CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS
Lobby => IEM Measurements => Topic started by: Marvey on July 13, 2012, 08:25:21 PM
-
Fischer Audio DBA-02 mk2 Measurements
(http://www.changstar.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=406.0;attach=1839;image)
(right channel was intentionally reduced 1db. Cut-off at 9kHz intentional. Read IMPORTANT NOTES (http://www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,397.0.html).)
-
interesting.. does it sound sibilant at all with those peaks in the vocal range.
CSDs look great.
Thanks Marv.
-
For me, the mk2 was just a hair sibilant. Well within what I am able to tolerate. It's slightly bright, but enjoyably so. I was able to get better insertion depth with the mk2 than the mk1.
With the mk1, I couldn't quite get a good seal for the treble to behave, or at least the bass drop off was so significant that it couldn't balance the treble. LFF and Anax had no seal issues with the mk1, so the prefer it because of the better bass quality.
-
For any mk1 owners out there, from whom would you suggest buying them?
-
For any mk1 owners out there, from whom would you suggest buying them?
See if you can get the B2 pre-order from MP4nation. They are a steal at $109.
-
The brainwavz B2 Mike?
Looking to buy a pair of IEMs for a girl under 200..so these measurements are really helpful for me without having a chance to listen to them.
-
What kind of asswipe are you using measurements short of listening to buy something cheap? Haven't you learned anything from SG's reviews?
-
;D
Not that i give a crap but who's SG and what's his problem with measurements?
-
Steve Guttenberg http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000430/ (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000430/)
-
oh that PO poo ..people still read his crap??
-
Yes. B2 is basically a DBA02 mk1. My concern w/ the mk1 is whether some girls might have too small of ear canal for the requisite insertion. Like Purrin. :)p17 I presume you already know how deep she can take it...to within a millimeter. :)p13
-
oh that PO poo ..people still read his crap??
:)p1 second only to 6 moons reviews :D ?
> My concern w/ the mk1 is whether some girls might have too small of ear canal for the requisite insertion.
mk2 is smaller though
-
But B2 is the smallest. IT is so small there may be problems removing it from the ear after deep insertion.
Personally, I kind of like and dislike the sound. It has a strong 4.5k resonance, "BA-style" - it's smoother than the razor of death, but sounds ugly nonetheless. Gives lots of fake "clarity", even Comply P and T100 don't help enough with it. It makes the soundstage very flat too.
Bass is also somewhat grainy, but not lacking otherwise.
I suspect the burst decays for it understate the magnitude of this ringing - or perhaps due to the cutoff.
-
What? B2 is the same size as the DBA-02 exactly. DBA-02 mkII is the smaller and now it seems the R50 is the smallest. The mk2 or R50 is what you recommend to people w/ smaller ear canals for deep fit. Those people will never get a deep fit w/ a mk1 or B2, anatomically impossible.
B2 peaks are mitigated w/ big ear canals, deep insertion and small bore tips like the Klipsch gels. It becomes very flat. Rin did measurements on tips effects for the B2 and my setup came up very neutral just as I hear them. Big bore tips like complies will let the badness through.
What part of the bass is grainy? Not the mid or upper bass. The overall signature is pretty smooth and liquid, but not overly fake liquid like a Shure.
-
Oh, I meant low bass and subbass. B2 body is slightly smaller than DBA 02 mkI - it's 4mm square, DBA 02 is 5 mm square front - in other words, thicker by the thickness of the plastic.
Indeed GR01 and R-50 are tiny, as is DBA-02 mkII, but I never had any on-hand access to these. 2nd world country and all.
Are Comply P small bore or not? They're smaller than T100, but not by much.
Here's a hotlink image: http://cdn.head-fi.org/4/4d/4d09efdc_TWFKearphonecomparison.jpeg
Apparently the front part between DBA-02 mkII and Brainwavz B2 is the same size.
-
Would reshelling these retain the sound? Or would it be worse since the housing and the distance from the drivers to the ears change.
-
Reshelling anything is a gamble. It would move the drivers further out and I would not like that. I have custom vinyl tips for mine and the sound is not as good tonally.
-
<IMO>
So , few months ago i got a chance to hear balanced armatures for the first time and it was DBA MKII. Having read nothing but praise for it i had high hopes. I tried to like it but the really thin and peaky upper mids are very apparent. The shell is really small and hence the drivers and it shows while listening. Tiny sound.
