pretty much sums it up for me. with certain tips, this IEM is unlistenable. having gone through quite a few different tips now, I realise there is not one ultimate be all end all tip. each have the strengths and weaknesses, just that some lean to far towards the latter.
with the short complies (my current 'favourites'), the midrange doesn't sound 'hot' at all. highs and upper midrange sound pretty awesome, and instrument separation is actually very good if you can overlook the 'woolly' sound. the recording itself has to be absolutely faultess and on the acoustically dry end of the scale for the W4 to sound absolutely clean. there's a bit more weight and warmth behind the sound, but the clarity of the lower midrange suffers. abit 'woolly' is the best word to describe it. attack isn't sharp enough, and there's too much bloom. A shame. Really. The overall sound signature as a result just isn't quite enjoyable enough for me, hampered mainly by the veil/bloom/woolly-ness. Whatever you want to call it. An hour into listening, my ears have acclimatised to it, but boy is it still there when I listen to acoustic recordings (assuming it's a good one) where there's no hiding if the timbre, attack/decay doesn't sound realistic.
Well there we go. The W4 are here to stay. They're good. And I bothered to use my shift key more too.
