sony has renewed their xb line up with a new batch of earphones , sony as a earphone brand , is what i dont recommend most of the times but things may change this time around , i hope so .
sony had started their xxtra bass ( i dont know where the "E" is ) series in 2009 and then also they were soo badly priced that , i never went for them ever in their life time . now in 2011 they have brought us nearly the same drivers , 9 mm for the xb 21 ex , and 13.5 mm for the xb 41 ex , which were in xb20ex and xb40ex . what has changed is their outer shells , and these comes with some fancy colors . red blue black to name some .
i only hope these guys can take on the similarly priced earphones from other brands . lets see .
the xb21ex has feat in my ue 350 review , new xb41ex should be better the the xb21ex .
here are some links to them and some pics for your eyes only . for your ears ? wait a week or two .
the xb41ex :- http://www.sony-asia.com/product/mdr-xb41ex
the xb21ex :- http://www.sony-asia.com/product/mdr-xb21ex
you wont mind looking at this too :-
http://www.head-fi.org/t/584601/ultimate-ears-350-review-compairison-with-denon-ah-c260-and-sony-xb21ex#post_7958096
the pics time ( smile please ) :- please click on them to have a clearer view .
foam tips ? no , noise isolating they say , we will talk about that later .
the pu pouch .
xb41ex .
fight !!
here we go again .
brothers in the crime .
sorry for the wait guys , but what can i do ?
i waited , waited and waited for the bass to go up , as up as my meelec m6 . but it stopped at 85% of m6 , thats not bad at all .but there are some good things , i mean better things in the xb41ex . really nice driver characteristics .
so here we go .
the xb41ex is burned for nearly 120 hrs and i have not been able to observe some changes lately , the xb21ex was burned for 80hrs and now some two hours , my m6 is burned for 100 hrs . we will start with the most junior earphone the xb21ex :-
this earphones come with a really nice cable , not tangle prone but it tangles never the less . the xb21ex feels like a bomb proof design , you cant break it unless you want to , with a hammer . but the connector is really bad , dont build any good impression at all . it comes with a carry pouch , a cable clip . 4 pairs of eartips ( red , orange , green and blue ) only the blue one fits me , and i endup donating other tips .
the xb41ex has some glitches in its build , the blue stress reliever is a moveable piece of rubber and the golden patch is attached
to a spring and moves a bit too , may be that makes it lose some bass . this come with some extra under foam tips . there is nothing special about them , they are a bit more isolating , just 10-15% more , cuz they dont let the rubber to bend more . the foam is not even stuck to the track , its over it and can be easily removed . you need to take care while removing these tips cuz the foam can be undone with a rough snap .
xb21ex:-
they say its a bass earphone , but wont say it is not good at anything else . and talking about bass , you will find it dry and over whelming all the spectrum , its like 65% of the music is bass only , and at some tracks like warzone from the most wanted it felt like some vocals and bass only , other instruments are really minute and a friend of mine was unable to pick any thing else .
so the bass :-
the bass is not bad , boomy ? yes quiet a bit , and dry , the pumping of air is not good , so one will end up with less amount of bass and more amount of sound in the bass , the impact is okay , if you like the bass of cx 400 , you wont complain , if you like bass of denon ahc-260 , you wont complain too much , but of you like the bass of ue350 , you will complain about the less amount of depth and the disability of being accurate and keeping up with fast paced tracks and at high volume the bass loses all the lower impact and become only sound , that you hear only and feel not that equivalent amount of impact . the bass at mid volume sounds the best . need less to say the bass cracks at high volume .
mids :-
not good really , its not that its too bad at this , but nothing better then the cx200 at all , there are some potholes in this spectrum , there is one at the bass mids and mid high . bass takes over at sub bass , and there is nothing at the mid high . the mid takes a back seat in this earphone , not coming up is the main problem , i dont like it but its a bass earphone .
highs :-
the highs are not present in the xb21ex , really belief me , im so so disappointed that i want to send it back to sony , but i kept it for sampling reasons . its highs are so so minute that too many guys struggled to get a piece it , its not like its totally missing but its bad , some more spark would have done the job , at least some thing like denon ahc-260 would have done , this is my only above $30 earphone that is this bad at highs , and i feel the pl21 has more highs then this . the spectrum has bad volume , dont have any thing over 3-5 % of the music . i cant stop complaining about it but i stop here .
