Westone ES5

I'm interested, but need more info. 5 drivers doesn't necessarily mean it is better than 3.... I like the ES3X better than my 5 driver E.A.R. Z5 customs. I assume Westone will figure out a way to improve on their own products though, so we'll see.

What I want to know is how the 5 drivers are configured? 2 low, 2 mid, 1 high? 3 low, 1 mid, 1 high? 1 low, 2 mid, 2 high

If I remember correctly, it's 2 High, 2 Mids, and 1 Low.

I fully agree these were great.  They've finally got the treble right, which (IME) was pretty rolled off with all other Westone products.

I felt the ES5 fell on the "analytic" side as compared to the fun side (JH16).  They have a great clarity to the sound.  

Great product from Westone!  I really liked it and thought it was among the top 5 products at the show.

I wish that I could have attended CanCham. Too far away.  I was very interested before in the Westone ES3X and these sound like a material improvement. Please keep the impressions coming.

My highlights from CJ were theT1 at MOON AUDIO and ES5 with my balanced TWag and Protector. I would have had gotten me a JH13 for Father's Day... thanks to CanJam, Father's Day for me is postponed until the ES5 hits the market... YES that's how good the ES5 was. Amazing clarity and detail with silky sparkling highs to boot without extending. Beautiful wide soundstage. Hey, nothing new here on the ES5 driver wise... it's just amazingly a crossover tweak

Quote:

Originally Posted by odigg 

If I remember correctly, it's 2 High, 2 Mids, and 1 Low.

 

I fully agree these were great.  They've finally got the treble right, which (IME) was pretty rolled off with all other Westone products.

 

I felt the ES5 fell on the "analytic" side as compared to the fun side (JH16).  They have a great clarity to the sound.  

 

Great product from Westone!  I really liked it and thought it was among the top 5 products at the show.

In this case it's one driver less than the JH13.  I'm a bit disappointed.  I though that the frequency range would be subdivided into 5 segments rather than 3 segments before.

as the good man behind the Westone booth  said (which I agree 100%)... it's sound is not measured by the number of drivers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThEvil0nE 

as the good man behind the Westone booth  said (which I agree 100%)... it's sound is not measured by the number of drivers.

I agree, which now makes me really want to listen to ES5 demo unit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cooperpwc 

I wish that I could have attended CanCham. Too far away.  I was very interested before in the Westone ES3X and these sound like a material improvement. Please keep the impressions coming.

Let me be honest.  Before the ES5 I felt that Westone products were a little overrated because of a lack of treble extension.  They just sounded dull at the top and lacked transparency.  I would have never recommended Westone products to anybody.  Westone has finally made a product that sounds more like a full sized can than your typical IEM with a rolled off treble.

When I put the ES5 on I was just shocked by the sound.  Is this really a Westone?  Plenty of energy and extension at top with great transparency and clarity throughout the FR.  If somebody was interested in a custom IEM with a more neutral and analytic sound, the ES5 is great.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by intoflatlines 

I'm going to get flamed for this, but here it goes..

 

I much preferred the ES5 over the JH16 that I tried. I know the JH16 is geared towards a stage environment, but I was surprised that the ES5 sounded so much better to my ears.

I agree with you 100%  I thought the JH16 had WAY too much bass and strongly preferred the cleaner sound of the ES5.  Out of all the IEMs I heard, I left the show wanting to spend more time with the ES5.

In general the JH Audio products at the show had a lot of energy at the bottom end but this may not be to everyone's liking.  The JH-3A has adjustable bass (the adjustment worked VERY well) so that can help (not completely) address any bass concerns people have.

I'm really glad Westone decided to go a different route than copying the JH Audio sound sig.  I would have loved to have walked out with the ES5.

If I have to point out one issue - the price.  If I remember correctly (don't quote me) the price is $950.  I think this is really going to hurt Westone because a lot of people are going to say cost of ES5+DAC/Amp = cost of JH-3A.

$950 is right. Assume that the new Meier Stepdance is $350 (ish, maybe less), that's still less than the JH-3A by quite a bt.

Anyway the question is what does one want? I am thinking that I probably want the combo above...

Quote:

Originally Posted by cooperpwc 

$950 is right. Assume that the new Meier Stepdance is $350 (ish, maybe less), that's still less than the JH-3A by quite a bt.

 

Anyway the question is what does one want? I am thinking that I probably want the combo above...

That's $1300 for the Combo - not including a DAC.  The JH-3A is $1700-$1750.  If you are willing to spend $1300, what's an extra $450?  At the end of the day both amounts are a lot of money so it just boils down to the sound you want.  JH Audio has an incredible reputation on Head-Fi.  So if I had to buy without trying them first, I'd probably just trust getting the JH-3A for a little extra money.

I'm not trying to argue with you, I'm just making a prediction for how sales will be.  By including a Portable DAC_AMP+EQ in one package deal, I think a lot of people are going to look at the JH-3A as an incredible deal in comparison to buying stuff separately.

What I find really interesting was that JH Audio was the company that basically pushed everybody into the idea that an IEM could be worth $1K+.  There were $1K IEMs before JH Audio, but they were generally reported to be underperforming for the price in comparison to full sized headphones.  JH Audio somewhat set a new "High" price for what a custom is worth.

Now suddenly they've done a little bit of the opposite.  They've set a new "low" price for what an all inclusive package should cost.

It's all very interesting (to me)...