[soozieq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oarnura /img/forum/go_quote.gif For what it is worth with the silicon sleeves I still think they perform well above their price point. A different set of tips can make any IEM sound worse than they should depending on the persons ear shape.

Yes, the W3 is famous for that

Quote:

Originally Posted by oarnura /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'll look at my next upgrade cycle when the shock of my most recent purchases subsides and the economy improves... hopefully the IE 8 are cheaper then.

I'm surprised. I thought you'd be after the W3's next. The IE8's are huge fun, but with a totally different sound signature to the Phonaks and W3. I know you quite liked the Turbines, but missed the clarity of the Phonaks? Well, I'll bet you one used Comply tip (if I can retrieve it from the cat's bum!) that you prefer the W3 to the IE8. I like the W3 because it sounds like a mix of dynamic and armature, so I get the best of both worlds. Are the W3 and IE8 still priced closely with each other for you?

 

[communic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soozieq /img/forum/go_quote.gif Standard cost is unamped and using silicon tips, not Comply tips.

Is that the bona fide definition of standard cost?! I don't see it that way, personally (atleast not the tip part). I've never liked using silicon tips with any previous phones for two reasons; poorer isolation and meshing of the sonic spectrum. Silicons tend to give a harder more defined edge to everything so even on overly-warm iems everything can sound a little 'raw'. I'm sure a fair few feel this way too, so foamies, whether comply or a different brand are something that will be purchased regardless of whether they are included in the box or not and hence can be considered 'standard cost'.

That being said, using black filters/silicons paired with the right dap, I still find the pfe's perform comfortably above their price.

 

[communic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soozieq /img/forum/go_quote.gif I like the W3 because it sounds like a mix of dynamic and armature, so I get the best of both worlds. Are the W3 and IE8 still priced closely with each other for you?

Did you manage to properly eradicate the sibilance issues? If so was it through modifying tips? I don't think I will ever venture into customs so it looks like the W3 may be the last stop for me provided unnatural sibilance is really a non-issue. Lastly, is the sibilance more or less grating than the IE8's?

 

[oarnura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soozieq /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm surprised. I thought you'd be after the W3's next. The IE8's are huge fun, but with a totally different sound signature to the Phonaks and W3. I know you quite liked the Turbines, but missed the clarity of the Phonaks? Well, I'll bet you one used Comply tip (if I can retrieve it from the cat's bum!) that you prefer the W3 to the IE8. I like the W3 because it sounds like a mix of dynamic and armature, so I get the best of both worlds. Are the W3 and IE8 still priced closely with each other for you?

The W3 and IE8 are my next upgrade choices. You read my tastes quite right. I think I would prefer the W3 more too from all I have read. I'd probably try both of them though.

The IE8 and W3 are fairly closer in price here is the US (retail) but I think people have been able to find the IE8 for much cheaper than the W3.

I think the Turbines are good but I just like the Balanced Armature sound a lot more than Dynamics. To me the two Dynamic driver phones I have heard their soundstage always seems off (wide out of the head but compressed in other ways). BA though narrow seems more normal and holographic. If that makes any sense.

 

[soozieq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by communic /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is that the bona fide definition of standard cost?! I don't see it that way, personally (atleast not the tip part)

I agree, and I don't see it that way either, but robm321 said tips weren't related and to stick to 'standard' costs - so I assumed he meant unamped Phonaks without Comply tips, because that combination needs no further expense to be added.

Quote:

Originally Posted by communic /img/forum/go_quote.gif Did you manage to properly eradicate the sibilance issues? If so was it through modifying tips?

To be honest, I haven't given then a long enough session through the HP out because I'm kind of addicted to them with the Mustang amp and can't stop listening! But I'm going to use them tomorrow without an amp, and see how the sibilance is. I'll let you know

Quote:

I don't think I will ever venture into customs

No, that's scary land and I don't want to visit!!

Quote:

so it looks like the W3 may be the last stop for me provided unnatural sibilance is really a non-issue. Lastly, is the sibilance more or less grating than the IE8's?

I don't hear sibilance with my IE8. When I had them the first time round, I did experience some harshness, but the second time round I wore them further out from the ear and it cured it. Do you find the IE8 sibilant? What tips are you using? The silicon are the worst ones for me, I can make them sibilant just by using those tips!

If you haven't already, you should go and read catscratch's latest review in HPA's W3 thread. It's very interesting to read and might help you understand more about how the fit issues can really exaggerate sibilance - and how the 'right' fit eliminates it totally. It seems to be a question of luck, since so many people have really suffered from fit and ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssibilance!!

 

[communic]

Cheers for that info, I don't have the IE8's but since I know you've had pleasant experiences with them and a horrid affair with the W3's, all from a sibilance standpoint, the comparison sure would prove useful. Incidentally, I did indeed read catscratch's revised impressions earlier and would agree that tips/fit play a great role in sibilance/shrillness but was of the impression a few months back that it was so harsh it went beyond the bounds of tip modding/fit/eq to eliminate it without serious adverse sonic effects!

Looks like it might be time to dip my toes back into the W3 threads...

