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Best rock IEM....SE530 or W3? - Page 4

post #46 of 56
12/23/08 at 2:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by scytheavatar View Post
At the very least it's clear that the Westone 3 is easily one of the best metal IEMs, thanks to its incredible, Edition 9 like speed.
x2.

With my RSA Mustang P-51 and the Shure Olive tips, the mids are now perfect for rock & metal.
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post #47 of 56
12/23/08 at 2:11pm

I am not so sure.

I guess my post is probably irrelevant. But I just want to say that I tried out IE8, W3,530 and the triples and to my ears the triples is the winner for rock! Well almost! The thing is I used all theses IEMs to test out some Modest Mouse, Muse, and SOAD and I think the Triples have really nice treble. The Mid is a bit recessed but if it's anything like the Superfis I think the ES cable will help the mids of the triples quite a bit =>>>>> One really awesome Rock IEM with nice high and good mids.

Again,... this is just my speculation! I did not get a chance to try out the ES mod but even without them,.. to my ears Tiplefis really do kick some serious ass. But at the 300+ price point they are not that far apart when it comes to quality and they simply all decent in sound quality. I know everyone know this; but I have to say nothing beats full size cans! My favourites are the Gradoest of grado--325i!
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post #48 of 56
12/23/08 at 2:30pm
grado.... meh never got the grado signature sound. and yeah i've tried the nice ones. havent tried the GS1000, but trioed 225 325 both jena recabled and woodied. really found them underwhelming. grainy highs too forward mids. even after all that modding they still sounded unnatural to me. god this 'hobby' is soooooo subjective.

and for the OP since having more time with W3 and UM56 they are nearly ahead of SE530 in everything. I would have to say though that still with artists like portishead and goldfrapp the SE530 is still an edge in frot IMO. the W3 does them wonderfully still, but to me not quite the same. also with ben harper and Sonic Youth

oh and I dont find the W3 mids recessed much at all, sure with the wrong tips and not very resolving gear it could be, and if you are comparing to SE530, but we all know about the SE530 mids triple-fi arent even a contender for me; but i've stated my reasons for that already
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post #49 of 56
12/23/08 at 8:06pm
Thread Starter 
What about artists like ACDC, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Jethro Tull and Joe Satriani? For those which IEMs would you recommend, W3 or 530?
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post #50 of 56
12/24/08 at 9:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArturoGH View Post
What about artists like ACDC, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Jethro Tull and Joe Satriani? For those which IEMs would you recommend, W3 or 530?
if thats the majority of what you listen to; I would recommend the SE530; you'll be able to pick a pair up for around $300-$325USD these days too. the production value on that music is not always fantastic. its great music and I have fond memories of getting blind as a teenager listening to ACDC (i'm an Aussie after all ) the SE530 will be better suited to that because W3 will expose any bad mastering/recording more than the shures will. No matter how good the quality of your rip is you cant do anything about the original recording. part of the enjoyment of that music is its rawness and the shures will convey that rawness, but not expose it; if you know what I mean.the W3 will just expose it and may not be pleasant at all.
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post #51 of 56
12/24/08 at 12:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by qusp View Post
if thats the majority of what you listen to; I would recommend the SE530; you'll be able to pick a pair up for around $300-$325USD these days too. the production value on that music is not always fantastic. its great music and I have fond memories of getting blind as a teenager listening to ACDC (i'm an Aussie after all ) the SE530 will be better suited to that because W3 will expose any bad mastering/recording more than the shures will. No matter how good the quality of your rip is you cant do anything about the original recording. part of the enjoyment of that music is its rawness and the shures will convey that rawness, but not expose it; if you know what I mean.the W3 will just expose it and may not be pleasant at all.
I've never had any high level headphones. I've never even heard them. How much would I notice bad recordings? See, most of the music I listen to is probably mastered badly. I listen to grunge more than anything, and that's known for its raw sound.

Basically, Pearl Jam, Alice in chains, and Nirvana make up most of what I listen to.
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post #52 of 56
12/24/08 at 3:43pm
fwiw: a lot of rock & metal albums are highly compressed during mix down.

My ears tell me the W3's tend to bring these tracks "to life" better than the SE530's (might be due to speed, less bass bloat, and incredible balance across the entire frequency spectrum.)

With the W3's, I find myself enjoying "old" [read: less than perfectly engineered] tracks more, than with the SE530's. (ymmv)
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post #53 of 56
12/25/08 at 3:31am
Umm...I do not own SE530, but I own Image x10 and W3~ if the SE530 have similar sound signiture as X10 (which is most likely since they both have strong bass, roll off highs), then SE530 is not good for aggressive rock~sound is laid back~not appealing...W3 does better job~
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post #54 of 56
12/26/08 at 5:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Feather225 View Post
Umm...I do not own SE530, but I own Image x10 and W3~ if the SE530 have similar sound signiture as X10 (which is most likely since they both have strong bass, roll off highs), then SE530 is not good for aggressive rock~sound is laid back~not appealing...W3 does better job~
then you cant really comment can you??? and you would be one of the only people that I have heard say that too. but thats cool; just maybe save your opinion until you actually have an opinion.
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post #55 of 56
12/26/08 at 5:39am
I have owned and/or listened to all three:

Triple.fi 10 Pro
Westone 3
Shure SE530

IMO, that is the order you should be looking at those three if your music centers around hard-kickin' rock. However, I must point out a few things:

  • The triple.fi sounds a bit "sketchy" overall with its sound. I don't know how else to explain it; maybe "raw" and "edgy" also come to mind. "Unrefined" is another word that probably describes it when you play any genre through it that desires some liquidity to it.
  • The Westone 3 is extremely tip-dependent. I finally found that the small Comply tips do it for me. Anything else will make this thing sound worse than iBuds.
  • The Shure SE530 sound signature is as dark as dark chocolate. Think in terms of color, not taste. Thus, this is a very low-end based IEM, but some people do like that though in their rock.
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post #56 of 56
12/26/08 at 8:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMarchingMule View Post
I have owned and/or listened to all three:

Triple.fi 10 Pro
Westone 3
Shure SE530

IMO, that is the order you should be looking at those three if your music centers around hard-kickin' rock. However, I must point out a few things:

  • The triple.fi sounds a bit "sketchy" overall with its sound. I don't know how else to explain it; maybe "raw" and "edgy" also come to mind. "Unrefined" is another word that probably describes it when you play any genre through it that desires some liquidity to it.
  • The Westone 3 is extremely tip-dependent. I finally found that the small Comply tips do it for me. Anything else will make this thing sound worse than iBuds.
  • The Shure SE530 sound signature is as dark as dark chocolate. Think in terms of color, not taste. Thus, this is a very low-end based IEM, but some people do like that though in their rock.
funny how everybody is saying the westone 3 has more bass and emphasised mid bass also, yet they are not nearly as dark as the shures and the shures have more low end right?? strange huh, some are even saying the treble is slightly stronger on the shures.

ive not tried the westone's yet tho and probably wont bother going by some comments im reading here, very unreliable. i have tried the triple fi however and i found they were better for rock music in general than the shures.
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