REVIEW: WESTONE 3, the ULTIMATE UNIVERSAL IEM vs everything else - AKA W3 Appreciation Thread - Page 138

Is it true the w4 has less bass then the w3?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freeze 

Is it true the w4 has less bass then the w3?

Yes but the W3 is very mid bass heavy.  The W4 has a good balance of mid and sub bass.  I think the W4 bass is much better quality but overall quantity is less.

I find that so strange, they add an extra low driver on each side and yet they tuned it to produce less bass even with the added BA

I think it's a lot or marketing and grossly over-priced.

Hi All,

  Got my UM3X on Saturday, paid $299 from AudioVengence on ebay, thank you for the help with the purchase.

   I am having mixed feelings about the UM3X.  They are very comfortable, but they seem to have an unnatural boosted bass SQ.  They work well with Jazz and Classical, but for Rock, the bass seems over boosted.  

  Was ready to give up on the UM3X then I tried Audio Hijack $32, a Mac recording / equalizer http://www.rogueamoeba.com/audiohijack/, playing Macbook Pro >Pandora>Audiohighjack>iBasso D4>UM3X = Happy listener !  Was able to turn down the midbass hump

Anyone else have experience with Audiohighjack?  Seems cool

UM3X is nice but truly a non-fatiguing monitor.  Definitely tuned to the lower register but not too much air to the sound making everything somewhat blunt and dead sounding compared to other IEM's.

I've owned the Westone 3 for about 3 weeks now. To cut to the chase, I cannot recommend them enough. They are everything I had hoped they would be and more. I also highly recommend Earphonesolutions. They provide customer service at a level you just can't find anywhere anymore. Before my purchase, they answered all my questions and helped me to finally pick the W3 (I was struggling trying to decide between the IE8, UM3X, and the W3). Also, as soon as my order arrived in the mail, Earphonesolutions announced a 15% Back-To-School sale. I emailed them and asked if they would refund me 15% of my cost, and they did it within minutes.

Now, let me talk some about the W3 and what I like about them. I use them with my Cowon S9, a player I highly recommend. I've always used Cowon players because I love the sound they produce. The music files are FLAC. Before I got the W3 I was listening to MP3 files. With the W3, for the first time I can tell the difference between listening to an MP3 and a FLAC. The W3 are THAT revealing. So I've re-ripped my CDs as FLAC. It's not that the 320 kbps MP3s sound bad, but there is just that extra subtle detail in the highs and lows with FLAC. I primarily listen to film scores, most of which are large orchestras. I also listen to some rock (U2, Joe Satriani, Rush, The Police, and a few others). Previous headphones I've owned and used are the original Bose Triports, Bose Triport OE, Bose Triport IE, Sennheiser PX-100, Sennheiser PX-100 II, Koss Portapro, Sleek Audio SA1, Klipsch S4, and Klipsch Custom 3. They all pale in comparison to the Westone 3. I will say that, as with all IEMs, it took me a while to find the right fit. I don't like any of the included eartips. They either don't seal well, are uncomfortable when they do seal, or muffle the sound. The tips I love to use on them are the medium size Sony hybrids. I had to use the cores from an old set of Complys that I had to get them to fit on the W3. These tips are the best in terms of comfort and sound quality (for me, I know everyone's ears and tastes are different). They seal perfectly, are so comfortable I forget I'm wearing them, and allow the sound to really open up. I'm not sure if it has to do with the larger diameter nozzle opening compared with the tips that Westone includes, but my guess would be probably. The clarity and detail is unbelievable. You really can hear little details that you may have never heard before in your music. The bass is perfect. It is tight and controlled, can hit hard when its in the recording, and can extend so low that it's hard to believe that huge sound is coming from such a tiny device. It really feels like you're standing in a room full of speakers with massive subwoofers. And yet it doesn't muddy up the other frequency ranges of the music at all. If you listen to a lot of music, and if you spend a lot of money on music, you owe it to yourself to invest in a quality set of earphones to listen to that music on. Oh, and the build quality of the W3 is superb. They truly do have the best cable I've ever seen. It's supple, light, doesn't tangle, has no memory effect, feels rugged, and has zero microphonics. The polar opposite are the Klipsch Custom 3 that I own, the cable of which can drive one to madness with its constant kinking and horrible microphonics.

So, in quick summary, get yourself a pair of these. Now. You won't regret it. You'll only regret not having bought a pair sooner.

Headphone Addict,

  I wanted to thank you for the recommendations.  You had recommended, in order of preference:

1. Westone 4

2. Westone UM3X

3. Hifiman RE262

I have not heard the Westone 4 yet (can't get myself to spend $450 at this time).  But, I have purchased both the UM3X and the RE262 and I agree with your suggestions.  Both are excellent IEMs, but the UM3X is the better of the two.  My impressions:

Westone UM3X - Larger soundstage, less intimate than RE262, more of an "accurate sound".  Great for Jazz and Classical, but with Rock or Rap I use Audio Hijack and reduce the bass.  With Rock and Rap the sound is too muddy with bass for me.  Amazing how the sound can project forward with an IEM. Impressive how "big" the sound can be from an IEM.

Hifiman RE262 - Large sound stage (not as big as UM3X), less "out of head" soundstage.  More of a "focused" soundstage, less enveloping than UM3X.  Warmer sounding than UM3X, I find it more engaging than UM3X.  Instruments more intimate, I become more involved with the music.  I find myself listening to individual instruments more than the overall music.

Because of the impedance difference between the two IEMs I adjusted the volume between the two listenings.

It seems to come down to; a big, "sitting on the stage experience" (UM3X) or a "sitting next to the saxophone in a smokey bar experience" (RE262).  In the end, if I was only going to keep one of the two, I would keep the UM3X.

Thank you for your help!

Headphone Addict,

  Thank you for clarifying, you are correct, I asked for your recommendation for a pairing with the iBasso D4.  Large soundstage, no over emphasized bass, and a rich midrange.  Your recommendations of the RE262 and UM3X are spot on.

Thank you!

just a quick question, is the fiio e6 amp worth it? westone has a promotion where if you get it from their store you get a free fiio e6 amp. it'll come out to be like $365, weird thing is I live in NY and there is no tax. is it suppose to be no tax? cause amazon has tax and i really want to use paypal instead.

got them today. great iems, though i reckon clarity is still better on my previous e-q5.

overall though, i find them more enjoyable to listen to than the eq5s.

very comfy to wear also. i know that some ppl were complaining about comfort, but with stock comply tips i felt they were great.

maybe my ears are shaped different.

the w2s also, imo, have clearer mids on stock profile.

i just decreased the bass on the w3 and i reckon the mids sound just as good.