CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS

  • December 31, 2015, 11:09:33 AM
  • Welcome, Guest
Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: [1] 2 3

Author Topic: BA driver, is it less durable than dynamic driver?  (Read 3821 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

phillip88

  • Ain't no Westbrook
  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +10/-3
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 124
  • FAD wind turbine
BA driver, is it less durable than dynamic driver?
« on: March 23, 2013, 03:49:12 AM »
Truth be told, I don't really understand the science behind.
But I have a general perception that BA drivers are less durable than Dynamic ones.
And also, a friend of my deterred me from buying a second hand FIBASS, stating that BA drivers are generally less durable and break down easily compared to dynamic ones.

Is there any truth of this?
Logged

Anaxilus.

  • Dikus Beligerantis Analmorticus
  • Pirate
  • **
  • Brownie Points: +65535/-65535
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 577
Re: BA driver, is it less durable than dynamic driver?
« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2013, 04:21:20 AM »
That's a bit of a tricky question.  As for endurance on longevity of use, BA's are more robust due to the nature of their materials and how they operate.  Dynamic drivers are a less robust material that can be more susceptible to wear and environmental conditions like moisture and temperature if we ignore potential electrical issues as being equal between the two.

However, BA's are more prone to damage from shock since the hardness of their component s can also yield to brittleness.  This is a common compromise one has to make unless you move on to mixtures like alloys and composites that try to have the best of all possible worlds they are designed for.  Dynamics can be even more fragile based on the nature of the ventilation and housing design. Driver flex can occur upon insertion if the housing is unable to efficiently equalize the pressure build up.  This puts stress on dynamic drivers and can even cause them to become inverted or deformed in the case of some old Monster IEMs for example.  Of course the ventilation scheme is key to tuning the FR of the driver so it varies.

If I were worried about tossing my IEMs around and the preferred dynamic didn't fall prey to excessive driver flex, dynamics would be the way to go.  But if my IEMs were wrokhorses I used all the time and planned on using for years and I'm respectful of my gear, BA's for me.

If I'm lounging w/ a Mai Tai in complete isolation w/ a hermetically sealed bubble, Stax would work.
Logged
If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading - Lao Tzu

phillip88

  • Ain't no Westbrook
  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +10/-3
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 124
  • FAD wind turbine
Re: BA driver, is it less durable than dynamic driver?
« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2013, 04:24:57 AM »
Anax, could you tell me more, what are the weaknesses of the BA drivers? I am not really a careful person, alto I don't really leave my IEM behind hazardous environment. By the way, another issue arise from IEM is that if the cables aren't replaceable, will the cable goes stiff first and torn out from the driver (if used for a long time under not so conducive environment)?
Logged

Kunlun

  • Sort of a big deal in the online feline community
  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +42/-16
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 574
  • Goronyo Kunlun Board Member Nigerian Nat'l Oil Co.
    • my website
Re: BA driver, is it less durable than dynamic driver?
« Reply #3 on: March 23, 2013, 03:26:04 PM »
One of the knocks on BAs is that they are said to be less durable than dynamics. Shock, Analmort mentioned, but for moisture, audio engineers have told me it's actually BAs that are much more susceptible to problems.

Why? Well, apart from the drivers themselves, you have to consider the other important parts, in this case, the acoustic filters that play a key role in shaping an iem's sound. BA based iems (almost) always need filtering and there are a bunch of different filters to eat a bit of this or that frequency range.

Acoustic filters are highly susceptible to moisture damage. Over time, their performance degrades and you no longer have the sound you started with when you bought the earphone. Take a shower, dry off, then plug your iems in as you head out the door? Well, your ear canals are still wet and again, over time, it's not so good. That's true for filtered dynamics as well, but it's much more common for dynamics to not need an acoustic filter (not to be confused with an acoustic-neutral screen to keep crap out).
Logged

Anaxilus.

  • Dikus Beligerantis Analmorticus
  • Pirate
  • **
  • Brownie Points: +65535/-65535
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 577
Re: BA driver, is it less durable than dynamic driver?
« Reply #4 on: March 23, 2013, 03:47:21 PM »
I can't even think of a dynamic I've had that didn't have an acoustic filter.  BAs like Etymotic are designed to have filters replaced by the user.  The only dynamic w/ user replaceable filters I can think of is Hifiman, or used to be.  Don't know about the RE400.
Logged
If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading - Lao Tzu

Helios

  • Guest
Re: BA driver, is it less durable than dynamic driver?
« Reply #5 on: March 23, 2013, 07:36:46 PM »
An IEM designer who knows what they're doing will use an acoustic filter in the nozzle regardless of whether it's BA- or dynamic-based.

