[Fai9al023]

I'm coming from the SE215 and I'm looking for the next pair to buy. I like all types of music but I lean towards bassy tracks as I said in my previous post. How do these compare and is the price difference between them justifiable?

 

[Fai9al023]

bump

 

[vic414]

I just bought the 425 last week and returned it for warranty because of how crappy it sounded and hope they are defects.  I just bought the W40 yesterday and will get it tomorrow.  Earphone solutions has a trade in offer which brought down the cost of the W40 to 399 from 499 with free 1 day shipping.
 
Back to the 425s.  They are made in China!  Westone are made in pot smoking Colorado, lol.  I rather buy made in USA than China any day. 425 has 2 drivers vs 4 for the W40.  Shure has no money back guarantee, Westone has 30 day no questions asked.
 
Haven't received my W40 so I cant comment on them yet.

 

[Fai9al023]

Thanks for the reply! I'm really loving how the SE215 sounds for the price, but I'm also leaning more towards the W40. I won't buy my next pair till a month or two, so it will be more than helpful to hear your thoughts on the W40

 

[vic414]

  Thanks for the reply! I'm really loving how the SE215 sounds for the price, but I'm also leaning more towards the W40. I won't buy my next pair till a month or two, so it will be more than helpful to hear your thoughts on the W40

Will do.  I think the 425 were defective and I should be getting those back as well.

 

[vic414]

Just got my w40 and listening to a few tracks and I must say wow! First of all the sound is rich and you can here everything that is going on from the vocals to the instruments. You can hear them individually instead of one combined sound. Everything sound crystal clear. One thing I find lacking is the sub bass. So far the only music that the phones dont do well is with hip hop or rap music with bass. Pop and jazz sound magnificient although i would like a little more bass.

The run down

Case is a lot better than the shure 425. Comes with a mini pelican like case with rubber seals.

Wires. The 425 wins this department in terms of quality. The connectors and wires are thicker and bigger and well made. The downside with the 425 is that it has a harder plastic wrap near the headphones which make the wires tougher to place behind the ear. The w40 wires are thinner and more flexible making this easier.

Build quality and plastic casing on the 425 seems to be better. The w40 plastic looks a little cheap.

The 425 casing is bigger than the w40 which makes the 425 less comfortable compared to the smaller w40.

The only thing lacking on the w40 is the sub bass, but everything else from the mid bass, mids, to highs are nice and smooth and balanced.

I am wondering if the w50 may be a better choice for hip hop because for that type of music i crave some nice sub bass.

Keep in mine that i returned the 425 under warranty so i am not shure if the sound was normal or if it was a defect.

Overall, for 500 the w40 seems to be little pricey since at that price i expect a total package in which the only thing lacking is the sub bass. I paid 399 after the 100 trade in so i guess its not a bad deal. At least i can say now that i have found a decent replacement for over the ear headphones.

Give me a few more days to play around with different ear pieces. I literally just pulled them out of the box and put them on with only 30 min of play.

 

[Fai9al023]

Just got my w40 and listening to a few tracks and I must say wow! First of all the sound is rich and you can here everything that is going on from the vocals to the instruments. You can hear them individually instead of one combined sound. Everything sound crystal clear. One thing I find lacking is the sub bass. So far the only music that the phones dont do well is with hip hop or rap music with bass. Pop and jazz sound magnificient although i would like a little more bass.

The run down

Case is a lot better than the shure 425. Comes with a mini pelican like case with rubber seals.

Wires. The 425 wins this department in terms of quality. The connectors and wires are thicker and bigger and well made. The downside with the 425 is that it has a harder plastic wrap near the headphones which make the wires tougher to place behind the ear. The w40 wires are thinner and more flexible making this easier.

Build quality and plastic casing on the 425 seems to be better. The w40 plastic looks a little cheap.

The 425 casing is bigger than the w40 which makes the 425 less comfortable compared to the smaller w40.

