[torta]

... and still one of the few iems I can fall asleep with my head on the pillow.

Very informative - important point for me. Any chinese iems you can sleep with? And also this - did you buy B50 at Adorama? International shipping is expensive though.

You mean the size of the housing? I think the W40 is slightly larger. In terms of sound quality the SE215 is not even close to the W40 in terms of tonality, balance, detail retrieval, soundstage, and on and on. The SE215 is fine for the price, but it's bass is rather tubby and bleeds into the recessed mids. Very comfortable and good for certain genres of music like Hip Hop and Rock, but it can't touch the W40.

Also very informative. I can live with 215 just fine, but I am curious and want to try an upgrade. I guess W40 gen2 is on top at the moment.

Thank you for your input so far.

 

[Shahram]

Very informative - important point for me. Any chinese iems you can sleep with? And also this - did you buy B50 at Adorama? International shipping is expensive though.



Also very informative. I can live with 215 just fine, but I am curious and want to try an upgrade. I guess W40 gen2 is on top at the moment.

Thank you for your input so far.

No problem. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[Shahram]

I agree, it's all just a matter of personal sound preference. Many chi-fi iems are tuned to have higher resolution and less natural tonality in favor of exaggerated lower treble and scooped out lower mids (less body in the sound with more piercing peaks). The house tuning of Westone iems was always about laidback fuller body detailed tonality, to just kick back and relax listening to music instead of analyzing the details. Their most naturally revealing "audiophile" tuned IEM is still ES80, underrated because it only comes in CIEM design and many don't get a chance to hear it. But W-series and UM/AM Pro series are all about natural fuller body sound. And the comfort is bar none. I know I sound like a broken record, but W80 is the smallest and the most comfortable 8BA iem I have come across, and still one of the few iems I can fall asleep with my head on the pillow.

I am in total agreement. I personally think comfort is equally as important as the sound quality. Westone hits comfort out of the park. And the tuning is right in the sweet spot for me. A fatigue free listen that has just enough of everything for my taste. Coming from the RHA MA750 the Westone 4R was a revelation. At first I thought the Westone was way too bass shy until I realized the RHA over emphasized it too much.

I demoed the gen 2 W60 in an airport recently and compared it to the 4R and the W30 (gen 1) I had on hand and was pretty shocked how much more realistic percussion sounded. Bass had more impact, but it didn't feel unbalanced. Now I just need the balls to pull the trigger on that deal! I can't even imaging how good the W80 must be! Lucky you

 

[davidcotton]

Maybe one for @twister6 but are the original gen w30's still a good buy? Can get them for £199.00 refurb in the uk. Never went for that adorama deal (still on) and now a bit wary of ordering from abroad right now for obvious reasons!

Thanks

 

[twister6]

Maybe one for @twister6 but are the original gen w30's still a good buy? Can get them for £199.00 refurb in the uk. Never went for that adorama deal (still on) and now a bit wary of ordering from abroad right now for obvious reasons!

Thanks

W30 are hard to come by because they are discontinued, as you aware. 199 GBP is roughly $247 USD. Adorama no longer has W30 in stock, I just checked. Also, looks like the lowest price I was able to find on-line is audio46 store, for $229 (plus 10% when you sign up for a coupon), but they only have 1 pair in stock. Have no idea how much a shipping to UK will cost, I assume you are from UK and if something is off, it's harder to deal with overseas retailer. Thus, the price you have been quoted locally sounds like a good deal.

Regarding the sound difference/comparison, I covered B30 vs W30 vs UMPro 30 here in the review, just in case. They are still great IEMs if you are a fan of Westone laidback house sound with "analog" bass emphasis.

 

[HaBo]

Hi,
Is there a comparison review between W10 v1 and W10 v2 somewhere ?

 

[davidcotton]

Hi,
Is there a comparison review between W10 v1 and W10 v2 somewhere ?

https://twister6.com/2019/04/11/review-guide-to-2nd-gen-westone-w-series-w10-w20-w40-w60-and-w80/

 

[HaBo]

https://twister6.com/2019/04/11/review-guide-to-2nd-gen-westone-w-series-w10-w20-w40-w60-and-w80/

Unfortunatly, this review compares W10 with UM PRO 10.
But thanks for the effort.

 

[minjunk]

Can anyone give a comparison between these, the Shure Aonic 5, and the Sony IER-M7's(or any comparable IEMs in the ~500 price range)? They're all about the same price range, and I was wondering about the sound quality differences. Thank you!

 

[twister6]

Can anyone give a comparison between these, the Shure Aonic 5, and the Sony IER-M7's(or any comparable IEMs in the ~500 price range)? They're all about the same price range, and I was wondering about the sound quality differences. Thank you!

Maybe you should ask this question in Shure or Sony threads, rather than Westone W-series?

 

[Ryokan]

W30 are hard to come by because they are discontinued, as you aware. 199 GBP is roughly $247 USD. Adorama no longer has W30 in stock, I just checked. Also, looks like the lowest price I was able to find on-line is audio46 store, for $229 (plus 10% when you sign up for a coupon), but they only have 1 pair in stock. Have no idea how much a shipping to UK will cost, I assume you are from UK and if something is off, it's harder to deal with overseas retailer. Thus, the price you have been quoted locally sounds like a good deal.

Regarding the sound difference/comparison, I covered B30 vs W30 vs UMPro 30 here in the review, just in case. They are still great IEMs if you are a fan of Westone laidback house sound with "analog" bass emphasis.

I guess Westone use plastic shells (which look cheap) to avoid moisture build up that occurs with metal cases.

 

[minjunk]

Maybe you should ask this question in Shure or Sony threads, rather than Westone W-series?

Thank you for the suggestion! I'll post the question on those threads.

 

[twister6]

I guess Westone use plastic shells (which look cheap) to avoid moisture build up that occurs with metal cases.

I think it has partially to do with a weight because Westone IEMs were traditionally used more by performing musicians on stage where you don't want extra weight in your ears. And also, in order to keep shells as small and compact as possible while adding more drivers, they had to use plastic because it is easier to mold and because metal shells would have been bigger.

 

[Ryokan]

I think it has partially to do with a weight because Westone IEMs were traditionally used more by performing musicians on stage where you don't want extra weight in your ears. And also, in order to keep shells as small and compact as possible while adding more drivers, they had to use plastic because it is easier to mold and because metal shells would have been bigger.

Westone are clever (except when it comes to plastic faceplates and the paint on metal ones) probably to do with moisture to .

 

[twister6]

Westone are clever (except when it comes to plastic faceplates and the paint on metal ones) probably to do with moisture to .

and that is why I'm especially curious if Lucid Audio acquisition of Westone audio will change anything.