DIGIT-ARC read-only archive · snapshot: July 23, 2026

IEM under 2k

6 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/iem-under-2k.195323/

sujoyp
sujoyp Original post #1
Oct 27, 2015 at 6:12 PM
Hi Guys. Yesterday my 3 years old Sony XB30 died partially :D its one side not working.

I would love good bass as XB30 . I use it both on laptop as well as with mobile phones for movie and music.

I have tested Soundmagic ES18 and found low on Bass.

XB30 had great built quality and I use to abuse it ...didnt kept it delicately in pouch..also need flat cables for tangle-free experience.

Please suggest.

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Anybody have experience with XB50AP...is paying almost 600 rs on these from XB30 is worth ?
Hrishi
Hrishi #2
Oct 28, 2015 at 3:33 AM
[MENTION=39722]sujoyp[/MENTION] , if you are looking into too much bass it would overpower the other frequencies ( mids and highs ) also known as vocals and treble.
The flat the eq. response it the better audio output will be. It will take time to get used to it , but it's better to listen to a flat-range IEM so you get to hear what the sound engineer produced originally without any modification/amplification.
I too own a pair of XB90 and must say that they are built to take abuse. They have ABS body fortunately , but somehow they have high amount of bass which makes the audio kind of muddy.

I would recommend Signature Acoustics C12 within 2-2.5k price range.
There are few people I know in the forum who own it.
sujoyp
sujoyp #3
Oct 28, 2015 at 10:00 PM
Thanks hrishi...I will check it ...but I definitely want good built quality and flat wire...its about usability. I once had Sennheiser and it was damaged in 3 months of use :(

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How are Sen CX213 and SM ES19s or Beyr FX101
sujoyp
sujoyp #4
Nov 3, 2015 at 11:32 PM
bought soundmagic ES18s ...very unhappy with the bass ...much less then my XB30 :(

cable quality is also very poor and flimsy compared to XB30 ...hope it takes the abuse for some months
Hrishi
Hrishi #5
Nov 4, 2015 at 3:09 AM
bought soundmagic ES18s ...very unhappy with the bass ...much less then my XB30 :(

cable quality is also very poor and flimsy compared to XB30 ...hope it takes the abuse for some months
Don't worry you will get used to the less bass and balanced sound soon.
The XB series carry a lot of bass in them so anything which doesn't fall in bass spectrum will likely disappoint you after using XB series.
sujoyp
sujoyp #6
Nov 4, 2015 at 8:46 AM
I hope :)