[soundlogic]

As an admitted newbe looking for an IEM upgrade from my Ety 4p's, my hours of reading this forum has gotten me quite excited about purchasing a pair of the new Westone 3's. Now I cannot go out and audition these to see if they are as wonderful as all the reviews say, so I would be basing my desire for purchase on said reviews...probably not unlike many consumers.
The one thing I am seeing is, quite a few of these being put up for sale on this forum, and elsewhere, that are essentially a few days old and the owner's state that "they are just not my taste sound-wise, etc.".
So, I guess my point/question is: Are the majority of the new Westone 3 owners out there as happy now as they were when they first got the phones? or are there amp/compatability issues? Or?
I just don't want to spend my hard earned dough, just to post them on the used sections because they did'nt sound as good as they "read in reviews".
I appreciate your comments and concerns.
Tim

 

[RAQemUP]

From what I gather from the forums, some people could not get a decent fit in their ears and probably took advantage of the ms live cashback coupon last week at 30% off on ebay.

 

[synaesthetic]

Buyer's remorse. =)

 

[ph0rk]

I don't think it is out of the ordinary - it is a new IEM so many people were likely waiting for it, thus causing the total amount of purchases to spike which would result in more first listens and more resells.

 

[Rednamalas1]

They found out that they need to buy Christmas gifts?

 

[scytheavatar]

Because the Westone 3 aren't OMGTHEBESTIEMEVER and those expecting them to be better than the SE530/Triplefi10/UM2/IE8 put together are going to be disappointed with them.

 

[tstarn06]

I own the W3s and got them for $260 via cashback. No doubt many people got the same deal (or even better with the 30/10 percent deal. Mine was 25/10), and are trying to make some $$$ on the situation. If they didn't like the W3s in the first few days, they could have easily gotten their money back from the original seller (most have money back guarantees). Why sell if you can get a refund.

No doubt a few found they didn't meet expectations, but not all. After all, with the MS Cashback and the added 10 percent off, you could make a quick $100.

Plenty of owners, myself included, believe they are fantastic IEMs; some feel differently (returning and/or selling). And some are being entrepreneurs.

 

[wuwhere]

Hyped. I'm happy and satisfied with my ER4S.

 

[YtseJamer]

They are really GOOD, trust me

 

[tstarn06]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wuwhere /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hyped. I'm happy and satisfied with my ER4S.

Not hyped, just different. I owned Etys, and thought they were very fatiguing, dry and in the end, not so hot (sold them to buy the Atrio M5s). To me, the W3s crush the Etys in terms of fun, extended listening. I still have a pair of modded 716s if I need the Ety sound (Ety made the drivers), and it is certainly detailed and a good listen, but not for more than an hour or so. And my amp has a ptos switch, so it's akin to the ER4S. W3s just a better all-around phone, not just hype.

 

[Nocturnal310]

Many people loved them ..and many people plainly hated them....especially the ones who bought them by pre-ordering and didnt audition.

atleast thats the case here in singapore.

for me ..i stay away from IEM's...they are full of compromises for me.

 

[Rednamalas1]

their wife/gf made them sell it back. That's the only reason that I see.

 

[LostOne.TR]

25/10 and 30/10 where did the extra 10 come from?

 

[tstarn06]

Pure serendipity (or ebay conspiracy?), but the day the W3s went on sale, several Head-Fi'ers who use ebay/paypal received a 10 percent coupon code for any ebay purchase if you used paypal. And the discount worked in tandem with MS Cashback! Sweet. So getting the W3s for $240 or $260 was a no brainer for me and others.

Also, I checked the W3s for sale here and out of the 5 I found (as of yesterday), some folks say they need the cash for bills, books, etc. They also all said they paid full price, which is possible. However, on my purchase, the actual receipt/invoice says $399 from the vendor, but the paypal fees were deducted in the paypal account. Also, with MS Cashback, you don't get the refund for $60 days, so it also doesn't show up on the receipt.

In short, I paid "full" price if you look at my invoice, but not really. So a smart businessperson who didn't really want the W3s or wasn't 100 percent sold on them could make a few bucks reselling, rather than returning, which is more complicated after all the discounts. Hope this makes sense.

Meantime, good idea to track how many more W3s go up for sale. Also, how did this end up in the full-size headphone forum? Can a mod move it to the portable threads, so others can read it?

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by synaesthetic /img/forum/go_quote.gif Buyer's remorse. =)

+1

The Westone 3 was announced to be released in May 2007, but delayed until November 2008. This long wait have probably built up high expectations among the buyers, while when if finally arrived it did not stand up to the expectations. Or just to take advantage of the Microsoft Live 30% cashback coupon.