Originally Posted by music_4321 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
OK, so you didn't go back and fix it properly in the end - too much work?
From your latest comments, some of my earlier responses in red (for context) and my latest responses in green
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I prefer the natural sound of the Shure SE530's over the unbalanced sound of the W3's.
A lot of people don't feel the SE530 to have 'natural' sound - lots of people, including myself, feel the highs are recessed. Although the W3 is not as natural as the new custom Westone ES3X, to these ears The W3 is more natural/ balanced sounding than the SE530
Lets put it this way. They are both unnatural. The Westone 3 is more for the musicality while the Shure SE530 is more for the reproduction of a concert. The Shure SE530 has a forward but very detailed midrange which blows the Westone 3 out of the water. Till this day no other universal IEM comes close to the SE530's. The SE530's is in it's own other planet in midrange. Shure is a "Pro-audio" company that specializes in mics. So most likely being that they special in a device that is there to capture mostly the midrange then maybe that's the reason their earphones have the best midrange of any IEM. Also what people don't realize is that the midrange is the bread and butter of the whole frequency response. The SE530's has perfect BASS and beyond perfect but a little too forward midrange. The HIGHS can use a little EQ to give the sparkle. When I use the yellow foamies on my Shure SE530's the highs are as much as I can ask for. The yellow foamies reduce the BASS a bit to bring out the highs more but the yellow foamies are so inconvenient I just ended up going back to the olives which give a slightly more darker sound. With the olives I see all the faults in the SE530's people say. The HIGHS are clear and there but they don't sparkle as much as I would want them too. When I plug my SE530's in my laptop with the olives and slighty boost the HIGHS on the EQ........Lets just say I don't think I want the Westone ES3X's anymore after hearing my EQ'ed SE530's. Know lets get back to what I was saying. Shure was not trying to impress people with cymbal crashes and the sparkle. They were trying to and got it dead on to reproduce a live concert event. In a concert even the crashing of a cymbal is not harsh and you really don't hear much detail from it because the other frequencies or instruments and vocals over power it. The SE530's has by far the best or one of the best bass of any IEM. The BASS from the SE530's is so damn clean, tight, and detailed. When a song calls for a lot of BASS those SE530's will pound you eardrums down with them. If a song calls for alittle BASS that is what you will get with no added BOOM like the IE8's or Westone 3's. Like I've said my of times at this point of the universal market there is no better IEM. The Shure SE530's excel in the BASS and dominates other IEMS in the MIDS, The IE8's dominates other IEM's in the soundstage, and the Westone 3 does every thing right but to my ears isn't natural it's more of a musical earphone then what you'll get in a live event which is what I want. I may seem to come of as a fanboy boy but when I buy something it could be $.50 I tend to be defensive about my purchase also when I see that the product supposedly people think triumphs it doesn't and is just a simple sidegrade.
I don't find them heavy and don't experience any microphonics. Also I like knowing that the cables for my $300 earphones are not thin and flimsy but rather thick and rugged.
Westone cables are said to be the best in the industry, they are thinner than the SE530, but most certainly not flimsy, and 100% UNOBTRUSIVE, unlike the HAEVY, STIFF & BULKY cable & extensions on the SE530. You don't experience microphonics, but I certainly did with the SE530, and NONE with the W3
Once again I like the thick and rugged feel of the SE530's wires. I don't get microphonics at all......at all.
Yea, I would have rather a L-Shaped plug but really I prefer the straight angled plug since the wire comes straight out of my pocket instead of bending and then coming out.
So which one is it that you prefer - there seems to be a contradiction in your statement.
The straight angle plug fits me more...
Still your answer doesn't make sense - do you want the L-shaped plug like Westone, or the straight one the Shure offers?
The straight one Shure offers.
Perhaps we have different concepts of sexy and cheap? Since when is 'generic' black ugly? Have you actually carefully looked at the 'ugly' W3 logo, it's a kind of hidden number 3, to me not only cool but quite clever.
Wow I just realized that lol, but still I think the sexy shiny metallic bronze on the Shure SE530's gives it a professional top of the line earphone look. The black on the Westone 3 make it look like regular earphones. The Shure SE530's are bound to catch more eyes than the Westone 3 guaranteed.
Are you sure 'they're bound to catch more eyes' for THOSE reasons? I'm not so sure. I think, more likely, people may think "What the hell are those funny-looking things with thick cables hanging from his ears? Are they some kind of hearing aid?" Again, I think we have VERY different views on what 'sexy' & 'professional top of the line earphone look' mean -- but none of us has done a survey on this very subject, at least not me.
Wow....You must be the only one who rather the plain dull look of the Westone 3. The Shure SE530 are beautiful. The Westone 3's look just like and hearing aid as much as the SE530's. Also if you care about them looking like hearing aides well you should forget about any custom IEM. With the SE530's and Westone 3 together on a table I guarantee you everyone or mostly everyone with guess the Shure SE530's as being more expensive just by the classy look of the SE530's. The Westone 3's look like any other pair of earphones while the SE530's sets itself apart with it's shiny chrome bronze metallic finish.
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If you're giving advice to the OP, or anyone else for that matter, why not try and be as objective/factual as possible, and when not able to do so, why not CLEARLY state "Hey, this is MY opinion. Others feel/think/hear differently" If I was asking for some help as OP and followed your advice, I'd be terribly disappointed, to say the least.
Yes, OP may read all replies and will make up his/ her mind, but only a handful of people will reply and address the question/ advice at hand, and very often it seems as if some posters had really serious & authoritative views with plenty of jargon thrown in the mix -- this can be confusing at best, and very misleading, specially for new members.
On the other hand, some IE8 advocates seem to be posting here, there, and all over the place lately. So, my advice to OP is this -- since we are talking about very expensive IEM's go and check lots of reviews out there, specially long 'Appreciation' threads.
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