the signature :-
bass , only bass signature , you get bass , bass boomy bass , cracking bass , less impact bass , less air , tolerable mids and bad highs , the signature is not that bad . its like your listening to ep-630 , with less sound stage , less impact , similar mids and highs . why buy this , may be for the name and you have too much money , you like the design and the flat cable . its not that bad , i wont sat its the worst earphone i ever brought . but not recommended to value seeking people .
it was frustrating two hours for me , may be i was a bit harsh at writing the review , but this much bad ? this much , even the she 3680 is more value and more loveable .
leave it we will move to the bigger brother , which i found is nicer , better and less stronger .
xb41ex :-
they call it a bass earphone , and i found out its not a bass bass thing like its younger brother . its better in many ways . just only one where it loses , and that is build . it could have been better , but im not badly disappointed with it cuz its got things done better even against some of the class top dogs . so can we go in ?
here we go again with the bigger brother , do you watch wwe ? xb 21 ex is like kane , who is bad and his borther , undertaker is not that bad , in fact he is one of the best . at what he dose but appears so so less frequently . i will tell you why the xb41ex will have reduced appearance inside your ears .
bass :-
boom boom ? yes boom boom but not over done , in fact its not boom boom , its just boom , the impact is lesser then the xb21ex , but full bodied and not more then 25 % of the music . its not high in volume but boomy at some tracks and some times cracks at high volume . bass is pleasant , if you want more bass , you are not going be too much happy with it , its got bass , just above my cw31 and the amount , impact and depth is okay for a bass earphone . still you hear more of the bass and feel okay .
mids :- its a full bodied mid ,and can take 55 % of the music which is the best thing of it . its not losing to bass , dont have potholes too . and has a bit more extension then many at this price range , it nearly goes as up as 6.5khz starting from 100hz . you wont miss a bit for sure and awesomely paced , and in multiple vocal tracks where two singers sing at the same time or over lap , you can hear it crystal clear , just like the ue700 , may be a bit less , cuz its dont have that awesome sharpness in it , not polished and some times feel like it dont have a uniformity , but you wont do that details . you will love it cos this mid brings a good sound stage with it . it know how to be clear at vocals , how to tackle the pace , how to be awesome , it over dose my cw31 in being entertaining , and the sonic ability is some times makes you feel its over its class ( in the price bracket i mean , and mostly from sony !! ) only word that is sufficient . AWESOME . if you want clarity and some bass , this is it , go for it .
highs :- its blunt , so that it dont hurt , but its not omitted like the xb21ex , some extension is taken by the mids , you may ask how dose that happens ? the dip which separates the mids and highs is pushed a bit back so you wont hear the violins crystal clear cuz clarity is taken by the mids , but you will hear good and the percentage of highs is not big at all its like 15 % your mind wont go there cuz the mid will take all of your attention .
the signature :-
its really nice but tiring , you wont put them in for long hours with higher volume . its not forgiving like ue350 .
the signature is mid centric despite being in the bass line . its i can clearly say is 3-4 times better then the xb21ex . the sound is a bit dry ( bit lighter ) . i like darker sound more pleasing .
you can bag this , not for bass , but for the mids , clarity and the signature , which is really nice , i dont love it cus its in the ligher side , dont have the darkness in it . i like darkness in music , which is from meelec . still i like it . this is where it wont visit my ears more often like undertaker dose in wwe . under taker is the dark side but im talking about the frequency .
the verdict :-
simple words , if you want the xb21ex , save some more and go for the xb41ex which is not bad at bass and come with more tips , more clarity ( clarity is class leading ) .
i will rate the xb21ex 5.5/10 , cuz its only bass , and dont worth the price tag .
the xb41ex is a 8/10 for you and 7.5/10 for me cuz its has a bit too light signature . still its not bad at all , i will recommend it over the image s3 , ue350 , denon ahc-260 . its a killer , but wont out do the cw31 or the sp51 . still a nice job from sony i must say , the only second earphones i will recommend , first one being ex57sl .
