Westone Mach 70 - Anyone here could give feedback versus other IEMs?

[Loftprojection]

I'm looking at the Mach 70 because my main criteria for IEMs is comfort while sleeping and critics seem unanimous in favour of Westone IEMs. However when you spend that kind of money you also expect good sound! I currently have the Beyer Xelento first gen so I wonder if the Mach 70 could be in the same league sound wise, better would be even better obviously! haha

Any feedback from owners or people who tried them will be appreciated because there isn't much talk here on Westone IEMs.

Thanks

 

[Tiax]

Must be a reason why nobody talks about them don't you think?

I currently have the Beyer Xelento first gen so I wonder if the Mach 70 could be in the same league sound wise

Comparing to Xelento, Mach70 are less energetic and engaging. They are somewhat blunted, lacking in resolution and clarity. And the timbre of many instruments sound artificial to me.
Could be somewhat remedied by the right tips and EQ, it's still a glaring difference when i switch back to IER-M9, like veil has lifted and all that, an immediate boost in resolution and musicality.

This all wouldn't be so bad if price was way, way lower, but for $1k+ they are not worth the money. Only buy if you're a westone "house sound" fan, and if you can return them easily.

 

[Loftprojection]

Thanks a lot Tiax, really useful info you are providing. Ho well, it’s not easy to find small and very comfy IEMs with good sound for sleeping.

 

[Vamp898]

The Westone Mach Series is intended for musicians with the 70/80 being mostly targeted at audiophiles who want an Monitoring like sound, but with an Audiophile twist.

The Mach 70 is the warmer of the two which has an Stage Monitor like sound, comparable to the Sony IER-M9, Sennheiser IE 400 PRO and Similar.

But in the end, they are mostly intended for musicians who want an relatively correct and accurate sound. Most audiophiles prefer an more exciting sound with pushed upper mids/lower treble and/or treble, but there is no IEM from Westone with that sound.

The Beyer Xelento has a typical consumer tuning like the Shure AONIC Series, so if you like that sound, you should rather buy an consumer oriented IEM and not an Monitor for musicians.

 

[Maximiliano Campo]

I'm looking at the Mach 70 because my main criteria for IEMs is comfort while sleeping and critics seem unanimous in favour of Westone IEMs. However when you spend that kind of money you also expect good sound! I currently have the Beyer Xelento first gen so I wonder if the Mach 70 could be in the same league sound wise, better would be even better obviously! haha

Any feedback from owners or people who tried them will be appreciated because there isn't much talk here on Westone IEMs.

Thanks

Best IEM I've heard and own.

Bass is amazing, transparency as top of the line as it gets, timbre is gorgeous. Works with all genres

No sibilance, no bloat. Just blissful enjoyment. No fit issues. Everything works well. So glad I own these. These have been my daily drivers for over a year and I still haven't left my 'honeymoon stage

At the time I paid full price £1399. And I am not regretting it. Nowadays, I believe you can pick them up for £800.

Here's a fact, I had the Astell and Kern Empire Ears Novus which retails for £5000. Yes, 5 grand.

I kept thinking about how these songs will sound on my Mach 70, because I didn't enjoy the Novus IEM in comparison.

 

[Maximiliano Campo]

Must be a reason why nobody talks about them don't you think?


Comparing to Xelento, Mach70 are less energetic and engaging. They are somewhat blunted, lacking in resolution and clarity. And the timbre of many instruments sound artificial to me.
Could be somewhat remedied by the right tips and EQ, it's still a glaring difference when i switch back to IER-M9, like veil has lifted and all that, an immediate boost in resolution and musicality.

This all wouldn't be so bad if price was way, way lower, but for $1k+ they are not worth the money. Only buy if you're a westone "house sound" fan, and if you can return them easily.

Are you sure you tried all the tips, because this is not my experience at all. Quite the opposite. These blow the Xelento out the water. Xelento sounds harsh in comparison and too metallic in comparison

Mach 70 all day.

 

[Maximiliano Campo]

I'm looking at the Mach 70 because my main criteria for IEMs is comfort while sleeping and critics seem unanimous in favour of Westone IEMs. However when you spend that kind of money you also expect good sound! I currently have the Beyer Xelento first gen so I wonder if the Mach 70 could be in the same league sound wise, better would be even better obviously! haha

Any feedback from owners or people who tried them will be appreciated because there isn't much talk here on Westone IEMs.

Thanks

I sleep in mine with foam tips listening to white noise. No issues. Extremely comfortable.
Best IEM I've heard. And I've heard so many.

 

[Tiax]

Are you sure you tried all the tips, because this is not my experience at all. Quite the opposite.

My opinion has changed a bit since then, and today i would pick mach70 over xelento.
It's a decent iem overall, but I still don't love it, the tuning doesn't quite work for me.
Anyone in EU wants mine? PM me

 

[audionooby]

Passion for Sound had a review of the Mach 70s, very positive, from a few months ago:

 

[Vamp898]

By the way, i take back "with an audiophile twist". The 70/80 are as perfectly usable for monitoring as all the other ones. it took me some time to understand the lineup (what was one of the reasons i wrote an explanation about that, to keep others from that pain).

