[FlexPen76]

Quote:

The latest posts are very encouraging (and contradicts a quote I found stating the "house" sound is not present). I think I am leaning away from the SM3 (also borne out of ? on durability) and leaning more towards UM3X or W4. Just a shame the London meet in a few weeks will not have the W4 otherwise that would probably seal my attendance

I'll look out for Jude's review

I was thinking of attending the London meet, but as I'm just outside Belfast it would necessitate a flight and all that. If anyone can advise best airport to fly into and how to get to the location and IF there is enough interest in the W4 I'd bring me and mine along....
 
Just booked my flights to the London meet. I'll have my W4 with me, if anyone is interested in a listen.

 

[keithw]

Looks like earphonesolutions got them in. Just got my shipping confirmation

 

[musicday]

Can somebody please tell me where in London is the meeting, and when, time?Many thanks, Levi By the way, i live in South London, Wallington.
Quote:

I was thinking of attending the London meet, but as I'm just outside Belfast it would necessitate a flight and all that. If anyone can advise best airport to fly into and how to get to the location and IF there is enough interest in the W4 I'd bring me and mine along....
 
Just booked my flights to the London meet. I'll have my W4 with me, if anyone is interested in a listen.

 

 

[FlexPen76]

It's Crystals of London on 2/4.

More details here:
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/540416/head-fi-uk-meet-02-04-2011-london

 

[rawrster]

Are most of the members here getting a deep fit with the W4? I'm starting to wonder if that's the right way to do it due to the short nozzle and I'm more used to deep fit with iem.

 

 

[mywallethurts]

Quote:

Are most of the members here getting a deep fit with the W4? I'm starting to wonder if that's the right way to do it due to the short nozzle and I'm more used to deep fit with iem.

 

yep i do. the deeper the fit the cleaner the sound
 

 

[JoeyRusso]

Quote:

Are most of the members here getting a deep fit with the W4? I'm starting to wonder if that's the right way to do it due to the short nozzle and I'm more used to deep fit with iem.

 

 
Yep, they're best in-canal for me.. as deep as they'll go...
 

 

[leshka]

        well i got my 4's last Thursday and have been listening to them since. Before i bout them i owned a pair of Shure e2c and upgraded because my last IEMs died. I decided to buy the 4's after a weeks worth of research. I will be honest by saying that these are only the second pair of high end IEMs I've bout which includes the e2c. I must admit that every last penny of the $450 spent on these quad IEMs was well worth it. The clarity on these lil guys are amazing. There is just so much to the sound reproduction that they actually feel natural. By natural I mean that they don't sound like i have something making noise i my ears. They actually sound like the music is being produced in my head. I was painting the other day and listening to some Trance genre music. It wasn't until about 2 hours later into my painting session that i realized that i was listening to music.
 
      At this point i was confused for about a minute and then i realized how amazing these IEMs really are. I could explain how every low, mid and highs sound to me but  i prefer to sum it up by saying that these are truly well balanced in sound reproduction. I want to say that i have found the prefect universal IEMs for me but i know that another IEM in the near future will catch my attention. hopefully it will be of the Westone brand. but for now i will stick to my Westone 4's because they fit my every needs when it comes to my taste in music. this is my first actual thoughts about these IEMs so i am sorry if its messy, unclear, and un-informative but it the best a newbie like me can write at the time.
 
i have a question for anybody who uses the Shure Olives. Are the Olives better in isolation than the small grey comply tips that come along with the 4's packaging? 

 

[knopi]

For isolation is better comply to me. For sound are clearly better shure olives to me I recomend try them with westone universal iems. I did not like much um3x with comply, silicons etc.  

 

[EraserXIV]

I personally find the Olives to provide the most isolation (and best sound) out of all the tips. Not to mention they are the most comfortable.

 

[piotrus-g]

 
Quote:

 I was painting the other day and listening to some Trance genre music. It wasn't until about 2 hours later into my painting session that i realized that i was listening to music.
 
