA-2, and $129 for the XBA-3. I'm talking about real prices, not list prices. Let's see what happens to the pricing of these as time progresses.
 
So far the lowest price on the XBA-1 in the US is around $72. I think it might be around $50 in Japan though.
Suman, are you in Japan?

 

[ayrton612]

That's a step in the right direction, although I think these should  be priced $49 for the XBA-1, $89 for the XBA-2, and $129 for the XBA-3. I'm talking about real prices, not list prices. Let's see what happens to the pricing of these as time progresses.

So far the lowest price on the XBA-1 in the US is around $72. I think it might be around $50 in Japan though.
Suman, are you in Japan?

Here in Malaysia, the RRP for XBA-1 is at RM199.90 which is around $65. I'll just keep on waiting for the price drop though

 

[dnullify]

I dunno. I mean, I definitely wouldn't complain if the XBA-3 was at $129 but i don't think that's realistic.
 
I mean, i'm not entirely sure how the TF10 price is $185 on amazon from $400. I did score my brand new TF10s for $130, but that's just amazon being a huge seller, disregarding profit margins i should think. Other than that, what other 3-way IEMs can be had for less than $200?
 
XBA-3 for $130 would be a no-brainer for sure. Am i wrong with my initial impression when auditioning them that they are in the top-tier as far as universal IEMs go?