[Jogiya]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qusp /img/forum/go_quote.gif yes they do, but ironically the SE530 show more improvement and fit better in the UM56. this is stupid. the short tube with no flange of any sort to keep the UM56 (or any tip for that matter) on is dumb. WESTONE are you listening???!!! it was bad enough on the UM2 so bad that the technicians at westone endorsed service centres had to come up with ways to put a flange on the nozzle so they would stay in when pro musicians would play on stage. and then; with the chance to fix the problem with the W3 what did you do?? you made the problem worse.

Maybe Westone and Shure have a mutual agreement that "we aren't gonna them (consumers) "everything"..

Shure to Westone : Ey Westone, i hear you're developing a new IEM's.. can you keep them a little sibilant and keep (or worsen) that nozzle problem?
Westone to Shure : No problem mate, but why?
Shure to Westone : If they (consumers) get everything from your new IEM's then who's gonna buy SE530?.. remember how i made SE530's cable "crackable" so that UM2's (and others) win in terms of comfort and durability?
Westone to Shure : Oh, got ya..

Just a joke

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I agree the SE530 improved with my UM-56 tips a lot. If I hadn't snapped a sound tube off one of the SE530earpieces while sleeping wearing them, I would not have turned my SE530 into acrylic customs like Livewires.

I think the W3 doesn't need them as much because I can get them to sound pretty decent with the stock tips. But, in my case everything sounds better with UM-56 if the nozzle is the right size, even my Klipsch Image X10 which were a tight fit.

 

[fureshi]

I'm still trying to fight the urge to pick up a pair of these and this thread is making it even harder. I still love my ER4P but on an iPod video, the bass is underwhelming but the isolation on a plane is amazing. Someday if I get a pair of W3, hope they will do an adequate job of isolation.

 

[Jogiya]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fureshi /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm still trying to fight the urge to pick up a pair of these and this thread is making it even harder. I still love my ER4P but on an iPod video, the bass is underwhelming but the isolation on a plane is amazing. Someday if I get a pair of W3, hope they will do an adequate job of isolation.

they isolate really really well..
UM56's isolate the best.. (you might already know..)
but Shure olives, Included tri-flange and foam tips isolate well too..

 

[elnero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moseboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif qusp, I think you were right on when you said the SE530 is very "consistent." No, the SE530 won't make you go "WOW" all the time. And this is where the Westone 3 seems to have the advantage: It does make you go "wow" more often than the SE530. But at the same time, it seems the Westone 3 will, at times, make you go "Huh?... that doesn't sound quite right...." or even, "Ouch.... *sibilance*." I find I can really relax when I listen to the SE530 simply because it doesn't spontaneously change from song to song or genre to genre. Yes, it seems like the Westone 3 is quite incredible (from what I've read: I personally have never heard it). But if you like the sound signature of the SE530, it might be the more consistent of the two earphones. Both earphones seem to give two different listening experiences: the Westone 3 is more engaging, where the SE530 is more relaxing. It all comes down to user preference and how you like to listen to music. (Disclaimer: Again, I have not heard the Westone 3, but I do own the SE530.)

You really can't make any such judgments until you've heard the 3's yourself.

 

[Jogiya]

Quote:

Originally Posted by elnero /img/forum/go_quote.gif You really can't make any such judgments until you've heard the 3's yourself.

But he is quite right about W3's.. that's how they sound.. (not sure about "Huh?... that doesn't sound quite right...." part though..)
Songs with very good recording sound really good..
Songs with bad recording sounds REALLY bad..
A lot of my fav. songs sound like rubbish with W3's... not just the S words but music (treble) sounds so shrill that i can't even listen to the song...
They are very very detailed.. but after listening to them, i would prefer something like sounds like SE530 or something similar (with better but not sibilant highs), that makes all/most of my music sound good..
W3's can be very shrill sometimes.. and i personally can't listen to them for more than 30 minutes continuously...

