[Tuneslover]

After receiving a warranty replacement set of UM Pro30's from Westone last week and listening to them fairly regularly since then I have noticed that this pair sounds more balanced than my original pair which sounded more bass heavy and dark sounding. I must say that I much prefer the sound signature of this new pair. I am curious though whether my original pair were "flawed" to begin with. Oh well, al's well that end's well.

 

[Spyro]

No, that would be impossible.  They are manufactured and tested to pretty stringent standards.  They have to be.
My guess is you are excited about a brand new pair so you already mentally feel they are "better" than the older pair.  Then it is possible you had dirty filters on old pair so the newer pair sounds clearer.

 

[Solarium]

Why is there so little discussion about the W50? Is the UM pro 50's typically much higher regarded than the W50? I love my UM50, but sometimes the warmness of it is a little too lush for me, and I wished it were have more extended treble and more exciting sound signature. Is that what the W50 is supposed to be?

 

[twister6]

  Why is there so little discussion about the W50? Is the UM pro 50's typically much higher regarded than the W50? I love my UM50, but sometimes the warmness of it is a little too lush for me, and I wished it were have more extended treble and more exciting sound signature. Is that what the W50 is supposed to be?

 
W50 is Westone's "basshead" IEM, nothing similar to UM Pro 50.  I reviewed it in detail with comparison.  Just scroll through my review index HERE, W50 should be somewhere in there.

 

[Solarium]

   
W50 is Westone's "basshead" IEM, nothing similar to UM Pro 50.  I reviewed it in detail with comparison.  Just scroll through my review index HERE, W50 should be somewhere in there.

Awesome reviews of W50 and UM50! I'm in no doubt that the UM50 is my more preferred IEM now. Listening to it now, it's a beautiful thing to hear. It's difficult to go back between the HD800 and the UM50 as they are so different. But because they're so different they compliment each other so well

 

[elfary]

  No, that would be impossible.  They are manufactured and tested to pretty stringent standards.  They have to be.
My guess is you are excited about a brand new pair so you already mentally feel they are "better" than the older pair.  Then it is possible you had dirty filters on old pair so the newer pair sounds clearer.

Watching the UM3x manufacturing process i wonder how stringent the standards are for the UM series.
 
Between seconds 30 and 33 i got goosebumps: superglue all the way.
 
https://www.facebook.com/fonesdeouvidohighend/posts/434658833295652
 
Into the interview itself i think Karl states clearly what is the Westone house sound: warm yet balanced and never harsh, sort of analog if you like. Literally "We're after a warm balanced sound". Guess that sometimes the temperature gets out of control (W50).
 
May be that's why in my experience Westones fare better at very high volumes than Shures: less presence and moar bass.
 
The Westone approach comes in very handy as well to cope with loudness war stuff that overstates the presence information by cutting down loud attacks.
 
In any case imho tonality wise Shure is more hifi than Westone. That's the other side of the story between my two favorite iem makers.
 
It's nice when the manufacturer explains what is trying to accomplish since it helps you understand the whole picture better.

 

[Voyageur]

 
Well, the male connector just completely sheared off without me forcing it. Very disappointed in the UM Pro 30 overall.

 

[Gosod]

you should carefully to do it, I was similar to W series, you have too much pulled the wire actually had to get out of the ring, if we have a curve hands - it does not mean that the headphones are bad!

 

[Voyageur]

  you should carefully to do it, I was similar to W series, you have too much pulled the wire actually had to get out of the ring, if we have a curve hands - it does not mean that the headphones are bad!

 
Sure, the UM Pro 30 is a fairly good sounding IEM, but the build quality is just ridiculous. I've never been brutal with these, and have owned various other MMCX connected earphones, but so far these are the only ones giving me such a hard time (Soundcuts first, loose female socket with cables moving inside, etc). Not ok for the price paid, at all. I'll regret them for their comfort though.

 

[Gosod]

But it seems to me that you too have put effort on this cable, you haven't listened to W40 - they are more detailed than um pro 30!

 

[TCD1975]

 
 
Well, the male connector just completely sheared off without me forcing it. Very disappointed in the UM Pro 30 overall.

