Just got a pair of these today and I'm loving them so far (coming from an IE 800, very different sound signature). Mine have a serial number in the 30,000's with a 10-2018 manufacturing date so Sony hasn't made many of these huh.
How do these compare to the Sony EX-1000 ? Is the Sony EX-1000 now out of production even in Japan ? The left ear-bud on my set has just stopped working and I'm not sure whether to seek another set of those, a replacement cable for them or to consider these instead *if* they are an improvement.
actually the fitting for the earbud to the cable for the EX1000 is much more secure than XBA-Z5 due to the fact that XBA-Z5 is attached by pressing it together with the cable whereas the EX1000 uses screw tight connection to the cable
Kenneth Chan Thanks for pointing that out. Are there any after-market cables available for the EX1000? My step-father has mended my cable (for a second time) with ordinary wire and replaced the jack. He is highly skeptical that this will make any difference to the sound quality but said he had never seen a cable that contained as much insulation as the EX1000's. Do the XBA-Z5's SOUND better/bigger than the EX1000s ? Do they run better/louder un-amped from mobile phones ?
Believe it or not, the sound quality of old Z5 is obviously better than the recent Sony IER M7. I also prefer Z5 to Sen. ie 800 after years of listening. An old masterpiece of Sony.
another drawback compared to Z5 is IE800 cables is shorter...which is a minus point now in terms of earbuds i have to be fair because i use stock for each model it is said that the IE800 only caters for their own earbuds both are rubber however if slight effort is used try using the Z5 rubber filled one of the 3 sizes which fits your ear canals it might make a difference
Apparently, like the MDR-EX1000 and the new MDR-Z7, the earpiece has a Magnesium shell. It looks to me to be a matte-finish alloy, not quite as sleek-looking as the EX1000 exterior. Either way, the casing should be very light and very strong. Minus the cord, specs have them at about 5.5g apiece, which is roughly 30% less mass than the Sennheiser IE800 earpiece.
you sound sick Mike hope you get better soon :D,im trying to get in to the better soundquality stuff so im considering one of those DAP flac players and i have my eyes on the fiio x1 dap, do you think it will be a good upgrade from the average sony walkman and ipods that i use? have you tried or owned anything from that brand? ill blindly trust in your advice as always tk.
I have no doubts XBA-Z5 sounds alittle better in terms of bass after much using however the IE800 does give a better seal and in terms of detail sounding IE800 delievers better Z5 has detail sounding but not as strong as IE800 it is quite a subjective issue there even when IE800 does have bass ports yet it isn't strong like the Z5
Mike, nice with the sony's.. on another topic good meeting and spending time with you and Jack in Toronto at TAVES on Sunday! Looking forward to receiving my order from the show. Will keep in touch
hej mike! what I was wondering about right now was: in lots of videos and also in the beyer a2 review you show equipment like the new but also old amp, the expensive akg in-ear and so on. but in your head-fi profile there are only few of them listed.. why?
Nice review. The Hi-Res, or anything Hi-Res is a joke in light of the Nyquist Theorem and also that humans can't hear any of the frequencies they are touting in their charts on Sony website, but they are nice headphones anyway.
The housings on these are so... chunky! The IE800 is so elegant, shows the difference between the Germans and the Japanese. (no offence to any Japanese people watching this.) And no, nothing personal against sony, i love sony tbh, i grew up on their products.
Z5 uses magnesium, which is one of the absolute best metals, thinnest, and lightest metals that can be employed. The reason why these are rather large is the driver size. They're certainly superior to the IE800 in sound.
He said the Z5 creamed everything he ever heard... But that was with the balanced cable and pha-3. www.head-fi.org/t/733404/sonys-new-2014-flagship-iem-xba-z5/195#post_10958061
Just Curios , Do you folks out there have more money than Common since to Blow that kind of money on a piece of electronics and wire that won't last well for more than a year. Get real, Kids are starving in this country.
Looks amazing! I'm definitely getting the Sony XBA Z5 in 2018.
Just got a pair of these today and I'm loving them so far (coming from an IE 800, very different sound signature). Mine have a serial number in the 30,000's with a 10-2018 manufacturing date so Sony hasn't made many of these huh.
