[Paddy855]

Wow, based on Vorlon1's and HeadphoneAddict's comparisons, the W3 seem to eliminate just the sonic characterics of the TF10 that I always considered as a slight minus in those otherwise great IEMs: W3 have less grain and emphasis in the highs, a more forward midrange and an even better pronounced bass presentation (even though I already like TF10's bass a lot). After that, I will definitely put my order down on those phones.

 

[NeObliviscaris]

anyone in melbourne getting these and open to letting a fellow head-fier try em?

 

[craiglester]

I've been listening to these 3's a little more this weekend and i think i'm starting to be able to put my finger on whats so good about these iems.
Firstly, the comfort is exceptional, you could easily forget your wearing them, I've tried the Triflanges, but without cutting them up they're too long and scratch the inside of my ear, so i'll leave those fr later. The Comnplys are comfortable, buti don't feel theres much to be gained in the bass area from them, but the trble does seem a *tiny* bit more muted than the Olives.

The Olives are very comfortable, almost as comfortable as the comply's, with a little less isolation. There is however a tiny bit more treble like maybe 5% more. The Soft Flex (bullet tips) have the best treble of all of the tips so far for me, but with a little less Bass and a lot less isolation than the complys.

Tips aside, I've been listening to a fair variety of music and it seems to me that the biggest thing I've noticed is the lack of frequency bands. There may be 3 seperate driver elements in this IEM but they don't sound as though theres 3. It all sounds like one, theres no gaps or drop-offs between the frequency band each driver is tuned for. The result? A Very smooth transition from Very low frequencys right up to the upper ranges, with no unusual humps or troughs in the response.
I'm really beginning to be more impressed the more I listen to them, as the upper ranges that I thought a little recessed at first, is there, but it's more "in the mix" rather than being pushed out to the front as a lot of cans/iems seem to do. I think the closest description i can give these is that it's like listening to a really nice 3 way speaker from across a room.. That is not to say they have a huge soundstage (they are IEMS after all), but it seems that the sound is given time to mix together as it would from a speaker across the room. A very natural sound. I'd say of all the IEMS i've tried, this is easily the most "natural" sounding.

The detail in these IEMs is quite excellent also. It's always a surprise to hear new sounds/textures/nuances in a piece of music you think you know inside out.
Last night I listened to Chris Rea's The Road to Hell, and for the first time, i could clearly make out not just the rain noise on the first track, but the sound of the wiper motors and the shwish of the wipers on the windscreen. Now, I've had that album since it came out in 1989 and I've listened to it MANY times, but with headphones I've never heard it with such clarity and micro detail.

Another thing I noticed with the 3's is the very natural sounding decay. Let me try to explain further.. with IEMs (and most headphones I have) when a songs ends with a flourish from a band, the big final chord etc, I've noticed most headphones don't seem to have that slow decay of the sound, the reverb just seems to get suppressed. With the 3's the songs seem to have that little last echo, the resonance that seems to disappear with other phones. I'm sure theres a proper and correct term for all this but I'm not the most experienced reviewer, so forgive me if i'm a little umm inarticulate.

 

[Paddy855]

Wow, what an impressive review, craiglester! I think you have found the perfect words to describe the uniqueness of the W3's sound signature. Actually, I am so intrigued by their said smoothness now, that I am soo close to pull the trigger on them today.

May I ask you with which source you've been testing them? In case you have had the chance to try them with an (portable) amp, do you think they respond to it well?

 

[craiglester]

So far I've tried them with 3 sources, My PC thru optical to an Entech Number cruncher 203.2 into a Darkvoice 336i with RCA / Sylvania Tubes and also a Meier Headfive S/S Amp. The Darkvoice gave me too much tube noise / hum so I moved to the Headfive. I'd say the amps add a little, but they're not really needed.If anything they can add TOO much.. the bass can become a little overwhelming when amped too much...

Other sources have been my Gigabeat F40 (Rockboxed), which gave a strangely muted sound, very flat, no sparkle at all. I'm laying the blame here on the gigabeat, because...

then there's the 2Gb Sansa clip, which give a wonderful sound.. i heard good things about this tiny player before and now i know why.. with the 3 this thing shines!. I'd say an amp could be used, but you certainly don't NEED one. YMMV of course, dependant on your source, but i'm loving just clip with the 3's. Tiny, portable and fantastic sound. Now.. wheres my Karma.. I should try that out i think

Oh and the Ipod, and I think I have a go-vibe somewhere..

 

[Paddy855]

Quote:

Originally Posted by craiglester /img/forum/go_quote.gif then there's the 2Gb Sansa clip, which give a wonderful sound.. i heard good things about this tiny player before and now i know why.. with the 3 this thing shines!. I'd say an amp could be used, but you certainly don't NEED one. YMMV of course, dependant on your source, but i'm loving just clip with the 3's. Tiny, portable and fantastic sound. Now.. wheres my Karma.. I should try that out i think Oh and the Ipod, and I think I have a go-vibe somewhere..

Very interesting, especially looking at the small size AND price of the Sansa clip, I think it could well be worth a try together with the new W3's.

I sure hope that the bass won't get too overwhelming with amplification as I am planning to use the 3's with the new Mustang P-51...