The only thing lacking on the w40 is the sub bass, but everything else from the mid bass, mids, to highs are nice and smooth and balanced.

I am wondering if the w50 may be a better choice for hip hop because for that type of music i crave some nice sub bass.

Keep in mine that i returned the 425 under warranty so i am not shure if the sound was normal or if it was a defect.

Overall, for 500 the w40 seems to be little pricey since at that price i expect a total package in which the only thing lacking is the sub bass. I paid 399 after the 100 trade in so i guess its not a bad deal. At least i can say now that i have found a decent replacement for over the ear headphones.

Give me a few more days to play around with different ear pieces. I literally just pulled them out of the box and put them on with only 30 min of play.

Wow thanks for taking your time and typing this up! Yeah, I would say you need to try it for a whole week with some burn in time, and it might sound even better! By the way, did you try the foam tips? These tips will change how the bass sounds if you get a perfect snug fit.

 

[vic414]

So far i havent experminted with other tips. The one that are on them straight out of the box are the rubber type ones. One problem with inear is the fit so i will try then all tomorrow when i have a little more time. There is a review on the w40 so you may want to search it. Westone also has a 30 day refund policy if you buy then from an authorized dealer and they are made in the USA. Shure doesnt have a money back policy and are made in China.

For sound isolation the 425 is better, but i havent tried the foam tips on the w40s yet. Some people like the w30 more than the w40. Best thing to do is try to find a place where you can test them, but i have yet to find a place where you can try. I am off to hong kong soon and i hear there is a place you can demo everything so i may hit then up.

 

[Fai9al023]

So far i havent experminted with other tips. The one that are on them straight out of the box are the rubber type ones. One problem with inear is the fit so i will try then all tomorrow when i have a little more time. There is a review on the w40 so you may want to search it. Westone also has a 30 day refund policy if you buy then from an authorized dealer and they are made in the USA. Shure doesnt have a money back policy and are made in China.

For sound isolation the 425 is better, but i havent tried the foam tips on the w40s yet. Some people like the w30 more than the w40. Best thing to do is try to find a place where you can test them, but i have yet to find a place where you can try. I am off to hong kong soon and i hear there is a place you can demo everything so i may hit then up.

 
Thanks for this! I have quite some time to decide on what to get so yeah

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  I just bought the 425 last week and returned it for warranty because of how crappy it sounded and hope they are defects.

So far i havent experminted with other tips. The one that are on them straight out of the box are the rubber type ones.

 
SE42x sound better with the Shure Olives (black foam) - tames the highs (not really sharp but still imbalanced) to balance out more with the lows, which start dropping off at a higher frequency while the 3-driver and 4-driver designs go lower if not also with a boost in the upper bass.

 

[Fai9al023]

   
SE42x sound better with the Shure Olives (black foam) - tames the highs (not really sharp but still imbalanced) to balance out more with the lows, which start dropping off at a higher frequency while the 3-driver and 4-driver designs go lower if not also with a boost in the upper bass.

Which IEM have you had experience with? If you know about both the Westones and the Shures which would you recommend?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fai9al023 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Which IEM have you had experience with? If you know about both the Westones and the Shures which would you recommend?

 

I tried the Shures (more extensively the versions before those) and the previous generation W4 and UM3X. I really like the treble on the SE425 (Olives or the plastic ones) as it has that extra detail that makes vocals like Sarah Brightman or power metal guitars just sound so alive, but the beat of most music is just there with the Olives; nice upper bass impact and enough low bass extension on the SE535, but treble and midrange are overshadowed. It's like Shure just made them totally opposite as opposed to the SE535 being an SE425 that extends deeper into the bass region.

 

I personally prefer the UM3X best for mobile entertainment use as I'm less inclined to be too fussy with accuracy on the go, although the W4 was a lot better in that regard (if the price was the same, I'd go with the W4 though). Note the W30 might be tuned differently from the slightly louder percussion on the UM3X, and likely closer to the W40, as the W3 was to the W4. If it's between the W3 and W4 I'd take the latter; if I had to buy blind and it's between the W30 and W40, under the assumption that the W30 is as different from the UM30Pro as the W3 was from the UM3X, I'd gamble on the W40.

