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Future Sonics vs Westone 3?

post #1 of 21
12/23/08 at 7:56am
Thread Starter 
I currently have the Future sonics atrios. I love these headphones. Very balanced detailed sound and very comfortable. Tried other brands (shure, sennheiser, etc..) and found that either the sound was not what I was looking for. I have had my Future sonics for 1 1/2 - 2 years. The sound is starting to cut out. Probably would have lasted longer but I got my wear and tear out of them. I believe my warranty is still good. However, I heard that the new Westone 3 are excellent headphones. can anyone who is familar with the future sonics tell my what they think? How much of an upgrade would it be from FS? Just want to get someone elses input. If not I will stick with my FS's.
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post #2 of 21
12/23/08 at 8:24am
Which FutureSonic? Atrio M5/8? Or custom FS?

There are few guys who prefer M5/8 v2 over W3.
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post #3 of 21
12/23/08 at 11:48am
but other than them, you will probably get laughed out of this thread. if however the atrio retailed at 400$ and then sounded best if you bought a 150$ custom adapter, i think people would take this post seriously.

what i can be sure of is this: atrio bass quality may never properly be rivalled in a non-dynamic driver iem.
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post #4 of 21
12/23/08 at 11:54am
there are things armature headphones cant do, the bass atributed to futuresonics is one of them,

the atrios are fun and relaxed, but the clarity cant rival the "big 3" of top end armature, the triple.fi, the westone3 and the SE530,

but... the IE8 can, and as far as i know, its the only dynamic driver IEM that can stand to those 3 and come out as an equal,
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post #5 of 21
12/23/08 at 12:07pm
IE8 is also dynamic driver iem, same breed with atrio which explained the low end freq prowess.

X2 for shigzeo.
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post #6 of 21
12/23/08 at 2:28pm
well, there are also ultra high end dynammics from futuresonics in their ear monitor series. but no one here has them as well as other iems to compare so it is sad. they use a driver that is one up on the atrio and may be in the same league as the ie8 except custom. those are my next purchase.

if by clarity you mean detailed: true, armatures win in that arena but that is up to preference rather than a de facto quality judgement. i do like detail but i don't like the harshness that comes with some detailed phones even like the um2 and sometimes the e500. ive not heard the w3 so i cannot comment but one thing i can comment on is this: the amazing natural sounding bass from good dynammic drivers is unfortunately not shared by armatures.

neither are perfect. both have their fans: i am a fan of the former. dynammics are just more of a natural listen for me. i prefer to feel that i am in a room listening to an already mixed and engineered album rather than in the studio with the coffe and smoke hearing 'nuances' of the music like a door shutting and someone's cough
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post #7 of 21
12/23/08 at 3:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by shigzeo View Post
...if by clarity you mean detailed: true, armatures win in that arena but that is up to preference rather than a de facto quality judgement....
Granted that I have not heard W3 or IE8 yet, I do have extensive experience with TF10 and SE530 and neither come close on presenting the same amount of detail like my RE0. I think it is time to say armature isn't really wining so clear-cut in this competition anymore.
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post #8 of 21
12/23/08 at 3:28pm
If you have had you Atrio's for 1.5 years then you have the version 1 of these. Version 2 have a much better mid and high frequency response while keeping the bass of the previous versions and even adding a bit to it.

So in short buy another pair of Atrio's as they will be the version 2 which sound better than the version 1 you have.
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post #9 of 21
12/23/08 at 4:38pm
i sold my atrios not for clarity but for only one defect: i think that i am the only trance listener for these so... their plastic sounding echo. the housing plays a huge part in the sound. i sold the denon c700 for the same reason, the cx300 for the same reason. the fx500 were the only ones that were reasonable in making their housing not completely integrated into the sound.

if atrio would be made of much higher quality plastic or have a hard wood on the inside, i would take them back.

clieos: you are right: dynammics are more and more detailed however, they suffer one problem: that is the sound of the housing. and considering the amount of air that they must move faithfully to become detailed compared to an armature, i think that it is either just a treble upswing rather than proper detail.
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post #10 of 21
12/23/08 at 6:22pm
Thread Starter 
I have the m5's. If there is a newer model of the atrios I might have to go with them. I am really tempted to check out the W3's though. Wasn't to big on Shure's, not very comfortable to wear. I liked the detail and clarity they offered but never really "felt" my music. Probably better to stick with what you know you like. God knows how many different headphones i tried before I settled for the atrio's.
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post #11 of 21
12/23/08 at 7:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frostychrist View Post
I have the m5's. If there is a newer model of the atrios I might have to go with them. I am really tempted to check out the W3's though. Wasn't to big on Shure's, not very comfortable to wear. I liked the detail and clarity they offered but never really "felt" my music. Probably better to stick with what you know you like. God knows how many different headphones i tried before I settled for the atrio's.

The Version 2 of the M5's were introduced this summer.
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post #12 of 21
12/23/08 at 7:20pm
yeah, the atrios are magical. they have done everything right except for the housing. i have gone through dozens of iems and buds to find them. it is too bad that only that one area is objectionable to my ears.

i am surviving quite well however with the audio technica ck10... lovely lovely little beasts
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post #13 of 21
12/24/08 at 4:33am
Thread Starter 
i haven't had any problems with the housing. And I found out the hard way how durable these headphones were. Very durable. Don't know how the housing would effect sound quality, but I do know its important for comfort.
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post #14 of 21
12/24/08 at 5:38am
housing always effects sound. obviously i am one of the few people who is bothered by this.

but you will find housing makes massive differences. even speakers pointed incorrectly in a room will have a massive difference in sound. the same is true with headphones which echo around in much smaller chambers and need proper tuning to really sound their best.
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post #15 of 21
12/24/08 at 5:39am
housing always effects sound. obviously i am one of the few people who is bothered by this.

but you will find housing makes massive differences. even speakers pointed incorrectly in a room will have a massive difference in sound. the same is true with headphones which echo around in much smaller chambers and need proper tuning to really sound their best.
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