Backstory: These sat in my headphone cupboard mostly unused for almost two years. Periodically, I pulled them from the shelf, built up some inspirational hope, placed them on my head, and then felt a pull for one of my other headphones. The Joy: In the beginning the electric bass electrified me, and audiophile recordings for jazz and rock made for sonically pleasing playlists for these, but I never found them able to genre hop - a requirement for my style of listening. Basically, you could find an album that sounded tantalizing, but poke about, and...

I can't imagine another 650 review is needed for the known universe, especially here on headfi. While I enjoy reading them, I also don't take the "objective" reviews seriously. While I would everyone to have the cans that move them into a space for deep listening for music, I can only be concerned here with my ears. And what I hear from the 650 goes beyond the "veil" or analytical accounts of treble range or sub bass. What we have here is an artistic expression - masterfully done. It's more than just the science or looks. What I know is that from the...

I have my home listening station featuring a Hifiman 500 and the necessary economic infrastructure needed to make those shine. That's where I spend time deep listening, sipping hot tea, moving into a musical headspace with no distractions. Highly recommended use of free time, but has actually nothing to do with this review other than to acknowledge that I do not recommend the Westone UM Pro30 for only listening to music.   Instead, I've found that time commuting, walking, and performing the repetitive chores of being a high school English teacher...