Show me a great-sounding IEM that does not use an acoustic filter...and it can most likely be improved by a well-implemented one.
Logged

Kunlun

  • Sort of a big deal in the online feline community
  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +42/-16
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 574
  • Goronyo Kunlun Board Member Nigerian Nat'l Oil Co.
    • my website
Re: BA driver, is it less durable than dynamic driver?
« Reply #6 on: March 23, 2013, 10:08:10 PM »
Quote from: Helios on March 23, 2013, 07:36:46 PM
An IEM designer who knows what they're doing will use an acoustic filter in the nozzle regardless of whether it's BA- or dynamic-based.

Show me a great-sounding IEM that does not use an acoustic filter...and it can most likely be improved by a well-implemented one.

Nope! There are trade-offs to everything. An acoustic filter is not a magic make-everything-better device. Aside from being susceptible to moisture, filters also eat a bit of clarity and detail resolution.


Quote from: Analixus on March 23, 2013, 03:47:21 PM
I can't even think of a dynamic I've had that didn't have an acoustic filter.  BAs like Etymotic are designed to have filters replaced by the user.  The only dynamic w/ user replaceable filters I can think of is Hifiman, or used to be.  Don't know about the RE400.
The Future Sonics MG6Pro has no acoustic filter precisely to maximize detail and avoid the issues I mentioned of sweaty pro musicians on tour. The FS Atrio is the same way for the same reason.

The Aurisonics AS-1b was the same way, definitely no filter. They added a filter after complaints of "shoutiness" and yes, it ate some clarity and detail.

The AS-2 dynamic/dual-BA hybrid may be filterless, I'll need to confirm that with Aurisonics.

Another dynamic with no acoustic filter is the Monster Turbine Pro Copper. That's right, the mesh at the nozzle is just an acoustic neutral mesh. No acoustic filter. I confirmed that with the guy who designed them. iirc.


Supposedly, the SE5 has no filters but I'm not inclined to fully trust what most people say about it (except for Astralstorm) because of statements about the mids being magically thick/thin/forward/recessed/warm/cold/just music/etc. Astralstorm is the only person to really give a decent sense of what that ciem is like and, naturally, he got attacked on hf for it.

The k3003's "reference" filter (or whatever they called it, the treblest one) is a non-filter. Just an acoustic neutral mesh, no acoustic filter. I actually liked this one the best--although I was listening with the ibasso t3 which has a non-fatiguing sound.


As a final note, the part about acoustic filters being messed up by moisture and degrading over time is something I've heard from several sources, the heads of two different ciem companies being among them.
« Last Edit: March 23, 2013, 10:18:07 PM by Kunlun »
Logged

phillip88

  • Ain't no Westbrook
  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +10/-3
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 124
  • FAD wind turbine
Re: BA driver, is it less durable than dynamic driver?
« Reply #7 on: March 24, 2013, 01:48:50 AM »
Okay, from the progress of the conversation, I felt that the problem lies on the dampening of the acoustic filters which when soaked, it will degrade the sound quality. Am I right?
Logged

Kunlun

  • Sort of a big deal in the online feline community
  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +42/-16
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 574
  • Goronyo Kunlun Board Member Nigerian Nat'l Oil Co.
    • my website
Re: BA driver, is it less durable than dynamic driver?
« Reply #8 on: March 24, 2013, 02:13:36 AM »
Quote from: phillip88 on March 24, 2013, 01:48:50 AM
Okay, from the progress of the conversation, I felt that the problem lies on the dampening of the acoustic filters which when soaked, it will degrade the sound quality. Am I right?
Not soaked, you've exaggerated the amount of moisture needed to cause problems.

The driver types themselves also have their own qualities. I've heard that dynamics are more durable and resistant both to shock and also to wax and other matter than gets in the iems (told this by the head of a ciem company). Analmort seems to have heard differently in some respects.
Logged

phillip88

  • Ain't no Westbrook
  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +10/-3
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 124
  • FAD wind turbine
Re: BA driver, is it less durable than dynamic driver?
« Reply #9 on: March 24, 2013, 02:20:17 AM »
Kunlun, if there's no acoustic filter is it a good news? I mean IEM.
Logged
Pages: [1] 2 3
« previous next »