[JamestheRipper]

hi all i just joined the forums and i was looking for a bit of advice.
in short, i listen to alot of music whilst commuting (about three hours a day), plus i listen to more when i get home.
i recently bought the kilpsch image s4s, and they were great, but the right earphone stopped working after a couple of days (the cable detached inside) DESPITE 100% tlc, ie wrapping them up properly in the hard case.
anyways they are still under warranty, and as such im getting a full refund (actually opted for a replacement but for some strange reason they wanted to refund).

anyways. this got me thinking, i listen to a lot of music and being able to listen to better quality music is really important to me because i take so much more out of listening to music than the average joe.
im thinking of buying the westone 3s, just because of the endless praise they seem to receive all over the net.
i just wanted to check that this is a) still a great option, b) i dont need to buy any amps for it, c) what type of sources i should be using - is there anything better out there right now than an ipod in terms of quality and user interface?

i dont know much about earphones (in comparison to alot of the stuff i have read on the forums). but i just wanted to add i listen primarily to rock.
also does anyone else use a blackberry curve 8520 as a source? if so some feedback would be great.

 

[rawrster]

im sure theres a bunch of westone 3 reviews as well as comparing them to other high end models if u look for it

also, something that might help better is if you give us what kind of music you listen to and im guessing ur range is around $400? well authorized dealer price at least...

 

[JamestheRipper]

i said before that i primarily listen to rock.

is this site ok?
Earphone Solutions - Westone 3 Earphone, Shure Earphones, Sennheiser Earbud, Ultimate Ears Ear Buds and Shure earbuds - The Best Earphones for iPod Comparisons and Reviews

i live in the uk so im going to get them delivered. buying them direct (i can only seem to find them on amazon) costs a hell of a lot more.
budget isnt so much of an issue, but i dont want to have to spend more than 450 dollars including shipping. which is already a huge amount of money imo

 

[muxenle]

ya, search the forums a bit and you should find plenty of reviews/comparsions for the them.

for a answer to your mp3 player question: its mostly a matter of preference, not being a fan of the virtual monoply they have in that market(and the fact that as soon as buy their top of the line model they come out with a even better one) and opt for a i-river or cowon. you can find audiophile mp3 players, but form what I gather it would be simmilar to carrying around a mini-brick, and they are pretty pricey to, even for entry level ones.


EDIT: for around 450 you could also get some low level customs, though I'm not sure how they would compare to the W3s, or another unverisal in the same price range

 

[rawrster]

oh sorry i must have missed that

earphone solutions is a good place..actually outside of that site i really dont know any other sites that is an authorized dealer of westone..they are also a headfi sponsor so that give you an idea of how they are

 

[JamestheRipper]

@muxenle
portability is key here due to relatively long commutes. preferably i want to be able to put the souce in my pocket comfortably.
sorry to be a nuisance as well, what is the benefit of buying customs?

 

[muxenle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamestheRipper /img/forum/go_quote.gif @muxenle portability is key here due to relatively long commutes. preferably i want to be able to put the souce in my pocket comfortably. sorry to be a nuisance as well, what is the benefit of buying customs?

I'm pretty new at this too, so almost everything I say is from what I've picked from browsing these forums/headphones websites:

customs should provide a execlent fit/comofort, and are also very high in the isolation deparment. Also they go into a lot high quailty, in the higher ends, then unverivals getting up to around 1k USD(have yet to see a unversal that pricey) and those seem to provide SQ that compete with full sized headphones.

LiveWire products

Alien Ears- High Quality - Low Cost In Ear Monitors

JH AUDIO | Pro Music

also keep in mind that you will also have to pay for ear molds, which you need to go to a audiologist for, and the price range can vary greatly for that(i've read about people being able to get them for 5 USD a ear, and up to 50 USD a ear)

and I'll now bow to somebody with first hand experince in this price range...

 

[cravenz]

i'm going to be very honest here. i own a pair of IEMs, to be specific, the IE8. I don't have a whole lot of experience with other high end IEMs and I won't be able to answer your question on the amp bit until I actually receive my amp in the next week or so.

I love better quality music myself, but being able to know that it is is another story. From my understanding on these forums, without an amp, you won't really be able to tell the diff between a 320 and 192 kbps mp3. I believe there are some sites that test this and quite a number of people got it wrong as well.

To a certain extent, it is just about being happy with whatever choice you make. Some people will tell you the difference is night and day, which to a certain extent is true. But then again, I'm paying $300 more for the IE8 over that cheaper pair and to some extent, I can't justify the price difference over the sound quality.

Don't get me wrong though. I love my IEMs and it is the best thing I've done sound quality wise, but if you have a budget, then think carefully. My advice would be to see if you could head down to an audio store nearby to test stuff out with or without amps for example.

I guess at the end of the day, what I'm trying to say is that there is a difference between liking good music and being able to appreciate it fully with good phones. If you have time on your hands, I will be able to give you a more finite answer of my own experience once I've gotten my amp and kits, but then I'd also believe there are others who have experience and might be able to chime in on this before I do.

Source wise, I can't comment since I currently just use my laptop and iPhone, but on the laptop itself, try downloading foobar2000 and depending on what kind of windows you are running, get a component output like WASAPI which I use since I am running VISTA. try it, it makes a lot of difference on the output.

 

[muxenle]

well, also, once again from my understanding, that around his price range it isn't so much a matter of SQ, but of preference for a certian sound sig.

 

[JamestheRipper]

pretty happy. managed to get a pair of westone um3x brand new for £160 GBP ($265 US) off of ebay. should be here pretty soon. should i be burning these in? if so how long for and which type of sound files should i be using at what volumes?

 

[Cosmic Fool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamestheRipper /img/forum/go_quote.gif pretty happy. managed to get a pair of westone um3x brand new for £160 GBP ($265 US) off of ebay. should be here pretty soon. should i be burning these in? if so how long for and which type of sound files should i be using at what volumes?

That's a heck of a deal you got there mate! Burn in isn't really necessary imo, I liked them straight away. After a couple of weeks they did start to sound even better to me (wider soundstage and more punchy bass) but I believe that was not due to burn-in. I started to use FLAC-files and I think my brain (more specific my ears

) needed some time to adapt to the sound of these wonderful IEM's. I was coming from a pair of Shure E3 you know.

So lossless files are highly recommended with the UM3X. 256 and 320 kb/s MP3 or AAC are still okay but I wouldn't go lower than that. The good thing about these IEM's is that you don't need to crank up the volume to make it sound good. Which is great news for our beloved ears of course.

Have fun with your UM3X!


To the OP: maybe you should read some reviews on the UM3X too to know for sure that they aren't what you are looking for. This forum has a couple of great impressions and reviews on this. The search button is your friend.

 

[mark2410]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamestheRipper /img/forum/go_quote.gif pretty happy. managed to get a pair of westone um3x brand new for £160 GBP ($265 US) off of ebay. should be here pretty soon. should i be burning these in? if so how long for and which type of sound files should i be using at what volumes?

they dont need a burn in

they do need high bit rate files