[rawrster]

So I've found some time with these to fiddle with tips and such. I think the MEElectronics M9 balanced tips are starting to be my favorite tips and surpassing the Monster triple flange tips I typically go to. I've been using the W2 with these as of yesterday.
 
I don't really have a neutral earphone to compare to anymore since I sold my DBA-02 so I don't really have something to compare it to. I think my RE-Zero may be the closest to it but not quite it but close enough so I'll have to take that out one of these days to compare. I'm liking the clarity out of these. It sounds more like one of those natural clarity if you understand what I mean compared to those that give the impression of good clarity due to the frequency response it has. It's not a bass monster earphone and it makes me wonder if the Westone consumer line has a "house signature" to it or not and I'm leaning towards no since I have heard the W3 and they completely different in so many ways. I haven't heard the W1 so can't compare it. However the bass extension is nice. It's not the best but it is definitely better than some earphones I've had in the past and it gives you a tight bass response which is something I expected. I'm quite happy with the bass impact of these and while it may be considered bass light by some I like it. There's a good amount of detail throughout and I find it relatively smooth. I haven't heard any spikes but I haven't gone through a sweep yet either. Either way if there are any it is not a large one. I find the sound stage to be surprisingly good with good width and depth.
 
I like these so far. I've been pairing them mostly with my dac/amp with fairly good results. I don't think I'll experiment with other tips as I'm pretty satisfied with what I'm using now. Lastly I do wish the ES cable I have has the same comfort as the universal Westone cable. I wear glasses so I really hate memory wire >.<

 

[EraserXIV]

How would you say the RE-Zero compares with the Westone 2 in terms of the mids and highs? I've always been interested in the W2s, but never acted on it since I owned the Westone 3s for a time, and I didn't find them to my liking at all.

 

[rawrster]

I'll have to see if I have time tomorrow or Sunday to compare the two a bit. I haven't listened to the RE-Zero in around a month so can't really give much insight on that. The W2 does sound quite different from the W3 however. I don't think I've owned an earphone that I remember that sounds quite like this. I expected something along the lines of the DBA-02 or the CK10. It is still fairly neutral but seems to have a tad more warmth than either based on memory but they definitely are not a warm earphone.

 

[airwax]

The Westone 2 is simply a solid piece of IEMs. They may not do things great, but they do them very well. That is what I like about them. I can't say anything that I can complain about. Sound is neutral, comfort is incredible. Simply, I'm satisfied.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

So I've found some time with these to fiddle with tips and such. I think the MEElectronics M9 balanced tips are starting to be my favorite tips and surpassing the Monster triple flange tips I typically go to. I've been using the W2 with these as of yesterday.
 
I don't really have a neutral earphone to compare to anymore since I sold my DBA-02 so I don't really have something to compare it to. I think my RE-Zero may be the closest to it but not quite it but close enough so I'll have to take that out one of these days to compare. I'm liking the clarity out of these. It sounds more like one of those natural clarity if you understand what I mean compared to those that give the impression of good clarity due to the frequency response it has. It's not a bass monster earphone and it makes me wonder if the Westone consumer line has a "house signature" to it or not and I'm leaning towards no since I have heard the W3 and they completely different in so many ways. I haven't heard the W1 so can't compare it. However the bass extension is nice. It's not the best but it is definitely better than some earphones I've had in the past and it gives you a tight bass response which is something I expected. I'm quite happy with the bass impact of these and while it may be considered bass light by some I like it. There's a good amount of detail throughout and I find it relatively smooth. I haven't heard any spikes but I haven't gone through a sweep yet either. Either way if there are any it is not a large one. I find the sound stage to be surprisingly good with good width and depth.
 
I like these so far. I've been pairing them mostly with my dac/amp with fairly good results. I don't think I'll experiment with other tips as I'm pretty satisfied with what I'm using now. Lastly I do wish the ES cable I have has the same comfort as the universal Westone cable. I wear glasses so I really hate memory wire >.<

While they are definitely different in the bass, with long Complys foam tips on both my W2 and W3 they do have some similarities in the mids and deep/wide soundstaging/imaging, and even in the highs (with those tips).  For me the bass with W2 is better with the Complys tips than silicone tips, and never light.  Those similarities made me feel that the "family resemblance is there" unlike vs the UM3X which have a more different presentation when I compared all three together, however there is no mistaking the extra impact of the W3 in the bass vs the W2.  I felt the UM3X bass fits between the W2 and W3, but with more forward intimate mids than either W2 or W3, and usually with softer hitting highs (depending on the tips).  With the UM3X I prefer silicone tips, unlike the W2/W3.  I can deal with silicone tips on W2 better than I can with the W3.
 
