New WESTONE W-SERIES

[Mooses9]

im not digging the mmx connector, i hated it on the shure 535.

 

[Macgirl]

Is it just me or has westone completely ditched the braided-cable design on both the w and um-pro series
Which would be a shame, i really liked the feel of the braided cable

Looks like the UMP10 has the braided cable.... http://www.westone.com/store/index.php/westone-music-products/um-pro-10-red.html

 

[korzena]

When does the new W-series of Westone start selling?

 

[Spyro]

  When does the new W-series of Westone start selling?

Earphone Solutions website showing shipments to start on Nov 8th.
 
Quite honestly I think the plastic switch-out piece to change out to make it a different color is really cheesy.  I know it's about the sound but I can't help but think these changes have a lot to do with cost saves and cheaper materials - cosmetic wise.  I don't even see the spec notation about matching drivers specs to keep within tight tolerance.   I'll keep my current W3

 

[Mooses9]

Earphone Solutions website showing shipments to start on Nov 8th.

Quite honestly I think the plastic switch-out piece to change out to make it a different color is really cheesy.  I know it's about the sound but I can't help but think these changes have a lot to do with cost saves and cheaper materials - cosmetic wise.  I don't even see the spec notation about matching drivers specs to keep within tight tolerance.   I'll keep my current W3

Exactly its just following a trend with Colorful phones, and having plastic replacement cover or whatever definitely cheesey. Their focus shouldnt be on asthetics as much as improving sound quality.

I think westone is trending towards being like beats by dr dre, trying to create appeal for people who are only after asthetics of a product.

Really a downward move for a conpany like westone.

 

[Zalithian]

Exactly its just following a trend with Colorful phones, and having plastic replacement cover or whatever definitely cheesey. Their focus shouldnt be on asthetics as much as improving sound quality.

I think westone is trending towards being like beats by dr dre, trying to create appeal for people who are only after asthetics of a product.

Really a downward move for a conpany like westone.

 
Downward move for us, but maybe a good move overall for Westone. Mcdonalds doesn't make the best cheeseburgers, but they sure do sell a lot of them. Although I don't think they can appeal to the casual market much unless they make products priced much lower.

 

[outmywindow]

^^ True, but at any rate they're not going to be selling more of these with their higher initial offering price so in a way its not really going to help them to increase marketshare initially. I'm shure (pun intended) that they'll certainly make quite a bit more money with the artificial price increase though in the short term.

Also I'll be getting the chance to compare my UM3X with a UM30 Pro next week as a friend of mine decided to order one out of his expiring cashback points... so we'll see how that goes

 

[Mooses9]

W

Downward move for us, but maybe a good move overall for Westone. Mcdonalds doesn't make the best cheeseburgers, but they sure do sell a lot of them. Although I don't think they can appeal to the casual market much unless they make products priced much lower.

Well if thats not a brash statement.

 

[Zalithian]

Haha. I'm just saying that Westone is a business. They're trying to make money. Appealing to the mainstream could be good for them. Will it? Not without good marketing and lower prices. The ADV was clearly targeted at mainstream users, not audiophiles. I don't think they're dumping their audiophile sound at all, just trying to appeal to a wider audience.
 
That said, I hope Westone will be coming out with some real upgrades next year for those of us non-mainstream audio people

 

[Spyro]

Etymotic was one of the first to do it with the silly kids IEM's and the cheesy harsh colorful MC5 series.
 
As long as Westone maintains (perhaps) 3 higher end professional IEM's I don't mind they sell a lamer lower end offering to the masses.
 
But I DON'T like that they are using cheap plastic materials on the high end stuff.

 

[squallkiercosa]

The w1, w2, w3, w4 UM1,2,3x are also made of plastic. No difference whatsoever.  

 

[spook76]

The w1, w2, w3, w4 UM1,2,3x are also made of plastic. No difference whatsoever.  

I believe Spyro is correct. The removable "sleeves" look like, from the pictures, cheap plastic unlike the old Westone 4r which was a quality acrylic unabody.

 

[squallkiercosa]

I hope not so cheap to avoid vibration and resonance between the sleeve and the shell.

 

[spook76]

I hope not so cheap to avoid vibration and resonance between the sleeve and the shell.

That is an excellent point.

 

[fluffyberry]

  Etymotic was one of the first to do it with the silly kids IEM's and the cheesy harsh colorful MC5 series.
 
As long as Westone maintains (perhaps) 3 higher end professional IEM's I don't mind they sell a lamer lower end offering to the masses.
 
But I DON'T like that they are using cheap plastic materials on the high end stuff.

agreed, although i hope that they will still have decent sounding stuff for people like me...who had to fast for like a week or two after buying the um1s. just hope they dont shave their audiophile range down to their customs though, that would suck