Westone 3 - You asked for it, we listened !

[Dexter Morgan]

^Severe wishful thinking - not that I blame you

[p0wderh0und23]

Originally Posted by craiglester

Doug, any idea if the customs will be available at the same time as the standard 3's ? Hopefully I won't have to wait another couple of months longer

I'm itching to get my ears on a pair of these delightful little fellas.

I honestly do not know. My guess is that it will be a few months. The 3Custom is very early ALPHA as all efforts have been focused on getting the dang 3 out. ;-)

[HeadphoneAddict]

Originally Posted by p0wderh0und23

Westone’s new 3 – The first true three-way earphone made for music lovers

The Westone 3 is the first true universal fit three-way earphone designed for personal listening. Its balanced armature drivers and three-way crossover network deliver powerful lows, lush midrange, and crystal-clear highs that add incredible realism and punch to your listening experiences. The 3’s ergonomic fit provides unmatched comfort, outstanding sound isolation, and accurate reproduction that will satisfy the most demanding music lover or audiophile.

The Westone 3 is the culmination of almost 50 years of experience creating products for the human ear, and 20-plus years of developing in-ear technology for pro musicians. Westone monitors’ clarity, response and fit have made them the favorites of top recording and performing musicians worldwide.

Technical Specs:
Sensitivity – 119 dB/mW
Impedance – 27ohms
Drivers – 3 balanced armatures with 3-way passive crossover

Accessories:
Inline Volume Control
¼” Adapter
Travel Case
Tips (various sizes and styles)


We will have prototypes at MacWorld in San Fran next week. Come hear them for yourself !

Hey there!!

I was over at Westone today, delivering my new ear impressions for my UM56 vinyl custom IEM tips.

While I was there, I bugged Dale for a while with all kinds of questions, and he was extremely helpful. We talked and he discovered I was an audiophile, not just a Shure E500 owner, and I offered to let him listen to my iBasso D1 portable DAC/AMP with my iRiver H140 and optical out.

He felt the need to get "listen to the good earphones" as he eyed my Shures. He comes back with some Westone 3 earphones for me to audition, so with Complys tips I listened to my Shure, and then the Westone. I also gave him the opportunity to listen to the Westone 3 with a nice source and amp.

My next question was HOW SOON can I have some, can I borrow them for a week to do a review, do you know when they will be available for review, can you tell me more than "SOON"?



I only had 2 minutes to listen to them, but that was enough to tell that they improve on the SE500's noticably. It took me 3-4 hours to decide I liked the Livewires better than SE500's, and 2 minutes with the Westone 3 was enough to rank them. I CANNOT compare to the Livewires, but the livewires were in the same direction as the Westone 3 but with slightly less bass (from my recollection since I mailed them out Monday to be tweaked).

I can't decribe everything, but there was just as much or more soundstage, more mid and high presense, plenty of bass impact without boomyness or coloration, good extension on lows and highs, mucho detail and definition of individual instruments. Side by side they do reveal the failings of the Shure SE500's, and while the SE500's sound great on their own merits, it appears that the Livewires and soon the Westone 3 will be replacing my Denon C700 and Shure SE500's.

[Voltron]

Originally Posted by p0wderh0und23

I honestly do not know. My guess is that it will be a few months. The 3Custom is very early ALPHA as all efforts have been focused on getting the dang 3 out. ;-)

I know I am personally very excited for the 3 Customs to make it up to the next letter in the alphabet!

Good luck getting the 3 on the streets. Headphoneaddict's hands-on test makes them sound killer.

[HeadphoneAddict]

Originally Posted by arevalo

So the Westone 3's aren't out yet?

Confused!

Wierd - my eyes were playing tricks on me....

[PeterDLai]

What? They don't look like that?

Did they change the design or something?

[derek8555]

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict

Wierd - they don't look anything like that.

Hmmm... they look the same to me though....

[p0wderh0und23]

Nothing has changed. The ones we have on the table outside my office are the same design as the ones we shot photos of a few months back. Now, the tips in the shot are silicone "mushroom" tips and the ones used yesterday were probably Comply tips.

[HeadphoneAddict]

Okay, nevermind.

If you look at my picture, they look more like a flat round disc, especially from the underside where the output nozle is, and I spent more time viewing them from the backside/nozle side (putting on and removing tips).

But, studying the wierd angle I shot my photo from, they do seem like they would match the other photo. I had just never looked at them from that angle.

[HeadphoneAddict]

I guess the above photo confusion I had was because I cared more about the sound than the looks

Powderhound, are you the Doug (or Don) they couldn't get hold of just before 3pm yesterday, so they grabbed Dale instead, or are you at a different location, or across the street? Dale was really helpful, and I do appreciate not being shooo'd out the door for being there