      At this point i was confused for about a minute and then i realized how amazing these IEMs really are. I could explain how every low, mid and highs sound to me but  i prefer to sum it up by saying that these are truly well balanced in sound reproduction.

Totally. I know what you are talking about! These is just so amazing with W4. Other day I was walking with my dog and suddenly out of nowhere I realized I was listening to music. By all accounts it's not the fact that W4 are boring, it's just that they are so extremely balanced.
The other thing is that W4 can be very emotional and bring out temper of the song f.e. when listening to Slipkont I feel the energy of their music, though when listening to female vocals then I'm floating away.
 
As it comes to tips. I prefer Comply tips long. It's because my ears are unregular and W4 has this short tip and only comply can provide good isolation. If it comes to sound comply also gave me the best result, cutting off the treble spike and siliance.
 
 

 

[jamesta]

I received my set today.  I hooked straight up to my iPhone 4 & Macbook.  My impressions compared to the UM3X:
 
Bass: Less bass presence but better overall balance.  Quicker, tighter & more precise.  The range & evenness of presentation is very pleasing & natural sounding, as opposed to the UM3X sometimes sounding either too emphasized in the middle of the bass spectrum or rolled off in the lower end.
Mids: Very warm & slightly sweet.  They are not 'in your face' like the UM3X, for example when listening to Stan Getz the W4 places him with the other musicians on stage, the UM3X places him next to me with the band still on stage.  Very well balanced.
Treble: Much more full & much less sibilant to me.  When listening to Gwen Stefani on "Tragic Kingdom" tracks her voice is harsh & sibilant with the UM3X, while the W4 places her close to the listener as opposed to close to the microphone.  Amazingly better than the UM3X, everything from snares to cymbals has more sweetness, warmth, depth & air.
Soundstage: A nice 'U' shaped presentation, definitely further away than the UM3X.  Separation is just as good as the UM3X.  Overall feel is more airy & distant than the UM3X & feels more balanced, warmth without thickness.
Misc: I would say it takes more than an additional 10% to drive the W4 compared to the UM3X, maybe an average of 15% but sometimes it seemed more like 20%.  The hiss that was present often with the UM3X is gone, it isn't quieter it just isn't there.
 
I realize I used "balanced" a lot, that's because to my ears the W4 is near perfectly balanced.  I would ask for more bass presence but I can easily do that with EQ, the only reason I'd prefer it built in is for listening to Pandora since I haven't figured out how to have the EQ effect it on either my iPhone or Macbook.  I'm a noob to this whole thing so please remember these are my impressions without any sort of reviewer mindset filter.

 

[rawrster]

I'm still having some issues with fit. The only stock tip that works are the triple flanges and I ended up trimming the stalk a tiny bit as it was going a bit too deep and while the fit is better it's still not great. I may have to go to an apple store or the B&H and grab some olive tips although they will be around $22 or so which I'm not that thrilled about but it's better than being frustrated over tip issues
 

 

[jamesta]

Do the Apple stores have Shure tips normally?  I'm having the same issues you are, but not quite as severe I can get comfortable with the triple flanges but it isn't to the level of 'forgot they're there' I prefer.
 
Quote:

I'm still having some issues with fit. The only stock tip that works are the triple flanges and I ended up trimming the stalk a tiny bit as it was going a bit too deep and while the fit is better it's still not great. I may have to go to an apple store or the B&H and grab some olive tips although they will be around $22 or so which I'm not that thrilled about but it's better than being frustrated over tip issues
 

 

 

[JoeyRusso]

Quote:

I'm still having some issues with fit. The only stock tip that works are the triple flanges and I ended up trimming the stalk a tiny bit as it was going a bit too deep and while the fit is better it's still not great. I may have to go to an apple store or the B&H and grab some olive tips although they will be around $22 or so which I'm not that thrilled about but it's better than being frustrated over tip issues
 

If I had an extra set, I'd send a pair to you.. Unfortunately, I'm down to the two that are on my W4's and 215's.  If you buy the mediums and end up not keeping the W4's, I'll buy your extra's..
 
And they're worth a listen, they are easily my favorite tip for the W4's....