WESTONE 3 IMPRESSIONS AND APPRECIATION THREAD - Page 55

Yeah. That would be the Travagans White that you got as a straight across trade as deal of the century in return for your q-JAYS and a review on the Travagans Good deal!

My westone 3's were waiting for me at my doorstep when I got home today. All I can say is wow, this is what I've been missing with my superfi 5 pro's. I always knew that there were much better iem's but wow..the difference is astounding to me. I've never heard music sound so full bodied from any iem's until now. I'll keep trying out different tips to see what suits me best. So far the short complies, medium silicon, and modded biflanges work very well. The clear vinyl tips are not for my ears htough. Next stop for me is to try a pair of medium olives I have laying around. It's great that I have so many tips that fit me well with these earphones. It's such a contrast from struggling to find a mildly comfortable fit with the superfi's. The westones are so much more comfortable! and are so much easier to get a good seal. I'm loving these! I think I'll have to put off calculus for at least 2 hours to get a nice listening session in with these babies

Evidence continues to mount. Exactly my initial impressions, after 30 minutes I didn't want to give them back (to my wife to wrap for Xmas). I guess I was slumming it all these years.

Music always helped me concentrate on studying better, when I was young and in school - now it makes me forget everything else going on around me, which is a life-saver!

Yeah, when it comes to math like calculus, I like to listen to my whole collection. When it comes to other subjects that force me to read and analyze/memorize such as biology, statistics or government, I prefer to work with soft classical or accoustic music with no vocals. I'm a big fan of iem's because they put me in own little studying world

Well, I got it. A lot faster than I thought I would.

Initial impressions:

Not bad, but still no cigar. I was hoping that this would be the first universal-fit IEM that would sound like a proper high-end headphone, but this isn't on the same level.

However, it is the best universal-fit IEM I've heard thus far, though the margin isn't huge.

The sound is warm and laid-back, very Sennheiser-like if anything. The bass is reasonably well controlled, but there is a lot of upper bass prominence. The midrange is full, but there is a very significant lower-midrange emphasis which gives vocals a very husky and chesty tone. They're way, way too warm. I like a euphonic midrange normally, but this is too much. The highs are significantly rolled-off, but what's there is nice, not too harsh, and pretty clear. The soundstage is very wide, imaging is not bad considering we're dealing with 2 crossovers and 3 drivers here, and dynamic range is very good.

However, I was led to believe that this would fit into the Westone sound signature. It doesn't. It sounds like a Shure more than anything, or a Sennheiser that's not driven properly. Westones were always forward with a neutral but very full midrange. That was their magic. Good tone, very engaging sound, and didn't sound too much like a canalphone. This, on the other hand, is warm and laid-back. It doesn't sound much like a canalphone either, but it's very different from the UM2 and the ES2, which share a similar sound signature though the ES2 is miles ahead of the UM2.

Is this a bad thing? Well if you like a single-ended HD650 that still sounds creamy and euphonic, you'll probably wet yourself over this canalphone since that's exactly what it sounds like. But if you want a neutral midrange... sorry, this isn't it. Get customs instead.

I like this canalphone. I like it quite a bit. But, let's get one thing straight: it's not in the same league as the ES2, or good full-size high-end headphones.

I will post a separate impressions thread once I have a lot more material.

Glad to see you got these and for sharing your impressions, catscratch!

Fair enough.

Please do. Can't wait.

I might have missed it, but what tips are you using? With the Complys it sounds kinda like what you describe, and with the UM56 tips it sounds more like my re-cabled Edition 9 (but without any of the bad people talk about) and outta this world.

I'm using the clear flex sleeves in medium size. They always worked best for me with Westones and Shures, and this is no exception. Yes, the comply tips really mute the highs. The triflanges sound very off, and I can't get a good seal with the grey flex sleeves at all.

Yeah, I've posted the triple flanges sound off if you don't mod them. They sound better as a triple with short stalk for me than as a bi-flange, but some have found cutting them into a single flange is even better. I almost wish they all came with a coupon for a set of UM-56 custom tips, as these are just sooo good with the W3.

Anyone tried the W3s with a Fiio?

Augh, this is killing me too. Very close to biting the bullet. These are so darn tempting, especially since all 3 of my Shures have gone dead after falling prey to split cables. Can anyone comment on how durable the cable on the Westone line is?

From the looks of the pics I have seen, it seems that the distance from the IEM to the Y-junction is long enough to run the cable down the chest instead of down the back. Is this true? If so, wearing the IEMs with the cable in front, how low is the y-junction on the chest?

Thanks.

For me, it splits about 3" below my chin. My head is kindof big by the way.

cant you adjust the bigness of the y-junction like at the westone 1?