[corentin]

I'm so looking forward to hearing these W4s. Looks like the Westone website still hasn't updated their "coming soon" page...Where did you get yours LostAngeles??

 

[LostAngeles]

I got my W4 from Earphonesolutions.  I talked with Flavio before they processed my order and paid for priority express shipping.  Like I said, "being impatient is expensive but oh, so worth it".  They have been in my ears nonstop since Saturday morning, amazing fit and comfort, hard to take out.
 
 
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I'm so looking forward to hearing these W4s. Looks like the Westone website still hasn't updated their "coming soon" page...Where did you get yours LostAngeles??

 

[FlexPen76]

Just picked mine up from the FedEx office outside Belfast:
 
http://yfrog.com/h2b1ehj
 
Looking forward to getting home from work to try them out. Big thanks to Flavio and earphone solutions for the quick ship half way round the world!  
 
I'll get a quick review up as soon as possible.

 

[javahut]

My initial impressions are... the W4 is excellent!!!
 
I was kinda scared there wouldn't be too much of a difference, or there would be too much difference in the low end, i.e. lacking compared to the W3... after reading the initial reviews.
 
Happy to say, to me, that's not the case at all. The W4 seems to have just as much power in the low end as the W3... it's just very refined compared to the W3. But there's a huge difference in clarity, and mid and high end definition. The W3  sounds extremely scooped in the mids and upper mids compared directly to the W4. The W4 sounds way more refined, with great detail and extension into the lower mids, mids, upper mids and high end, overall, with extremely refined low end. The low end is at least as powerful as W3, just more detail to it... and it's not as out front as the W3 because there's so much more going on in the W4 in addition to the excellent low end. The mid and high end, as well, are just so much tighter and refined on the W4.
 
In short... I love 'em. A big step up from W3 IMHO. It's readily apparent comparing side by side with W3. I was impressed from the get-go.
 
Just for reference... I listen to mostly electronica, dub, illbient, jazz, avantgarde... with a little tele twang (a la Jim Campilongo) and bluegrass every once in awhile. Portable I use with the W4 is a Creative Labs Vision:M direct out to a Ray Samuels Mustang to the Westone 4.
 
Great upgrade from W3!!! I have Shure SE530, too, but haven't listened to 'em in awhile, and haven't compared them to the W4... yet.

 

[cooperpwc]

Nice impressions, javahut!
 
It looks like there may be a new sherriff in town for universal IEMs. I can't wait to hear them.

 

[JoeyRusso]

This last hour of work is going to drag. My W4's are waiting for me at my local FedEx office.  I didn't want to risk missing the courier, so I had FedEx hold them at the station.  I haven't listened to any IEM or headphone for a few days so my point of reference will be fresh.  I'll post impressions some time this evening once I've had a chance to wrap my head around what I'm hearing.

 

[Del Griffith]

Looking forward to your impressions Joey...we seem to have a lot of the same tastes in Iem's reading your posts.  Love the bass of the w3..but would love more mids. Thinking of pulling the trigger..just waiting on a few impressions. Good luck...hope you found the holy grail of Iem's.. lol.

 

[EraserXIV]

Looking forward to your impressions as well. A comparison with the SE535 would be great too as they both are around the same price range. Out of curiosity, is there a particular reason you sold your SE535? What about them did you not like?

 

[JoeyRusso]

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Looking forward to your impressions Joey...we seem to have a lot of the same tastes in Iem's reading your posts.  Love the bass of the w3..but would love more mids. Thinking of pulling the trigger..just waiting on a few impressions. Good luck...hope you found the holy grail of Iem's.. lol.

Thanks Del, I hope they truly are MY holy grail..  Otherwise, it may be time for customs..  fingers crossed and wallet's trembling
 


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Looking forward to your impressions as well. A comparison with the SE535 would be great too as they both are around the same price range. Out of curiosity, is there a particular reason you sold your SE535? What about them did you not like?

Hey Eraser...  I'll pm you my thoughts on the 535's when I get home.  I don't know that I'll reference or compare the W4 to the 535 in my impression's, since they've been out of my possession for a few weeks.

