fedex just delivered them to my office an hour ago.
My only base comparison is with the UM1's that i've sent back and recieved my partial credit for from earphonesolutions.com yesterday.
Packaging: was a bit less substantial than the westones but still overkill considering the actual size of the materials involved. I'm sure that didn't help in the cost of shipping either. I'd have been happier with more sensible packaging...and so would phonak i suspect but they need to show well on store shelves and so they make big packages.
Product: Holy crap these are tiny little things. when i read that they were small from others it didn't apprently sink in. almost laughable in comparison to even my earbuds from the zune.
the filter box/tool is well thought out.
extra tips and tools are all as expected.
silicon ear guides...still working these out. not sure if their it or not but a nice value add-on that i just need some time to fit to my uses.
didn't like how intricatley wrapped the PFE's cables were around themselves for shipping. The UM1's came with a cable tie, the phonaks were pretty seriously snaked and wrapped. just took some time and caution to uncoil.
Also as a side note; fed-ex hit me with a 30$ duties bill on arrival. Not to happy with that since i thought that was covered under phonaks shipping fees. Westones were mailed to me and that cost me zero. Westone wins on that one!
Useage: The cable is nice and thick, however i very much prefer the UM1's colied over itself design so far. its less thick and felt more secure. I'm also noticing that when i have the cables behind my head that they 'pull' on my skin and tug when i look left or right...that was not the case at all with the Westone cables which were obviously slipperier over skin.
I'm not noticiing any microphonics when behind my head but when was was walking around with them in front i did notice it pretty apparently (this is my first experience with that characteristic and its really annoying). Suffice to say that their permanently behind the ears for me.
the plug sticks straight out, i'd much prefer a 90degree design. here the westone wins.
I'm sure they won't be quite as comfortable for sleeping /resting on but just pushing my hand against my ear their not causing any pressure points. tonight i'll know.
Performace: WOW. right from the first note i was immediatly happier than i was with the UM1's. Bass with the grey tips, using a 4gb zune (no eq settings) was very very nice. not overpowering, probably not basshead by anymeans but i physically felt it when i hits..unlike the um1's which never had any bass even when EQ'd to death on a 2G touch. As far as i can tell, on the tracks i have, the bass doesn't roll off at all but i have to spend more time digging and trying to hear it. it may, but its not obvious.
mids are on par with the UM1s (which are its strength).
highs: again, like the bass, suddenly i'm hearing them again. Dave matthews sounds like himself, so does gord downey...that made me nuts on the UM1's, so much that i couldn't listen to some of my favourite songs anymore. Now their back. On occassion i can pick up slight hints at sillibance (sp?) but i have to strain to hear it and then question it a bit.
The soundstage/separation is not nearly as large from what i can hear now in comparison to the UM1's. I feel everything is front and centre, this is a bit of a letdown.
The Impedence is obvious. Westones for comfortable hearing were running 3-4 settings lower on the zune than the PFE's. i couldn't turn the UM1's on full volume with even my lowest volume track...the PFE's take signifigantly more to drive in comparison.
barely tested them otherwise. I've put the black filters in, yup it adds bass but i didn't like how the mids went backwards.
Comply tips, but i'll appreciate the silicone ones during biking efforts or at the gym.
Noise isolation isn't nearly as good but its also not really a drawback. Sometimes i need/want isolation at work to concentrate but the pfe's are reasonably good, just not nearly AS good as the westones.
The PFE's are also scad loads easier to insert without looking like your having a bit of fit to co-workers.
i'm very happy. feel that i've spent good money and hope i never get the chance to try some 400$ IEMs on because i seem to be mostly happy just now.