[subguy812]

I love my W4R's .... some opinions on how much would I need to spend to get an iem with a significantly better sq than the W4R?

 

[fiascogarcia]

  I love my W4R's .... some opinions on how much would I need to spend to get an iem with a significantly better sq than the W4R?

 
Kind of a loaded question.  I think sometimes you get a "different" sound signature rather than "better".  It's just so personal.  I now listen to the Fitear Parterre.  To me, they offer greater clarity across the spectrum, no congestion,  and imaging that is much closer to what you might capture with full size headphones.  Then again, they cost $900!  Whether it's worth it or not is a very personal decision.  I feel you do get better sound quality with more expensive iems, but the degree of improvement is very subjective to each listener.  Having said all that, I feel the W4's are an excellent iem, and offer great sound quality for the money.

 

[TK277]

I'm with fiascogarcia. The next "step" in sound would be near the $1000 mark and like he said, the improvements are subjective. At that price range I would think a clearer sound would come from all IEMs, but the sound signatures vary, so it's hard to tell what you would find better.
 
If you haven't already, you can invest in a DAC. That would improve the sound.

 

[subguy812]

  I'm with fiascogarcia. The next "step" in sound would be near the $1000 mark and like he said, the improvements are subjective. At that price range I would think a clearer sound would come from all IEMs, but the sound signatures vary, so it's hard to tell what you would find better.
 
If you haven't already, you can invest in a DAC. That would improve the sound.

No No I get that guys... I am thinking I would need to go near 1000.00. I have had the UM3X and settled on the W4R and am really happy with that decision, but I had some money burning a hole in my pocket. I presently use a Fiio X3 to listen to FLAC and will upgrade to X5 when available. I have no over the ear headphones so I thought about that too. I like a precise sound ...not heavy bass and not shrill treble. I enjoy a wide soundstage and listen to primarily jazz, blues, rock and usually FLAC

 

[fiascogarcia]

  No No I get that guys... I am thinking I would need to go near 1000.00. I have had the UM3X and settled on the W4R and am really happy with that decision, but I had some money burning a hole in my pocket. I presently use a Fiio X3 to listen to FLAC and will upgrade to X5 when available. I have no over the ear headphones so I thought about that too. I like a precise sound ...not heavy bass and not shrill treble. I enjoy a wide soundstage and listen to primarily jazz, blues, rock and usually FLAC

 
I listen to the same things, plus some classical, and the Parterre's are spot on for me!!  And to get back to your original question, at the higher price bracket, the sound quality of iem's is substantially better to me.  If soundstage is really important to you, you should demo full size headphones.

 

[TK277]

  No No I get that guys... I am thinking I would need to go near 1000.00. I have had the UM3X and settled on the W4R and am really happy with that decision, but I had some money burning a hole in my pocket. I presently use a Fiio X3 to listen to FLAC and will upgrade to X5 when available. I have no over the ear headphones so I thought about that too. I like a precise sound ...not heavy bass and not shrill treble. I enjoy a wide soundstage and listen to primarily jazz, blues, rock and usually FLAC

Well, then you have some options.
 
If you like the W4R and want to step up, I would wager the W50 or W60 (whichever you can afford) will probably be a good choice. I was pleased from the jump to the ES5 from the W4R, but if I could choose again today, I'd get the latest offerings, naturally.
 
Or, if you want to save up, go for full cans like the LCD-2/3 with a balanced amp.

 

[ericr]

I love my W4R's .... some opinions on how much would I need to spend to get an iem with a significantly better sq than the W4R?

I''ll jump in with the opinion you don't have to spend $1000 to best the W4/R/40. To my ears SM64 are clearly a step up in sound for similar money. From what owners of the Fisher Amps FA-4 are saying it seems quite impressive for again about the same money. Also, the V6 and V6 Stage from 1964Ears are available as universal fit for $575 and $625 respectively. My V6 Stage should be done in 3 weeks so I'm seriously hoping they outperform both my W4 and SM64!

 

[Jetblack08]

You may find this helpful. I am the owner of the W4, SM3 v2, and SE535. For years I thought the W4 was the best of the trio until one day I broke it at work. I ordered another, but while was waiting for it to arrive, I was forced to start listening to my SM3. When my W4 finally arrived I discovered that I liked the SM3 more than the W4...the reasons being better bass impact, about the same soundstage, but the SM3 has better imaging, less congestion of instruments, instruments seem closer to you as if on stage with the musicians. I think it has been discontinued, but if you can find the SM3 you may be surprised. Just MY opinion of course. I do plan on getting the SM64 though.

 

[leogodoy]

While I am sure there are better IEMs out there, W4R is probably the end game IEM for me. Or close to that, maybe in the future I'll try a custom model. But I am really interested in open cans, their soundstage is something that's worth trying, a whole new world, I guess.

 

[Mooses9]

Well there are better top tier Iem universals. I went from the w4r and um3x to the fitear f111 and fitear 334 and they are imo worlds better than the w4r. But if the w4r work for you then they work for you.

When you own the se535 or w4r they sound good because you haven't heard top tier universals lol

 

[barid]

Well there are better top tier Iem universals. I went from the w4r and um3x to the fitear f111 and fitear 334 and they are imo worlds better than the w4r. But if the w4r work for you then they work for you.

When you own the se535 or w4r they sound good because you haven't heard top tier universals lol

 
I guess the term "top tier" keeps advancing.  Don't have much experience in the ~1k IEM market, but if its anything like full sized offerings, you pay for different flavors/signatures and severely diminishing returns. 
 
Maybe someday I'll venture into that price range, but the W4 has been my favorite thus far.  Much preferred to the Shure's.

 

[ericr]

While I am sure there are better IEMs out there, W4R is probably the end game IEM for me. Or close to that, maybe in the future I'll try a custom model. But I am really interested in open cans, their soundstage is something that's worth trying, a whole new world, I guess.

FWIW, I bought the Beyedynamic T90 (open back) for this very reason. If there such a thing as a soundstage head, I would probably qualify. Comparing the two I was surprised to find the SM64s soundstage besting the T90 (a bit wider, more even and overall more realistic).

Now I"m shopping tube amps to find a unit better suited to driving the T90 than my Asgart 2. But at this point I'm wondering if the longstanding belief that full-sized cans have better soundstage than IEMs still holds true.

 

[rawrster]

I guess the term "top tier" keeps advancing.  Don't have much experience in the ~1k IEM market, but if its anything like full sized offerings, you pay for different flavors/signatures and severely diminishing returns. 

Maybe someday I'll venture into that price range, but the W4 has been my favorite thus far.  Much preferred to the Shure's.

It definitely changes faster than I can keep up. I have limited experience with the 1k iem market but regardless of price the w4 is a good iem. It's not the best but it definitely is at what I would consider the sweet spot in terms of price to performance.

 

[Spyro]

Yea, really hard to knock the W4 for its price.  Does WAY more right than wrong.
 
Top tier universals was only so good a couple years back and then there was a huge jump to top end customs for better SQ.    All that's really happened as they've narrowed the gap between the two.

 

[fiascogarcia]

  Yea, really hard to knock the W4 for its price.  Does WAY more right than wrong.
 
Top tier universals was only so good a couple years back and then there was a huge jump to top end customs for better SQ.    All that's really happened as they've narrowed the gap between the two.

Yeah, I agree.  I think manufacturers have realized that a lot of users want the high sq, but aren't planning on keeping their phones forever.  And as great as customs are, their big weakness is in the resale market.  Notice that even JH Audio created a universal along with it's custom Roxanne to cover their bases.