[HynchSidrick]

Quote:

It is not a review but an ordinary post. In it dfkt says: "By the way, James444 heard both side by side as well, and he seems to generally agree with that assessment of the W4 vs. the PFE."
 
James444 (like dfkt) is a Head-fier and this is what James had to say about the above post: "Don't want to contradict dfkt's findings, but I only did a short A/B audition in less than ideal surroundings. I agreed with him that both sound signatures were very similar except that the W4 sounded a tad more meaty in the lower range. The highs however struck me as noticably more simplistic on the PFEs. He had the Twin Peaks soundtrack on his Clip and the difference in these slowly brushed cymbals was instantly apparent."
 

obviously the clip+ wont do justice for the w4. Let dfkt and james444 try a better source for both and compare again. the difference is night and day
 

 

[sofastreamer]

as having a absolutely flat frequency responce with multi ba drivers, the clip is absolutely not the bottleneck. an iphone 4 or another player with an amp might be slightly better, but will not change the soundsignature of the w4.

 

[phntmsmshr]

Quote:

as having a absolutely flat frequency responce with multi ba drivers, the clip is absolutely not the bottleneck. an iphone 4 or another player with an amp might be slightly better, but will not change the soundsignature of the w4.

Having both a Clip and an iPhone4, I disagree that the W4 does not have a significantly improved output from the iPhone, assuming no EQing either inbuilt or aftermarket (Rockbox/EQu). The Clip just doesn't seem to have the same ability to push the full sound through them, to my ears - which is a shame because I prefer it's portability to the comparatively bulky/heavy iPhone. 
 
 

 

[piotrus-g]

IMHO it all comes down to used tips.
I bought my PFEs after I had read dfkt review and totally agree about the sound desciption of the Audeo. But honestly I can't agree with dfkt on W4.
 
When I was listening to W4 (copmply tips) I did comapre them to PFE with grey filter (silicone tips). They sound nothing similiar. W4 are warmer and thicker. PFE has "better" highs - more prominent and sparkling.
 
Maybe I should have switched some tips and find the smililarites. I'll do that when I had a chance.

 

[lucozade]

I finally got around to getting the westone 4 , had them in my ears all day and they are a fine iem however i can't help but feel a little disappointed, as they don't really give me anything that i didn't already have ,i guess i was kinda expecting more from a quad driver iem .
 
  To me they sound almost identical to my Sm3 only with a less forward and less 3 dimensional midrange which makes them less exciting to listen to than the Sm3's, the bass and treble however sound pretty much identical to that of the Sm3 which is a good thing in my opinion.The bass does have that 3d quality about it and the treble is light and airy and tingly sounding just like on the sm3 .
 
Its still Early days and i am still experimenting with tips so i may revise my opinion of the w4 ,but at the moment i favor the large monster foam hybrid tips for giving me the best sound with the w4.

 
My x7 drives the w4 with ease but they are noticeably less efficent than my w3 or se530 if that matters to anybody .

 

[darknessproz]

It takes time. The balanced sound of the W4 doesn't stand out much, and i can say that i was pretty disappointed with them coming from a cheap, yet much more fun Meelectronics M11+. Over time though, i grew to love the W4's.
 
Quote:

I finally got around to getting the westone 4 , had them in my ears all day and they are a fine iem however i can't help but feel a little disappointed, as they don't really give me anything that i didn't already have ,i guess i was kinda expecting more from a quad driver iem .
 
  To me they sound almost identical to my Sm3 only with a less forward and less 3 dimensional midrange which makes them less exciting to listen to than the Sm3's, the bass and treble however sound pretty much identical to that of the Sm3 which is a good thing in my opinion.The bass does have that 3d quality about it and the treble is light and airy and tingly sounding just like on the sm3 .
 
Its still Early days and i am still experimenting with tips so i may revise my opinion of the w4 ,but at the moment i favor the large monster foam hybrid tips for giving me the best sound with the w4.

 
My x7 drives the w4 with ease but they are noticeably less efficent than my w3 or se530 if that matters to anybody .

 

 

[WisdomListens]

Quote:

It takes time. The balanced sound of the W4 doesn't stand out much, and i can say that i was pretty disappointed with them coming from a cheap, yet much more fun Meelectronics M11+. Over time though, i grew to love the W4's.
 


 

Two weeks in and I'm loving the W4's more each day!
 

 

[lucozade]

 
Quote:

It takes time. The balanced sound of the W4 doesn't stand out much, and i can say that i was pretty disappointed with them coming from a cheap, yet much more fun Meelectronics M11+. Over time though, i grew to love the W4's.
 