Xba a2 all da way! Punchy deep bass and warm sound. A2 is even better than a3 in my opinion. A2 > A3 > Z5
GAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH *makes grabby hands while dripping acid from forked tongue*
Haha when I clicked on this video I thought it was one of your reviews!
I remember you saying you're a bit of a Sony fanboy :)
Heh. I'm still saving up for these beauties.
*****
Looking forward to your opinions...
***** I just got the PHA-3. Testing it right now.
@Lachlanlikesathing should of just got the XBA A2,s they sound better than these and the rest of the XBA series.
How do these compare to the Sony EX-1000 ? Is the Sony EX-1000 now out of production even in Japan ? The left ear-bud on my set has just stopped working and I'm not sure whether to seek another set of those, a replacement cable for them or to consider these instead *if* they are an improvement.
actually the fitting for the earbud to the cable for the EX1000 is much more secure than XBA-Z5 due to the fact that XBA-Z5 is attached by pressing it together with the cable whereas the EX1000 uses screw tight connection to the cable
Kenneth Chan Thanks for pointing that out. Are there any after-market cables available for the EX1000? My step-father has mended my cable (for a second time) with ordinary wire and replaced the jack. He is highly skeptical that this will make any difference to the sound quality but said he had never seen a cable that contained as much insulation as the EX1000's. Do the XBA-Z5's SOUND better/bigger than the EX1000s ? Do they run better/louder un-amped from mobile phones ?
Believe it or not, the sound quality of old Z5 is obviously better than the recent Sony IER M7. I also prefer Z5 to Sen. ie 800 after years of listening. An old masterpiece of Sony.
another drawback compared to Z5 is IE800 cables is shorter...which is a minus point now in terms of earbuds i have to be fair because i use stock for each model it is said that the IE800 only caters for their own earbuds both are rubber however if slight effort is used try using the Z5 rubber filled one of the 3 sizes which fits your ear canals it might make a difference
Nice video Mike, Greetings from Colombia!!!!
311Decepticon THANK YOU!!!! :)
Apparently, like the MDR-EX1000 and the new MDR-Z7, the earpiece has a Magnesium shell. It looks to me to be a matte-finish alloy, not quite as sleek-looking as the EX1000 exterior. Either way, the casing should be very light and very strong. Minus the cord, specs have them at about 5.5g apiece, which is roughly 30% less mass than the Sennheiser IE800 earpiece.
you sound sick Mike hope you get better soon :D,im trying to get in to the better soundquality stuff so im considering one of those DAP flac players and i have my eyes on the fiio x1 dap, do you think it will be a good upgrade from the average sony walkman and ipods that i use? have you tried or owned anything from that brand? ill blindly trust in your advice as always tk.
hernan2282 Thank you for the kind words. Been a long five days for work. :) Wait till CES for the next Sony flagship Walkman.
I have no doubts XBA-Z5 sounds alittle better in terms of bass after much using however the IE800 does give a better seal and in terms of detail sounding IE800 delievers better Z5 has detail sounding but not as strong as IE800 it is quite a subjective issue there even when IE800 does have bass ports yet it isn't strong like the Z5
Which is louder and/or better considered as audiophile-quality? XBA-Z5 or IE800?
Please review the XBA-A1 :)
Mike, nice with the sony's.. on another topic good meeting and spending time with you and Jack in Toronto at TAVES on Sunday! Looking forward to receiving my order from the show. Will keep in touch
Andrew Roden It was really nice to meet you at TAVES. Perhaps a video from you on your system. ;)
The Kimber Kables for the Z7 are fantastic
Kenneth Chan I need to get those cables.
Great video! I have Sony ex 1000 and sennheiser ie 80, want to upgrade to se 846 or ie 800 or z5, which one would you buy?
