Westone UM3X Appreciation Thread - Page 2

Ok, how's this:

IE8 - Very thick sounding with very prominent bass. Occasionally boomy and always hard hitting with the right tips. Huge soundstage. Very smooth if not slightly recessed mids. Sparkly highs with decent separation. Pretty laid back sound though still due to large stage. I find them to be very fun despite their large stage and laid back sound because I prefer it to an in your head in your face sound. Usually very comfortable although tips don't always like to stay in place for me.

PFE's (Grey) - Sparkly highs, good clarity and separation. Decent sized soundstage in terms of L/R but not in terms of height. Vocals feel more in my head than the other phones most of the time. The bass is light but still accurate and punchy (if you can hear it)
(Black) - Similar to the Grey filters with more prominent bass. Everything is a little less clear and the balance is thrown off a little bit. The soundstage is a bit smaller and vocals are a bit smoother although I feel the vocals are a bit too laid back. Very shallow insertion and extremely comfortable for me. Warmer then greys but borderline too laid back for me.

UM3X - Sounds very lively to me. Very engaging but still maintains incredible separation and a huge soundstage. It's very odd because normally you think that the huge soundstage would make it sound laid back - but it doesn't feel that way to me at all. The details are extremely good and I swear I'm hearing things I didn't even hear with my PFE's with greys and silicons. Slightly warm but only slightly. The bass impact is very good with nice punch and quantity. Very comfortable with my limited listening so far.

In terms of fun I would rate my IEMS as follows:

1. IE8's
2. UM3X
3. NE-7M
4. PFE
5. CX400's (I don't enjoy them much)
6. Shure SE210's

In terms of soundstage:

1. UM3X
2. IE8 (very close second)
3. PFE's
4. NE-7M
5. CX400/SE210

In terms of clarity/detail:

1. UM3X
2. IE8/PFE (greys)
4. NE-7M's
5. CX400's/SE210's

In terms of bass quantity:

1. IE8
2. CX400
3. UM3X
4. NE-7M
5. PFE (black)
6. SE210

Bass quality:

1. UM3X
2. PFE
3. IE8
4. NE-7M
5. CX400
6. SE210

Comfort:

1. UM3X/PFE's/CX400's
4. IE8's
5. SE210's
6. NE-7M's


Overall it's a close battle between the UM3X and IE8's depending on what the person wants. I consider the IE8's more fun sounding despite being laid back. I'm not a huge fan of in your face. There is definitely more bass on the IE8's although I'd say the UM3X has a similar punch albeit slightly less and still retains much more bass than the PFE's, depending on tips. The UM3X offers a great soundstage with better detail and clarity and sound less warm than the IE8's.

Due to me not having my IE8's at the moment the comparison between them and the UM3X's is partially from memory but I feel it should be fairly accurate still.