IEMs
Westone 1 Impressions
As of right now here are some of my initial thoughts:
For your information all of my listening I used Comply T-100 tips as seen in pictures
< Great Isolation >
These are masters of isolation with Comply Tips, I can listen at full volume from an iPod Touch and the person sitting right next to me in class cannot hear a touch of music, nor can I hear them even if they have a complaint hahaa. They block a lot of ambient noise even when no music is playing.
< Very Comfortable >
They are quite possibly the most comfortable IEMs I have ever owned, I have no problem falling asleep listening to them. I can barely feel them in my ear they have such a low profile, I can actually lay my head on a pillow and be comfortable. Sometimes when I pause my music, to try to hear someone talk, I forget to hit play again because I forget I have them in.
< Fairly Durable >
They are also more durable than you would think, I must say I am careless when it come to IEMs and sometimes I do forget to put them in the nice little zipper case included when you buy them and usually bundle them up and through them in a pocket or in my backpack. Also I must admit I have dropped them and stepped on at least once accidentally. And even though I roll around on top of them when they come out of my ears during the night they still play over and over again.
< Good Assortment of Accessories >
When I first opened the packaging what I saw was an assortment of tip, a pair of tri-flange, two sets of Comply Foams which I ended up purchasing more (one large and small), and two sets of olives (one small and one larger). Along with those came a wax removal tool which I have come to find pointless and a nice Clamshell hard case which you can see below. Nothing too incredibly mind blowing but a nice set overall.
There is much more I would like to say but for now that is good enough seeing how its midnight and I have two midterms tomorrow... so here are some photos I took (click for larger):
Westone 1 Review
This is my final thoughts after using these almost daily and nightly for quite a while...
First off I will start by reiterating the fact these headphones are such a comfortable set that once you do achieve a good seal you will most likely forget you have them inserted. This will obviously go for the Westone 2s also because they share the same casing, which is made of an extremely durable plastic. The cable design is a very durable twisted cable that has no trouble with microphonics and when the cable rests on your ear you can not really feel it, the whole IEM sort of disappears once properly inserted. I use Comply tips because I enjoy the fit and comfort they give more so than the finicky single flanges which I can never get a good seal with even though the provide a bit more extension.
As for sound, this single armature produces a very neutral sound, producing a experience for most that can leave you wanting more. It makes you almost agree to disagree with yourself about what you can expect from them.
Bass:
When you listen you can hear that the bass is lacking somewhat and sometimes can leave a bad taste in your mouth in consideration to the genre, as for most Alternative it does not carry the same impact and quantity sufficient for myself sometimes and was one of the turnoffs for me. But in consideration of it being a single balanced armature I would say it holds it own, it seems like much consideration was put into the sound but more consideration was put into how they can build the sound to the price point and not to steal the limelight of already existing models. Some extra care when dealing with lower frequencies would have made these IEMs shine for me. So for me these have stereotypical balanced sound, less extended impacting bass and more concentrated mids. This produces a sound that is light on bass which for some will be less fatiguing.
Mids, Treble & Highs:
The Mid range frequencies are presenting in such a friendly way and are quite successful in the scheme of things; you feel easy going when listening to acoustic tracks and when you go Buddy Holly and plug in the Strat you can actually move to the flow of the melodies and plucks of the guitar strings. As much as the neutral sound is allowance with that is. An overall feeling of smoothness can be felt when concerning the mids and they are my favorite part of these buds. One of my complaints of these is that they do not have a definite separation between higher mid range frequencies and the highs, they all sort of combine in together along with the treble to form a bit of musical mosh pit, to my less trained ears makes the earphones less special and more generic. They lack the extra oomph when considering treble which also ends up the case with the rolling of the highs. The pacing of sounds does not truly matter because the Westone 1s can keep up also.
I would define the overall sound as non fatiguing enjoyable experience which along with the excellent comfort/fit and laid back less colorful tone make the Westone 1s good to unwind to or also study with. They have that effect on me and that is why I continue to use the Westones everyday towards midnight and fall asleep listening to them. I hold great value in these as being my first larger purchase in the world of IEMs have given me a good tasting of what Westone has to offer. I just wish the potential was not as restrained, seems odd to make these to fit into the line of Westone.
Impressions of my Musical Preferences
When listening to Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace by the Foo Fighters I tend to enjoy the earphones a quite bit more than say when say listening to Stadium Arcadium by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, this album encompasses a lot more acoustic guitar and less bass orientated songs which tends to be my least favorite part of the Westone 1s. They do handle tracks like Come Alive, Long Road to Ruin, Stranger Things Have Happened and But, Honestly quite well and the use of acoustics and vocals more pop in my ear because they are less muddled by the low end.
When listening to Cage the Elephants first self titled album some songs come out to me like James Brown, Ain't No Rest for the Wicked, Drones in the Valley and Back Stabbin' Betty. This album more shows off the impact the bass does carry along with how things can be muddled a bit when in conjunction. The singers voice has a unique tone that is carried and presented well throughout and when accented with the guitar the headphones present nicely, it further proves to me that most all vocals will sound good, some say female vocals pop more but I like alternative. And as with the Foo Fighters slight use of piano with guitar sound really objectified and unadulterated.
Into the Great Wide Open by Tom Petty is another album which I think identifies the strong points of the Westone 1s, lots of faster paced guitar with strong male vocals accented with back up singers that have a nice quality to their tone, as in Out in the Cold, Learning to Fly and Into the Great Wide Open. The mixture of pace does not trip the 1s, and certain sections of each song really bring out the softness in Petty's voice. Once again I feel that most everything that includes a sort of acoustic and electric will sound good in these.
This is my own personal opinion and thoughts so excuse my less technical terminology.
Edited by kevinzemaitis - 3/4/12 at 8:41pm
