[buffalowings]

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Speaking of left and right ears not being uniform... my left ear canal is larger than my right ear canal, so I have to use different sized tips in each ear. lol. =/
 

 

 
 


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haha. Don't even suggest that. It'll be the doom of me. 

nobody was suggesting custom IEM's....you're hearing voices again, now custom eartips.... 

 

[rawrster]

There are ways to make them. There's a thread on that in the DIY section.

 

[albau]

 
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Shure Olives: Balanced sound, no one area stands out. <- favorite tip
Standard Grey Silicon: more bass impact than olives, mids sound more congested, treble less bright. (small tip opening)
White silicon: more bass impact than olives, mids a bit more clear than greys, more sparkle than standard silicon (tip opening is a little wider)
Triple's cut to doubles: (triples are uncomfortable to me) more bass impact than olives, mids again sound warmer, treble loses sparkle. (similar to grey)
Comply std: bass impact similar to olives, mids closer, but still not as clear, treble is less bright.
Comply long (med): closer to the olives then the std's.  (Longer core - extends closer to outer edge of tip than std)  <- 2nd favorite
Comply long (large): same sound as std comply's, less bright, more congested, not as open.  (core is shorter)

Exactly my impressions when tried moded triples and long Complys on W2 and W3 - dis-balance towards lows (W3) and warmer slightly muffed mids and a little too anemic treble. Unfortunately none of the other stock tips would properly fit my ears so can't comment on silicons. Even with Olives both W2 and W3 sounded too warmish too me with too subdued highs so I had to part with both. Really hope that W4 sound brighter (but not harsh or sibilant) and more detailed and less warm in mids than W3. Pipe dream?

 

[JoeyRusso]

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  where do you get these olives (your local deli 

) ? 

Actually, I get mine from a medicine man.. maybe that explains the magic..

 

[javahut]

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 Really hope that W4 sound brighter (but not harsh or sibilant) and more detailed and less warm in mids than W3. Pipe dream?

Not a pipe dream. W4 does sound more detailed and less warm in mids than W3. And they could be considered brighter than W3... but not so bright as to be harsh or sibilant.

 

 

[imackler]

 
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Standard Grey Silicon: more bass impact than olives, mids sound more congested, treble less bright. (small tip opening)

 
That is what I'm hearing. Maybe I need some Shure olives.
 

 

[Danz03]

It's not so much that they get dirty, it's more like the foam part gets detached from the inner tube and got stuck in my ear canal sometimes when I pull the phone out. I use my IEMs daily for commuting and working out at the gym and the Comply tips can barely last more than a month for me. The Shure Olives do last forever, a year at least and would still keep their elasticity. I also find that I get slightly tighter bass response with the Olives, and even more so if reversed. Call me a cheapskate if you may, but the Olives are much much more economical for me. However, I didn't know that Comply tips come with wax guards nowadays, must admit that would be a great feature. 

 
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You can get a couple of months out of one pair of the Complys if you clean your ears daily.  I think they're more comfy and I like the wax guard too.

 

[maverickronin]

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It's not so much that they get dirty, it's more like the foam part gets detached from the inner tube and got stuck in my ear canal sometimes when I pull the phone out. I use my IEMs daily for commuting and working out at the gym and the Comply tips can barely last more than a month for me. The Shure Olives do last forever, a year at least and would still keep their elasticity. I also find that I get slightly tighter bass response with the Olives, and even more so if reversed. Call me a cheapskate if you may, but the Olives are much much more economical for me. However, I didn't know that Comply tips come with wax guards nowadays, must admit that would be a great feature. 

I use mine 8 hours nearly every weekday straight through the workday and still get that much longevity.  I've never had one separate and stick in my ear like that either.  I stop using them after they loose most of their memory-ness.  I don't know how long it takes for them to disintegrate into uselessness though since I throw them out before then.
 
I know the olives will certainly stay in one piece as long as you say but they do lose their memory-ness after a while too and become less comfy and give less isolation.
 
I've only ever used the Comply Tx (wax guard) series though, so maybe they're more durable then the standard ones.