How does this set compare to the Sennheiser IE800?
another nice unboxing. Any idea when we're gonna get the xb950 bt/ap review?
thecowgoesmoo2489 I just got home from a five days trip for work. Will have more videos and reviews very soon. :)
When are u going to make a xb950 review
Sebastian Jamali just got home from a five days trip for work. Will have more videos soon. :)
Would you mind sharing with us if you find that the bass is overpowering or bloated? that's what we want to know
They'd go well with my new Sony Hi-Res Walkman. :-)
Calm down! Let those who just bought XBA-H3, like me, cry for a while!
hej mike!
what I was wondering about right now was:
in lots of videos and also in the beyer a2 review you show equipment like the new but also old amp, the expensive akg in-ear and so on.
but in your head-fi profile there are only few of them listed..
why?
dead_Kitty I haven't updated that in many many years LOL...
mike did u buy them ? and which one you prefer Sony xba z5 or Akg 3003
Any thoughts on these vs EX1000?
Cant wait to hear these with the complementary SONY PHA-3..
Mugen Mundo waiting for that to show up. :)
Hello, there. How would you compare these to the ex800 (vent taped) ?
Regards ; )
Nice review. The Hi-Res, or anything Hi-Res is a joke in light of the Nyquist Theorem and also that humans can't hear any of the frequencies they are touting in their charts on Sony website, but they are nice headphones anyway.
I have xba h1 if I want to have a new one better with the z5 or jh7? Since they r in that price range area.
where's your Denon DA-10 video?
The housings on these are so... chunky! The IE800 is so elegant, shows the difference between the Germans and the Japanese. (no offence to any Japanese people watching this.) And no, nothing personal against sony, i love sony tbh, i grew up on their products.
Z5 uses magnesium, which is one of the absolute best metals, thinnest, and lightest metals that can be employed. The reason why these are rather large is the driver size. They're certainly superior to the IE800 in sound.
I'm going to get these after I get the Sony XBA-A3.
Z5 are better. I say skip A3.
Hi-Fi Insider Well looks like I'm getting the Sony XBA Z5 instead.
Compare to the Sony MDR-EX1000, which is better in terms of sound quality?
He said the Z5 creamed everything he ever heard... But that was with the balanced cable and pha-3.
www.head-fi.org/t/733404/sonys-new-2014-flagship-iem-xba-z5/195#post_10958061
I wonder how are they comperd to the Sennheiser ie80?
Great Video!
Ricardo Anton THANK YOU!!!
Liked the video actually thinking of getting these
Nathan Godinez these are well worth $699. I would pay more if I had to. :)
ill buy these when i become rich c:
RR redaxis don't have to be rich. Just budget for it. :)
Can anyone comment on how these are vs. the XBA-H3's?
Thx
how do these stack up against other hi-res in ear's in the price range?
Noah Sutter these are the BEST
And would these need an amp or Dac or could these function well just from a phone?
Noah Sutter You'll need the pha-3 amp and an additional balanced cable. That's about $1,100 worth of extra of stuff! *evil cackle*
PHA-3,Z5 and Z7 good combination
Kenneth Chan PHA-3 is a must if you get Z7.
xba z5 or ie800?
ajr13 that's a tough choice. The z5 are definitely cheap atm though at only $499 while the ie800 are still around $700-800.
whats about xba-300
what you say about XBA-A1AP ????
powerfull but expenciv
its Z5 bro...
its Most expensive earbuds in Sony.
Trevion Square
For the sake of suspense !!!don’t open the box 📦 before the video😆
Aaaaagrhhhhh) ( Homer Simpson's face)))
Misty Walk
why is the price so high
Idle566 the sound and design. It's worth the money.
A3 sounds so much better.... These are so much over priced.... In my opinion a3 even sounds better than z5
700 dollars for earbuds, your crazy?!?!?!
i hope theres diamonds on them
AKG K3003 earbuds cost 1300 dollars!
siverdollar ROTMG it's a bargain!
***** okay well can you recommend me good earbuds for under 200$?
siverdollar ROTMG
There's too many. Depends what you'll listen to.
Yeah let me just go to the audio store and pull $699 out of my ass and buy this........$699? eh its nothing
wow so cheap!!!
first view comment and like
For $700 these earphones better make my breakfast also....And its not even wireless!
Wireless degrades the audio quality, thats for a different target market of listeners.
Third!
CorkyBurrito (y)
First
Sebastian Jamali yes!!! :)
Just Curios , Do you folks out there have more money than Common since to Blow that kind of money on a piece of electronics and wire that won't last well for more than a year. Get real, Kids are starving in this country.