Here’s another non-reviewer chiming in. Just got my W4s in a mail. Big usual prop to Earphone Solutions for handling everything so fast and courteously. Even USPS obliged and delivered the package from Florida to NYC in just 3 days.
@music_4321: I totally can understand that not a lot of people would buy $450 universal buds. I know, the law of diminishing returns and all that but while to my untrained and unrefined layman’s ears W4 are definitely sonically $100 better than W3 it’s debatable whether they are whole whooping $300 better than TF10 (at their current price) or even Audeo PFE. Maybe like $100 better but not more
There were persistent notions that W4 are somehow in signature related to W3 or to some Westone house sound shared also with W2. Owning previously both W2 and W3 which are indeed have similar colored sound I personally don’t understand it. I think W4 have a totally different sound signature in the vein of what everybody already described much better than me – natural, clean, fast, airy, very detailed, balanced with nothing rolled off and nothing sticking out. While mids are prominent and full both lows and highs are well extended and shine in quality but not in overpowering quantity or sibilance. Soundstage is deeper and wider than normal but not truly outstanding in any aspect. Instrument separation is great and instrument placement is natural. No need to EQ or amp – all comes awesome as is out of the box. There’s no single descriptive trait, like “bright” or “dark” or “mid centric” or “bland” or “exciting”, that you can apply to W4s. Nothing is lush and nothing is dry or thin. So, yes, they are best IEMs I ever heard but at the same time not the ones that WOWed me like HJE900 despite all Pana’s appalling drawbacks like sibilance, recessed mids and bass hump.
Now to the comfort, seal and tips. It’s all personal and obviously my ears design isn’t typical but like with W2 and W3 I feel that W4 don’t allow for deep enough insertion. The only tips that really give me good fit and seal are either long stock foams or bi-flanges moded from tri-flanges by cutting off top section and some stem. Former color mids while latter aren’t all that comfortable. Un-moded tri-flanges (or with just stem cut off) collapse soundstage. None other stock tips fit properly (if at all) and result in a “tin” sound. Medium Shure Olives fall out of the ears while big ones are too short.
So all in all I’m definitely keeping W4 but I’m not as excited as I thought I would be. Most probably my expectations were just too high and unrealistic and my tastes are too crude. Silly me