[yaps66]

Zeos is someone who just enjoy things, he just spreads the love of the hobby.
he is not exactly critical critics or someone who could nitpick every details, i sometimes hear his reviews just to hear him gush over things.

Agreed. Zeos is good harmless fun and entertaining! He’s the one that got me into the hobby and I am grateful to him for that. My first entryway into the hobby thanks to Zeos was the Legacy 5. I still love it!

 

[Jmop]

So the Westone W20 wasn't a bad buy brand new under $150. Sound is relatively natural, bass has adequate depth, and soundstage is actually pretty solid. Comfort is great, this series is much smaller than you'd expect. Probably won't keep them though, they do sound a tad veiled in the mids which I was kinda expecting with the 3k dip.

 

[nraymond]

Agreed. Zeos is good harmless fun and entertaining! He’s the one that got me into the hobby and I am grateful to him for that. My first entryway into the hobby thanks to Zeos was the Legacy 5. I still love it!

My intro to really listening to and understanding headphones was Tyll Hertsens at InnerFidelity:

https://youtube.com/c/InnerFidelity

Tyll's been retired a few years now. I can't even imagine what it must have been like having Zeos as the gateway... he comes across as, what the British might say, a tosser.

 

[baskingshark]

So the Westone W20 wasn't a bad buy brand new under $150. Sound is relatively natural, bass has adequate depth, and soundstage is actually pretty solid. Comfort is great, this series is much smaller than you'd expect. Probably won't keep them though, they do sound a tad veiled in the mids which I was kinda expecting with the 3k dip.

The Westones are generally for stage monitoring. They mostly have this dip around the area you are referring to, but this may make them sound a bit boring for general music listening, but quite good for monitoring purposes. Most of them are bean shaped, small with good isolation, which is another priority for stage monitoring.

Unfortunately, in terms of sonic performance, Westone (and Shure) kinda rested on their laurels, and their price to performance ratio isn't great compared to some modern day CHIFI (which are multiples cheaper). Some of the Shure older models (cough cough Shure SE215) which were released more than a decade ago - and are quite lowFI sounding - are still retailing today at full price!

 

[Jmop]

The Westones are generally for stage monitoring. They mostly have this dip around the area you are referring to, but this may make them sound a bit boring for general music listening, but quite good for monitoring purposes. Most of them are bean shaped, small with good isolation, which is another priority for stage monitoring.

Unfortunately, in terms of sonic performance, Westone (and Shure) kinda rested on their laurels, and their price to performance ratio isn't great compared to some modern day CHIFI (which are multiples cheaper). Some of the Shure older models (cough cough Shure SE215) which were released more than a decade ago - and are quite lowFI sounding - are still retailing today at full price!

I actually would've kept the blue 215 if comfort was a bit better for me. Honestly not a bad set in my opinion, but yeah maybe could use a price drop. They should take note from the RE400's price drop lol. Some Westones have a bit more upper mid presence, but they also have a mid treble spike that the W20 lacks, so I went for the seemingly more linear response.

 

[assassin10000]

I actually would've kept the blue 215 if comfort was a bit better for me. Honestly not a bad set in my opinion, but yeah maybe could use a price drop. They should take note from the RE400's price drop lol. Some Westones have a bit more upper mid presence, but they also have a mid treble spike that the W20 lacks, so I went for the seemingly more linear response.

You could try changing the filter in the nozzle. Knowles makes several different acoustic filters. This would bring up the pinna gain area. I'd try a brown or white filter vs the stock green.

That's what I did to my um pro 10 and will probably do to my w10.

 

[Jmop]

You could try changing the filter in the nozzle. Knowles makes several different acoustic filters. This would bring up the pinna gain area. I'd try a brown or white filter vs the stock green.

That's what I did to my um pro 10 and will probably do to my w10.

I’ll look into it, might try going balanced as well.

 

[assassin10000]

I’ll look into it, might try going balanced as well.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/westone-um-pro-series-thread.677181/page-185#post-14848106

That page and the following have pics of how I did it.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Synergy is difficult to predict. The Geek Wold GK10 really shines with the Hidizs AP80 Pro X via balanced. This track sounds great:
I am finding the GK10 absolutely wonderful on my Hidizs AP80 Pro X via balanced. This really sounds good:

The Geek Wold GK10 sounded real good in balanced, but I still think that mid bass bump and bleed totally brings it down. If only the tuners would have kept that bump to themselves? But in balanced mode, it can be an engaging listen.

 

[Atek2019]

TRN-ST5
1DD + 2*30095 + 2*50060

 

[Barndoor]

Great!
You'll write your opinions about the combo...

Will do. See my post here for my initial ramble on it:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/tempotec-owners-thread.958841/page-5#post-17052774

 

[Redcarmoose]

https://penonaudio.com/ecci-yst-03.html

 

[kachoo]

Not sure if portable on-ears are welcome here, seeing that the thread is focusing on IEMs, but nothing about the thread says explicitly otherwise.

Iv'e been on a journey to find the perfect on ear portable solution as of late. I've tried all the likings from Koss, and as far as I'm concerned they're by far the best sounding/most portable: especially for their sub $40 prices. The only problem with them whether they be the KPH30i or the KSC75 is build quality. Without fail, every single headphone eventually falls apart. Some last months, others only a matter of weeks. Sleeping with them is an absolute no, for the aforementioned point.

Looking around, I found a few alternatives that I think are undercooked these days, where on-ears for the most part have seem to have gone out of fashion with most niece audiences.

While I normally despise the sound of Beyer headphones, their on ears are far from unpleasant compared from their larger brothers. I've tried 2 variants, but currently own a pair of t51p. They seem to be quite the hidden gem, and their status as a "lost headphone" nets them a clean sub $100 price point secondhand. One of the nicest built headphones iv'e purchased at any price point, and should be given a good look.

A more well known yet slept on headphone is the SENNHEISER momentum. Yes, I know the "momentum" line is far from unheard of, but personally I'm not really a huge fan outside of aesthetics for the most part. That exception is the momentum on ear variant. The on ear momentum doesn't suffer from the sound that plagues the over ear or in ear headphone line, is quite sturdy, and looks just as sexy as the rest. Probably the worst sounding of the bunch, but not to make it out as a bad headphone by any means.

 

[smy1]

Has anybody here tried the QCY T13? For $20 I am really shocked of the sound quality. It’s on the bright side and the bass is pretty punchy. Maybe I am bit biased because I prefer bright.

 

[r31ya]

Has anybody here tried the QCY T13? For $20 I am really shocked of the sound quality. It’s on the bright side and the bass is pretty punchy. Maybe I am bit biased because I prefer bright.

QCY is pretty well known in budget TWS.
along with Haylou, FIIL, and Soundpeats.

Is its that good? its pretty at the top of recommened budget tws
the last tws i bought is Soundpeats Mini for my sis, its sound decent