[Sound Eq]

  Same for me after a couple of hours the itch like hell (XBAH3 )

it really sucks as i only find the hybrid foam filled ones sound good but the probelm with the fit is like hell 
 
now i do not know how to solve this, if me upcoming spinfit or spiral dots won't fix it for me preserving the sound quality of the hyrbod foam filled ones then dam i think i will sell the xba z5 just because of the fit issue
 
after alot of trials i managed to get westone universal on, also tried shure 846 olives man nothing sounds good except the hybrid filled foam ones which really amazes me

 

[gerelmx1986]

it really sucks as i only find the hybrid foam filled ones sound good but the probelm with the fit is like hell 
 
now i do not know how to solve this, if me upcoming spinfit or spiral dots won't fix it for me preserving the sound quality of the hyrbod foam filled ones then dam i think i will sell the xba z5 just because of the fit issue
 
after alot of trials i managed to get westone universal on, also tried shure 846 olives man nothing sounds good except the hybrid filled foam ones which really amazes me

I use COMPLY foam due to the itchy hybrids, for me being in mexico each set of 5 pairs of foam complys goes for $40 USD after shipping & tax.
 
i find they somehow overwhelm the bassy nature of the XBA-H3 (that's why i'm selling them and getting the XBA-A3 instead)

 

[dweaver]

you asked about the RHA tips, they do fit the Z5 and being stiffer will likely give a better seal.

 

[gerelmx1986]

If i got the carrying case of the EX1000 would it fit the XBA-A3's?

 

[dweaver]

I suspect the form of the indents in the case will be specific to the EX1000 shell so won't fit properly for the A3.

 

[BensonTT]

Hey guys, I sold my Z5 about a month ago cause I wasn't happy with the treble.. Then I bought the A3 which I just got today and I am 100% happy with it!! The sound sig is pretty much the same but the treble sounds a lot better to my ears.. If you guys like a little more treble, then the A3 is a lot better then the Z5.. I am very happy that I have "downgraded"

 

[gerelmx1986]

  you asked about the RHA tips, they do fit the Z5 and being stiffer will likely give a better seal.

Thnx, the i will get a pelican case

 

[gerelmx1986]

Hey guys, I sold my Z5 about a month ago cause I wasn't happy with the treble.. Then I bought the A3 which I just got today and I am 100% happy with it!! The sound sig is pretty much the same but the treble sounds a lot better to my ears.. If you guys like a little more treble, then the A3 is a lot better then the Z5.. I am very happy that I have "downgraded"

I ordered mine the will ship them tomorrow hopefully....

 

[axismundi]

Hey guys, I sold my Z5 about a month ago cause I wasn't happy with the treble.. Then I bought the A3 which I just got today and I am 100% happy with it!! The sound sig is pretty much the same but the treble sounds a lot better to my ears.. If you guys like a little more treble, then the A3 is a lot better then the Z5.. I am very happy that I have "downgraded"

 
Agree and disagree in the same time with your statement. A3 does have more emphasized treble no question about and I can understand why some may prefer that signature over Z5, but to complete the picture A3 does not extend as high as Z5 and the (too) elevated highs in the region of 11kHz or so means that they can be harsh at times depending on material. Overall, to these ears Z5 does sound better and more refined, but granted not by a very high margin.
 
That being said, I'm enjoying A3 and they are fantastic value for money.
 
PS. It has been an interesting exercise to compare the two after having seen the measurement results available online. The graphs are very much alike and sure enough the sound signatures of Z5 and A3 are close to each other, yet for me the differences in what I hear are a tad higher than what I would have expected just by looking at the graphs.

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

No need for subjective impressions when you can look at a graph. ^ to person above, Z5 does not have more treble extension than A3. But Z5 is "tighter" (or smoother) in all bass mids and treble, but whether a person likes that smoothness is a different matter, it is completely fair to say A3 is better than Z5 or Z5 is better than A3 depending on a persons subjective judgment, because there is no agreed upon perfect level of smoothness, to one person Z5 might sound overly smooth due to this tightness in response, and the A3 could sound more real to them, or vice versa the Z5 could sound more real to them due to it's own characteristics. Btw Z5 has more distortion in the mids than A3 and also longer bass decay even though the frequency is tighter, so really it is not even fair to say the Z5 is more competent than A3, but rather that Z5 and A3 both have some pro's and cons. The fact of the matter is what sounds better to ones ears is what counts, in my opinion it is fair to rank Z5 or A3 above one another depending on how you hear them personally, or how they are pairing with your source, etc.
 
