So I just got done... reading all 54 pages of this thread.... Needless to say I have a few comments.
First of all, wow. It's sure been quite the journey for some of you who have made it this far and
still don't have your Westone 3's yet. I'll be light, because I know how frustrated some of you are. Oh, do I know (Page 50). But from what I read, it seemed like a real roller coaster ride: the joy, happiness and wonder followed by anger and frustration, back to joy and happiness again... it's like I was really there.. except, none of you are more there.. than I am...
Anyway, while I was reading, I couldn't help but notice how many are kind of bashing on the Shure E500. Now, granted, I'm aware that the majority of you are either extremely excited about the Westone 3 or just Westone fanboys/fangirls or both. But seriously guys, come on. The E500 is
not a horrible earphone, and I haven't even heard it! There is no way that it can get a perfect value rating from HeadRoom, an "A" from iLounge, an Editor's Choice from CNET, EarphoneSolutions.com, PCMagazine and others, and
still be as bad as some of you say it is.
Now I know, I know, people have their tastes, but saying that...
Originally Posted by FaRKle
The UM3's are WAY better than the E500
...is quite bold. I mean some of you are making it sound like the Westone 3 is pretty much perfect, and for a ton of you, after hearing it I know you're going to think this. But to others, the Westone 3 isn't without its flaws.
After reading through all of the pages, the only real in-depth reviewing I saw going on was given by jay spec throughout pages 41 to 43. And I'm not just saying that because he rated the E500 higher than the Westone 3. I'm saying that because he actually went and analyzed those IEM's very well, going into detail and saying where he truly thought each IEM stood out over the others and why. It turns out that, in his experience with the Westone 3's, there...
Originally Posted by jay spec
was a slight exaggeration in the treble, causing things like cymbals to have an over-emphasized attack and unnatural decay imo. there was also noticable sibilance, causing S's to exhibited a bit of a metallic sound.
He also tells his preference as to which cans sound good to him for reference. This is not the only time sibilance with Westones is brought up in this thread either:
Originally Posted by teddysaur
UM2 seems to have some problems with sibilance. Will Westone 3 have the same problem too?
It wasn't too shocking to find that p0wderh0und and Flavio said they both don't notice any sibilance. But then aukoh said:
Originally Posted by aukoh
you'll get used to it.
i had my Alesandro MS-1's for a good year and a bit before i went and bought the UM2's. When i first listened to the UM2's, they felt sibilant compared to my MS-1's, however, i noticed that i've 'adapted' to the sound and it seems to be okay for me now.
And after that, this issue wasn't brought up again until jay spec did his review. (Personally, I couldn't 'adapt' to sharp sibilance even if I tried.. actually, I have tried.) The final time sibilance was brought up was when PsiCore asked:
Originally Posted by PsiCore
If I heard sibilance on the UM2 would I hear them also on the "3"?
And that question was never answered. Now, as far as my personal experience in being able to talk about this, I have in my posession the UM2. I have been listening to it all this week and am incredibly heartbroken in saying that I am going to have to send them back, and it's a real shame because I
really wanted to like them. I just cannot stand the sibilance: it actually hurts my ears. And I cannot even begin to believe that someone could say that there isn't
any. It brings back memories of my horrible experience with my first IEM, the v-moda Vibe, which to my ears puts the "
SSSSSS" in
Sibilance. But that's just me and everone hears things different I guess.
So what's my point in writing all of this? Is it to draw people away from getting the Westone 3? No. While I am trying to summarize a lot of what has been discussed in this thread so far, I'm also trying to say that if you're just scanning through a thread like this trying to figure out if an IEM is right for you, both positive and negative misinformation can and has led to unhappy customers.
