Westone ES3X Appreciation Thread - Page 44

Yes, I would like the ES3X very much, but the quality control in now not an isolated incidence and I would be antsy to get them too. I hope someone on this thread contacts Westone and alerts management to the problems that have been reported on this thread. There really is no excuse for it considering their cost. I have to say, for all the expense of the UE11's, at least that company pretty much has their stuff down. If we all got together and wrote Westone a letter, please, I would gladly sign my name to it.

Hi all)im planning to buy ES3X but when i see these problems....hmm And all your ES3X was bought from USA???im planning to buy my ES3X from Variphone. Is there similar problems???

Another one...i want ask if UE custom cable is better...than Piccolo cable???I mailed to Crystal Cable it is possible to make a custom cable for ES3X...there dont answer..hmm maybe it will....i will see

ooo man...
this is a definite QC problem...
now i m worried what will happen to mine... =(

Knowing how good my ES3X sound, I would order again from Westone despite the occasional glitches I am reading about here, because the sound is simply worth it. I hate to read about these 5 or 6 people having problems right off the bat, and hope Westone puts someone to testing each and every one of these before they go out the door now. I repeat, I would not be afraid to order them because the sound is simply so good I would not want to be without them.

HPA...
thx for bringing up my confidence up a notch!

i m sure the problem is rare...

juz happens that the once in a while...all happens to those on Head-fi... =)

anyone here have a contact email or phone number for westone? I'm getting this through an audiologist and am contacting her today to see if I can get a contact at Westone, but I figured the more people I talk to the better.

novaman...
u can try the email on their website...
bcoz i m getting directly from them. =)

Crystal Cables dont even make the LODs themselves; contact Stevenkelby for that. PM him through here hes a member. he is the only person making piccolino cables for portables CC only make a mini to RCA, thats as close as they come to it not even an LOD. If thy answer it will only be to tell you to contact Jaben and jaben will contact steve. IMO between UE custom cable and piccolino is really no contest. be prepared to shell out the doe though. probably $500 I would think; but thats a guess based on what the livewires cable costs. i've got one lined up for mine when I get my ES3X; I reckon it'll be a match made in heaven from what I read here and my extensive experience with piccolino.

How much improvement in sound quality, in terms of percentages, do you think the Crystal Cable will have over the Westone and UE Cable? For $500 it would have to be a pretty significant improvement to justify the cost.

mate, having not heard the ES3X and what areas if any there are weaknesses I cant possibly tell you that; but I will say every other occasion I have used piccolino in my cables; (check my sig) it has been significant to say the least. i'm a cable believer anyway, but this stuff ticks all the boxes, its almost like its an active component IMO not its nature (its nature is truly transparent, but the profoundness is so that it seems more than just a cable). light, flexible, tough, pretty, made of the best materials known for audio aside from no wire at all (7N pure silver/gold) and scientifically sound (coaxial and shielded) for me it made a big improvement in the blackness of the background and extension as well as avoiding ALL of the potential pitfalls of silver. its not peaky, sibilant or harsh; but is clear, extended and just plain marvelous. BTW I have no affiliation with CC, steve is a friend of mine, as hes an aussie too and has been of great help to me, but this has nothing to do with my recommendation. if the money isnt so much of an issue, I cant recommend any cable more readily and steves work is superb. ask darkopi about piccolino (his whole rig is made of it and he has several sennhieser cables or headphoneaddict who has LODs. I cant remember the guy I know who has the livewires cable, but there is an extensive review on here about it. hes an aussie too.... man. cant remember; i'll see if I can find a link for you.

edit: found it

and one more comment; you better make sure the rest of your rig is up- to scratch or you'll be fighting upgraditus BADLY and that includes your rips

Another question: I have been wondering about this too, even if the Crystal Piccolino Cable is everything you said it is, I keep wondering about the connectors to the ES3X. I mean if the Piccolino is pure silver and gold yet the connectors in the ES3X are nickel (I don't know what it is made from, just guessing) and the rest of the lines leading to the earphone is not as pure as the cable, wouldn't that defeat the purpose somewhat of a premium cable?

You'd be better off putting that money towards better headphones.

-Ed

well ideally you should have them silver too and I think with steves livewires cable he makes the connectors himself, but the length of the pins is sooo tiny that it isnt enough to make any impact on the sound. but if you are gonna take it that far the circuitry in the ipod should be silver, the amp should all be silver too. all these things in an ideal world would be so; but we are out to control what we can and if you go optical out of iriver to dac/amp then straight to piccolino I think youre pretty safe. thats all i'm saying on the subject though; i'm not interested in getting into a back and forth about it. i'm not the opnly one saying these things; everyone I know that has had any experience with piccolino says the same thing.

better than ES3X IEMs?? if we were a bit lower down the chain I would probably agree with you.