 

[bossnass15]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qusp /img/forum/go_quote.gif yes they do, but ironically the SE530 show more improvement and fit better in the UM56. this is stupid. the short tube with no flange of any sort to keep the UM56 (or any tip for that matter) on is dumb. WESTONE are you listening???!!! it was bad enough on the UM2 so bad that the technicians at westone endorsed service centres had to come up with ways to put a flange on the nozzle so they would stay in when pro musicians would play on stage. and then; with the chance to fix the problem with the W3 what did you do?? you made the problem worse.

do u hear sibilance with the um56?

 

[elnero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jogiya /img/forum/go_quote.gif But he is quite right about W3's.. that's how they sound.. (not sure about "Huh?... that doesn't sound quite right...." part though..) Songs with very good recording sound really good.. Songs with bad recording sounds REALLY bad.. A lot of my fav. songs sound like rubbish with W3's... not just the S words but music (treble) sounds so shrill that i can't even listen to the song... They are very very detailed.. but after listening to them, i would prefer something like sounds like SE530 or something similar (with better but not sibilant highs), that makes all/most of my music sound good.. W3's can be very shrill sometimes.. and i personally can't listen to them for more than 30 minutes continuously...

It doesn't really matter whether you think he's right, there are plenty of people who don't so his "conclusions" don't really hold any water because he's never heard them. Posting these "conclusions" as facts as he has only does himself and this site a disservice.

The fact is, the 3's are proving to be somewhat of an enigma, there are some widely varied impressions and they're also proving incredibly tip dependent. To add to the confusion what works for one user may have the direct opposite effect for another so it's imperative that the user experiment as much as possible before giving up on them. Of course there will be people who will never like the 3's for whatever reason, that's to be expected and there's no problem with that but to come to any kind of conclusion you need to hear them for yourself, or in this case moseboy needs to hear them for himself.

 

[Flavio T]

Quote:

Originally Posted by elnero /img/forum/go_quote.gif It doesn't really matter whether you think he's right, there are plenty of people who don't so his "conclusions" don't really hold any water because he's never heard them. Posting these "conclusions" as facts as he has only does himself and this site a disservice. The fact is, the 3's are proving to be somewhat of an enigma, there are some widely varied impressions and they're also proving incredibly tip dependent. To add to the confusion what works for one user may have the direct opposite effect for another so it's imperative that the user experiment as much as possible before giving up on them. Of course there will be people who will never like the 3's for whatever reason, that's to be expected and there's no problem with that but to come to any kind of conclusion you need to hear them for yourself, or in this case moseboy needs to hear them for himself.

X2

 

[raelamb]

Man I must be lucky. With the standard complys straight out of the box W3's are killing me. All my files are in ALAC and old recordings new recordings mobile fidelity's and shlock One Way remasters...NO sibilance of any kind

 

[elnero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by raelamb /img/forum/go_quote.gif Man I must be lucky. With the standard complys straight out of the box W3's are killing me. All my files are in ALAC and old recordings new recordings mobile fidelity's and shlock One Way remasters...NO sibilance of any kind

The large Comply's almost solved it for me but the modded tri-flanges (stock cut down) seems to have.

 

[soozieq]

I'm still enjoying the W3 during its non-sibilant moments, but my biggest grievance is how fussy they are about fit. I've never before owned an earphone that's been so difficult to find a suitable tip for. And I'm not in the minority, there are several people having the same issue. I just (wrongly), expected a pair of $400 earphones to be a fuss-free shove-them-in-your-ears kind of thing. I didn't expect to be spending more money on buying alternative tips (Shure foamies and JAYS) quite so soon!

It's pretty clear, as other people have noted, that the W3 is unpredictable with regards to who they'll fit, and who they won't. And I don't expect to have to start modding tips and listening to music only in lossless formats to reduce the sibilance (as an earlier posted mentioned.) Firstly, 99% of people here (myself included), wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a very high file bitrate and lossless - so why would Westone manufacture an earphone that only sounded good with lossless formats when most people use some form of compression, especially on flash players?

