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dude i just read your entire thread. im really interested. im trying to buy the weston 4 for about 20g. think its good? reason i ask is because i m into the same music. metal but not only. rock, grunge, nuage etc. al. throw in some 60-70's soul and blues like james brown, bb king, nina simone etc al. and thats me. about 80 %. the rest is all general.
did you know you can get shure's in delhi through authorized dealers. same for sennheiser. both expensive but with warranty. i thought a lot about ie80's and shure 535's but have settled on westone 4s and am reading your review but would like a first hand report.
do you have any firsthand experience with shure 215's. they seem cheap and are supposed to offer some good sound for the price.
Hey man, looks like it's a good deal for 20 grand (Are you buying them new? If so, great! If not, at least make sure that they have some warranty left. Westone has exemplary customer service and they'll take care of you in case any issues arise.)
My friend had got a pair of IE80-s as a gift and I had a chance to audition them. I didn't like the way they sounded with metal but felt that they would be suited for more mellower genres. The soundstage was something, though. In the end, I got the feeling that they wouldn't suit me and it certainly wasn't worth the asking price of 20K plus. I haven't listened to the Shure SE535 nor the 215 and can't comment on them.
Looks like you have somewhat wide tastes in music. I think that the W4-s would be great for the job as they are great all rounders. For more details, do check out my review of the W4:
http://www.head-fi.org/products/westone-4-true-fit-earphones/reviews/7051.
Ultimately, what determines the sound of the W4 is the selection of the tip and its fit, the source (the W4 can be revealing and is quite sensitive) and lastly, the material itself (best to use good quality flac files instead of the usual mp3 stuff).
My personal take on the W4-s: Excellent (if not the best) detail retrieval, quality detailed bass, smooth creamy lush mids, very pleasing highs. Methinks that the lush mids are conducive to jazz and soul- correct me if I'm mistaken. Great ergonomics- very comfortable, well made strain reliefs, good cabling, sturdy 3.5mm jack.
Cons? It's expensive. In case of any defects or replacement under warranty, you'll have to send it to Colorado Springs, USA. The shipping isn't exactly cheap for that either.
Bottomline: If your wallet can take the beating and if you're sure that your sound preferences match with the W4-s signature I'd been talking about in my review, go right ahead and purchase a W4. Else, if you're conscious about value or if you prefer a different sound signature, there are a lot of options available. But if you're asking me which is the
best all rounder iem, I would point towards the W4 without any hesitation.
P.S: I bought a Sandisk Clip Zip yesterday and when teamed up with the W4, the resulting sound is sheer bliss. No audible hiss (the W4 hisses with my SE W8 phone), good volume headroom, flac support, rockbox support (I RB-d it yesterday itself) plus loads of tiny details in the music I hadn't heard with other sources including my laptop. If you are getting a W4, I would strongly recommend getting a Clip Zip- Rs.3300 for the Zip+ Rs.1050 for a 32 gb card. Total vfm- can't go wrong with it.