Anyone had the Westone W60 and higher frequency sensitivity? Need replacement advice.

[fuzzybabybunny]

My Westone W60s are dead. One of the woofers died and it's not fixable. No warranty.

I know this is a long shot, but if anyone who has owned the W60 or W80 can give me advice on what to replace it with it would be awesome.

- The bean shape of the housing is perfect for me. Absolutely perfect. I sleep in them all the time and even wear them unplugged to drown out the world.

- I like the wide soundstage of the W60s and the female vocals are so nice without being bright or sibilant.

- My #1 issue: I'm very sensitive to the following frequency ranges:

2.5kHz is ok
3kHz is ok
3.5kHz is piercing
4.0kHz is piercing
4.5kHz is ok
5.0kHz is ok
5.5kHz is piercing
6.0kHz is piercing
6.5kHz is uncomfortable
7.0kHz is uncomfortable
7.5kHz is ok
8.0kHz is totally ok

Here is the frequency response of the W60.



As you can see, they are very mild at the frequencies that hurt my ears and this is why I love them. Lots of other IEMs actually tend overemphasize these frequencies.

I've listened to some very high end IEMs that physically hurt and fatigue my ears after longer listening.

Anole VX
Sony IER-Z1R
Beyerdynamic Xelento

What I've enjoyed:

UE18+Pro
UERR
KSE1500 - loved them, but proprietary setup and $$$
UM Mentor V3 - my all time favorite, but hate the chunky housing and proprietary cables and $$$

Any advice?

 

[MarkParity]

My Westone W60s are dead. One of the woofers died and it's not fixable. No warranty.

I know this is a long shot, but if anyone who has owned the W60 or W80 can give me advice on what to replace it with it would be awesome.

- The bean shape of the housing is perfect for me. Absolutely perfect. I sleep in them all the time and even wear them unplugged to drown out the world.

- I like the wide soundstage of the W60s and the female vocals are so nice without being bright or sibilant.

- My #1 issue: I'm very sensitive to the following frequency ranges:

2.5kHz is ok
3kHz is ok
3.5kHz is piercing
4.0kHz is piercing
4.5kHz is ok
5.0kHz is ok
5.5kHz is piercing
6.0kHz is piercing
6.5kHz is uncomfortable
7.0kHz is uncomfortable
7.5kHz is ok
8.0kHz is totally ok

Here is the frequency response of the W60.



As you can see, they are very mild at the frequencies that hurt my ears and this is why I love them. Lots of other IEMs actually tend overemphasize these frequencies.

I've listened to some very high end IEMs that physically hurt and fatigue my ears after longer listening.

Anole VX
Sony IER-Z1R
Beyerdynamic Xelento

What I've enjoyed:

UE18+Pro
UERR
KSE1500 - loved them, but proprietary setup and $$$
UM Mentor V3 - my all time favorite, but hate the chunky housing and proprietary cables and $$$

Any advice?

Your post reads like an advert for the Westone product range.

I own several Westone IEM's and I have to agree for comfort and sound they are superb. I don't think anything else can match them and I would suggest that you replace your W60 with....
wait for it,
another W60 or the W60 V2.

Its the only option, next question

 

[assassin10000]

^ that.


If you're looking for something budget friendly to try the Drop/massdrop Nuforce EDC3 has a milder signature but not as much low-end lift.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Your post reads like an advert for the Westone product range.

I own several Westone IEM's and I have to agree for comfort and sound they are superb. I don't think anything else can match them and I would suggest that you replace your W60 with....
wait for it,
another W60 or the W60 V2.

Its the only option, next question

Ehhhh... having listened to several IEMs that I feel are noticably better than the W60, I can't really bring myself to shell out more money for another W60. Whenever I listen to my W60 I know in the back of my mind what it's missing, and especially after opening up the W60 and seeing what's involved inside and talking to people who work on the hardware side of the industry, I definitely don't think a W60 is worth the money.

 

[FlowLikeWater]

Ehhhh... having listened to several IEMs that I feel are noticably better than the W60, I can't really bring myself to shell out more money for another W60. Whenever I listen to my W60 I know in the back of my mind what it's missing, and especially after opening up the W60 and seeing what's involved inside and talking to people who work on the hardware side of the industry, I definitely don't think a W60 is worth the money.

agreed, westone has plateaued since release of W80, they r below average for the price they charge

i recommend sony IER M9, a bit pricey (unless u find used), but very tough to beat for the price.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

agreed, westone has plateaued since release of W80, they r below average for the price they charge

i recommend sony IER M9, a bit pricey (unless u find used), but very tough to beat for the price.

I've listened to the IER M9 and wasn't that impressed. I'm not much of a Sony fan of their IEMs. The Z1Rs are technically excellent, but lacking in character for me. I still dream of the UM Mentor V3 and how they literally made me hallucinate a little bit while listening to some tracks. The new UM MEST is also very interesting but I've got no way to demo them.

The Westones are not good for the price.

The W60s only have a two-way crossover. The woofer actually is wired to output the entire frequency range. It's a *very* rudimentary circuit design.

They say the Knowles drivers are custom-made but I was assured by people in the industry that BAs are not custom unless a customer has a minimum order quantity of 10,000 units from Knowles, which Westone is unlikely to have. No IEM company is likely to have that. So what Westone probably did was give Knowles an idea of what they needed and Knowles pulled a BA from their existing inventory, engraved a different model number on it, and called it customized.

Or maybe the woofers are customized and it's used across all of the Westone line of IEMs, which might be a possibility considering the woofers in the W60 aren't wired to any kind of crossover whatsoever. It's possible the entry level Westone just starts with that single woofer outputting everything and subsequent models add tweeters in crossover.

For what it's worth, I only like the W60 and W80. All the other ones are hopelessly outclassed by the competition at the price point they're at.

 

[assassin10000]

Heres the EDC3s graph, courtesy of crinacle.

 

[MarkParity]

Ehhhh... having listened to several IEMs that I feel are noticably better than the W60, I can't really bring myself to shell out more money for another W60. Whenever I listen to my W60 I know in the back of my mind what it's missing, and especially after opening up the W60 and seeing what's involved inside and talking to people who work on the hardware side of the industry, I definitely don't think a W60 is worth the money.

From your first post, 1st requirement/like:

- The bean shape of the housing is perfect for me. Absolutely perfect. I sleep in them all the time and even wear them unplugged to drown out the world.

If you do manage to find another IEM that meets this requirement with a sound signature anything like the Westone W60/W80 let me know because I will be buying one too.