You can click the "Westone Mach 80" link in my signature and it will bring you to that thread. But yeah, the 70/80 are 100% perfectly usable for Stage and (the 80 especially) Studio monitoring, no need to worry (if anyone was ever worried about that in the first place).

 

[audionooby]

By the way, i take back "with an audiophile twist". The 70/80 are as perfectly usable for monitoring as all the other ones. it took me some time to understand the lineup (what was one of the reasons i wrote an explanation about that, to keep others from that pain).

You can click the "Westone Mach 80" link in my signature and it will bring you to that thread. But yeah, the 70/80 are 100% perfectly usable for Stage and (the 80 especially) Studio monitoring, no need to worry (if anyone was ever worried about that in the first place).

I’ve seen you use these terms before - audiophile versus consumer versus monitoring versus stage versus studio. Are there common definitions for each of these?

Also what is your take on the EQ-ability of Shure, Westone, etc? For someone like me that probably likes L-shaped to downward sloped tuning, I’m not sure there are many good choices so I wonder if the ability to be EQ’d well is a useful shopping factor or if that’s just all IEMs.

 

[Tiax]

Passion for Sound had a review of the Mach 70s, very positive

The guy's a shill though, and has positive reviews for everything he gets for free

 

[audionooby]

The guy's a shill though, and has positive reviews for everything he gets for free

I wasn’t aware - I thought it’s just that he just skips reviews for things he actively dislikes. Personally I’ve found his reviews to contain solid content and little fluff, but I’m not an expert on all this.

 

[Vamp898]

I’ve seen you use these terms before - audiophile versus consumer versus monitoring versus stage versus studio. Are there common definitions for each of these?

Also what is your take on the EQ-ability of Shure, Westone, etc? For someone like me that probably likes L-shaped to downward sloped tuning, I’m not sure there are many good choices so I wonder if the ability to be EQ’d well is a useful shopping factor or if that’s just all IEMs.

The Westone Mach 80 for absolutely flat and accurate. That means there is no push, nowhere. Not in the bass, not in the mids and not in the treble.

That results in an very harmonic and balanced sound that you can crank up pretty far in terms of volume without anything being "too much". The Bass will never turn into an distorting mess, the treble will not get sharp and hot and painful and so on.

The Mach 70 is exactly the same, but with pushed bass (which is important for a lot on stage and/or on the go. Because if there is a lot of noise around you (as said, on stage but also on plains and stuff like that), the Bass dies first.

The biggest difference to Audiophile IEM is the lack of the push in the upper-mids/treble. most IEM have an significant push there.

Random example Vision Ears VE7 (Professional IEM) vs. Vision Ears EXT (Audiophile In-Ear)


Short Summary that does not do justice to all IEM and or In-Ear: Audiophile In-Ear sound more wow, but more wrong. Professional IEM sound more boring to a lot at first, but more correct and will give you more advantages in the long run.

A friend of mine recently listened to an Final Fantasy Orchestra Recording and complained, that the background chorus is too low in volume. I gave him my Studio Monitors to listen again and he was amazed, that the chorus now suddenly was in balance with all other instruments.

if you're coming from an Audiophile In-Ear, you will be underwhelmed at first, but give yourself a few days (not listening to the audiophile ones for comparison) to get used to that sound, and suddenly, everything else will start to sound off and wrong.

 

[o0genesis0o]

The Westone Mach 80 for absolutely flat and accurate. That means there is no push, nowhere. Not in the bass, not in the mids and not in the treble.

That results in an very harmonic and balanced sound that you can crank up pretty far in terms of volume without anything being "too much". The Bass will never turn into an distorting mess, the treble will not get sharp and hot and painful and so on.

The Mach 70 is exactly the same, but with pushed bass (which is important for a lot on stage and/or on the go. Because if there is a lot of noise around you (as said, on stage but also on plains and stuff like that), the Bass dies first.

The biggest difference to Audiophile IEM is the lack of the push in the upper-mids/treble. most IEM have an significant push there.

Random example Vision Ears VE7 (Professional IEM) vs. Vision Ears EXT (Audiophile In-Ear)


Short Summary that does not do justice to all IEM and or In-Ear: Audiophile In-Ear sound more wow, but more wrong. Professional IEM sound more boring to a lot at first, but more correct and will give you more advantages in the long run.

A friend of mine recently listened to an Final Fantasy Orchestra Recording and complained, that the background chorus is too low in volume. I gave him my Studio Monitors to listen again and he was amazed, that the chorus now suddenly was in balance with all other instruments.

if you're coming from an Audiophile In-Ear, you will be underwhelmed at first, but give yourself a few days (not listening to the audiophile ones for comparison) to get used to that sound, and suddenly, everything else will start to sound off and wrong.

That “push” is how the ears actually work. Lacking that is wrong, not the other way around. Unless you say all the scientific work starting from Etymotic to Harman to B&K and others are wrong.