 

Right now though what I'm using is the ASG-1.3 from Aurisonics (now Fender's IEM division). 32ohms so less likely for some phones to struggle with a too low impedance, 125dB sensitivity means it needs very little power. Response seems too skewed for the bass but the response graph is otherwise actually smooth - I can apply a low shelf EQ adjustment (everything below affected uniformly by gain adjustment, plus a little over) to reduce everything below 800hz and a high shelf EQ (everything above uniformly affected by gain adjustment, plus a little bit under) for a slight boost to everything above 1600hz. UM3X still more fun out of the box but the end result is a little bit more like the W4 but still slightly more bass (or less treble) overall.

 

[Fai9al023]

 

 

I tried the Shures (more extensively the versions before those) and the previous generation W4 and UM3X. I really like the treble on the SE425 (Olives or the plastic ones) as it has that extra detail that makes vocals like Sarah Brightman or power metal guitars just sound so alive, but the beat of most music is just there with the Olives; nice upper bass impact and enough low bass extension on the SE535, but treble and midrange are overshadowed. It's like Shure just made them totally opposite as opposed to the SE535 being an SE425 that extends deeper into the bass region.

 

I personally prefer the UM3X best for mobile entertainment use as I'm less inclined to be too fussy with accuracy on the go, although the W4 was a lot better in that regard (if the price was the same, I'd go with the W4 though). Note the W30 might be tuned differently from the slightly louder percussion on the UM3X, and likely closer to the W40, as the W3 was to the W4. If it's between the W3 and W4 I'd take the latter; if I had to buy blind and it's between the W30 and W40, under the assumption that the W30 is as different from the UM30Pro as the W3 was from the UM3X, I'd gamble on the W40.

 

Right now though what I'm using is the ASG-1.3 from Aurisonics (now Fender's IEM division). 32ohms so less likely for some phones to struggle with a too low impedance, 125dB sensitivity means it needs very little power. Response seems too skewed for the bass but the response graph is otherwise actually smooth - I can apply a low shelf EQ adjustment (everything below affected uniformly by gain adjustment, plus a little over) to reduce everything below 800hz and a high shelf EQ (everything above uniformly affected by gain adjustment, plus a little bit under) for a slight boost to everything above 1600hz. UM3X still more fun out of the box but the end result is a little bit more like the W4 but still slightly more bass (or less treble) overall.

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated! I'm mostly leaning towards the W40, but I'm still going to look more into the others as well.

 

[Fai9al023]

So far i havent experminted with other tips. The one that are on them straight out of the box are the rubber type ones. One problem with inear is the fit so i will try then all tomorrow when i have a little more time. There is a review on the w40 so you may want to search it. Westone also has a 30 day refund policy if you buy then from an authorized dealer and they are made in the USA. Shure doesnt have a money back policy and are made in China.

For sound isolation the 425 is better, but i havent tried the foam tips on the w40s yet. Some people like the w30 more than the w40. Best thing to do is try to find a place where you can test them, but i have yet to find a place where you can try. I am off to hong kong soon and i hear there is a place you can demo everything so i may hit then up.

Hey there! I might buy a pair really soon, how are you liking the W40 so far?

 

[vic414]

They still sound very good, especially with jazz music.  Sound is crystal clear and balanced and I notice that I find them more enjoyable at higher volumes.  The little controller for the phone is a little tough to use.  I noticed that the sound vary depending the ear piece you use so the fit is critical for the sound.  I think the Shure ear pieces are better than the Westone.
 
Again, Westone told me they have a 30 day no questions asked policy so I dont think you have anything to lose.  Shure doesnt have such guarantee.
 
Let me know what you think once you purchase them.  I am curious to see what others think.