 

[davidcotton]

 

Hey Eraser...  I'll pm you my thoughts on the 535's when I get home.  I don't know that I'll reference or compare the W4 to the 535 in my impression's, since they've been out of my possession for a few weeks.

Any chance of a copy of that pm about the 535's if it's not too much to ask. It's between these, the 535's and customs.  I want the next purchase to be the LAST purchase for a good long while.
 
Cheers.

 

[daveDerek]

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Looking forward to your impressions Joey...we seem to have a lot of the same tastes in Iem's reading your posts.  Love the bass of the w3..but would love more mids. Thinking of pulling the trigger..just waiting on a few impressions. Good luck...hope you found the holy grail of Iem's.. lol.

Thanks Del, I hope they truly are MY holy grail..  Otherwise, it may be time for customs..  fingers crossed and wallet's trembling

 
Joey, face it. they may be your universal iem holy grail (at least for the time being) and it'll be time for customs anyway, or at least your first set. then later on you'll be itching for another great set of customs that will give a somewhat different take on the music

.
 
 
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Looking forward to your impressions as well. A comparison with the SE535 would be great too as they both are around the same price range. Out of curiosity, is there a particular reason you sold your SE535? What about them did you not like?

Hey Eraser...  I'll pm you my thoughts on the 535's when I get home.  I don't know that I'll reference or compare the W4 to the 535 in my impression's, since they've been out of my possession for a few weeks.

hey jr, how about just sharing your impressions with the group so you don't get hit up with pms

.

 

[music_4321]

Quote:

My initial impressions are... the W4 is excellent!!!
 
I was kinda scared there wouldn't be too much of a difference, or there would be too much difference in the low end, i.e. lacking compared to the W3... after reading the initial reviews.
 
Happy to say, to me, that's not the case at all. The W4 seems to have just as much power in the low end as the W3... it's just very refined compared to the W3. But there's a huge difference in clarity, and mid and high end definition. The W3  sounds extremely scooped in the mids and upper mids compared directly to the W4. The W4 sounds way more refined, with great detail and extension into the lower mids, mids, upper mids and high end, overall, with extremely refined low end. The low end is at least as powerful as W3, just more detail to it... and it's not as out front as the W3 because there's so much more going on in the W4 in addition to the excellent low end. The mid and high end, as well, are just so much tighter and refined on the W4.
 
In short... I love 'em. A big step up from W3 IMHO. It's readily apparent comparing side by side with W3. I was impressed from the get-go.
 
Just for reference... I listen to mostly electronica, dub, illbient, jazz, avantgarde... with a little tele twang (a la Jim Campilongo) and bluegrass every once in awhile. Portable I use with the W4 is a Creative Labs Vision:M direct out to a Ray Samuels Mustang to the Westone 4.
 
Great upgrade from W3!!! I have Shure SE530, too, but haven't listened to 'em in awhile, and haven't compared them to the W4... yet.

Thanks for the very first real impressions - all the more since you own the W3s & SE530s.
 
Note: no offence is meant to others who have commented on the W4s so far but I, personally, was eagerly awaiting the impressions of those 'ordinary' headfiers who are either not regular 'reviewers' or have a vested interest in the product being a success.

 
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Looking forward to your impressions as well. A comparison with the SE535 would be great too as they both are around the same price range. Out of curiosity, is there a particular reason you sold your SE535? What about them did you not like?

Hey Eraser...  I'll pm you my thoughts on the 535's when I get home.  I don't know that I'll reference or compare the W4 to the 535 in my impression's, since they've been out of my possession for a few weeks.

As long as you remind us that you owned the SE535 a little while back (not that long ago, anyway), I don't see why you shouldn't make your comparisons public. Most people who make comparisons no longer own some/ all of the other phones being mentioned in such comparisons. I, for one, would appreciate your references to any other phones you've owned.

