Iv'e had my eye on these earphones for a while and was about to pull the trigger on some from E-bay last night at $200 + delivery.
However I stumbed accross these at HN and they seem like a good price
Price comparison (AUS):
http://www.getprice.com.au/Sony-XBA-4-Headphones.htm
and amazon US is: AUD 241.40 delivered for the Japanese imported versions
Highly recommend the XBA-3 over these, the XBA-4 has that feeling of too much bass to cut-off some details. Nevertheless, Sony's XBA range is an absolute killer for sound quality, simply because they are the only company to make their own proprietary balance armature parts.
Also, get some official Comply tips with these.
Haha maybe ill get both 14 day money back ill choose what ones I like
is that promo still going on?
Seems its the promo is attached to the earphones so no expiry date http://www.sony.com.au/microsite/sonyxba/product.html
What sort of audio format would I need to make these worth my while? eg if my MP3/AAC tracks are too compressed, or what bitrate is too low?
up to you and what you can hear. different people claim to go lossless, others claim that mp3 are rubbish regardless of bitrate, etc.
have a play with one and your files and let your own ears decide what is best for you.
I did think about a bit more. Not really a music person as much as listening to podcasts etc, so I'd only go with the XBA-1 and maybe XBA-1VP (confusion over whether latter is iPhone compatible). Spending more no matter how good a bargain might just be lost on me.
I have the XBA-2's…really impressive sound but lacks bass almost entirely. Will upgrade to these unless somebody has another recommendation. I was previously eying off the Logitech UE900's at DSE for $299.
Impressive…. HN cheaper than the competition.