 

@ Darknessproz, Don't get me wrong, i am enjoying the w4 almost as much as i enjoy the Sm3 ,had the w4 in my ears all day today and have adjusted to the less prominent mids, the point i was trying to make was if someone already has the Sm3 they are very similar in overall sound signature that there really is no benefit in owning the w4 as well unless you are looking for the Sm3 with a more laid back midrange.
The midrange on the Sm3 is quite force full and kinda reaches out and grabs you and envelops you into its own special domain ,which some people may find a little to overwhelming while with the w4 mids all the same details and sounds can be clearly heard  ,the midrange flows smoothly and politely alongside the bass and treble without drawing any special attention to themselves , i certainly do not feel like the w4 is an upgrade or a downgrade from the Sm3 ,more a case of being on equal footing.I guess i was kinda expecting the extra driver to bring something new to the table that i had not experienced before, something that would take the listening experience to a higher level somehow,but that clearly is not the case.

 
The w4 is definitely a different animal from the w3 , i have heard no hint of harshness or sibilance with any of the tips i tried and there is no trace of mid bass bleed into the vocals ,its a very smooth ,polite and detailed earphone with a bass that can pack a powerful punch when required to by the song .
 
 
 
 

 

[i2ehan]

I just traded in my CK10's, which I absolutely love, only to experience the Westone 4's. I simply couldn't resist, having always wanted to try Westones. For exclusively the EDM genre, will these dissapoint, over my CK10's or IE8's? I'm also considering the FX700/1000 or the EX1000. I tried the MTPG, but found them way too bass heavy for my liking, with a narrow soundstage. I'm primarily interested in a sondstage similar to, if not better/wider than, my IE8's or CK10's and punchy, yet not overpowering, bass. Bass is clearly not the strongpoint of the CK10's, yet I found them suitable after tuning the EQ to my liking. What do you guys think?

 

[music_4321]

 
I find the W4 a significantly better IEM than the SM3, particularly in the high & low frequencies. I found the SM3s to have a thick veil over the highs and overal a rather muddy bass. On the whole the SM3s sounded as if there was a blanket between my ears and the earpieces. 
 
My SM3s were sold within a few days and to this day it's been the most disappointing IEM I've ever heard - certainly the most hyped/ overrated top-tier IEM I've come across on HF. At the time I also owned the UM3X and was able to do a direct comparison between the UM3X & SM3 and found the former markedly better. Later I got the W4, which I found even better sounding than the UM3X.

 

[lucozade]

Quote:

 
I find the W4 a significantly better IEM than the SM3, particularly in the high & low frequencies. I found the SM3s to have a thick veil over the highs and overal a rather muddy bass. On the whole the SM3s sounded as if there was a blanket between my ears and the earpieces. 
 
My SM3s were sold within a few days and to this day it's been the most disappointing IEM I've ever heard - certainly the most hyped/ overrated top-tier IEM I've come across on HF. At the time I also owned the UM3X and was able to do a direct comparison between the UM3X & SM3 and found the former markedly better. Later I got the W4, which I found even better sounding than the UM3X.

Glad you like the w4 better than the sm3 or um3x you had, just out of interest why do you have your w4 up for sale ?
 
 

 

[music_4321]

Quote:

Glad you like the w4 better than the sm3 or um3x you had, just out of interest why do you have your w4 up for sale ?
 
 

From post #1712 written 8 days ago:
 
"I'm selling my W4 because I've just purchased an even more expensive top-tier IEM (Sony EX1000). The Sony's sound sig is excellent but quite different to the W4s. And because I have my excellent Westone customs, the ES3X (worth $850), which share lots of sonic qualities with the W4s -- I even went as far as saying that my W4s had nothing to envy my ES3X on SQ alone -- I decided to sell the W4s. BTW, I am one of those who had no fit issues with either the TF10 or IE8s, but in MY case the W4 fit is even better. And although I don't have some of the fit issues reported by a couple of people with the EX1000s, I find the W4s more comfortable and providing better isolation.

 

For those interested, here are some comparisons between the W4s & EX1000s I posted yesterday."

 

 

[i2ehan]

I read your comparison just now between the W4's and ex1000's, and wanted to ask you; which IEM would you recommend for strictly trance or EDM? Also, with regards to the same questions, where do the CK10 or CK100 stand in comparison?

 

[music_4321]

^^ Like I said on that W4/ EX1000 thread, it's more to do with the type of album recording & mastering rather than type of music, except for orchestral classical music where the Sonys were consistently more convincing. 
 
Generally speaking - and I do mean generally speaking, ie NOT always - the Sonys sounded better with older recordings/ masterings and the W4s with newer (and often 'brighter' recordings/ masterings) -- but there's more to it than that. If you have more questions on the differences between the EX1000/ W4, perhaps better to post them on that thread.
 
As for the CK10s vs CK100s, I found the latter clearly better sounding and they reminded me a lot of my UM3X. Here are some impressions on the CK100s (and other IEMs, including the CK10s). Again, if you have more questions to do with the CK10 vs CK100, perhaps better post them on the 'A journey' thread.

 

[i2ehan]

Thank you my friend, I'll be sure to post in the respective threads accordingly.