 
Quote:

   
Sure, the UM Pro 30 is a fairly good sounding IEM, but the build quality is just ridiculous. I've never been brutal with these, and have owned various other MMCX connected earphones, but so far these are the only ones giving me such a hard time (Soundcuts first, loose female socket with cables moving inside, etc). Not ok for the price paid, at all. I'll regret them for their comfort though.

 
 
My UM Pro 50 did exactly the same thing as above. Or to be more accurate, my third pair of UM Pro 50 did exactly the same thing. The first pair I purchased lasted about 6 months before the sound started cutting out, the first replacement pair I received had lose parts inside the plastic shell which would rattle/click when I moved my head, and the second replacement pair I received cam apart (as in the photo above) within 24 hours of receiving them. I'm now on a third replacement pair (so the fourth pair I've owned) and they seem to be holding up pretty well so far. I'm happy enough with the stock cable, and wouldn't ever dare try and remove the connector again ... I don't have faith that they'd stand up to thet test.
 
Are your UM Pro 30 still under warranty? Westone will replace them if they are (the poor cable connector build quality must be costing them a fortune).
 
 

  But it seems to me that you too have put effort on this cable ...

 
Sorry mate, but you don't sound like you know what you're talking about.
 
Regardless of the amount of force used, the point of MMCX connectors is that the male and female parts are supposed to come apart apart. Not that they should stick together and pull away from the cable. That is simply bad build quality, not abuse by the customer.
 
Westone cable connectors are notoriously badly built. Westone told me themselves that cable connector issues are common, but that they were working hard to fix these issues. Unfortunately, the problem seem to have been around for such a long time, so I question whether they really are going all out to fix the issues or whether they are happy to keep pumping sub-standard products onto the market place.
 
I also own the Westone W60 and their build quality is also a bit sub-standard (certainly not befitting their price) though they do sound amazing. I think I'm starting to get occasional sound cut-outs with my W60 but at the moment it's so occasional that I'm waiting to see if it develops (based on previous experience, I'm about 85% sure it will) before I contact Westone for a replacement pair.

 

[Gosod]

they will replace your cable with a new one?

 

[Voyageur]

   
 
My UM Pro 50 did exactly the same thing as above. Or to be more accurate, my third pair of UM Pro 50 did exactly the same thing. The first pair I purchased lasted about 6 months before the sound started cutting out, the first replacement pair I received had lose parts inside the plastic shell which would rattle/click when I moved my head, and the second replacement pair I received cam apart (as in the photo above) within 24 hours of receiving them. I'm now on a third replacement pair (so the fourth pair I've owned) and they seem to be holding up pretty well so far. I'm happy enough with the stock cable, and wouldn't ever dare try and remove the connector again ... I don't have faith that they'd stand up to thet test.
 
Are your UM Pro 30 still under warranty? Westone will replace them if they are (the poor cable connector build quality must be costing them a fortune).

 
Sad to hear I'm not the only one having issues. I purchased my Pro 30 back in September 2015, so warranty isn't an issue (furthermore I actually have a 3-year reseller warranty on them). I'll probably return them during the week, but I definitely don't want to keep sending back a $400 item every 6 months. Not sure what I'll do. I might just sell the replacement item as such, sealed, etc. Ultimately it seems the UM Pro is just flawed by design, and there's nothing to be done to save it.
 
 

  they will replace your cable with a new one?

 
Well I wouldn't risk trying to pull the remains of the male plug out of the connector at all, considering what just happened. Plus I already had little defects here and there on the item itself, so yeah, I think I'll just send them back once and for all. 

 

[Gosod]

your broken headphones were out of warranty?

 

[elfary]

Cut out issues can be sorted out by asking Westone to ship the current mmcx cable design which features a thicker and longer male pin than the bundled mmcx male connector.
 
I asked for one because i knew that by mid 2015 Westone had designed a new male mmcx connection and i did not like how loose the connection was on my new W30s.
 
I put the new cable and the connection is so much tight (plus the golden portion of the mmcx can not be seen in between male and female)