[Baroninkjet]

  ah well.. W30s are only 3 left in stock and are priced at 399. no option to make an offer for those :|

I think I misspoke. It was the UM30s I saw.

 

[korzena]

I love Westone phones. I had Westone 3 and now I've had Westone 3 again. But I am worried about the future. The new series makes me confused and discouraged for two main reasons:
1) Too many models of Westone phones (W10, W20, W30, ....). It makes the next purchase more difficult. I am not sure now which Westone I should choose as my next and if I can get the same (or even better) sound-quality at the similar price to my current W3.
2) Yeah! Prices! The prices of new Westone phones seem to be higher and I suspect that unfortunately it mainly means worse price/value ratio. Am I wrong? Please enlighten me.

 

[Paulus XII]

For me the W40's are worth every cent, but of course that I would have been happier if I could have got them cheaper. Anyways I got them from an authorized dealer with an extended 3 year warranty, so no complaints.

 

[korzena]

  For me the W40's are worth every cent, but of course that I would have been happier if I could have got them cheaper. Anyways I got them from an authorized dealer with an extended 3 year warranty, so no complaints.

Would you say W40 is equivalent of earlier W3 or W4 sound quality-wise?
 
Or which model from the new Westone series would be your recommendation as an upgrade from W3 which sound I enjoy a lot.

 

[Paulus XII]

W40 is equivalent to W4 but people that have both says W40 sounds better.
 
UM3X sounds better than W3. Instrument separation is superior. it's really huge, I won't forget when I A/B'ed both with Metal. So congested in the W3, I had no idea of what I was missing on those tracks. But W3 is very good, I wouldn't bother, unless you get a used UM3X and sell your W3 and don't spend much money in the process.
 
W40 is an upgrade though. In my opinion a more refined version of UM3X. Even treble is better, UM3X treble is a bit too bright, not natural. Not to say it's bad, everything in UM3X is fantastic, but W40 is superior and gives you alot of pleasure. A friend of mine tried them today for 3 mins, he was lost for words, literally had goose bumps all over.

 

[Spyro]

W40 is bassier but that doesn't automatically make it better.  People that aren't bass heads would surely prefer the original W4.
 
UM3X is very enclosed sound.  Some say claustrophobic.  Sound is generally dark.  W3 is much more open sounding, much larger soundstage and brighter.  It is purely personal preference on which is better.  I much preferred the W3 and W30 improved upon it my a more present midrange and eliminating the mid bass hump.

 

[Paulus XII]

But the instrument separation of the UM3X is vastly superior. I have A/B'ed them in the past extensively. And that makes it better for me personally. I sold the W3 after listening to the UM3X. Of course its up to personal preference, but for me UM3X wins. Now the W40 is a different beast for reasons I already told in previous posts (first impressions). The W40's have the huge instrument separation of the UM3X, but the perception of the instruments is much clearer, they have better definition/detail and soundstage with an accuracy/precision I've never heard from any other IEM under 500€.
 
I'm a moderate bass-head too, so the bass couldn't be any better than this with the 2 BA drivers just for bass and tuned with a strong/punchy mid bass. Next week I'll be comparing them side by side to the hybrid triple driver T-PEOS H300. They broke but are about to be replaced by warranty. The sound from a brief audition before they split in 2 pieces was terrific for the price (240€).
 
I resume the SQ of the W40's in this:
 

1. Astonishing clarity
2. Immense detail
3. Expansive dynamic expression
4. Excellent balance across the spectrum
5. Exceptional stereo image and spatial precision
6. Impressive bass for balanced armatures
7. Huge instrument separation and dynamics
8. Timbre
9. Liquid MIDS
10. Treble

 

[MachBot]

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/westone-w40
 
$50USD off from Amazon's list price.

 

[korzena]

  W40 is equivalent to W4 but people that have both says W40 sounds better.
 
UM3X sounds better than W3. Instrument separation is superior. it's really huge, I won't forget when I A/B'ed both with Metal. So congested in the W3, I had no idea of what I was missing on those tracks. But W3 is very good, I wouldn't bother, unless you get a used UM3X and sell your W3 and don't spend much money in the process.
 