 

[LostAngeles]

 
W4’s vs. SM3’s initial impressions…  first of the 4’s have a comfort, fit and seal that I was never able to achieve with the SM3 regardless of tip selection.  It is early on but the most obvious difference (to my ears) is the separation and detail.  The SM3’s have great detail but the 4’s seem to just open everything up allowing for layers of detail.  For example, I am listening to “The National,- Santaclara” and the baritone vocal shines with the SM3 but with the 4 you get that same shine along with a layer of backing female vocal that is more pronounced but extremely balanced.  The thing that I like most about the 4 so far is that it has more potential.  Since my SM3 purchase my Headstage Arrow has basically become a paperweight. When I pair the Arrow with the SM3 it is debatable if there is any change or at least one significant enough to justify carrying it around with me. When I pair the 4’s with the arrow they instantly seem to just give me a little more across the board.  The one thing that is surprising to me going from the SM3 to the 4 is that I always thought I was a “mids guy” being a big fan of the Shure 530’s for years and that bass never really factored into the equation for me. However, when I initially started listening the 4’s it was very apparent to me just how much bass emphasis the SM3’s have, the 4’s left me feeling they were lacking.  That was my initial impression but as my ears become more adjusted to the sound of the 4’s my impression is that they are not necessarily lacking they just have a more refined subtle bass presentation compared to the SM3.
 
For reference I listen to most of my music in lossless format direct out of an iPhone 4 or iPhone 4 LOD to Arrow.  Also, for sake of disclosure for me the SM3 just never sounded like it did to others on Head-fi.  I even recently sent them back to Earsonics and paid them to rebalance them thinking that it was the SM3’s and not me, but it turns out it was me.
 
Lastly, I follow Head-Fi enough that my girl considers it a problem but rarely post and consider myself to be quite a newbie in terms articulating presentation.

 

[JoeyRusso]

Quote:

 
W4’s vs. SM3’s initial impressions…  first of the 4’s have a comfort, fit and seal that I was never able to achieve with the SM3 regardless of tip selection.  It is early on but the most obvious difference (to my ears) is the separation and detail.  The SM3’s have great detail but the 4’s seem to just open everything up allowing for layers of detail.  For example, I am listening to “The National,- Santaclara” and the baritone vocal shines with the SM3 but with the 4 you get that same shine along with a layer of backing female vocal that is more pronounced but extremely balanced.  The thing that I like most about the 4 so far is that it has more potential.  Since my SM3 purchase my Headstage Arrow has basically become a paperweight. When I pair the Arrow with the SM3 it is debatable if there is any change or at least one significant enough to justify carrying it around with me. When I pair the 4’s with the arrow they instantly seem to just give me a little more across the board.  The one thing that is surprising to me going from the SM3 to the 4 is that I always thought I was a “mids guy” being a big fan of the Shure 530’s for years and that bass never really factored into the equation for me. However, when I initially started listening the 4’s it was very apparent to me just how much bass emphasis the SM3’s have, the 4’s left me feeling they were lacking.  That was my initial impression but as my ears become more adjusted to the sound of the 4’s my impression is that they are not necessarily lacking they just have a more refined subtle bass presentation compared to the SM3.
 
For reference I listen to most of my music in lossless format direct out of an iPhone 4 or iPhone 4 LOD to Arrow.  Also, for sake of disclosure for me the SM3 just never sounded like it did to others on Head-fi.  I even recently sent them back to Earsonics and paid them to rebalance them thinking that it was the SM3’s and not me, but it turns out it was me.
 
Lastly, I follow Head-Fi enough that my girl considers it a problem but rarely post and consider myself to be quite a newbie in terms articulating presentation.

I wholeheartedly agree with those two statements..  It's way too early on for full on fan-boyism or FOTM type talk, but I just had to pull the W4's out of my ears mid song and put the W3's in to see if it was the W4 or my mind playing tricks on me... It's not my mind..  The W4's are head and shoulders above any IEM I've heard to date as far as separation goes.  The soundstage is larger than the W3, but it's the separation and detail that stand out.  I just did a quick A/B between the W3 & W4 on one track that I'm intimate with and I can't believe the differences so far.  I also don't find the bass lacking, it's not as intrusive or bold as the W3, but it's definitely not lacking.  Ok, I need to go through more of my favorites before posting any more, but I'm very happy with what I'm hearing so far.  Oh and a quick thank you to Flavio for packaging the W4 so well
 
Hey, who said Westone can't do mids??  Not me..

 

[davidcotton]

Cheers for the pm, now for the long wait for the uk to get em in stock   God knows what the price is.  Over £300 and it's forget it time.