 

[tstarn06]

By all means, do. Unlike Catscratch, I have had tremendous success with the W3s using the modded tri-flanges (and so have some other W3 owners), which he detests. He favors the large clear silicones, which are like torture devices and sound horrible to me (no seal, no matter what size). Go figure. I can clearly state that with the tri-flanges, I never hear any sibilance, none, amped or unamped, with the W3s. I do, as noted, tick up the treble EQ on my daps that offer it (not the Zune), but that's a personal preference. But the W3s are, to me, the universal champs. After all, I sold my IE8s today because the W3s just kept winning the comparative listening wars.

 

[charlie0904]

after getting phonaks and T4... i feel i should get a W3 instead....but would i be tempted by P51-Mustang???

 

[soozieq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by charlie0904 /img/forum/go_quote.gif after getting phonaks and T4... i feel i should get a W3 instead.... but would i be tempted by P51-Mustang???

If I hadn't heard the P-51, I'd be perfectly happy with just the W3. They sound great on their own, and I also prefer them unamped over the Phonak/T4. As for the P-51, it's on loan. If it hadn't been offered to me, I would never have got to hear it, and I wouldn't now be contemplating buying it.

The moral of this story: Do not accept a Mustang on loan

 

[tstarn06]

Well, good to have both phones. P51 Mustang is no doubt a great amp. I am making do with the MiniboxE+, which is $145 less ($229 vs. $375) than the P51. The latter is smaller, but the T4 and the W3s also sound great together, so you can use that amp for on the go listening as well. The MBE+ isn't large, but not as small as the other two amps. Check the MBE+ threads. Some Head-Fi amp experts rate it as high as the Lisa III and other much more expensive portable amps.

Oh, and with the right tips, you don't need any amp at all with the Westones.

 

[oarnura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tstarn06 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh, and with the right tips, you don't need any amp at all with the Westones.

I was reading the ilounge review of the westone3 and they claim the Westone 3 are too bass heavy in sound signature. I think I have to add the Se530 to the mix.

I prefer a more neutral sound signature to warm. The IE8 and W3 seem to be warm. This is going to be agonizing to where I need to defer the pain of the expense and decision making to much later.

That's good news for my wallet.

 

[tstarn06]

Well, at first, I did find the W3 bass (mid-bass hump, right?) somewhat heavy duty, but for whatever reason, with my tip solution, that isn't the case now. Just tight, strong, fun bass. Not a problem overshadowing the mids, either. As I have said, I do have to EQ the treble a bit, but that's more because the tri-flanges tend to darken the overall sound, and that little tweak with my DAPs resolves it. After a rocky honeymoon with the Westones, I am now happily married to them. Of course, only your ears can decide. And I see it's hard to buy these phones without a restocking fee (if you decide to return them).

 

[robm321]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soozieq /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I've been chanting that religiously every morning, but it's not working! Standard cost is unamped and using silicon tips, not Comply tips. Out of interest, is that the combination you're using? Is your statement above based on using them unamped without Comply tips? Because if it is, I'd have to respectfully disagree with you. Unamped with silicon tips gave me nothing to indicate they performed 'well above their price' at all. Well below their price, yes. Amped is a completely different matter, but we're talking only standard cost, right? You're entitled to feel they perform 'well above their price', and I'm entitled to feel they don't. And just because I don't worship at the unamped Phonak Temple doesn't make me a troll, which is something I see being thrown around as soon as someone dares to go against the Phlok. Let's agree to disagree and leave it at that, since there's been enough bad feeling and arguments about the Phonaks in various threads already, and it's only just begun to subside. We're all allowed to voice our opinions about them without being criticized, so long as our opinions are honest - and mine are. And since I like them amped, does that make me only half a troll?

Usually people wait to get accused of being a troll before they write three paragraphs defending themselves, but I guess if you want to be pre-emptive about it, that's up to you. I never said anything about trolling. I just said that the Phonaks perform above their price point, and I think that's common knowledge now regardless of how some like to spin it.

I use the silicon. They work much better than the comply.

 

[soozieq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Usually people wait to get accused of being a troll before they write three paragraphs defending themselves, but I guess if you want to be pre-emptive about it, that's up to you.

Sarcastic and predictable. Nice combination, rather like how I felt about the Phonaks unamped with silicon tips.
Quote:

I never said anything about trolling.

You didn't need to. I see you talking about trolls in just about every thread where someone doesn't agree that the Phonaks walk on water. Other people have let it drop, why can't you?
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I just said that the Phonaks perform above their price point, and I think that's common knowledge now [size=medium]regardless of how some like to spin it[/size].

And there you go again. Regardless of how some like to spin it? Who gives a crap if people don't think they're the same value-for-money miracle that you do? If they're 'trolls' for speaking their own truth, what does that make you for trying to silence them or ridicule them all the time, a Phonatic?? Because that's what it looks like from here. If the Phonaks are the all-consuming audio miracle that you believe they are - then let them speak for themselves, and give those who don't feel the same way about them the freedom to say so, without you jumping all over them and insulting them. It's pathetic. Lose the obsession, it's boring.

EDIT: It just occurred to me that this thread managed to stay perfectly civil until you showed up. I guess you just can't help yourself.

 

[robm321]

LOL - take your anger and misery elsewhere - I'm too busy enjoying music to go down your path of drama.

I'm not taking the bait. You're going to have to derail this thread on your own... enjoy!