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REVIEW: WESTONE 3, the ULTIMATE UNIVERSAL IEM vs everything else - AKA W3 Appreciation Thread - Page 8

post #106 of 2095
12/1/08 at 9:05pm
Excellent review, I skim read it looking for comparisons between the W3's and X10's because my X10's will arrive tomorrow, wanted a heads up on the sound of those Glad you have a positive opinion on those.
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post #107 of 2095
12/1/08 at 9:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cn11 View Post
I can answer #2.... it's no. I tried them, and the inner sleeve is cut too far up inside the eartip, so that it in effect sits down way too far on the sound tube of the W3. You can't get them in your ears far enough as a result.
Waiting for your veredict of the W3 against IE8...
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post #108 of 2095
12/1/08 at 9:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by EyeAmEye View Post
TFPro - Only area the Triples win is the treble.
This to show how personal taste / hearing makes a big difference. I could never stand the treble of my Triple.fis for longer than a few songs.

For my taste the treble on the Westone 3 is many times better than the Triple.fi. Actually every range is better on the Westone 3.

The only songs I could appreciate the UM2 a tiny bit better than the Westone 3 were some heavy dirty rock type of songs where the roughness could be a plus. Aside from that my Westone 3 is outperforming by a long shot all my other earphones.
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post #109 of 2095
12/1/08 at 9:56pm
Sweet. Just got a chance to plug my new 3s into my iPhone 3G for about 30 minutes. None of my amps are here, so I am hearing everything through the iPhone; most of what I listened to is stuff ripped with the Apple lossless codec. I took shots of Beethoven, the Eagles, Coldplay, the Allman Brothers at Fillmore East, Live, and some George Winston piano. My UM2s, such as I remember them before they were "repurposed" by a stranger, as much as I enjoyed them, just don't hold a candle to the 3s. As others with likely better ears than mine have noted here, there is an air to the 3s lacking in other IEMs. Neither my Ety 4p or 6i sets have it. They have that fatiguing brightness on the top end, while the 3 is extremely smooth. Bottom end is authoritative without being overbearing. The midrange is just amazing. Overall, there is a sense of effortlessness at presenting the soundstage and image. Can't wait to try these on the Mustang when it arrives; heck, I look forward to plugging it into anything better suited than the headphone jack on my phone. And I also look forward to comparing them to my LiveWires, for which I got fitted today.
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post #110 of 2095
12/1/08 at 9:57pm
@Flavio. Can you confirm if you have had much interest in Aussie retailers obtaining your new W3's? Can you disclose this info? its scarce in Oz, as headphones.com.au have also removed their Westone line... Its a shame really.
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post #111 of 2095
12/1/08 at 10:06pm
Metro: even if headphones.com.au had it, they would have a similar price to PhoenixHearing ($780AUD), I emailed Phoenix asking why it's so expensive and they replied:

Quote:
Our pricing is dictated by Westone and affected by the exchange rate and the
cost of landing goods in Australia. This includes the following:
customs entry fees
disbursement fees
fuel surcharges
security surcharges
shipping and insurance costs from the states
and other duties and taxes payable on entry.
We also support the product locally offering service and warranty repairs.
You are of course free to bring goods in yourself. The Westone shipping
charge to you will be USD55.00 but the product will need to be returned to
Westone for any service or repairs.
So yeah
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post #112 of 2095
12/1/08 at 10:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GreatDane View Post
I'm excited that you're excited!
I bet you don't get through 2 songs before you post more OMG!OMG!
OMG! OMG! Ha! You were wrong. I got through 9 songs

Quote:
Originally Posted by jlbrach View Post
the first time i tried to remove the westone 3 from my ears with the comply tips on
they got stuck in my ear necessitating a great deal of effort to remove them...
ME TOO!! Except when I went to remove the W3 from my ears... they weren't there. Yeah, that's right. Well, my ears were still there, but the earpieces were not! They'd dropped off. I was just sitting there with Comply tips wedged firmly in both ears, fiddling around with the volume on my dap and trying to make the silence 'louder', with no earpieces attached - I had to get someone to remove them with tweezers in the end, as the more I tried to pull them out, the more I pushed them in.