Z5:                                                                                                       A3:

 

[gerelmx1986]

  No need for subjective impressions when you can look at a graph. ^ to person above, Z5 does not have more treble extension than A3. But Z5 is "tighter" (or smoother) in all bass mids and treble, but whether a person likes that smoothness is a different matter, it is completely fair to say A3 is better than Z5 or Z5 is better than A3 depending on a persons subjective judgment, because there is no agreed upon perfect level of smoothness, to one person Z5 might sound overly smooth due to this tightness in response, and the A3 could sound more real to them, or vice versa the Z5 could sound more real to them due to it's own characteristics. Btw Z5 has more distortion in the mids than A3 and also longer bass decay even though the frequency is tighter, so really it is not even fair to say the Z5 is more competent than A3, but rather that Z5 and A3 both have some pro's and cons. The fact of the matter is what sounds better to ones ears is what counts, in my opinion it is fair to rank Z5 or A3 above one another depending on how you hear them personally, or how they are pairing with your source, etc.
 
Z5:                                                                                                       A3:

Music is heard with ears ... not with the eyes....

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

^ That's why I said it is all subjective as to which you prefer, looking at the graphs you would not be able to tell which you would prefer until you heard both, the graphs are just for evening the playing field, and are obviously useful for some things, for example no one can claim an iem has great bass extension if the graph clearly shows roll off. Our ears are not the best judge of metrics, that's what graphs are for.

 

[axismundi]

Quote:
 

  No need for subjective impressions when you can look at a graph. ^ to person above, Z5 does not have more treble extension than A3.

 
I beg to differ. Have you listened to either of the two? I know how to read a FR graph and when I say that Z5 highs extend more despite the measurements widely available online suggesting otherwise I do it for a reason. Of course, with the caveat that this is "to my ears".
 
FYI, what happens is that the spike in treble in A3 "steals the show" and the rest of the upper spectrum suffers in comparison.
 
Everybody seems to agree that A3 does have emphasized treble compared to Z5, yet the graphs don't suggest this; that is unless you consider 1-2dB as audible and ignore the normal manufacturing/measurement tolerances which can easily explain such minute variances. How do you explain this? Reality is a bit more complicated, don't you think?
 
I'm a big proponent of objective determinations and I believe that measurements are a very valuable piece of information in the mix to be considered when evaluating the performance of an audio device. Also many times an eye opener and good educational tool (I myself use these measurements a lot when equalizing). But we should not forget the following:
- they way we hear is highly subjective - psycho in psychoacoustics is there for a reason; sound and they way it is perceived is far from being exhausted by a model that focuses only frequency response (arguably the most important element though), phase response and THD
- there is no absolute consensus on what is the ideal frequency response curve for earphones (other than the fact that ruler-flat is not the answer)
- ear simulators are far from perfect and generally above 10-15kHz the measurements become less reliable
- different labs come up with slightly (or not) different measurements, depending on the gear and measurement process (again, ear simulator is the key here)
- etc.

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

I guess we disagree then. I'm sticking with If it isn't on the graph then you can't hear it, as it is logical. I haven't heard the A3. But owned the Z5, and I found the treble extension very average.
 

Everybody seems to agree that A3 does have emphasized treble compared to Z5, yet the graphs don't suggest this; that is unless you consider 1-2dB as audible and ignore the normal manufacturing/measurement tolerances which can easily explain such minute variances. How do you explain this? Reality is a bit more complicated, don't you think?

 
But the graphs do show it, looking at the CSD plot you can see that the A3 treble has longer decay, at 5-10khz treble sticks around a tad longer, looking at FR, A3 has 2.5dB more treble at 10khz, and 2dB less at 7-8khz, which would serve to psychologically further enhance the peak at 10khz. These attributes are what causes people to hear the Z3 treble how they do.
 
What you cannot say is that the Z5 has more treble extension than A3, it is simply not true, if anything the A3 has more treble extension. Btw when I talk treble extension I am talking about 10khz-20khz. If you wanted to say Z5 has more realistic treble to your ears, then that's fine because we are all entitled to our subjective opinion.
 
The measurement tolerances of the equipment used in those graphs by seeko are in the 0.1 range, so that won't have any bearing, only human error could have any bearing, but that is taken care of by taking several measurements.

 

[Duncan]

I think some people are confused as to where treble actually is in the frequency spectrum (for humans at least!!)

Most would be surprised to find that it is lower down than what they think, which would mean that people can interpret all these graphs in completely different ways yet still come to the same conclusion (or vice versa obviously!!)