So, I’ve had the SE-425s for two weeks now. Before purchasing, I was completely torn between the Westone 2 and the Shure SE-425. I would have bought the Westone 2’s right away if they had a detachable cable. Without the chance to try both of them first, I went ahead and bought the 425’s. The first time I listened, I wasn’t very impressed. I thought it didn’t sound good enough for its price. I want to be analytical during my listening and hear all the details but at the same time, I want the experience to be lively. With these, you get a lot of details but it does sound too flat. Not enough bass, not enough treble. Plain flat and neutral.
The thing is, once I experimented with my equalizer, things became much better. I use the 425’s straight from my Xperia S and mostly have 320-bit mp3s (though I did try to listen to lossless formats on my computer too). At first I set the equalizer to “Rock” and was pretty much happy with that. Then, I discovered that it actually sounds better if I set the equalizer to “Treble boost” and add +5 to the clear bass setting that my phone offers. It now sounds completely different that the first time I tried it. It now sounds lively but you still get to hear all the details. The great thing about dual drivers is that you can amp up the bass without negative effects on the mids and the highs. The bass sounds more tight than booming. A lot of people have mentioned that the 425’s are bass light. I agree on that regard, although if the song naturally calls for huge bass, then the 425’s can definitely produce it. As for mids, it can go too forward sometimes. Since it's mid-centric, backup vocals become even more prominent, which I quite prefer. The soundstage is pretty much average. The isolation is very good.
I feel that the way the music sounds on these earphones is dependent on the way they were mixed during recording. Some 320-bit mp3s would sound better than others and those on a lower bit rate would sound better than those on higher bit rates. This is especially important for instrument separation. The way how the instruments are mapped on the recording would affect how much separation you can get from these earphones. Same as with FLACs, they vary in terms of listening experience but generally, I find them to be superior to mp3 files (as they theoretically should). Oddly enough, wind instruments sound really great with these earphones, especially horns, trombones, and saxophones.
I also plan to use these as live in-ear monitors when I get a chance. I will let you know how that goes.
I have more than a thousand songs on hand but the one which sounds the best with these earphones at this moment is “What Is This Feeling (Loathing)” by the Wicked Original Broadway Cast (I have a 320-bit mp3 file). Great detail, accuracy, clarity, instrument separation, and soundstage all together. You should definitely try it out!
The biggest downside for me is that the cables are just too looooooooooooong. In addition, the foam tips are a major pain to remove. I never used the freezer method. It's just a matter of patiently and gently pulling and tugging on the foam until it comes to a point when you can twist it off. Those are the only things that irk me. The 425’s are really good (as long as you're willing to experiment with your EQ settings).
