[section_title title=Performance]Performance
Although the XBA-H3 are all but aimed at music only, i tried them across video and games too and safe to say, the performance across all was sublime. Naturally, i’ll cover music first.
Music
My first few hours with the XBA-H3 didn’t seem to standout by any stretch other than the fit being extremely comfortable and the feeling of weightlessness fantastic. I began focus testing to music that is my ‘go to’ for audio and I was blown away once I went looking for new nuances.
Starting with some Florence + The Machine’s debut album ‘Lungs’ every track was like a new experience. Florence herself may as well have been sat next to me singing such is the clarity of the XBA-H3. The opening track ‘Dog Days Are Over’ had a new sense of individual layers within the track i’d never experienced before. Voice, claps, the piano and finally the beating drum that runs throughout the song were all distinct yet retained a sublime soundstage. Bass was being layed down with precision whilst Florence’s voice and the instruments were all allowed to breath un-molested by each other. For me, the experience was like going from closed back headphones to open back yet retaining the isolation and not losing any of the breathing space for the music.
Next-up was The xx’s ‘Coexist’ and in particular the track ‘Sunset’. The track opens with a heavy, driving drum beat and this exercised the driver of the XBA-H3 supremely. Layeyred on top of that is a bass guitar before the vocals kick in and again, like with Florence + The Machine, everything was perfectly separated and nothing feels compromised for a specific sound. Everything is delivered front a centre with neither channel lacking and instead you’re being served up the full treat with immediacy and at once.
The track ‘Reunion’ was also listened too. This one features a heavy emphasis on the highs and mids thanks to the use of seashell like drums that fades in and out all throughout the track. When vocals are introduced nothing is lost and it’s great, really, an aural treat that can only be experienced rather than described. Towards the tail end of the track a light application of bass is introduced and here the driver doesn’t fall away either, delivering another fine performance where the source isn’t even that heavy to cover up any mishaps it may otherwise have produced.
Finally, Disclosure’s ‘Settle’ was the call of order with the aim of sticking a more processed sound through the XBA-H3 and seeing how they fared. Naturally ‘White Noise’ sounded brilliant. The metronome like loop that runs the course of the song sounds decidedly crisp and digital and always there for you to pick out or to remind you of it’s presence whilst your lost in AlunaGeorger’s vocals, it’s sublime. Bass is smooth and the hit of drums has a distinctive left to right sound that’s still present underneath the bass line as if someone is precisely plucking away at an acoustic guitar. The remix of ‘Running’ is also a standout (bonus) track. The electronic organ sounds full and deep as it switches between highs and lows before the looped symbol comes to play as well. The sensation is that there is a small band inside your head playing a big track. The sound is voluminous and never running out of breathe. Add to this the remixed Jessie Ware vocals and the whole package is a treat.
Video
Last Christmas’ The Hobbit film was the choice material here, more specifically, the chase scene through the goblin mines. The scenes make good use of conversation, the films unwavering score and a good dollop of sound effects. Ambient swaying of the wooden scaffolding is always there even during the scene where the companions talk to the goblin king whilst the XBA-H3 deliver a fine voice performance. Sword slashes sound nice and crisp, too during the actual scene leading up to the standoff with wilhelm screams and splintering would all having prominence and good spatial sound. The OST, of course, is underneath all of this and sticks with the magnitude we expect from such films whilst never getting in the way of more necessary details and really, sets the mood just fine. You always know you’re in Tolkein’s saga and the XBA=H3 do a fine job of cementing that feeling with just two channels.
Games
As it’s launch week the XBA-H3’s have been used with Forza Motorsport 5, mainly. Forza 4 and now 5 have both been lauded for their sound so it only seemed fitting to use the XBA-H3 with this. I turned the in-game music off and just left the sound effects turned up and the end result is immense. Engine roar, whines and the rush of turbos all sound vicious and exciting. The XBA-H3 also do a good job of an admittedly weak source (stereo) in regards to positioning. Forza 5 features up to 16 cars on track and sticking around a group of two or three and they’re all well represented aurally and even when reverb comes into play through tunnels.
I also gave Battlefield 4 a run around also, and here the XBA-H3 are absolute monsters. Audio settings in-game were set to headphones and the alreayd famed DICE audio was even better, and undoubtedly, the best i’ve ever experienced in a game. Guns all have an added oomph to them that can’t be described by just more bass, or being louder – it’s as if someone is sat next to you with a nail gun on demand. Vehicle sounds, specifically the tank, have a well developed mechanical sound and gruff to them I hadn’t usually picked up on before and when you fire a shell you really do get a ‘metal on metal clunk’ from the actual firing and sound of the shell being reloaded. The overall effect is that of a smile creeping across your face as you burn through a field firing at all and sundry.