Anyway, I have no impressions for now, as I haven't found a tip that works well for me. At the moment, I'm using the medium silicon sleeves. The gels are a no no, I get no isolation at all. I can almost hear my cat purring through them. The Comply tips make me ... so that only leaves the medium silicon tips. I also tried the medium Shure olives, the Sleek gels (which overlap the body of the earphone), and the Image gels, which made them sound like something out of the dollar store (or the 'pound' shop for Uk'ers!!)

I'm not giving up yet, but I can't think what to try next that will give me better isolation. I really liked the Sennheiser foamies, I wish there was something similar for the W3. I'm pretty sure I twisted the Comply tips on firmly, but I'm reluctant to try again, just in case. And anyway, I don't like them much, I'd rather use silicon or a more rigid foam, like Sennheiser uses. Any ideas what other tips I can try? Aside from the custom tips?
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post #113 of 2095
12/1/08 at 10:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flavio T View Post
This to show how personal taste / hearing makes a big difference. I could never stand the treble of my Triple.fis for longer than a few songs.

For my taste the treble on the Westone 3 is many times better than the Triple.fi. Actually every range is better on the Westone 3.

The only songs I could appreciate the UM2 a tiny bit better than the Westone 3 were some heavy dirty rock type of songs where the roughness could be a plus. Aside from that my Westone 3 is outperforming by a long shot all my other earphones.
My take, I liked Triple.fi's treble initially, but it didn't take much until I started to hating its sibilance. The lower treble in the Triples is boosted and not neutral.
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post #114 of 2095
12/1/08 at 10:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by soozieq View Post
OMG! OMG! Ha! You were wrong. I got through 9 songs


ME TOO!! Except when I went to remove the W3 from my ears... they weren't there. Yeah, that's right. Well, my ears were still there, but the earpieces were not! They'd dropped off. I was just sitting there with Comply tips wedged firmly in both ears, fiddling around with the volume on my dap and trying to make the silence 'louder', with no earpieces attached - I had to get someone to remove them with tweezers in the end, as the more I tried to pull them out, the more I pushed them in.

Anyway, I have no impressions for now, as I haven't found a tip that works well for me. At the moment, I'm using the medium silicon sleeves. The gels are a no no, I get no isolation at all. I can almost hear my cat purring through them. The Comply tips make me ... so that only leaves the medium silicon tips. I also tried the medium Shure olives, the Sleek gels (which overlap the body of the earphone), and the Image gels, which made them sound like something out of the dollar store (or the 'pound' shop for Uk'ers!!)
Haha, Puondland. I have been there, but the didn't own the Westones yet.
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post #115 of 2095
12/1/08 at 10:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by p0wderh0und23 View Post
Was not aware of the markup, prolly because of import taxes is my guess.


Audicare seems to be Westone official importer to Brazil.
Have any idea if they will import the W3?
I shot them an e-mail, but last time they didn't reply my answer.

PS: do you have any idea why the ES1 costs US1500 here in Brazil?

Thanks!
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post #116 of 2095
12/1/08 at 10:50pm
Must save money, must save money for Zana Deux.

Larry! This is not helping!!
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post #117 of 2095
12/1/08 at 11:33pm
My W3s are on the way.. Should be here in 2 days..
I can't wait.. I can't wait.. OMG...!
I never had this feeling in a long time!!
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post #118 of 2095
12/1/08 at 11:49pm
Hmm...I can't seem to find the registration page on Westone for the W3's. Help anyone?
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post #119 of 2095
12/1/08 at 11:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by soozieq View Post
OMG! OMG! Ha! You were wrong. I got through 9 songs


ME TOO!! Except when I went to remove the W3 from my ears... they weren't there. Yeah, that's right. Well, my ears were still there, but the earpieces were not! They'd dropped off. I was just sitting there with Comply tips wedged firmly in both ears, fiddling around with the volume on my dap and trying to make the silence 'louder', with no earpieces attached - I had to get someone to remove them with tweezers in the end, as the more I tried to pull them out, the more I pushed them in.
I'm curious, do the tips slide more easily on the tubes than with other IEMs?
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post #120 of 2095
12/2/08 at 12:05am
Hmm soozieq and jlbrach are having issues with comply tips. But if the other tips fit firmly on the nozzle, that means the comply tips are defective!
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