[kiteki]

No it wasn't you, it was someone else and his cousin saying the TDK BA200 is a perfect replacement for the UM3X, maybe ClieOS too I think...
 
Then again ClieOS and ljokerl love the K2 SP which I don't understand at all. =/
 
 
I think the XBA-4 at under $300 (remember when it was projected at $1000 on some link?) has received 100% positive reviews so far from what I can tell, so I think it will fade out the more expensive W4 eventually, which had mixed reviews, like the Phonak sounds identical, Katun's thread, etc.
 
Actually Katun was pretty good, he bought expensive stuff like the W4 and Z1000 and clearly expressed his dislike for them, then sent them back to amazon.com.
 
I remember he liked the KNS 6400 and some Koss headphone... so much stuff to try but I will check out the KNS sometime for sure, tdockweiler thinks the SRH-940 is "overpriced" in light of the KNS which is pretty funny.
 
Katun has quit head-fi now.

 

[mutabor]

Quote:

With that said, I'm still waiting for an EVIL camera from Canon to come out. 
 

I think that Canon will not come out with an EVIL camera at least in this year. They instead will introduce a compact camera Canon PowerShot G1X which will ship in February with a SRP of $799. It's their answer to mirrorless cameras as some suggested.
 
The most interesting EVIL cameras will be made by Fuji and Sony in this year IMO.

 

[Sylverant]

From reading this thread, other threads, listening to my own Klipsch C3's, and talking to friends that have DBA-2's and what not it seems to me that dual ba (crossover) universals are the best value in iem's right now for pure sound quality. For around $150 new ($100 used) you can get some seriously good sound. I know you've been saying this all along Kiteki and I agree with it.
 
Initially I had been wanting to get the Westone 2, not the C3, but the price never dropped low enough. I wonder why the price on the Westone 2 and Shure SE425 never drops below $200 when all the others are at $$100-150. 

 

[kiteki]

 
By the way the Z1000, W4 and Final Audio pianos are fine if you can afford them and just want to appreciate their unique sonic qualities.
 
 
I become a bit fixated on the value of the sound performance sometimes, there are students and people in third world countries that just want to love audio too.
 
There are expensive products that sound different so it's like exploring sonic art but there is usually an extra underlying implication that they sound better in solid performance, or that other people can't hear the difference.
 
At the same time there are people that say all headphones sound the same and they are pretty annoying too.
 
I just want to find the truth in audio components, explore sound, and love music at the same time but they are definitely three seperate instances.
 
Just take this into account when I'm being combatative thanks. =)
 

 

[kiteki]

Quote:

From reading this thread, other threads, listening to my own Klipsch C3's, and talking to friends that have DBA-2's and what not it seems to me that dual ba (crossover) universals are the best value in iem's right now for pure sound quality. For around $150 new ($100 used) you can get some seriously good sound. I know you've been saying this all along Kiteki and I agree with it.
 
Initially I had been wanting to get the Westone 2, not the C3, but the price never dropped low enough. I wonder why the price on the Westone 2 and Shure SE425 never drops below $200 when all the others are at $$100-150. 

I have heard SE425, UE700, CK10 and q-Jays and I think they are all really good IEM's at fair prices, I'm not sure about J-phonic (aphonic) or the new Sony XBA-2 though.
 

 

[kiteki]

 
I have two theories 1 is Sony made the XBA-4 and put all effort into that one as the IDEAL PROTOTYPE SONY BA IEM in a secret lab for years.  Thereafter they quickly watered it down into XBA-3 / 2 / 1 so they could release four IEM's at the same time and increase revenue and marketing potential.
 
Theory 2 is everyone assumes XBA-3 and -4 are the best and don't even listen to the XBA-1 and XBA-2.
 
There was one user that said his XBA-S65 "sounds fantastic" ...

 

[mutabor]

Quote:

 
I have two theories 

I didn't get you. What made you to create these two theories? 
 
