[music_4321]

Quote:

...but my ears and two separate sources (headroom and Tyll's graphs) kinda support me.

They go down as low as the recording calls for and present the bass in just the proper proportion IMO.

Graphs don't tell the whole story. There are (quite) a few graphs that look 'spectacular' but the end result isn't always as impressive. There have been several people - and I was one of them (a year ago) - who have found the SE535's bass to be less than adequate. I was so unimpressed by the SE535s overall SQ that I put them up for sale in less than 24 hrs (though they were actually sold about a week later). 
 

 

[tnmike1]

Anybody want to talk about fit between W4 and UM3X?? I've had a horrible time finding the perfect eartip for the UM3X.  Am told the ear nozzles on the W4 are shaped differently; so is perfect fit easier to accomplish than with the UM3X??

 

[shotgunshane]

Quote:

Anybody want to talk about fit between W4 and UM3X?? I've had a horrible time finding the perfect eartip for the UM3X.  Am told the ear nozzles on the W4 are shaped differently; so is perfect fit easier to accomplish than with the UM3X??

Depends. Some swear by the UM series longer nozzles and then some prefer the smaller body and shorter nozzles of the W2/3/4 series.  I found both comfortable (my UM was the UM2 and I'm going under the assumption the UM3 is similar in size and shape) but in a perfect world I'd want the W2/3/4 body and the UM series nozzles.  With the W4, I found the new earsonics biflange not only to sound the best but was also extremely comfortable (second only in comfort to the shure olive but sounds better than the olive).
 

 

[treal512]

That is my experience as well, Shane. I love the fitment that the Olives give, but think the biflanges sound better.. although to me they definitely do not feel like they'd come in 2nd as far as comfort goes. Maybe 3rd or 4th with no particular tips preceding them. I mostly wear the Olives still, but may try to get used to the latter once my ZO comes in.

 

[shotgunshane]

Quote:

That is my experience as well, Shane. I love the fitment that the Olives give, but think the biflanges sound better.. although to me they definitely do not feel like they'd come in 2nd as far as comfort goes. Maybe 3rd or 4th with no particular tips preceding them.

I probably rave too much about the Earsonics biflange but that's because I've always hated multi-flanged tips until these.  I have UM56 tips too and while those are the supreme in comfort and isolation (but didn't mention them earlier, since they are custom),  the ES tips weren't far behind and certainly rivaled them in SQ.

 

[ericp10]

Well, I agree that the Earsonics (and Sensorcom) biflangle sound the best on the W4, but unfortunately after awhile in my ears I lose the seal with those. The silicon gets to warm and mushy and i can't hold a seal - especially if I smile or make sudden facial movements. I need those silicons to be wider. So, the tradeoff (and decent sound for me) has been the W4 large oval shaped silicon tips. They don't break the seal in my ear canals. I tried medium olives, but I'm going to try the large olives as they have a wider hole, and I do believe the bigger the hole the better the sound out of the W4 - especially in the bass region.
Quote:

I probably rave too much about the Earsonics biflange but that's because I've always hated multi-flanged tips until these.  I have UM56 tips too and while those are the supreme in comfort and isolation (but didn't mention them earlier, since they are custom),  the ES tips weren't far behind and certainly rivaled them in SQ.

 

 

[shotgunshane]

Quote:

Well, I agree that the Earsonics (and Sensorcom) biflangle sound the best on the W4, but unfortunately after awhile in my ears I lose the seal with those. The silicon gets to warm and mushy and i can't hold a seal - especially if I smile or make sudden facial movements. I need those silicons to be wider. So, the tradeoff (and decent sound for me) has been the W4 large oval shaped silicon tips. They don't break the seal in my ear canals. I tried medium olives, but I'm going to try the large olives as they have a wider hole, and I do believe the bigger the hole the better the sound out of the W4 - especially in the bass region.


 

So the Senosrcom's are one size fits all too?  I wonder why they don't make them in different sizes?  I didn't have that issue but they seem about medium sized and that usually works for me.  So after that I'd think large olives would be the next best bet or trying large Sony hybrids with an adapter (olive core or monster special red adapter).
 

 

[music_4321]

 
Quote:

I probably rave too much about the Earsonics biflange but that's because...

"Hello, I'm ShotgunShane and I'm a..."   

 

[shotgunshane]

Quote:

 

"Hello, I'm ShotgunShane and I'm a..."   

*in the voice of 'the most interesting man in the world'*
 
"I don't always use biflange tips but when I do, I use Earsonics."
 

 

[shotgunshane]

In case marketing is not the same world wide:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9GYocBqGyA
"his blood smells like cologne"

 

[music_4321]

 

 

[ericp10]

Okay, I now have four great tip options for the W4 that give me the right amount of bass I require (and prefer) along with a great seal. Once again, shotgunshane, you have been on the money with your suggestions. My favorite four tips for the W4 are:
 
- Large Sony hybrids with the Shure olives' core mod
 
- Monster large white foam hybrid - also with the Shure olives' core mod
 
- Large Shure olives
 
- Westone large oval-shaped silicons
 
All four are great in increasing the bass without interfering with the mids and treble too much (the Shures probably affect the treble the most, but it's minimal to my ears). I think the Weston silicons give me the most open sound, but the Sony hybrid mod is a very close second. Of course, the Shure and Monster give the most bass. I can see myself switiching between these four mainly depending on my mood.

 

[elnero]

I just got a pair of Westone 4's a couple of weeks ago, unfortunately I can't use any of the silicone based tips so the first thing I tried was Shure olives. The olives sounded pretty good but I got curious about the included Comply tips, personally I quite like the the largest P series tip that comes with the 4's, amazing isolation, good bass, smooth treble and the seem to have a more spacious sound.

 

[otakuflick]

I'M using the tri-flanges now.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Don't be too hard on MH.  He's pretty cool for a Canadian.  

Aren't all Canadians cool?

I didn't think I was being hard on MH at all...lol. We agree to disagree. I respect his experience with the SE535. I really tried to like the SE535, but couldn't enjoy them fully because of the reasons I've stated previously. I certainly don't have disdain for them, however, as I do for the TF10 and DBA-02. The Custom 3 actually sounds to my ears how I've always hoped and envisioned the SE535 to sound. The Shure just missed the mark with my ears, but I definitely consider it a top tier IEM and one of the best.

Nothing wrong with disagreeing.....there is no one size fits all headphone/IEM solution. Like Eric, I prefer the W4s...actually to my ears these are the best universal IEM I've heard/owned to date.

Graphs don't tell the whole story. There are (quite) a few graphs that look 'spectacular' but the end result isn't always as impressive. There have been several people - and I was one of them (a year ago) - who have found the SE535's bass to be less than adequate. I was so unimpressed by the SE535s overall SQ that I put them up for sale in less than 24 hrs (though they were actually sold about a week later). 
 

That's fine that you didn't like the SE535s....my comments were strictly limited to them being bass-lite. The graphs do very much shed a great picture on this. But they do not convey sound staging, detail retrieval, musicality, etc..... My comments were based on the graphs and 14 months of experience with the SE535s.