[Freeze]

I love my westone 3 LE's and its cool owning something they only made 333 of but I've been reading amazing reviews of the earsonic sm3's. How are they compared to W3's is there a huge difference in sound quality? Is one noticeably better then the other. If the sm3's are obviously better I may sell my LE's and buy the sm3's. Need your expert help.

 

[jjeremycai]

Use the top-tier charts and reviews to your advantage, there's plenty of comparisons.

 

[Freeze]

yea the top teir chart makes the w3's sound like they are complete crap compared to the sm3. Is that true?

 

[ethan961]

Just remember that as soon as you get into W2/W3 and above territory, the margins of improvement get smaller as you go up in price. The SM3 will be less of an upgrade than going to the W3 from *insert previous $100-150 IEM here*.

 

[the search never ends]

OP. you have to understand the comparisons being made, I saw a post by you, saying you loved the W3, and they are your first iem?  Do you love the bass hump and shimmering highs of the W3?
The earsonics, while I love them, don't have any real sound signature, very neutral, and revealing though.
I would not consider trading them for W3's.  But I'm not you, you may well miss the V shape sound of the W3. I don't know your listening experience, but it's a gamble if you don't know what you want. Many folks here have been listening for decades, and it's easier to discern what we're looking for, yet still often let down. This hobby can become addictive. Many of us chase the holy grail for a long time. If you truly love your westone 3's.......my advice is not to log on to headfi again. I own about 120 iems and cans combined, I am not alone, and many own much more. Dozens of amps, Daps. cd palyers, dac's it never ends, jump in the pool and enjoy the good with the bad, or be happy with what you have, I promise you, headfi is a wallet crushing machine.

 

[Bum Rush]

Great post search. Made me realize that I'm about to become crazy over audio gear

. Man, that's it, I swear that the SM3 are going to be my last IEM purchase ever.

 

[helljudgement]

@search So the sm3 is now your new favorite?
To op, if you enjoy the W3s I don't think you can find other iem that can give you the same sound signature that you get from the W3s.

 

[koonhua90]

 
Quote:

OP. you have to understand the comparisons being made, I saw a post by you, saying you loved the W3, and they are your first iem?  Do you love the bass hump and shimmering highs of the W3?
The earsonics, while I love them, don't have any real sound signature, very neutral, and revealing though.
I would not consider trading them for W3's.  But I'm not you, you may well miss the V shape sound of the W3. I don't know your listening experience, but it's a gamble if you don't know what you want. Many folks here have been listening for decades, and it's easier to discern what we're looking for, yet still often let down. This hobby can become addictive. Many of us chase the holy grail for a long time. If you truly love your westone 3's.......my advice is not to log on to headfi again. I own about 120 iems and cans combined, I am not alone, and many own much more. Dozens of amps, Daps. cd palyers, dac's it never ends, jump in the pool and enjoy the good with the bad, or be happy with what you have, I promise you, headfi is a wallet crushing machine.

Oooh, I only have 2 iems now...no big boy can whatsoever. Such is the life of poor student...OP if you're really interested in the SM3, and have the money for it, then go get it. Who knows the neutrality of it will give you new prospects...

 

[Freeze]

I listen to alot of rap and the w3 le's seem to make the beat sound real nice i can't really think of anything bad to say about them. So you're sayin fi it aint broke dont fix it. I guess I'll just wait till I can get custom jh16 pros as I'm sure those will be a big upgrade from the w3 le's.
 
And yea search I havent been into HQ portable Audio long but I've been into car audio for 12 years. Check the members lounge to see my Alpine f1 status system. It sounds incredible.

 

[KLS]

 
Quote:

OP. you have to understand the comparisons being made, I saw a post by you, saying you loved the W3, and they are your first iem?  Do you love the bass hump and shimmering highs of the W3?
The earsonics, while I love them, don't have any real sound signature, very neutral, and revealing though.
I would not consider trading them for W3's.  But I'm not you, you may well miss the V shape sound of the W3. I don't know your listening experience, but it's a gamble if you don't know what you want. Many folks here have been listening for decades, and it's easier to discern what we're looking for, yet still often let down. This hobby can become addictive. Many of us chase the holy grail for a long time. If you truly love your westone 3's.......my advice is not to log on to headfi again. I own about 120 iems and cans combined, I am not alone, and many own much more. Dozens of amps, Daps. cd palyers, dac's it never ends, jump in the pool and enjoy the good with the bad, or be happy with what you have, I promise you, headfi is a wallet crushing machine.

x2 on @Bum Rush, great post.
 
@Freeze, like what @search said, if you love your W3, for your own sake, never log on to Head-Fi again. I saw you posting elsewhere saying W3 is the best. Yes W3 will be the one for you if you have nothing else to compare. So, get away from this cursed forum before it's too late
 

 

[Freeze]

Well I can't leave yet. I want one of those pico slims, so small and sexy. If justin takes forever tho i'll probly get arrow 12he instead.
 
And yes the w3 le's are the first real portable audio ear speaker I ever bought. Before that I was using some altec lansing headphones for gaming on the comp and portable audio. Wow you just can't compare 35 dollar headphones to real audiophile headphones they just distorted on everything.
 
I got number 143/333. It's so awesome to own something made in such small numbers.

 

[KLS]

@Freeze, I thought the W3 is the very first phones you have. If you appreciate how good they sound compare to the Altec Lansing, then you are in trouble
 
I have no experience with W3, but people say they are 'fun' phones. I think SM3 make a good complement to W3. It seems that you have tonnes of money to burn, I suggest get some custom tips for SM3 if you were to buy one.

 

[Freeze]

Well I get 4500 a semester in college loan money that i live off of. My grandparents pay the tuition so all the loan money goes to my pocket since everything else is paid. I'm not super rich but I have family that pays all my bills cell phone car insurance books tuition all taken care of so I get huge loan disbursements to have fun with. I think I'm gonna use my w3 le's for awhile and then sell them and get jh16 pros when I can afford em.

 

[KLS]

Never try a custom, but it seems to be a wise move.
 
You don't have to tell us everything ^^;

 

[Big Kev]

I have both the W3 and SM3 and really love them both.
 
My main music is rock/metal and I love the sound that the W3's bring out of them, plenty of bass, the guitars are prominent and the vocals sound spot on as well, especially with the Comply P's, which eliminate the sibilance.  I also listen to some pop and that also sounds great
 
The SM3's seem to me to have the ability to adapt to different types of music.  Rock/metal has punchy bass, the guitars are even more prominent and the vocals reach as high as they were meant to, without ever proving sibilant.  Joe Satriani, for example, sounds exceptional and I cannot think it could ever sound better and exactly the way he intended his music to be heard.  When playing some pop music, they seem to change slightly, adapting perfectly to different demands this music warrants, bass is perfect when required, the mids are right there and the treble excels.
 
The Comply P's make the SM3's sound rather similar to the W3's for me, yet the RE bi flanges change them again, so a slightly less bassy signature, with accentuated treble.  So trying different tips is a must and will surprise you.
 
Although I've heard a few of the "top tier" phones now, I still don't consider myself an audiophile and find if extremely difficult to express myself as such, not yet grasping the various terminology used by far more knowledgeable members on here, so I hope what I typed makes sense.
 
Overall though, the W3's are a great set of phones for me, but the SM3's does everything they do, but better and sounds great with everything that I've heard with them so far, from Sade to Slayer.