 

[PouncePony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by craiglester /img/forum/go_quote.gif Other sources have been my Gigabeat F40 (Rockboxed), which gave a strangely muted sound, very flat, no sparkle at all. I'm laying the blame here on the gigabeat, because...

I find the same thing with my Gigabeat F40 and S60 (Rockboxed). I stated earlier that the mids were somewhat flat; that was with the F40 and S60. EQing the mid range up a bit helps with these players.

-Pony

 

[tstarn06]

Sooz

I have my Touch in a Switcheasy Rebel Touch case, which I love (really protects the machine), and that could be the problem. The base of the W3 plug is round and fat, and while it may sit flush in the Touch without the case, the rim around the plug from the case input prevents the W3 plug from going all the way in. Not a problem for me, since I use the Griffin iTalk with the Touch anyway (for pausing and changing tracks). So not an issue if you have no case on your touch. Could also be a problem with the Zune if I use my skin/case. Not sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by soozieq /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ooops! I didn't see this bit yesterday. I don't understand. The W3 doesn't plug into the Touch 2G? I thought Flavio was using them with his, and I don't remember him saying the plug didn't fit. I'll have to go and check HeadphoneAddict and Vorlon1 - thank you both for making the differences between the W3 and TF10 a little clearer to my 'ears' I really like my TF10, and was hoping the W3 would at least sound as good, if not better. From what I've picked up on so far, I can assume the midrange is clearer and more forward on the W3. And that's all I need to know

 

[vorlon1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by craiglester /img/forum/go_quote.gif Another thing I noticed with the 3's is the very natural sounding decay. Let me try to explain further.. with IEMs (and most headphones I have) when a songs ends with a flourish from a band, the big final chord etc, I've noticed most headphones don't seem to have that slow decay of the sound, the reverb just seems to get suppressed. With the 3's the songs seem to have that little last echo, the resonance that seems to disappear with other phones. I'm sure theres a proper and correct term for all this but I'm not the most experienced reviewer, so forgive me if i'm a little umm inarticulate.

This is exactly right! I've been doing comparisons with the UM 2, TF10, Shure E500, Sleek SA6, ESW9, HFI-780 and even a Senn HD600 RAL re-cable out of a Singlepower Extreme with the same music and NONE of them have the ability to capture this decay and also the reverberation you hear on the recordings with the W3 (The Senn/Singlepower combo comes closest). It is quite a stunning thing to hear, especially when you do direct and immediate comparisons with other units and hear the lack of those effects you have been hearing with the W3.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cecala /img/forum/go_quote.gif How about isolation, how good are they in this regard compared to other top IEMs?

I have tried the medium size stock single flange silicone tips and they sound very good, and isolate very well.

I cannot use the stock triple flange tips because they stalk is too long and the W3 droop from my ears, but if I cut the stalk 4 mm shorter they work well but not as comfortable as the single flange or having the triple cut short to a bi-flange. Isolation is good with all tips so far.

Any of the silicone tips are more balanced sounding than the P-series Complys foam from my SE530 (long foam), so last to try is the T-Series Complys short foam that they come with.

 

[Bigsy]

Apologies if I have missed this but are there any unboxing shots? I'd like to see pics of the peripherals etc.

Also can anyone tell me.. does the headphone cable split like the e500/se530's? So you can plug them into a PTH or remote control without having a ton of spare cable.

Thanks.

 

[PouncePony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigsy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Apologies if I have missed this but are there any unboxing shots? I'd like to see pics of the peripherals etc. Also can anyone tell me.. does the headphone cable split like the e500/se530's? So you can plug them into a PTH or remote control without having a ton of spare cable. Thanks.

Post

 

[p0wderh0und23]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soozieq /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ooops! I didn't see this bit yesterday. I don't understand. The W3 doesn't plug into the Touch 2G? I thought Flavio was using them with his, and I don't remember him saying the plug didn't fit. I'll have to go and check

Huh... the 2G Touch is the same jack as the iPhone 3G and I use mine all the time... hmmmmm

 

[windrider]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vorlon1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is exactly right! I've been doing comparisons with the UM 2, TF10, Shure E500, Sleek SA6, ESW9, HFI-780 and even a Senn HD600 RAL re-cable out of a Singlepower Extreme with the same music and NONE of them have the ability to capture this decay and also the reverberation you hear on the recordings with the W3 (The Senn/Singlepower combo comes closest). It is quite a stunning thing to hear, especially when you do direct and immediate comparisons with other units and hear the lack of those effects you have been hearing with the W3.

I thought the exact same thing when i first auditioned them. This is surely the most impressive thing about this iem. Makes it sound very natural and realistic imho... and gives it a very realistic sounding "soundstage".

I'm really hoping someone will do a serious comparison between the westone 3s and the ie8 soon though. Would love to read some comparisons before i take the plunge for westone 3s

 

[cn11]

Quote:

Originally Posted by windrider /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm really hoping someone will do a serious comparison between the westone 3s and the ie8 soon though. Would love to read some comparisons before i take the plunge for westone 3s

I'll take a stab at that comparison once I get my W3. They're scheduled for delivery tomorrow at work, so between projects I'll be doing some comparing. I'll try to get something written up that night or Tuesday night at the latest.