What I see now is that Sony desperately trying to make a come back in the mobile market ( which is becoming very important and crowded) where it has been loosing it's positions for years. Sony recently bought Ericsson's shares in the joint venture so it became a unified company again. To support their new line of smart-phones, their tablets and a new Z-series Android player they produced a new line of IEMs with a competitive price policy and a sleek design.

 

[MuppetFace]

The Z1000 is such a wonderfully strange headphone. My opinion of it has fluctuated back and forth between love and dislike, more than just about any headphone, before finally settling firmly on the side of love. I suspect it was voiced to sound particularly nice when paired with one of Sony's newer Walkmans.

 

[MuppetFace]

I'm also a bit surprised by the performance of the SA5000 when paired with a high-end, highly resolving amplifier like the Zana Deux SE. The amount of detail retrieval this sub-$500 headphone is capable of is frightening. It's like an unrefined, blunted Qualia, which is not too surprising given that it shares many similarities with its older sister.

 

[kiteki]

 
mutabor... last time I checked Sony sold the most headphones in America right ahead of Skullcandy, and first place in Japan, not to mention more popular than Apple in DAP's over there.
 
Sony Ericsson was a mobile phone venture only, Sony mobile phones weren't very popular and it was a successful partnership, mobile phones is only a sector of Sony.
 
 
I made the theories because the XBA-1 and XBA-2 aren't getting any limelight, they don't seem very good in the reviews compared to Etymotic ER-4S or ATH-CK10 so I made two two theories as to why that is.
 

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

I'm also a bit surprised by the performance of the SA5000 when paired with a high-end, highly resolving amplifier like the Zana Deux SE. The amount of detail retrieval this sub-$500 headphone is capable of is frightening. It's like an unrefined, blunted Qualia, which is not too surprising given that it shares many similarities with its older sister.

I liked the SA5000's sound a lot except for the mediocre bass extension.  Parts of build quality didn't really inspire confidence though, especially the cable.

 

[kiteki]

 
The SA-5000 is great, I used to use it from a vintage 70's amplifier, I never really needed to make a head-fi account and start looking for IEM's, I was happy with my Sony earbuds, I just had this novel idea that I could become happier and enjoy music more.
 
Pfft.

 

[kiteki]

Quote:

I liked the SA5000's sound a lot except for the mediocre bass extension.  Parts of build quality didn't really inspire confidence though, especially the cable.

 
Are you kidding me?  It's magnesium alloy with real leather, the leather always felt cold when I put it on and magnesium has one of the highest weight / strength ratios possible IIRC since it's the lightest metal second only to Lithium.
 
I'm not sure if it has acoustic qualities but the inner housing of the EX700 is magneisum and the EX600 is only plastic, and they sure sound different.......
 
When I had the AKG K701 next to the SA-5000 it looked like I found the AKG in a box of cornflakes.
 
Almost sounded that way too.

 

[lee730]

Quote:

 
Are you kidding me?  It's magnesium alloy with real leather, the leather always felt cold when I put it on and magnesium has one of the highest weight / strength ratios possible IIRC since it's the lightest metal second only to Lithium.
 
I'm not sure if it has acoustic qualities but the inner housing of the EX700 is magneisum and the EX600 is only plastic, and they sure sound different.......
 
When I had the AKG K701 next to the SA-5000 it looked like I found the AKG in a box of cornflakes.
 
Almost sounded that way too.

Don't you prefer the EX600 though Kiteki? You love that fake plasticky sound .
 

 

[kiteki]

 
The complimented eachother very well.
 
 
The EX600 has a better design, no fakes on the market and a more neutral inoffensive sound "like a green apple", so it's easier to recommend.
 
The EX700 is a love/hate IEM but it did have some qualities above the EX600 which is why I used them 50/50.
 
 
Listening to the EX600 without the EX700 around is pretty boring.
 
I haven't heard the EX800ST or the EX510, but from what I heard of the EX1000, it sounded pretty similiar to the EX600, just more refined like a rolls royce versus a jaguar.
 
The EX700 was more like one of these: