WESTONE 3 IMPRESSIONS AND APPRECIATION THREAD - Page 75

Interesting; I typically start my listening sessions at 40/50 with most of my material or 50/60 with highly dynamic material with a low baseline volume, and then slowly go up from there; with the really loud stuff by the end of my listening session (usually one to three hours later) I'm at 50 or 60 or with the very dynamic stuff at 60 or 70 at most, and that is already pretty loud to me--when I shut everything down I can still hear light ringing for a while. That, to me, is a sign of potential permanent hearing damage, which is why I try not to go any higher than that.

That is with my portable rig as indicated in my sig. When using my home rig, I can't turn the volume knob very far at all; the Benchmark DAC1 drives the Westone 3 pretty hard. 7:00 is zero and I can't really get much past 10:00 before it starts feeling very, very loud to me.

That being said, when I listen to my home rig, it is an other-worldly experience that is so incredible, I fear that I can never get sound even close to that good in a portable setup.

-Ed

Yeah, having an iPhone 3G -> SE530 as my portable rig, I have experienced (not purposely) how loud the iPhone 3G is at max volume (because of a stupid software glitch that I'm surprised Apple hasn't caught yet). It's loud, but not deafeningly loud, and it shouldn't be able to damage the Westone 3, much less the horrible Apple earbuds. So I personally think the CNET reviewer is full of crap, but who's to know for sure.

Looks like Singaporian audiopiles taste tends prefer IE8 much more then W3

W3:
Westone 3

IE8:
IE8 - Review
Sennheiser IE series

a good news here we can made comparison by audition before buying.:ksc75smile :

I just moved from the shure e4c into the westone 3. I really enjoy them but the one thing i notice is they are very picky. It is taking me a couple of days just to figure out ear positioning. The e4c were not nearly as picky.

not sure if it was this thread where i wrote abt how i was going to use the attenueter and the pico on hi gain, but not a good mix.

sounds waay to warm and weird.

using metallica - one as the test track, was very warm and somewhat veiled throughout

and ive only just realised the echo in the track, when james is singing just before the kick a__ solo, its v echoed. not sure if thats the track tho (just his voice, not the instruments)

That's what I wanted to read

Westone 3

Would that be a fair summary of the post I have quoted?

He preferred the ESW9 and UM2 over the W3. Incidentally since buying the ESW9 I have not used my UM2. Just superior in every way. I know some people are reluctant to compare IEMs and cans but if I only own apples and oranges then I have to

I am confused by the following which seems to conflict with opinion here. Also not sure what meaning is being attached to "lower";

Dark Side of the Moon: Remastered (+ W3's)

FYI:

Attachment 12001

Recently released: Dark Side of the Moon - Remastered

(it's a 20 bit remastering - and on a good rig, the SQ improvement over the original recording is significant. Through a Mustang, with W3's, the soundstage improvement is noteworthy).

I have not used my Westone UM2 since buying the Audio-Technica ESW9 in Aug. Just tested out of the Nano just now as I figured I shouldn't keep repeating it ad nauseum without being sure

UM2: Piano slightly blocky, voice erring same way and feels held back if "intimate". Switching to ESW9 the piano and voice become multi-layered and taken on character. Ditto with the HD600 although I notice now the T115 makes it slightly sibilant... hmmm

A new IEM is nice but a proper home setup is also nice. Choices, choices

Just saw this as I was skimming this thread. I couldn't agree more. I missed my triple.fi after selling them to get the w3. I just sold the w3 and rebought the triple.fi's. I wish with everything in me that the triples could fit as comfortable as the w3..they don't bother me real bad..just loved the comfort of the w3. I just think the sparkle is gone when using the w3 and the sound stage seems so much bigger with the triples. I hear more intricate parts of my music with the triples as well. As Nick said... that's only my opinion

I'm Singaporean and i prefer the westone 3.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/5186217-post120.html

Now, obviously you have your own opinion and I can't even speak from experience because I don't even have the IE8, but so many people are claiming that the IE8 changes quite a bit even after 100 hours of burn-in time. But glad to hear you like your Westone 3.

Curious as to your source? I presume you are talking amped? I had TFPro's for several months (twice actually) and found the dry, airy treble unlistenable. This is unamped.

Spyro, may i know what tips and cable version u own? I'm using Olives with new stock cable. It's quite smooth sounding but not smooth like UM2. The treble need a bit of time for your ears to get adjusted to it.

Stock black cable. First edition run in the fancy case. Then I bought another pair about a year later in the cheaper case. Cable and sound was the same.

Ironically, with TFPro I found most tips to sound pretty similar to one another and it all came down to what would stay in my ears. The (T400?) complys fit the best. All the silicones would too easily dislodge themselves and I never cared to mod an "olive".

Toughy, the foam tips from the IE series were the best ones I used with the TF10. I know they're not available separately yet, but if/when they do become available, you should definitely try them. I never had a problem with seal anyway, but the foam tips gave me much better isolation and a more secure fit as they gripped tighter. And the odd tracks I'd heard before (which had been slightly 'sharp' in the treble region), were tamed quite a bit!