thanks for the visit , have a nice day and a nice buy or trial of the above sony earphones .
thanks again and cheers .
sony had started their xxtra bass ( i dont know where the "E" is ) series in 2009 and then also they were soo badly priced that , i never went for them ever in their life time . now in 2011 they have brought us nearly the same drivers , 9 mm for the xb 21 ex , and 13.5 mm for the xb 41 ex , which were in xb20ex and xb40ex . what has changed is their outer shells , and these comes with some fancy colors . red blue black to name some .
i only hope these guys can take on the similarly priced earphones from other brands . lets see .
the xb21ex has feat in my ue 350 review , new xb41ex should be better the the xb21ex .
here are some links to them and some pics for your eyes only . for your ears ? wait a week or two .
the xb41ex :- http://www.sony-asia.com/product/mdr-xb41ex
the xb21ex :- http://www.sony-asia.com/product/mdr-xb21ex
you wont mind looking at this too :-
http://www.head-fi.org/t/584601/ultimate-ears-350-review-compairison-with-denon-ah-c260-and-sony-xb21ex#post_7958096
the pics time ( smile please ) :- please click on them to have a clearer view .
foam tips ? no , noise isolating they say , we will talk about that later .
the pu pouch .
xb41ex .
fight !!
here we go again .
brothers in the crime .
sorry for the wait guys , but what can i do ?
i waited , waited and waited for the bass to go up , as up as my meelec m6 . but it stopped at 85% of m6 , thats not bad at all .but there are some good things , i mean better things in the xb41ex . really nice driver characteristics .
so here we go .
the xb41ex is burned for nearly 120 hrs and i have not been able to observe some changes lately , the xb21ex was burned for 80hrs and now some two hours , my m6 is burned for 100 hrs . we will start with the most junior earphone the xb21ex :-
this earphones come with a really nice cable , not tangle prone but it tangles never the less . the xb21ex feels like a bomb proof design , you cant break it unless you want to , with a hammer . but the connector is really bad , dont build any good impression at all . it comes with a carry pouch , a cable clip . 4 pairs of eartips ( red , orange , green and blue ) only the blue one fits me , and i endup donating other tips .
the xb41ex has some glitches in its build , the blue stress reliever is a moveable piece of rubber and the golden patch is attached
to a spring and moves a bit too , may be that makes it lose some bass . this come with some extra under foam tips . there is nothing special about them , they are a bit more isolating , just 10-15% more , cuz they dont let the rubber to bend more . the foam is not even stuck to the track , its over it and can be easily removed . you need to take care while removing these tips cuz the foam can be undone with a rough snap .
xb21ex:-
they say its a bass earphone , but wont say it is not good at anything else . and talking about bass , you will find it dry and over whelming all the spectrum , its like 65% of the music is bass only , and at some tracks like warzone from the most wanted it felt like some vocals and bass only , other instruments are really minute and a friend of mine was unable to pick any thing else .
so the bass :-
the bass is not bad , boomy ? yes quiet a bit , and dry , the pumping of air is not good , so one will end up with less amount of bass and more amount of sound in the bass , the impact is okay , if you like the bass of cx 400 , you wont complain , if you like bass of denon ahc-260 , you wont complain too much , but of you like the bass of ue350 , you will complain about the less amount of depth and the disability of being accurate and keeping up with fast paced tracks and at high volume the bass loses all the lower impact and become only sound , that you hear only and feel not that equivalent amount of impact . the bass at mid volume sounds the best . need less to say the bass cracks at high volume .
mids :-
not good really , its not that its too bad at this , but nothing better then the cx200 at all , there are some potholes in this spectrum , there is one at the bass mids and mid high . bass takes over at sub bass , and there is nothing at the mid high . the mid takes a back seat in this earphone , not coming up is the main problem , i dont like it but its a bass earphone .
highs :-
the highs are not present in the xb21ex , really belief me , im so so disappointed that i want to send it back to sony , but i kept it for sampling reasons . its highs are so so minute that too many guys struggled to get a piece it , its not like its totally missing but its bad , some more spark would have done the job , at least some thing like denon ahc-260 would have done , this is my only above $30 earphone that is this bad at highs , and i feel the pl21 has more highs then this . the spectrum has bad volume , dont have any thing over 3-5 % of the music . i cant stop complaining about it but i stop here .
