Westone ES3X Appreciation Thread - Page 49

I don't doubt for one second the Westone ES3X is the better of the two and I plan on getting the ES3X myself this August, but like you said the ER4S can really scale up depending on amplification. I don't know if you read the Minibox-E+ thread but it sounds like that amp really brings out the best in the ER4S. Does it bring it up to the ES3X level, I have no idea. I have that amp on the way whenever Head Direct gets their new batch. I am using the RSA P-51 with them at the moment and that is a very good paring.

I've owned the Etys for 8 years now. They do something that no other IEM does in the high end, but it sounds fake to these ears after more exposure to better phones. That said, for me, the ES3X's mop the floor with the Etys in every category imaginable.

I now have the PS-1000's. Honestly, they are the only headphone I can say clearly outdoes the ES3X's and that is based on my own preferences. I would wager quite a few fans of the ES3X's may choose it over any other option.

To me, if an IEM could magically reproduce an open headphone soundstage and palpable bass, the ES3X would be my absolute favourite headphone tied with the PS-1000, because in many ways they sound very alike.

thank you very much Rdr. Seraphim!

so you say you listen to classical music? I realy would like to know how the ES3x are with classical music [chamber, solo and orchestra]. this is the most important thing for me, casue i listen mostly to classical [99.9%]. so i am afraid from over pronounced mids which is good for vocal but not for classical IMO.

so it will be veery nice to have a little review abouit the ES3X with classical for the first time [right?].

thanks.

P.S

Zanth - i can't see the PS1000/ES3x in your profile, but i see you have lot of experience with 'phones and if you listen to classical music, i realy would like to here your opinion about the ES3X and in comparision to other high end 'phones. thanks.

yes, this is what scares me a little, the possibility that when I get my ES3X; I will be put off listening to my denons; obviously the denon will beat ES3X in terms of soundstage, but even my W3 beat them in detail and texture. thats not to put down the denons, they are really very nice headphones, but i'm afraid I will be forced to enter into electrostats to find a headphone that is above the ES3X for home listening. and that means $$$$

Yeah, that is about the gist of it. Go with ES3X and you will start to find all the flaws in your full size cans, but you will also start to find the flaws in your electrostatics too! The ES3X forced me to sell my APS V3 cabled Edition 9, and until I find the best amp for my AKG K1000 it seems that my ES3X are more appealing to me than even the K1000 right now. I can still throw on my balanced Denon or HD600, or my RS-1 on the WA6 and be entertained, but my desire to fire up the desktop rig has taken a nosedive.

This is why the plan is to have the ES3x for portable, O2 Mk1 for primary listening, and screw everything else. Maybe I'll toss in some other 'stats for variety, ESP950 or 4070 if I need a closed headphone, but that's not a priority. Even the W3 makes a good case for ditching pretty much all dynamics except the premiere ones, and with the ES3x, there probably won't be a need for those either. I don't ever see myself forking out for the HE90, and while I do like it a lot I just don't think it's worth so many times the price of the O2 Mk1 when the O2 is better in many ways... but that's a different story altogether.

Balanced armatures will be the premiere high-end headphone technology. I doubt they will beat electrostatics when it comes to ultimate quality, but considering that electrostatics have plateaued and balanced armatures are quickly improving I wouldn't be surprised if they do. Their small size, portability, efficiency, and sonic combination of both speed and tactile impact make them a very appealing technology. They need to crack the 20khz barrier but I think that's mostly just a matter of time. They have the potential to completely take over the personal listening field given how practical they are, and they have a strong presence in the professional market already.

The age of the IEM is coming, in fact it's almost here, and the future looks bright.

At least until the loudness war kills it

I agree about the future of balanced armature drivers. The technology seems to be improving at a rapid clip. They seem to have a lot of scalability...

I think the next area of development will likely be in soundstage/imaging, as opposed to any quantum leaps in tonality or resolution.

If they're able to improve the space that the sound can occupy, given the physical constraints posed by the dimensions of IEM's, then I could see them gain increased popularity relative to full sized headphones.

I also believe that the bottleneck for IEM's, in terms of their popular use as mobile solutions, is the portable sources currently available. Even the diymods, etc.. aren't really up to the level of the earphones currently available.

so many good things about the ES3x! but what about the ES3X with classical music???

BTW, did anyone buy the ES3x from them:
http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net...-monitors.html

i asked westone and they said that they are authorised resellers, but i am afraid of scames.

Hi HeadphoneAddict,

It is enjoyable reading your thread.

I just had a chance to compare the Edition 9 against my DX1000 side-by-side, driven by my reference OMZ DAC/HEADAMP + the Oritek X-1 cable. It was my first time to know what sounds the Ed9 produce.

I find the Ed9 produce very strong bass and sound more analytical than the DX1000. Musical notes are too clearly and widely separated. In other words, music from the DX1000 is more "blended", hence more musical to my ears, IMHO.

Do the ES3X sound as analytical as the Edition 9's ?

PS: The L3000 produce the clearest sounds I've ever heard from any headphones, but still very very musical as opposed to analytical.

I think Rdr. Seraphim has given you enough comments/ pointers re: the ES3X with classical music. Perhaps you won't find someone who listens to 99.9% Classical here AND has the ES3X, but even if you did, that would not mean they hear things the way Rdr. Seraphim does, I do, or you do, or that they would have vast experience with other top (custom) IEM's, or that the sound they regard as 'the best/ perfect' would match YOUR idea of best/ perfect.