This was done using iPhone 4 > TWag LOD > Pico Slim.

 

[Marcus_C]

@ Airwax (or anyone else who happens to have both). What are your thoughts on the sm3 vs w2? Have you reached a consensus on which you prefer? I have to say at the moment I haven't and i've done a fair amount of playing around with both of them. At the moment I grab the pair I didn't use the previous day and i find they can both do things the others can't, detail vs soundstage and comfort vs extension etc. I think they complement each other rather well.

 

[rawrster]

Quote:

While they are definitely different in the bass, with long Complys foam tips on both my W2 and W3 they do have some similarities in the mids and deep/wide soundstaging/imaging, and even in the highs (with those tips).  For me the bass with W2 is better with the Complys tips than silicone tips, and never light.  Those similarities made me feel that the "family resemblance is there" unlike vs the UM3X which have a more different presentation when I compared all three together, however there is no mistaking the extra impact of the W3 in the bass vs the W2.  I felt the UM3X bass fits between the W2 and W3, but with more forward intimate mids than either W2 or W3, and usually with softer hitting highs (depending on the tips).  With the UM3X I prefer silicone tips, unlike the W2/W3.  I can deal with silicone tips on W2 better than I can with the W3.
 
This was done using iPhone 4 > TWag LOD > Pico Slim.

 
That's interesting. I don't have the W3 to compare so I'll have too take your word for it The W3 is one of the more bass heavy earphones I've heard so there's no mistaking that with the W2 even from memory. The W3 was nice but just wasn't for me. I can see myself owning a pair of W2 if it wasn't for the fact that I already have issues trying to find time for all of my earphones and I don't need another to add to that list. In fact I almost did buy it a couple months ago.
 

 

[Spyro]

W2 is like that great sounding, well powered 6 speaker car stereo.  The W3 is like adding a subwoofer...not so much for the "BOOM, BOOM" effect but for a much richer fuller sound.  I much prefer the W3 in this regard but W2 very solid for dual driver at it's pricepoint....among the best.

 

[airwax]

Quote:

@ Airwax (or anyone else who happens to have both). What are your thoughts on the sm3 vs w2? Have you reached a consensus on which you prefer? I have to say at the moment I haven't and i've done a fair amount of playing around with both of them. At the moment I grab the pair I didn't use the previous day and i find they can both do things the others can't, detail vs soundstage and comfort vs extension etc. I think they complement each other rather well.

I agree with you Marcus. They really do complement each other very well. I prefer the SM3 a little more because of the bigger soundstage, better detail, and natural sound that the SM3 produce. The W2 however gives me a very nice back-up to that. A different sound but very much enjoyable. I use them when I sleep because of the comfort, and non-fatiguing sound. The SM3 can sometimes have that very punchy bass (depends on the music played) that I could not take any more of.

 

[rawrster]

Quote:

How would you say the RE-Zero compares with the Westone 2 in terms of the mids and highs? I've always been interested in the W2s, but never acted on it since I owned the Westone 3s for a time, and I didn't find them to my liking at all.

I did a very short comparison between the two. The setup was my netbook connecting my dac/amp to the W2 and the RE-Zero on both outputs where one of them had a 6.3mm to 3.5mm adapter on it. The tips used on both earphones were the same in the MEElectronics M9 "balanced" tips. I'll say that price wise it is a bit unfair as MSRP for the RE-Zero is $99 while the W2 is $250 iirc.
 
I was only able to do one song since well..I have some other phones that I'm more interesting in testing out right now. From my brief comparison the sound stage on the W2 is more expansive esp in width. I find the W2 to have a pretty nice sound stage and that definitely is the case next to the RE-Zero. Bass extension on the W2 is a bit better esp in sub bass since sub bass is an area the RE-Zero struggles in. Overall there's better definition and detail on the W2 in the bass. For the midrange I like the RE-Zero better. It is a bit more forward in the RE-Zero and midrange is one of the strengths of the RE-Zero. Detail is about the same and I didn't notice anything missing when comparing the two. W2 isn't as forward but still sounding good as well. I like the RE-Zero a bit better however. Upper mids and treble were good on both. I think I'll call it a tie for now. I can't say which one I liked more. Extension seems to be similar if this song is an accurate judge of it. Detail remains about the same as well here.

