I'm gonna put my 2 cents down after reading this thread for a few weeks now.
I'm an old TF10 lover. Used to own them, sold them, got regret and bought them again.
Few months ago, I got a great deal on some SE535's. So I sold my TF10's once again and jumped on the SE535's.
In the meantime I upgraded to iPhone 5 and got myself an iPad mini.
Now, I can tell you that iPhone 5 and SE535 just didn't work for me. The highs were just not 'sparkly' enough as I got used to from TF10, the mids were too aggressive at most times and the lows were just terrible. They sounded hollow and there just was no 'feel' to the lows. Kickdrums sounded like somebody hit his fist against a cabinet or something....
So I sold them again and found a dealer that sold Westone. Actually, it turned out to be a main importer here in europe.
I went there with some ideas thanks to this thread and others here on head-fi, and so I knew I wanted to audition the UM3X, W3 and W4.
And man am I glad I did! The W4 was just what I was looking for. I tested it with my iPhone 5 and it sounded right the first moment I laid ears on them
Balance is the magic word. But I could feel the lows yet still be a nerd as I can be, and point out every single nuance in the lows. The mids are crystal clear and just right. Maybe not as in-your-face as the SE535's, but they were nevere ear-piercing and jimi hendrix or other guitar heavy rock soubded so awesome and pleasurable to listen to.
And the highs are as sparkly as I wanted them to be. Never overly so, but way more extende then on the SE535's. I get that 'tingly' feeling back in my ears that I used to have with my Tf10's, but more restrained and textured this time. More detailled too.
So I got myself the W4R's and am very happy with them. I'm now considering to get the UM56 custom molds for them. I hope they improve even more..... Hehe
I'm listening to them right now through my iPhone's line out and my E11 (low gain, EQ off). Sounds just awesome, really awesome.
What's the lesson here? Always audition! The SE535's get much appraisal here and on the net (as they should, they're great IEM's. They sounded very good with my cowon C2) but for me, and with my gear, the W4 were just exactly how I wanted it to be. And I probably never would've known if I didn't listen to them for myself. I would've probably gone blindky with the UE 900's or something and left Westone a mystery to me again ( westone is very, very hard to find here in the netherlands so I never even saw one in person, let alone hear).
Thank you for all your help. Now I'm off trying to find an RSA tomahawk to complement my purchase....
Regards,
Ric.