[gepardcv]

I had the Etymotic ER4S several years ago, and found them excellent in sound quality, but too uncomfortable to wear for extended periods of time. I've recently been working in noisy environments, so I would now like to re-explore the world of IEMs. Ideally, I'd like something that can approximate the sound of the HD600s, but I realize that may be impossible.
 
I did a bit of research, and narrowed my options down to the Shure SE535 and the Westone W40. Comfort and musicality are essential. Would appreciate advice and opinions on deciding between these two. I'm open to other suggestions, but would like to stick to the ~$500 price range.

 

[yilun]

I had the Etymotic ER4S several years ago, and found them excellent in sound quality, but too uncomfortable to wear for extended periods of time. I've recently been working in noisy environments, so I would now like to re-explore the world of IEMs. Ideally, I'd like something that can approximate the sound of the HD600s, but I realize that may be impossible.

I did a bit of research, and narrowed my options down to the Shure SE535 and the Westone W40. Comfort and musicality are essential. Would appreciate advice and opinions on deciding between these two. I'm open to other suggestions, but would like to stick to the ~$500 price range.

If you prefer vocals, go for se535, but you have to tolerate the lack of bass. Otherwise, go for w10 and you won't go wrong.

 

[Spyro]

I prefer the W40 vocals and find the entire SE535 presentation a bit too mid-centric where the bass and treble sound a bit distant.  Not bad but I just between 2 fairly balanced IEM's W40 does it a bit better.

 

[yilun]

  I prefer the W40 vocals and find the entire SE535 presentation a bit too mid-centric where the bass and treble sound a bit distant.  Not bad but I just between 2 fairly balanced IEM's W40 does it a bit better.

Yeah, I agree with you. W40 sounds more natural to me.

 

[milford30]

Is isolation important to you? se535 has better isolation and a more aggressive sound.
 
HD600 has a more laid back sound, out of the two, it is closer to the w40, it is more balanced and musical. Comfort wise they are similar, I would rate the w40 slightly better.

 

[gepardcv]

@milford30, that's really helpful. How much worse is the W40's isolation? It's fairly important, but less so than musicality.

 

[milford30]

If you use the true fit tips and have music playing, its probably not a huge problem, you just don't get the isolated from the world feeling you get from that shure/er4 with deep insertion.

 

[Raptureandzune]

  If you use the true fit tips and have music playing, its probably not a huge problem, you just don't get the isolated from the world feeling you get from that shure/er4 with deep insertion.

I have tried both before and found the Westone provided me more isolation.
With the new foam tips, I cannot hear anything on a busy city street. The tips lose isolation when it get soaked with ear oil/wax though. 
I think you have to try them both and pick the one with better fit to your ear canal.
 
And the W40 is more like in the ~$450 range if you are willing to buy foreign (no warranty but Westone still does repair with a charge).

 

[milford30]

I have tested them both again with the same true fit small (green) tips, Shure definitely better isolation with the longer nozzle.
 
Also I recommend buying from earphone solutions, when I brought my w4r, I used an old discount code and got 20% off but you pay shipping, it's worth a try, plus they are giving away PFE112, an excellent iem definitely worth more than $50.
 
Edit: forgot to mention that earphonesolutions is an authorized reseller of westone, so if there are problems, it is covered by the warranty.

 

[ronnel0918]

Well then I'll wait for the discount coupon before I get the W40s.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

[milford30]

Well then I'll wait for the discount coupon before I get the W40s.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 
What i mean is to search online for a coupon, I brought mine with an expired coupon and it still worked!