[Posmentis]

I have the W3 (gold) 's for a year now in my possession and I am very pleased with it. However, I found the power in the low frequency / bass bad and I found them sometimes thin and shrill ... recently I found out that the DAC / soundcard of my laptop is very very bad. So now I listen from my Samsung S3 and this really sounds totally amazing!
 
The problem is that I've done the burn-in phase through my bad soundcard. The whole burn-in phase is inadequate hardware used with biased sound playback and without a decent bass frequencies.
 
Used burn-in sounds:
white noise, pink noise and Brownian noise
various burn-in CDs and samples
 
For now I am completely baffled by the actual ability of the IEM's so I can hardly judge whether there is something 'not good'. Can you tell me if this is a problem?

 

[korzena]

  The problem is that I've done the burn-in phase through my bad soundcard. The whole burn-in phase is inadequate hardware used ...

 
You must be joking!

 

[Posmentis]

   
You must be joking!

 
i'm afraid not...
 
i didn't know at the time...
 
what are your thoughts?

 

[korzena]

I was referring to another thing I thought you were joking about the whole burning-in with a bad soundcard. 
Anyway I would like to calm you down. You shouldn't worry about the whole thing at all. It wouldn't make any difference to the sound of your headphones, especially that they are earphones. Just enjoy the Westones - they are such great headphones!

 

[Posmentis]

Thanks man. That's what I needed to hear! Enjoying them everyday!
 
At the time they indicated anywhere that they do not require amp / dac. Now I found out that they certainly require one when I use them with my laptop.

 

[korzena]

  Thanks man. That's what I needed to hear! Enjoying them everyday!
 
At the time they indicated anywhere that they do not require amp / dac. Now I found out that they certainly require one when I use them with my laptop.

 
The consensus here is that Westone 3s don't require and don't benefit from an amp. I use them with my iPod. I think if the source is good, they will play optimally even without an amp. 
However make the test with them and decide for yourself.

 

[Posmentis]

   
The consensus here is that Westone 3s don't require and don't benefit from an amp. I use them with my iPod. I think if the source is good, they will play optimally even without an amp. 
However make the test with them and decide for yourself.

 
And I did. When I play them through my Samsung Galaxy S3, they sound really stunning! The soundcard of my laptop is absolutely insufficient. So a (portable) DAC / amp is needed to avoid the poor soundcard on my laptop.
 
I was thinking about the Alpen FiiO e17 as it is (apparently) the best bang for the buck. And it should do the job...

 

[korzena]

   
And I did. When I play them through my Samsung Galaxy S3, they sound really stunning! The soundcard of my laptop is absolutely insufficient. So a (portable) DAC / amp is needed to avoid the poor soundcard on my laptop.
 
I was thinking about the Alpen FiiO e17 as it is (apparently) the best bang for the buck. And it should do the job...

 
OK, I see.
I have no experience with portable stuff so cannot advise you anything.
Maybe someone else could recommend some good portable DAC/amp suitable for Westone 3?