 

[nadsta]

I have just bought the W2's but I'm having a few issues with them, so apologies for resurrecting an old-ish thread but any help is appreciated.  
 
I can only achieve a good airtight seal using the triflanges (slightly trimmed at stalk to stop them flexing during insertion) as the other tips don't have enough physical extension to reach my ear canal.
 
However whilst the seal appears to be deep & good and the sound is what I'd expect, I get very little isolation at all. Ambient noise at any frequency with or without transient information (light traffic/conversation/typing on keyboard etc) is constantly behind the music.  
 
Originally I was considering custom sleeves for these as I didn't expect to find a tip that was comfortable for me (both my Ety HF2's and Pana HJE900's were too painful with all manner of tips).  But as the seal and comfort is good, custom's now seem pointless and I doubt would offer any more isolation over triflanges.  
 
I have the opportunity to return these as they are faulty, with clear sibilance in the left ear only, so I can order something else instead if they don't generally isolate that well. I was hoping for something near Ety standards of isolation.
 
ljoker rates the W2's isolation with a 4 out of 5  in his awesome 133 iem review, so what have other W2 users found?  

 

[davidcotton]

I only get a good seal by having the stalks trimmed a little and cutting the top flange off so it becomes a a biflange.  The large complys (are these available seperatly to buy?  Can only find the regular size ones on most sites) also worked out for me for isolation.  FWIW I can wear the w2's at work where there are three large machines running and with the biflanges it cuts out 95% of the noise with the music on.  
 

 

[LugBug1]

Quote:

I have just bought the W2's but I'm having a few issues with them, so apologies for resurrecting an old-ish thread but any help is appreciated.  
 
I can only achieve a good airtight seal using the triflanges (slightly trimmed at stalk to stop them flexing during insertion) as the other tips don't have enough physical extension to reach my ear canal.
 
However whilst the seal appears to be deep & good and the sound is what I'd expect, I get very little isolation at all. Ambient noise at any frequency with or without transient information (light traffic/conversation/typing on keyboard etc) is constantly behind the music.  
 
Originally I was considering custom sleeves for these as I didn't expect to find a tip that was comfortable for me (both my Ety HF2's and Pana HJE900's were too painful with all manner of tips).  But as the seal and comfort is good, custom's now seem pointless and I doubt would offer any more isolation over triflanges.  
 
I have the opportunity to return these as they are faulty, with clear sibilance in the left ear only, so I can order something else instead if they don't generally isolate that well. I was hoping for something near Ety standards of isolation.
 
ljoker rates the W2's isolation with a 4 out of 5  in his awesome 133 iem review, so what have other W2 users found?  

I use the shure black rubber washable tips on my w2's and they work a treat, realy good isolation and they add a bit more bass. You can get them on amazon

 

[davidcotton]

As a quick aside what would be models of iem (not just westone) which would be considered an upgrade to?  Mainly out of curiosity been looking at the westone 3's and shure se535's.  Right sort of path to follow?  Like the w2's for size, isolation, general sort of sound (though I think a slightly warmer sound would suit me), listen to rock music mainly.
 
Cheers.

 

[nadsta]

Quote:

I only get a good seal by having the stalks trimmed a little and cutting the top flange off so it becomes a a biflange.  The large complys (are these available seperatly to buy?  Can only find the regular size ones on most sites) also worked out for me for isolation.  FWIW I can wear the w2's at work where there are three large machines running and with the biflanges it cuts out 95% of the noise with the music on.  
 

 
Quote:

I use the shure black rubber washable tips on my w2's and they work a treat, realy good isolation and they add a bit more bass. You can get them on amazon

Thanks, for whatever reason these tips aren't isolating rendering the W2's useless to me, a shame as they seal well and are supremely comfortable which are my 2 of my 3 main priorities.  It sounds like the shell is leaking sound as the tips are air tight and perform well with the Sensaphonics seal test.  Could both shells be faulty?