Indecisive
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2006
- Posts
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I was in the market for new headphones after my Apple Earbuds shorted on me and instead of putting $40 into another pair of those uncomfortable things, I went to the Internet. Like a god-send, I found this site and began researching/asking questions for about a week. I needed the isolation from the outside world as I travel on buses and trains constantly and do work in the library but I also needed discreteness/comfort/quality at the same time. So IEM's would be the best choice for me but I didn't want to spend anything substantially over $100. So I looked through the forums and found three contenders: Shure E2c, Etymotic ER6i, and Westone UM1. I'm new to the world of IEM so questioning every aspect of them and reading nearly every critique was necessary before putting my money down. I read in various threads that the Shure's were good but some complained about the sound/comfort; Etymotic's were concluded by a bunch of people to be better than the Shure's in different aspects but also lacking in other qualities; and the Westone's...well, I couldn't find one thread that had anything terrible about them. I read they were very comfortable, the sound quality was great for a $100 IEM, and I saw various pictures of how discreet they were.
So come Sunday, I ordered from Earphonesolutions the Weston UM1 based on the high recommendations and many positive reviews. Let me just add that...Earphonesolutions has my business forever; No tax, Free shipping (took 2 days), and great customer support. I was dieing to hear these babies and see if I could handle the IEM world. Finally today came and to my surprise they were waiting in my mailbox...and here are my first impressions:
I'll go from most important (to me) to least (to me):
Comfort: This issue is the one that can't really be solved through a forum; it's all about trial and error here. I can say though, as a first time IEM, the Westone UM1's are not bothering me at all. They are so comfortable that I can't believe it. I read all these horror stories (from various IEM’s) of people having aching ear canals but I've had these in for over 2 hours now and I feel no discomfort whatsoever. The foam tips adjusted perfectly with my inner ear and are creating a perfect seal, nothing is spilling out and no outside noise can be heard (I had someone yell at me while listening to my iPod at 25% volume).
Score: 10 out of 10.
Sound-- Before continuing please keep in mind I’ve been using the Apple Earbuds for over 3 years (Yeah, I don’t know how I lived now that I have these Westone’s)-- :
HOLY ****, I DIDN’T KNOW MY MUSIC SOUNDED SO GOOD AND CLEAR! – This was my first impression upon getting these adjusted in my ear. I listen to Rock, Electronic, Indie, Alternative, and Progressive music so despite these genres having a far less amount of bass compared to Rap, R&B, etc. I thought the bass, treble, and overall clarity was superb. The bass isn’t overwhelming and either is the treble, they both balance each other out very well. The clarity of my music has increase 100%, no double that 200%. I am hearing parts I never knew existed…it’s really a new experience listening to albums over again that I’ve heard hundreds of times before with my Apple Earbuds. I’m in love with the improvement in sound quality; I just…can’t say those words enough. This transition is like night and day when compared. I tested for clarity with a CD that I know has a lot of ambient noises that were getting lost with my earbuds. That CD was The Mars Volta – Frances the Mute and when I played one of the ambient tracks on that album, I heard sounds I had no idea existed. I’ve listened to this CD over 100 times (seriously) and I haven’t heard 50% of the noises I’m hearing now. For a first IEM, I am so impressed and boggled at how good higher-end ones must sound.
Score: 10 out of 10.
Discreetness/Sleekness/Style: They look a lot better than my Apple Earbuds, that’s for sure. When looking in the mirror head on, I cannot tell I have anything in my ears. Nothing sticks out awkwardly or gives any appearance of headphones being worn. From the profile though you can obviously see them…I mean that’s a given, these are headphones, not some device implanted inside my head. But from the profile, it doesn’t look weird either; just people will know you’re wearing something. Oh, and for those that wear glasses, I wear them too and nothing is unusual when the wire is put behind the ear.
Score 10 out of 10.
Price: The price of $109 from Earphonesolutions.com with no tax and no shipping fees is an amount of money that I feel is justified. I would go as far as saying that I paid less than what I’d think was fair for these headphones. This $109 is a rare instance where I have no buyer’s remorse once I received the product. I can only gather that it is because the product delivered everything it promised and more.
Score 10 out of 10.
Overall score: 10 out of 10. –I highly recommend these to anyone in the market for first-time IEM’s like me.
-Ind
So come Sunday, I ordered from Earphonesolutions the Weston UM1 based on the high recommendations and many positive reviews. Let me just add that...Earphonesolutions has my business forever; No tax, Free shipping (took 2 days), and great customer support. I was dieing to hear these babies and see if I could handle the IEM world. Finally today came and to my surprise they were waiting in my mailbox...and here are my first impressions:
I'll go from most important (to me) to least (to me):
Comfort: This issue is the one that can't really be solved through a forum; it's all about trial and error here. I can say though, as a first time IEM, the Westone UM1's are not bothering me at all. They are so comfortable that I can't believe it. I read all these horror stories (from various IEM’s) of people having aching ear canals but I've had these in for over 2 hours now and I feel no discomfort whatsoever. The foam tips adjusted perfectly with my inner ear and are creating a perfect seal, nothing is spilling out and no outside noise can be heard (I had someone yell at me while listening to my iPod at 25% volume).
Score: 10 out of 10.
Sound-- Before continuing please keep in mind I’ve been using the Apple Earbuds for over 3 years (Yeah, I don’t know how I lived now that I have these Westone’s)-- :
HOLY ****, I DIDN’T KNOW MY MUSIC SOUNDED SO GOOD AND CLEAR! – This was my first impression upon getting these adjusted in my ear. I listen to Rock, Electronic, Indie, Alternative, and Progressive music so despite these genres having a far less amount of bass compared to Rap, R&B, etc. I thought the bass, treble, and overall clarity was superb. The bass isn’t overwhelming and either is the treble, they both balance each other out very well. The clarity of my music has increase 100%, no double that 200%. I am hearing parts I never knew existed…it’s really a new experience listening to albums over again that I’ve heard hundreds of times before with my Apple Earbuds. I’m in love with the improvement in sound quality; I just…can’t say those words enough. This transition is like night and day when compared. I tested for clarity with a CD that I know has a lot of ambient noises that were getting lost with my earbuds. That CD was The Mars Volta – Frances the Mute and when I played one of the ambient tracks on that album, I heard sounds I had no idea existed. I’ve listened to this CD over 100 times (seriously) and I haven’t heard 50% of the noises I’m hearing now. For a first IEM, I am so impressed and boggled at how good higher-end ones must sound.
Score: 10 out of 10.
Discreetness/Sleekness/Style: They look a lot better than my Apple Earbuds, that’s for sure. When looking in the mirror head on, I cannot tell I have anything in my ears. Nothing sticks out awkwardly or gives any appearance of headphones being worn. From the profile though you can obviously see them…I mean that’s a given, these are headphones, not some device implanted inside my head. But from the profile, it doesn’t look weird either; just people will know you’re wearing something. Oh, and for those that wear glasses, I wear them too and nothing is unusual when the wire is put behind the ear.
Score 10 out of 10.
Price: The price of $109 from Earphonesolutions.com with no tax and no shipping fees is an amount of money that I feel is justified. I would go as far as saying that I paid less than what I’d think was fair for these headphones. This $109 is a rare instance where I have no buyer’s remorse once I received the product. I can only gather that it is because the product delivered everything it promised and more.
Score 10 out of 10.
Overall score: 10 out of 10. –I highly recommend these to anyone in the market for first-time IEM’s like me.
-Ind