the signature :-
bass , only bass signature , you get bass , bass boomy bass , cracking bass , less impact bass , less air , tolerable mids and bad highs , the signature is not that bad . its like your listening to ep-630 , with less sound stage , less impact , similar mids and highs . why buy this , may be for the name and you have too much money , you like the design and the flat cable . its not that bad , i wont sat its the worst earphone i ever brought . but not recommended to value seeking people .
it was frustrating two hours for me , may be i was a bit harsh at writing the review , but this much bad ? this much , even the she 3680 is more value and more loveable .
leave it we will move to the bigger brother , which i found is nicer , better and less stronger .
xb41ex :-
they call it a bass earphone , and i found out its not a bass bass thing like its younger brother . its better in many ways . just only one where it loses , and that is build . it could have been better , but im not badly disappointed with it cuz its got things done better even against some of the class top dogs . so can we go in ?
here we go again with the bigger brother , do you watch wwe ? xb 21 ex is like kane , who is bad and his borther , undertaker is not that bad , in fact he is one of the best . at what he dose but appears so so less frequently . i will tell you why the xb41ex will have reduced appearance inside your ears .
bass :-
boom boom ? yes boom boom but not over done , in fact its not boom boom , its just boom , the impact is lesser then the xb21ex , but full bodied and not more then 25 % of the music . its not high in volume but boomy at some tracks and some times cracks at high volume . bass is pleasant , if you want more bass , you are not going be too much happy with it , its got bass , just above my cw31 and the amount , impact and depth is okay for a bass earphone . still you hear more of the bass and feel okay .
mids :- its a full bodied mid ,and can take 55 % of the music which is the best thing of it . its not losing to bass , dont have potholes too . and has a bit more extension then many at this price range , it nearly goes as up as 6.5khz starting from 100hz . you wont miss a bit for sure and awesomely paced , and in multiple vocal tracks where two singers sing at the same time or over lap , you can hear it crystal clear , just like the ue700 , may be a bit less , cuz its dont have that awesome sharpness in it , not polished and some times feel like it dont have a uniformity , but you wont do that details . you will love it cos this mid brings a good sound stage with it . it know how to be clear at vocals , how to tackle the pace , how to be awesome , it over dose my cw31 in being entertaining , and the sonic ability is some times makes you feel its over its class ( in the price bracket i mean , and mostly from sony !! ) only word that is sufficient . AWESOME . if you want clarity and some bass , this is it , go for it .
highs :- its blunt , so that it dont hurt , but its not omitted like the xb21ex , some extension is taken by the mids , you may ask how dose that happens ? the dip which separates the mids and highs is pushed a bit back so you wont hear the violins crystal clear cuz clarity is taken by the mids , but you will hear good and the percentage of highs is not big at all its like 15 % your mind wont go there cuz the mid will take all of your attention .
the signature :-
its really nice but tiring , you wont put them in for long hours with higher volume . its not forgiving like ue350 .
the signature is mid centric despite being in the bass line . its i can clearly say is 3-4 times better then the xb21ex . the sound is a bit dry ( bit lighter ) . i like darker sound more pleasing .
you can bag this , not for bass , but for the mids , clarity and the signature , which is really nice , i dont love it cus its in the ligher side , dont have the darkness in it . i like darkness in music , which is from meelec . still i like it . this is where it wont visit my ears more often like undertaker dose in wwe . under taker is the dark side but im talking about the frequency .
the verdict :-
simple words , if you want the xb21ex , save some more and go for the xb41ex which is not bad at bass and come with more tips , more clarity ( clarity is class leading ) .
i will rate the xb21ex 5.5/10 , cuz its only bass , and dont worth the price tag .
the xb41ex is a 8/10 for you and 7.5/10 for me cuz its has a bit too light signature . still its not bad at all , i will recommend it over the image s3 , ue350 , denon ahc-260 . its a killer , but wont out do the cw31 or the sp51 . still a nice job from sony i must say , the only second earphones i will recommend , first one being ex57sl .
thanks for the visit , have a nice day and a nice buy or trial of the above sony earphones .
thanks again and cheers .
