Picked up the UM3X's a second time and have been A/B'ing them with my W3's for the past couple hours. My further thoughts....
The UM3X is certainly a more forward sound...more midrange oriented but generally very balanced. A crunching guitar solo with W3 has you about 10 rows back whereas with UM3X you are standing 3 feet away from the player...a far more engaging experience!
If you are a listener that really concentrates on the musicianship of the music and like to zero in on the performers chops, UM3X is definitely the better choice. Not saying you can't do that with W3 it's just that the W3 is a bit more distant in how the presentation is, mainly due to the more V-shaped frequency response.
My 120 ohm GR8 hisses like crazy out of an Ipod but the 56 ohm UM3X has zero hiss. Least of any IEM I have owned. Westone hit the sweet spot here, not sure why Grado missed it. Despite the 56 ohms UM3X is plenty efficient and will blow your head off without breaking a sweat...unamped
If you tend to listen on the louder side, you really need to be careful with UM3X as you can easily get carried away on the volume because it is such a smooth presentation (no spikes ANYWHERE in the freq response) and is somewhat forward it is very easy on the ears and easy to push that volume as you get engulfed in the music.
I find both equally detailed, just presented differently.
The UM3X is certainly a more forward sound...more midrange oriented but generally very balanced. A crunching guitar solo with W3 has you about 10 rows back whereas with UM3X you are standing 3 feet away from the player...a far more engaging experience!
If you are a listener that really concentrates on the musicianship of the music and like to zero in on the performers chops, UM3X is definitely the better choice. Not saying you can't do that with W3 it's just that the W3 is a bit more distant in how the presentation is, mainly due to the more V-shaped frequency response.
My 120 ohm GR8 hisses like crazy out of an Ipod but the 56 ohm UM3X has zero hiss. Least of any IEM I have owned. Westone hit the sweet spot here, not sure why Grado missed it. Despite the 56 ohms UM3X is plenty efficient and will blow your head off without breaking a sweat...unamped
If you tend to listen on the louder side, you really need to be careful with UM3X as you can easily get carried away on the volume because it is such a smooth presentation (no spikes ANYWHERE in the freq response) and is somewhat forward it is very easy on the ears and easy to push that volume as you get engulfed in the music.
I find both equally detailed, just presented differently.
