[Mkubota1]

 
Quote:

...nothing rolled off and nothing sticking out.... 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.

 
An ideal 'reference' IEM?  In some ways isn't this what we aim for in all of our gear?  A good DAC should not be heard- it should be honest and uncolored.  The best speaker cable is no speaker cable- keep it as short as possible.  Amplifiers should not have a sound signature- they should simply 'amplify' with good control over the speaker.  Of course there are sound preferences and some things sound better depending on the music material.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by albau /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
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.

 
If you have ever tried Sony IEMs (any of them) and liked their tips, you have to try the Sony Hybrid tips!  There are a few examples/ pictures further back in this thread.

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

 I have dreams about those tips.  It reminds me of the Crayola boxes I used to drool over when I was a kid. 

My god, you're right!  That's exactly the reason I feel so pulled to them.  I feel psychologically violated right now.

 

[mywallethurts]

well i just bit the bullet and will leave some impressions after using them contently

 

[music_4321]

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[MikeATL]

I just wanted to follow up on a previous post after having a chance to compare the 4's (and 3's) to my SE535s. The original post can be found here but I snipped the portion applying to the 4's below.
 
The 4's are definitely keepers for me and I'll be placing an order shortly.
 
[size=11pt]Westone 4:[/size]
[size=11pt] [/size]
[size=11pt]The 4 is Westone’s newest offering, and unfortunately not much was out about it when I purchased my SE535s for me to compare. The 4 appears to share the same housing as the 3. Based on the current reviews in the impressions thread, it seems as though I have had a similar experience to others. The presentation of the 4s is very different than the 3’s, providing a much more balanced sound and losing the mid-bass emphasis. The soundstage is vastly more open than the 3’s and I have constantly been finding myself going back to these, as they simply do nothing wrong with the music I have listened to and I am finding details in music that the other two seem to miss. No particular part of the W4’s presentation stands out to me, but as a whole it just blends together extremely well and I’ve found that I can truly enjoy the music and they're more laid back than the 3’s for extended listening sessions. That, to me, makes them stand out compared to the other two. The bass, while not as impactful or “in your face” as the W3s, is definitely there and presented in a way that provides the tactile feel and weight of the 3’s (though less of it).  Its bass is on par w/the SE535s, but provides a better weight and impact, as I found the 535s to sound a bit off or shallow on some content such as kick drums in comparison.  The mids are phenomenal, and much more forward than the 3s, though I never found them to sound overpowering or painful as I did with the SE535s regardless of the material that I threw at them.  They were also very tolerant of the various quality of content that I threw at them (as were the 3’s). The highs are very well presented as well, and never seemed rolled off or unbalanced. The 4 was a little harder to drive than the 3 or the SE535, taking a few more clicks on my phone than either the SE535 or the Westone 3. I wouldn’t consider this to be a negative however, as both my laptop and phone were able to drive them sufficiently well.[/size]

 

[ericp10]

Someone must have gotten a great deal the way they are pushing the W4! Good to see you can get a good deal (or for free perhaps?) if you're acting like a Westone rep. I will keep reading about them. I really trust Joey's opinion though, but I will wait to the newness wears off on him some. Some other opinions here I have to be really careful about though, although everything is truly subjective.
 
The main thing, however, is that you're enjoying your purchase - those of you who spent your hard earned money. Happy listening...

 

[MikeATL]

Not sure if that was a reference to my post, but not at all - that was my subjective review after buying the Shures and just trying to give back to the community as I wish I would have found a similar post before I spent my hard earned money. I'm just a geek that spends way too much time in planes these days looking for a way to make life a little more comfortable. Like you said, it's all subjective anyway and I realize I'm new around here so take it for what it's worth, as I don't have the experience that a lot of you guys do. I'm just looking for audio nirvana like everyone else and got sick of spending a $100 here, a $100 there, and finally decided to step up. Something tells me my wallet's in for a world of hurt hanging around here though.
 
If that was a generic post, then ignore my rant.
Cheers

 

[music_4321]

 
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[roy_jones]

Quote:

 


9) While in Colorado Springs they not only paid for my accommodation but always took me out to very expensive restaurants, bars & nightclubs.


 

 

You seem to have conveniently forgotten the hookers and blow. 

 

[music_4321]

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[roy_jones]

Quote:

^^ That was implicit in point # 10, but I didn't want to be more explicit as we may have a fair share of under age visitors.

I've begun to think that's all we've got. 

 

[Mkubota1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeATL /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I'm just looking for audio nirvana like everyone else and got sick of spending a $100 here, a $100 there, and finally decided to step up. Something tells me my wallet's in for a world of hurt hanging around here though.

Hahaha... now you get to spend $300 here, $400 there.  Welcome. 

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

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

There is a trick to getting a deeper insertion - you tilt out the top end of the IEM and tilt the lower portion in more towared the canal. So if looking at someone wearing them from the front, you'll see the top part is farther away from the head than the bottom (kinda 45 degree angle). From the side it looks the same.

 

[chrisssssssss2]

I've still been listening to the W4s with sony hybrid tips and spacer mod, and reading the wonderful comments you've all been posting. I gotta say, there is still not one thing the W4s does wrong, the presentation is just perfect. I have previously owned the IE8s, W3s, Shure SE530s, and TF10s, and I feel that the Westone 4s took the best qualities out of all these IEMs and combined them into one. With the previous IEMs, I found that these were their greatest qualities:

IE8
Greatest Strength: Soundstage
Greatest Weakness: Noise Isolation

Westone 3:
Greatest Strength: Clarity and Instrument Separation
Greatest Weakness: V-shaped frequency response, recessed mids

SE530s:
Greatest Strength: Noise isolation, forward mids
Greatest Weakness: Anemic bass, recessed highs

TF10s:
Greatest Strength: Liquid mids and treble
Greatest Weakness: Fit and comfort. I did not like the memory cable wire much.

W4s:
Greatest Strength: Great balance, clarity, depth
Greatest Weakness: Included tips don't bring out the best sound, but that's just me.

People have compared the TF10s with the pricing of the W4s. The price of $99 for TF10s from the Amazon sale was in my opinion, unbeatable. The TF10s sound absolutely amazing and for that price, they are a steal. However, for me the fit and comfort was awful, and they did not isolate as well as the SE530s, which I also owned at the same time. And I did not use these IEMs, as I found the soundstage of the IE8s unbeatable. So I ended up selling everything to purchase the W4s, and I don't regret doing this one bit. The W4s have stepped up my critical music listening to another level, and I have yet to find a weak point in this IEM.

 

[roy_jones]

Quote:

People have compared the TF10s with the pricing of the W4s. The price of $99 for TF10s from the Amazon sale was in my opinion, unbeatable. The TF10s sound absolutely amazing and for that price, they are a steal. However, for me the fit and comfort was awful,

 
I've had the same experience with the TF10, and it just kills me that there isn't anything I can do to get past the fit issue.  It really doesn't matter how good the IEM is if you can't get it to fit properly and easily.  Even if it did fit perfectly, it's still not my preferred sound signature, but from a value standpoint it's such a tease.  The funny thing is that I knew I would have this response even before I bought them, but couldn't pass it up.   I'm still playing with the idea of getting them remolded, but it would have to be through Kozee, as any more than $250 inclusive and I'm more inclined to go with a custom that's more in line with my preferred sound.