And how many W3 owners would go to the bother of putting all lossless files on their daps just to avoid the ssssssssssssssssibilance? Not me! It's too much hard work and it shouldn't be necessary. And if it IS necessary, then surely Westone would have mentioned it beforehand. There are just too many variables (in my opinion), and it's solely for this reason that I wouldn't recommend them to anyone, not unless they had a cast-iron no-quibbles returns guarantee. If you're lucky enough for your ears to be the 'right' shape, then great - but if not, be prepared to go through hell trying to rectify the sibilance and unpredictable fit! Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr - just have ear surgery and re-rip everything to lossless, it's quicker

I know it sounds like I've been ranting, and I HAVE, but that doesn't mean I've gone off the W3. I've had some great listening sessions with no sibilance at all, but then I expected that when I bought them. I did not expect to consider myself 'lucky' to escape sibilance for an hour!

 

[ProleArtThreat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soozieq /img/forum/go_quote.gif And how many W3 owners would go to the bother of putting all lossless files on their daps just to avoid the ssssssssssssssssibilance? Not me! It's too much hard work and it shouldn't be necessary. And if it IS necessary, then surely Westone would have mentioned it beforehand. There are just too many variables (in my opinion), and it's solely for this reason that I wouldn't recommend them to anyone, not unless they had a cast-iron no-quibbles returns guarantee. If you're lucky enough for your ears to be the 'right' shape, then great - but if not, be prepared to go through hell trying to rectify the sibilance and unpredictable fit! Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr - just have ear surgery and re-rip everything to lossless, it's quicker I know it sounds like I've been ranting, and I HAVE, but that doesn't mean I've gone off the W3. I've had some great listening sessions with no sibilance at all, but then I expected that when I bought them. I did not expect to consider myself 'lucky' to escape sibilance for an hour!

In my experience, even lossless files or tracks being played straight out of my CD source still exhibit sibilance with the grey ultra-soft flex tips. The same goes for the clear flex tips. However, I recently started experimenting with a new pair of Ety white triple flange tips from an extra package I purchased a while ago and had forgotten about. I had to play with how far down I placed them on the tube, but I think I got them to the point where they work best. I never liked Comply tips as I think they definitely darken the sound and slice off way too much from the high frequencies.

With the tri-flange the sibilance is now gone and the bottom end has gained some definition that seemed to be missing with the other tips. Interestingly, I don't seem to notice a tremendous lack of treble energy, but it is definitely a tad bit more laid back and refined. This seems to clean up the entire presentation quite a bit and for the first time I don't constantly hear the mids smearing into the rest of the sound and high hats don't sound splashy.

I'll keep experimenting with tips, but I think I have a pretty good idea of just how good they can sound with the right tips and ear placement. I still don't think they sound anywhere near as good as my Sensas, but they sound significantly better than they did last week. I think I'll keep them around for another week with this setup and then go back to my Sensas to see how they compare.

 

[Rico67]

Don't understand all that.
I owned UM2 before westone 3.
UM2 was my best hearsphone and now, i use W3.
W3 fit as UM2 in the hears and just sound a step above in the details.

 

[Flavio T]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soozieq /img/forum/go_quote.gif And I don't expect to have to start modding tips and listening to music only in lossless formats to reduce the sibilance (as an earlier posted mentioned.) Firstly, 99% of people here (myself included), wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a very high file bitrate and lossless - so why would Westone manufacture an earphone that only sounded good with lossless formats when most people use some form of compression, especially on flash players?

I agree.

There are a lot of crazy things going around...

I mostly listen to downloads straight from iTunes into a Nano and Shuffle, no amps. I own all of these high-end earphones.

For me there was never sibilance with the W3 out of the box. It's been almost 4 weeks now.

I really don't understand some of the criticism.

The tube is slightly shorter than the UM2. I can either move to the STANDARD ComplyTips instead of the usual SHORT, however I found that by simply not inserting the SHORT eartips all the way into the nozzle, it will give me the extra millimeters I need for a better isolation.

It works for me.

You should not have to go through any crazy mods like soozieq mentioned. This should be painless and with all honesty, for me, it's been nothing but a great experience with the ComplyTips SHORT and the Shure Olives medium. NO FUSSING!