[hentai]

Hi, my westones 2 has given up the ghost and i do not have any intention to get them replaced under warranty. I am thinking of getting a new iem that costs around westones 2 's price range. Today I went trying out some iems at a local store. I listened to the IE7 and compared it to the shure se535 which was twice as expensive. In the end, i couldn't make up my mind in deciding which iem to purchase.
 
Despite the shure's superiority in the clarity and detail, i kinda preferred the smoothier , more punchy and sweet sounding ie7. Female vocal with the shure sounded clearer but less sweet compared to the sennheiser. Its like comparing hd6XX series to AKGs or HD800. However if i get IE7 only, i may miss the 'better perceived clarity' that shure has. Theres one song which shure 535 fell apart was ' the way i are' by Timbaland. The punchy bass notes in the beginning of the song were pretty disappointing with the shures but good with the ie7.  
 
So i am looking for an iem that sounds something kinda  between the Ie7 and shure 535  without going over the budget. Any suggestions?

 

[davidcotton]

Why not get the w2's replaced if still in warranty and then sell on to put towards your new iem?

 

[hentai]

Quote:

Why not get the w2's replaced if still in warranty and then sell on to put towards your new iem?

Hmm i've checked the receipt and realised that the warranty is over.  A while back , i went to the local audio store after work to listen some iems. Westones 4 has just arrived only last night and i listened to it together with ie8. Same thing which is the question of preference : Clarity vs Tonality. I feel that both shure se535 and westones 4 give very clear and detailed sound but somehow ie7/ie8 has a more analog like sound. If i purchase the shure or westone 4 , i will get a very clear, detailed but lean sound. 'Lean' doesn't mean that the sound has little bass, i mean the sound seems to lack of some natural fullness compared to ie7/ie8. The IE7 though may seem to sound little 'veiled' , somehow  its more accurate tonality wise . The IE8's bass seems too much and it doesn't sound 100 plus more than ie7.  I definately can afford the westone 4 or shure se535 but not sure if i am looking for ' more clarity more detail' or ' sweet , smooth sound'.