I listen to 60-70% classical - 90% of which is chamber music - and the ES3X, when I got a good fit, are simply superb, the mids are key here, and I personally find them WONDERFUL - also bass & highs just right, better that anything I've ever tried. But that's me, MY ears, and my (limited) experience with HD650, AKG K141, Westone 3, Shure SE530, and UE Super fi.5 (2008 version).


If Westone says they're an authorised dealer, what better confirmation do you need?

yes, frankly your pestering of these guys is getting a bit much; i've read several replies where people have commented on ES3X with classical music already. there is no guarantee with any of this stuff, even if someone describes what they hear with them and classical and it sounds exactly what you want to hear, there is still a chance that they will sound different to you with your ears and your gear.

and how can anything we say about a westone re-seller have more weight than westone themselves telling you they are legit?? do you think someone at westone is setting you up??

[QUOTE=pila405;5653220]thank you very much Rdr. Seraphim!



so you say you listen to classical music? I realy would like to know how the ES3x are with classical music [chamber, solo and orchestra]. this is the most important thing for me, casue i listen mostly to classical [99.9%]. so i am afraid from over pronounced mids which is good for vocal but not for classical IMO.

so it will be veery nice to have a little review abouit the ES3X with classical for the first time [right?].

thanks.

P.S

Pila405,
Music4321 is absolutely correct in that you could not possibly hope to have a more detailed, articulate review then Rdr. Seraphim has provided. I would suggest that you re-read his posts and if possible obtain the works he has cited in his review to see if you hear things similarly to his descriptions. There are so many variables in how things sound to any individual that none of us can make a decision for you as to whether the ES3X is your best choice.

The ES3X's have the balance that I was looking for with no predominance of bass, mids or treble. I currently have the Shure E500's, Klipsch X10, Etymotic ER4's, UE SF5P, Westone UM2 and Phonak PFE's. All were deficient in one way or another for classical (overly prominent mids, bloated bass, muddy, etc). I have had the ER4's for over 10 years and they remained my best choice but I did find them "thin" at times for symphonic works. If the ER4's (unamped) provided a "sketch" or "outline" of the music, the ES3X's fill in the entire portrait with a more full, satisying sound that is more akin to what I would hear at the concert hall. (And no, I do not mean by this that they are "colored")! I also have not noted the "treble fatigue" that I experienced with the ER4's. I may still occasionally use the Ety's with solo woodwind or other very "delicate" works but I have a lot of listening to do before I can give you any meaningful comparisons.

I just recently received both and haven't updated my profile in a while.

Classical with ES3X's is excellent but again, given the nature of the technology there are limitations to a grand sound for symphonies and operas. Still, even here they do very well with instrument separation, articulation, excellent tone and timbre. Though, if I had to choose, I'd throw on something like a small ensemble or some solo or trio works. Here is where they really flex their muscles. Because they are on the warm side of neutral and are never shrill (unless the recording is), they are just incredible for string works. Their natural tones shine throw for woodwinds too. The closest I can think of is like saying they are like having some wooden Grados tucked into your ear canals but with the speed of R10's.

Recently at work I am switching up between the ES3X's and the PS-1's (not the PS-1000's, they stay at home).

Because of the nature of my work lately, I can't be completely oblivious to the world around me so I have to use an open headphone. Both of these have a very liquid midrange and wonderful textures. As I've stated before when comparing headphones, there seems to be a difference (in transducers overall) between those that like particle theory vs. wave theory.

I prefer waves myself. That is, I want my sound to flow together to sound like. I don't want quanta of sound thrown at me, completely dissected from each other so that yes I'm hearing everything, I can track everything, but I can't GET the music. There is no flow, no homogeneity. Grados for give me music, not sound. The best of the Grados do it best of all. Few other headphones I have encountered do it right or right enough. R10's being one, a really tweaked out 650 can sometimes do it, but I've never heard an electrostat that does that. Etys fail because to my ears they sound like electrostats, but ES3Xs...yes, yes they do it. In fact the UM2's do it as well, but the ES3X's do it better, much better.

Everyone has their own priorities and musical flow, breath of life, tone and timbre, these are the aspects of sound that are absolutely the most important to me. I'll forgo the last drops of detail, forgo a bit of extension on either end etc so long as I can get the music with the transducers. It is for this reason that when I first heard the ES3X's my jaw literally dropped I sat in my car transfixed on the sound - no! on the music. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The next day I ran some tests at work, concertos, lots and lots of concertos because I wanted to hear how they did separating the soloist from the orchestra but how they managed to pull them all together. Again, save for a wider more expansive soundstage, which is impossible, I couldn't ask for more.

Zanth: I like the particle vs. wave theory metaphor ^^ I may not listen to a lot of classical music, but i think this is about all I need to hear on the matter. Not being a fan of overly analytical audio (but still someone who wants the whole picture; not the brushstrokes/pixels) this sounds like what may be the line between UE10 and ES3X and may have just solidified my decision totally. I dont have time or inclination to wait for a review like this to surface on the new Jerry Harvey IEMs. thanks very much Zanth, I know this wasnt for me and I made a bit of an oaf of myself just before, but words like this that do not put so much weight on specifics of frequency response etc, moreso an emotive response that is quite obvious in your impressions, this makes it all the more easy a decision. It makes me think that the ES3X has done this with an ease that means the need to dissect and analyze it and pick it into little pieces is not large in the frame.

thanks again

No, ES3X is more blended and transparent.