Overall sound is clean(dark grey background) but somewhat rounded and low on texture. Good for casual low volume listening. Not worth 150$ but then if HE400 can ask 400$ for it's terrible sound, DBA2 should be VFM
</IMO>
*** For sound and price evaluation: I have 2 modded vintage Yamahas. HP50A and HP1 that cost me 120$ and 150$ respectively***
-
To me the Brainwavz B2 aka DBA-02 Mk1 are still unrivalled in their price range. Period.
-
To me the Brainwavz B2 aka DBA-02 Mk1 are still unrivalled in their price range. Period.
Agreed, I still have/use mine when I don't want to lose or damage my UERM. People need to know that they have to be inserted extremely deep with the right tips and even then their personal ear canal size and shape will have a huge affect on whether they can hear them at their best. That's just the way it is with those things.
For example Marv's ear canal is too small so it's impossible to insert the housing deep enough. AS can get deep insertion but his ear canal is too long making the ideal reference plane too far away.
-
The owner of the MKII did send lots of tips including sony hybrids and some triple flanges. There were few that had some foam kinda material inserted in the tips. Except for triple flanges all were good and comfortable. Didn't find any significant changes. Yes, if deeply pushed into the ears the mid brightness is bit tamed but still easily noticeable. That section feels grainy and sharp and not at all coherent with rest of the warm sound. Unless there is a driver/sonic difference between MKI and MKII, i think we are talking about the same earphones.
-
The owner of the MKII did send lots of tips including sony hybrids and some triple flanges. There were few that had some foam kinda material inserted in the tips. Except for triple flanges all were good and comfortable. Didn't find any significant changes. Yes, if deeply pushed into the ears the mid brightness is bit tamed but still easily noticeable. That section feels grainy and sharp and not at all coherent with rest of the warm sound. Unless there is a driver/sonic difference between MKI and MKII, i think we are talking about the same earphones.
Sony Hybrids have a bore that's too big and are impossible to allow for deep insertion unless you are King Kong. Grain, sharpness and incoherence mean you have a less than ideal seal/fit. The mk2 does sound a smidgen warmer than the mk1.
I guess we could ask stratocaster if he experiences any grain, sharpness or incoherence.
Proper fit should have the DBA's housing pretty much disappear inside your ear canal, meaning you can barely see it poking out. Plus a small bore helps to even out the FR and any nasties. It's okay if you have a fit issue, just use a different phone. Not everyone can wear every phone out there. I have issues with discus style IEMs like the DDM and Sony EX series. Others can't even fit customs, especially if they have too many drivers. Just the way it is.
-
I guess we could ask stratocaster if he experiences any grain, sharpness or incoherence.
I do not experience any of these. Although I cannot speak for the MkIIs.
-
Proper fit should have the DBA's housing pretty much disappear inside your ear canal, meaning you can barely see it poking out. Plus a small bore helps to even out the FR and any nasties. It's okay if you have a fit issue, just use a different phone. Not everyone can wear every phone out there. I have issues with discus style IEMs like the DDM and Sony EX series. Others can't even fit customs, especially if they have too many drivers. Just the way it is.
Yeah, definitely not to the level that the housing would disappear. But the seal was good, in that i could feel the air pressure. Bad seal affects bass too , but the bass was fine quantity wise. Not at all bass lite.
I am not into IEMs at all but had a curiosity for BA. Anyways, it took only 10-15 secs to identify upper mid sharp/tizzy elevation. The sound sig is smooth and for the most part FR is sane so it doesn't hurt ears as much as those that have broad upper mids/low treble elevation
-
Proper fit should have the DBA's housing pretty much disappear inside your ear canal, meaning you can barely see it poking out. Plus a small bore helps to even out the FR and any nasties. It's okay if you have a fit issue, just use a different phone. Not everyone can wear every phone out there. I have issues with discus style IEMs like the DDM and Sony EX series. Others can't even fit customs, especially if they have too many drivers. Just the way it is.
Yeah, definitely not to the level that the housing would disappear. But the seal was good, in that i could feel the air pressure. Bad seal affects bass too , but the bass was fine quantity wise. Not at all bass lite.
Seal affects bass. Shape and size of the ear canal along with insertion depth and size of the tips bore affect everything else you describe.