W40 is an upgrade though. In my opinion a more refined version of UM3X. Even treble is better, UM3X treble is a bit too bright, not natural. Not to say it's bad, everything in UM3X is fantastic, but W40 is superior and gives you alot of pleasure. A friend of mine tried them today for 3 mins, he was lost for words, literally had goose bumps all over.

  W40 is bassier but that doesn't automatically make it better.  People that aren't bass heads would surely prefer the original W4.
 
UM3X is very enclosed sound.  Some say claustrophobic.  Sound is generally dark.  W3 is much more open sounding, much larger soundstage and brighter.  It is purely personal preference on which is better.  I much preferred the W3 and W30 improved upon it my a more present midrange and eliminating the mid bass hump.

Thank you all for sharing your impressions!
If UM3X is closed sounding I would definitely go for more open W3 or W30 as this is one of the important aspects of sound for me.
With some music I prefer (to some extent) the sound W3 over my LCD-2, specifically because of the closed sound/not enough air of Audeze.

 

[Spyro]

  Thank you all for sharing your impressions!
If UM3X is closed sounding I would definitely go for more open W3 or W30 as this is one of the important aspects of sound for me.
With some music I prefer (to some extent) the sound W3 over my LCD-2, specifically because of the closed sound/not enough air of Audeze.

 
W-series IEM's generally will have a more open sound with larger soundstage.
 
UM-series IEM's are stage monitors and designed for a smaller, more intimate soundstage.  But my new Pro50 has surprisingly nice "room" with it's sound so doesn't sound as closed in as the other UM-series IEM's.

 

[aertoria]

I guess we should put W5 and W60 there

 

[Paulus XII]

Where?

 

[Paulus XII]

I'm really starting to believe in burn-in. The W40's are sounding TERRIFIC after a week. There's a really noticeable difference for when I first listened to them. There are more details, especially the micro-details, more clarity (they were a bit dark out of the box), treble is smoother and more refined, bass has more definition, its tighter, which made dynamics improve and I feel they're still improving every day. The bass now goes deep, really deep, I can perfectly feel it as low as 10Hz (the vibration of the drivers). Playing some Deep House now on them, bass sounds fantastic. What an amazing listening experience these IEMs have been giving me. They beat Sennheiser IE800 in my opinion.
 
I think it's Westone or someone else that recommends 40 hours burn-in before listening (correct me if I'm wrong). Fact is that they sounded somewhat harsh in the upper region before burn-in and not as refined and detailed as they sound now. They're crystal clear. If this is brain-in, so I love my brain

 
 
I'm considering closing my W40's sale and forget the W60's for now. Still not sure, but most probably.
 
And there's still a silver plated cable coming in next week. Another improvement.

 

[Baroninkjet]

  I'm really starting to believe in burn-in. The W40's are sounding TERRIFIC after a week. There's a really noticeable difference for when I first listened to them. There are more details, especially the micro-details, more clarity (they were a bit dark out of the box), treble is smoother and more refined, bass has more definition, its tighter, which made dynamics improve and I feel they're still improving every day. The bass now goes deep, really deep, I can perfectly feel it as low as 10Hz (the vibration of the drivers). Playing some Deep House now on them, bass sounds fantastic. What an amazing listening experience these IEMs have been giving me. They beat Sennheiser IE800 in my opinion in many areas.
 
I think it's Westone or someone else that recommends 40 hours burn-in after listening (correct me if I'm wrong). Fact is that they sounded somewhat harsh in the upper region before burn-in and not as refined and detailed as they sound now. They're crystal clear. If this is brain-in, so I love my brain

 
 
I'm considering closing my W40's sale and forget the W60's for now. Still not sure, but most probably.
 
And there's still a silver plated cable coming next week. Another improvement.

 
 
I have had mine probably three weeks or so, and similar experience. I think there is some burn-in effect, but also there is an "ear education" effect too. I am particularly thinking of the layering effects. Coming from single-driver, this is a very new sensation. But after time, I am finding myself appreciating it and noticing it more and more. Seems like single driver's are more dominated by the predominant sounds, while with multi's the drivers work more independently and more stuff can come out.

 

[bavinck]

I have heard the westone w40 sound very similar to the akg K series, such as k7xx, k712 and Annies. Is anyone able to confirm this? I really like the k7xx sound, an iem like it would be lovely. Right now I am using hifiman re400,which I really like. However, I find it lacking resolution and detail in complex metal work like prog metal.