 

[buffalowings]

the Tx series and the standard foam tips last equally long, the foam guard is only used to prevent wax from getting into the nozzles of the phones clogging them up

 

[monsieurguzel]

 
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Originally Posted by JoeyRusso 

Standard Grey Silicon: more bass impact than olives, mids sound more congested, treble less bright. (small tip opening)

  Same here

 

[buffalowings]

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  Same here

did you guys find the treble from the westone 3 bright? maybe i never got a good fit, but i found the bass boomy and the treble drowned out

 

[LostAngeles]

 
The tip discussion earlier had me thinking, yes, I also use the olives with the spacer technique that Javahut mentioned, guess I am deep, funny, always thought I was somewhat shallow.  Also, tried reversing the olives as Dan03 suggested and they sound better to me, although not too comfortable.  I have quite a few tip mods from my SM3’s and agree with Burma Jones that the tip completely changes the presentation; I can have more forward mids, bass emphasis or uncomfortable muddy garbage. My one big complaint about the SM3 was that the sound was never consistent for me, so I was forever changing tips.  Today, after changing tips four times on my 4’s, as I was driving home (scratch that, crawling home in LA traffic) after picking up a new container of olives because my old ones are so old they had hardened; my thinking was, here I go again, chasing the perfect tip or mod.  Don’t get me wrong I really enjoy reading impressions and trying things for myself, after all tips are a very inexpensive part of the equation, but when does it end?  My hope is that I will find the perfect tip/fit and be satisfied, but maybe I am just “chasing the dragon” and should just give up and get the ES5. Then again, since this is my first Westone what if the presentation I enjoy the most is from a mod and not the 4 itself as I don’t like any of the tips that came with it?  Soap box aside, before I turn my wallet upside-down I will try the Sensorcome tips as they are about the only ones I don’t have. 

 

[Danz03]

At least with universals, it is possible to modify or fine tune the sound to one's preference with different tips or insertion. With customs, if you don't like the sound signature, you're kind of stuck with them forever, I learned it the hard (and expensive) way with my UE18s. 

 
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 My hope is that I will find the perfect tip/fit and be satisfied, but maybe I am just “chasing the dragon” and should just give up and get the ES5.

 

[SolidSnake3]

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I do find that the W4 does combine some of the strengths of the W3 and UM3X. IMO, they are a tame, controlled W3 that has learned to do mids and some instrument separation from the UM3X. They're a very well balanced earphone, taking the V of the W3 and the opposite of the UM3X and making something quite nice. If you vastly preferred the UM3X though and didn't find the W3 in any way tantalizing, you may not love the W4's.
 

This is sort of the vibe I was getting up to this point in the thread regarding the W4's and there comparison to the W3's and UM3X's. My feeling was that the W4 took pieces of the W3's and UM3X's and sort of blended them however it took a "larger" piece of the W3's than the UM3X's. For me the W3's were not really enjoyable at all, I want to say fit was the issue however I don't really believe it to be true since I managed to get an amazing fit super easily with the UM3X's and the two are not that different. Anyhow, I was not impressed with the W3's and found the bass to be quite to my disliking along with the overall sound signature. This impression that the W4's are more W3 than UM3X has sort of waned any interest I might have in reviewing/trying to get the W4's. To be honest, from the sound of it, I would much rather have a pair of UM3X's or wait for the inevitable UM4X's that I'm sure will follow soon enough 

 
 
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Not sure if this has already been said, but the W4 is not a UM4, so that means they are for personal listening.. like the W2 and W3 (see my upgrade thread!) so in my opinion it is pointless comparing them to the monitoring IEM's from westone.
 
By the way... In all seriousness are they worth the extra money if you already like the W3's..... I will get them anyway....

please persuade me otherwise!  

I really don't feel that the UM3X's or that line is not "meant" for personal listening, I think its for a certain type of listener studio use non withstanding. I think that while the W3's/W4's sound may appeal to more people, those that prefer a particular sound signature can enjoy the UM series more regardless of if they are using the IEM's for "personal" listening or not. I myself am one of those individuals. This is not to say that I dislike fun phones, I have a pair of Fisher Eterna V1's that I enjoy a ton however for whatever reason the particular sound signature of the UM3X's fits me more.

 

[FlexPen76]

Regarding tips I've found that the gray silicon's are best for me, I'll have to order some olives though as they seem interesting. Wish I had kept some spare from my SE530s!
 
Was switching between the W4's and my Coppers to see which sound I prefer and now think the Coppers low end interfere with the mids too much. I never noticed how much before. I'm still loving these 6 days into owning them - maybe I just needed to be educated and bass wasn't everything before...
 
One thing concerns though - and I don't mean to rehash old stuff or start wars here - but I've noticed where the cable joins the support on my right ear phone isn't as twisted as the left. When its over my ear there is a definite (small) gap between the cables. And when I "zip" up the cable before storage it forces an opening. Its not like its coming apart like some of the pictures I seen on the W3 but does anyone else have issues? At what stage does this become an issue or am I just being paranoid? Anyone have any tips on how to retwist?