Thanks for your reply.



I know! Thing is, the next time I'm coming back to Malaysia is likely end of the year. Not sure if I can hold out on the f886 for so long (RM999 vs 300 euros)

I'm thinking maybe I could get the walkman first over here, and then when I'm back in Malaysia I could pick up the xba-h3 (RM999 vs 305 euros again..). Though I'm still not sure whether I can afford to spend so much....

If you like the H3 signature then it's fine. Why not get some Europe made iem which would be cheaper?


Personally I don't like the H3 and I think the old EX6/8/1000 is much better despite only the Dynamic driver. I am using EX800ST though.

Or get the items from Ebay or Amazon which normally is cheaper but may not have warranty.

I've written a review on Sony EX800ST (Japan), where you can find the full article here. Anyway, forgive me for the Saber Nendoroid, I just couldn't not love her!

Well, a quick snippet for you if you don't like tl;dr:

Sony EX800ST (Japan)
Pro: Monitoring IEM suitable for wide genre of music. Wide and spacious headstage.
Con: Not exciting for pop. Bass may be lacking for some music. Peculiar housing is not ear-friendly to me. Atrocious packaging.

Okay, here's still a Saber

Well i haven't tried out the H3 yet, so I'm not sure how it'll sound like. I just read reviews that makes it seems quite good. Considering that the H3 is supposed to be designed for "hi-res audio", which complements the "hi-res audio" design of the f886.

That's why i'm thinking of picking that up from Amazon actually to try it out. If I'm not happy with the signature sound of H3, I can return it within 30 days.

Unfortunately I'm not really much of an audiophile so I don't know how the EX series sounds like. I wish I could try them out, again unless I ordered them all from amazon and return the ones I don't like.

What european IEMs do you recommend? Well personally I'm more of a Sony fan so I try to stick to sony gear.

This post has been edited by jonoave: Feb 23 2014, 07:15 PM

Personally I think Hi-res audio is not really limited to the ones with the label. I still think there are many capable gears which could perform high resolution playback but do not cost a bomb.

I see. Well, I guess since I'm a noob to this, I just try to follow the recommended label and guidelines by the manufacturer.
But again, since sound preference is subjective, someone could prefer other "regular" headphones compared to a "hi-res audio" one.

I just wish there was a way to test them out before buying.

1. when there is TT, join them, bring whatever you have
2. jaben, nuff said
3. liquidgal (lyn id) has quite a cozy showroom, you can pay a visit (p.s liang moi tu liquidgal )
4. visit head-fi.org

Maybe I didn't clarify properly. While I do care a bit about sound quality and an audiophile noob, I don't intent to really invest too much time, effort and money such as accumulating gear and meeting up with others.

For me, if I can get a decent gear at decent price that suits my preference, I'm happy.

I've already checked out head-fi, when looking for reviews on sony stuff. But I'm not too interested in the other brands and the level of detail they put into them.

Thanks for your advice though.

I wish to tell you a hundred times to make you believe, but I guess I'd say it once:
It doesn't really matter.

After all, almost all earphones have their own fans, which means no matter how "good" or "bad" an earphone is, there is still a person who like it. By the logic of music = enjoyment, it doesn't really matter (if you don't really mind) which gear is the "best", once you bought it, you almost will find a way to like it, since liking a particular gear takes time (or so called burn-in of the mind). If you really dissatisfied with a particular earphone even after long time of usage, then you could start to look for another one and that doesn't harm your wallet (unless you really pour everything you have on your first attempt).

About testing, for most newbies, the first impression doesn't really mean much to the satisfaction later since most newbies aren't that adept at listening/analyzing sound quality. Therefore, even you test them thoroughly, or read reviews raving about how good a particular earphone is, chances are those things only calm your post purchase disorder but doesn't necessary mean you have found the most perfect earphone for yourself. It usually takes time to accumulate experience before you really could tell what kind of sound you like or dislike. There is no right or wrong for a purchase, it's only sometimes you expected too much before buying a gear like imagining the sound to be like so-n-so and it turned out to sound not as what you've imagined.

So, my conclusion is: Specify a budget, specify what kind of songs you like, listen to/read a few suggestions, pick the one which you think most suitable (perceived sound, COMFORT <-VERY IMPORTANT, price, etc), and then just enjoy your music. I think that's all about it.

For European earphone such as Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser and a couple others that do customs in the UK. Can't remember but the flagship is T1. Sorry.

Sennheiser particurlarly have good names for soundstage and Bass for IE80. Although this is what I read.

