[Mors]

I'm thinking of upgrading as an xmas present to myself so I've narrowed it down to either a new source or the new Westone's.

My Current kit is:

Shure E4G's - For the Gym
Shure E530 - Ace. Love em.

Zune 30 - Not the best
Sony A818 - I think it's sounds rubbish
Clix2 - Fanstastic sounding. Love it


I'm wondering what route would be better to go down, for about the price of the Westone 3's (bare in mind I'm in the UK and I'm going to have to spend about £260 / $400 to get some).

What do you guys think? What sort of source could I get for that sort of money? An iMod? Or should I get the Westone 3's?

I'm thinking if you guys in the know would say I'll get 200% improvement out of a new source compared to say 25% improvement with the new IEM's I'll go that way.

If anyone says source, any recomendations would be really appreciated. I'd prefer to go as portable as possible, so if I can avoid lugging around an ipod, I'd prefer it

TIA

 

[Calexico]

IMO go for the Westones. I can't honestly say why, but it just seems like it'd be a smarter purchase.

 

[Paddy855]

I believe the golden rule is always: Firstly, buy the best phones you can afford, then buy the best source/DAC you can afford and last but not least buy the best amp and LOD you can afford. Ergo in your case: Get the W3

 

[nc8000]

If you go iMod you will also have to get an amp and that will break your budget and is not exactly the most portable option. Of all your gear I have only herad the E4 that I had for some time and would expect the Westone3 to literally blow them out of the water. I had a really portable rig that I loved (2nd gen Nano with punnisher low profile dock and a Xin SuperMini-IV) but I sold it when I got my iPhone 3G, mostly for convenience as the iPhone does not sound as good but not bad either and good enough for on the road.

 

[Taikero]

Get the Westone 3.

If you're thinking of getting a new (cheap) source to go along with it, check out Amazon.com for a $50-$60 Sansa Fuze. Supports FLAC and I think OGG Vorbis, as well as the other common formats, and it sounds great. You'd likely pick up the 4 GB Fuze (best value for dollar right now), then you can expand it with a 16 GB microSDHC card for a total of 20 GB (Not bad for a super-portable player that sounds great and also supports MPEG-4 video as well).

 

[Mors]

I'm thinking about getting a D2 to play flac untill I can see some reviews of my SE530 vs W3?