[Chezzy79]

Hi, I had a Westone 4 for a while and I'm thinking of getting remolded.  Only tips I can use with this IEM is Shure Olive or Comply's, but neither provides enough isolation as the insertion depth is pretty shallow compared to UM3X.  Also the size of housing is a little too big, as my ears become uncomfortable after a few hours of listening.
 
Anyways, I already have my ear impressions, and only thing I need to do now is to send in the W4.  But I'm wondering if the remolded W4 will be good as other genuine CIEM's in the $500 price range like the UM Aero.
 
I can easily sell the W4 for around $300 and use that for a CIEM, or I can send them in for a quad-driver CIEM.  I've looked everywhere for remold W4 reviews but the only place I might be able to find it is the UM appreciation thread, which is nearly impossible to look through.  If you could give me a link to some reviews that will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[e19650826]

CIEM will provide very similar level of isolation -26dB~-30dB, but the fit will improve.
 
sound wise, it should be on-par with Aero, just with different signature.
 
because everything will be kept stock (X-over board, and drivers) the sound signature should be near identical to that of universal, maybe better matched (less difference between the L and R channels). adding driver is another matter....

 

[Chezzy79]

Thank you for your input.  That helps a lot.
 
How do you like your 6 driver TF10?  I wish I can add drivers but that costs way too much money :/

 

[davidcotton]

Instead of a remould have you thought about the um56-tips for the westones?
 
Cheers.

 

[Chezzy79]

 
Quote:

Instead of a remould have you thought about the um56-tips for the westones?
 
Cheers.

 
I did, but it is likely that I won't own more than one or two IEMs at a time, and I can't justify spending over $200 on just a ear tip when full remold is $169.   In this case, UM56 is not really an option for me.

 

[e19650826]

 
Quote:

Thank you for your input.  That helps a lot.
 
How do you like your 6 driver TF10?  I wish I can add drivers but that costs way too much money :/

 
It's pretty good. It has great treble extension (no TF10 sparkly high though). The mid range is less recessed (perhaphs more forward than WKX), and it has very punchy bass. The sound stage is suprisingly wide (improved compared to TF10, on-par with WKX). But instrument separation lacks a ton compared to WKX, might sound a bit messy from time to time. For an IEM.. it's pretty good, definately an upgrade from TF10. But I still prefer WKX though.. because for some reason BA drivers just sound a bit unnartual to me.

 

[Chezzy79]

 
Quote:

 
 
It's pretty good. It has great treble extension (no TF10 sparkly high though). The mid range is less recessed (perhaphs more forward than WKX), and it has very punchy bass. The sound stage is suprisingly wide (improved compared to TF10, on-par with WKX). But instrument separation lacks a ton compared to WKX, might sound a bit messy from time to time. For an IEM.. it's pretty good, definately an upgrade from TF10. But I still prefer WKX though.. because for some reason BA drivers just sound a bit unnartual to me.

 
Hmm, that's interesting that the soundstage of an iem is same as a full sized headphone... I know some people says multi BA's sound unnatural due to the fact that many company who aren't as skilled as Westone have trouble tuning the BA... I'm a little worried that adding extra drivers might cause that to happen especially since Westone is a different company that is much more technically advanced

 

[Mooses9]

 
Quote:

 
 
Hmm, that's interesting that the soundstage of an iem is same as a full sized headphone... I know some people says multi BA's sound unnatural due to the fact that many company who aren't as skilled as Westone have trouble tuning the BA... I'm a little worried that adding extra drivers might cause that to happen especially since Westone is a different company that is much more technically advanced

 
 i too think the same thing, if its a westone 4 and you add in 2 more drivers for a total of 6 drivers, can it still be called a westone 4? how would adding in more drivers with the same ammount of crossovers and their tuning effect the sound. would the signature even sound the same as regular westone 4?
 
i guess its the whole driver wars, where some people say that less is better some say more is better. but in the end i think its all about the tuning. 

 

[e19650826]

 
Quote:

 
 
 i too think the same thing, if its a westone 4 and you add in 2 more drivers for a total of 6 drivers, can it still be called a westone 4? how would adding in more drivers with the same ammount of crossovers and their tuning effect the sound. would the signature even sound the same as regular westone 4?
 
i guess its the whole driver wars, where some people say that less is better some say more is better. but in the end i think its all about the tuning. 

 
 well that is purely subjective... but to be sure.. adding driver will change the signature.. you can as well say that they are completely different because although some drivers might still cover the same frequency some other's are reduced to less.. and new drivers are just completely unknown until you try it...
 
nah.. talking about x-over that would cause unnatural sound is just crazy... because they are nothing more than caps and resistors used to control the requencies of each driver. the unnatural sound I was refering to is the nature of BA drivers..
 
I find that adding drivers to TF10 does produce better sound (might be highly subjectly condiser how much money I have spent)
But as my friends say... as long as you feel the sound is better, even if it is pure bias, it is worth it.
 
edit. tuning can be a bit trickier, but I still don't believe the saying of unnatural sound.. they might sound a little different.. but definately should be on-par... because with same drivers it is hard to produce drastically different sound with tuning...

 

[dibidaddy]

So do you guys think a remolded westone 3 can compete with the entry level customs?