Good write up Philip, Thanks for doing the review that I am lazy to do. But that's the kind of Bass I like and it somehow fit my wearing style. Other than that my feeling is the same as yours towards the Sony.

For a moment I thought you are talking about Saber chipset for DAC. Cold and brutally analytic and accurate, and can't be romantic and enjoy the fun.

Still it's a Saber.

Saber

Btw, the bass is alright to me. Amount and tightness are just right. Maybe sometimes I want harder slamming bass, and then I'll look for other gears. Well, other than that, I think it's one of the best.

Sorry if my last post was misleading, but I completely believe you! I was just explaining why I thought of going with the h3 just from the reviews and I thought from the manufacturer's guidelines. And people can still like completely different things!

Personally, I'm a sony fan myself so I like to stick to sony gear. I do agree with the post-purchase disorder thing, I bought the mh1c and after trying it for a while thought it was ok. But then I saw the reviews on headfi saying how awesome it is, and I was like really?. So I tried it again, readjusted the fit and everything and now it sounds a bit better (in my mind. ) but still probably not to the levels that the folks at headfi is praising over. Or maybe it's because my song source quality isn't that great in the first place.

I have read some ppl say they don't like H1, and H3 is much better. But then there are still ppl who like H1. That's why I thought maybe if I could compare between the different models (maybe even including the EX800 that you posted) then I would get an idea of what they sound like and what I like or don't like. I have read some stuff over on head-fi, but I find that there's too much detail etc and mention of other brands that I'm not interested in.

These are my preferences that I can think of for now:
1. Comfort - important. That's why I don't do headphones, only earphones. Can't stand the clamp and warmth in my ears.
2. Songs, mostly pop, R&B, bit of nu-metal rock ala Linkin Park. Occasionally instruments e.g. soundtracks.
3. Budget: well around RM500. (H3 was really pushing it for me. )

Ok, thanks. I will try them out. Unfortunately afaik where I am there isn't any big store or lifestyle stores where I can try them out. So I guess I'll have to look at reviews.

Now that you mentioned your preference, I must tell you something which you may know or may not know, which is: The earphones which strives for clarity, ala lesser bass and more neutral, "sometimes" it will be very bad on songs like POP and ROCK. Since the bass is reduced, you can hear other frequencies more clearly, and when that happens, bad recordings get exposed. This is where good recording shines too. So, I guess you enjoy quite a bit of bass with those genres, then I guess (again) it'd be better for you to pick something with heavy bass. You can say it's to mask the bad mastering or purely for the joy of slams and boom boom pows. Either way, most importantly is what you enjoy right? Be gone the audiophile pursue for the purest recording, as long as the gears you bought really lets you enjoy your music more!

I do wanna tell you that while earphone is cool, bassy earphone aren't (to me) because most bassy earphones I tried, they have quite limited head-stage (or soundstage) because the bass is congesting other frequencies. It's cool to have fun bass for headphones though because headphone generally have wider headstage than earphones. Besides, the amount of bass pumping may tire your ear canals. I do experience fatigue quicker if I listened to too much bass.

Hm.. thanks for your insight. Actually I always thought of myself as someone who don't like heavy bass, but just a bit. That's because I've been in cars with extra boomy stereos that just go "thump, thump" and I can barely make out the vocals and instruments, and i hated that. However, I do like a bit of bass especially if I'm listening to songs by britney or some other pop dance songs, then some bass is nice. Or some hip-hop and R&B. But if I"m listening to ballads, live, or instruments, then vocal and instrument clarity is preferable. Especially if I can make out the piano or strings clearly and strongly. So I dunno, I actually think I prefer a neutral sound? Lol .. but it's hard to tell what I like or not unless I can try out different songs on different earphones and see what I like.

I actually do have a pair of headphones, which I regretted buying now. It made me realise that I head headphones, as after 15 minutes I feel uncomfortable already. It's not a bad fit of headphones either, it's very light and it's not too thick padded/cushy. I don't know how ppl can wear headphones for so hours, and I even seen a colleague wear headphones while wearing a beanie!

Unless I start hoarding differrent earphones for different types of songs.. but I really don't want to go down that road. And besides, I like to switch around what I want to listen to on a whim.

This post has been edited by jonoave: Feb 24 2014, 01:01 AM

Then go neutral

Yep, i'll try that! I'll post some updates later.. after I made up my mind..

Hello , i looking to buy budget headphones from SONY, its either between SONY MA100 or SONY ZX300, have anyone have these, which one is better, its for my laptop at home