[arielext]

About having fun with "new" UM Pro's: I have been using Westone products for quite some time now. CIEMs and IEMs, 2 and 3 BA's (like the ES2, ES3x) with the um pro 30 being the last before I jumped ship to the china iems and went ba crazy up to the 8 ba T88K from toneking. During commute I lost my right ear piece and after grieving it gave me time to rethink and rejoice with the um pro 30. Ended up buying a 2nd hand pair of UM PRO 50 (new edition) and started using the truefit foam tips ...
Oh westone, how I have missed you! The low profile ear piece, epic cable, deep intertions, crazy smooth tips. It's the small details that make them worth it.

 

[davidcotton]

About having fun with "new" UM Pro's: I have been using Westone products for quite some time now. CIEMs and IEMs, 2 and 3 BA's (like the ES2, ES3x) with the um pro 30 being the last before I jumped ship to the china iems and went ba crazy up to the 8 ba T88K from toneking. During commute I lost my right ear piece and after grieving it gave me time to rethink and rejoice with the um pro 30. Ended up buying a 2nd hand pair of UM PRO 50 (new edition) and started using the truefit foam tips ...
Oh westone, how I have missed you! The low profile ear piece, epic cable, deep intertions, crazy smooth tips. It's the small details that make them worth it.

So how long until you get the w80?

 

[arielext]

Probably never
Bought and sold HE60, SR007-mk2 and Stellia I'm fairly confident that I know my 'limits' now and W80 is beyond that what I want to spend on IEMs. New UM pro 50s are out of league as well to be honest.

 

[davidcotton]

Probably never
Bought and sold HE60, SR007-mk2 and Stellia I'm fairly confident that I know my 'limits' now and W80 is beyond that what I want to spend on IEMs. New UM pro 50s are out of league as well to be honest.

Nice to know you know your own limits. I get nose bleeds anything above £500 or so. Anything above that and I question if I can justify it. Had a set of Westone b50's sat in the cart a few times but not been able to press buy.

 

[arielext]

Nice to know you know your own limits. I get nose bleeds anything above £500 or so. Anything above that and I question if I can justify it. Had a set of Westone b50's sat in the cart a few times but not been able to press buy.

It all depends on how much money you have spare and how much time you spend with the given product. I'm happy with having 3 500+ euro headphones but cannot imagine having a single 500+ euro iem anymore.
For my last job I had to travel 4 hours a day (by public transport, mind you), a 2k CIEM was the 'natural' choice.

 

[twister6]

So, with a discussion about Westone present and past iems, what do you think going to happen in the near future? Talking about the announcement a few weeks ago, about Lucid Audio acquiring Westone Audio, here? Considering Lucid Audio acquired Etymotic 2 years ago and nothing really changed with Ety, I assume it will be transparent with Westone as well. But still curious how is it going to affect future releases.

 

[assassin10000]

The UM Pro30's arrived today, and I'm listening to them now. So far I'm impressed. I didn't realise just how impressed I was until I went back to the UMPro 10 for comparison. The UMPro 30 are more than just a fair bit better, they are a major upgrade.

Nice, mind elaborating on the differences you hear?

 

[Claypole]

Nice, mind elaborating on the differences you hear?

I'll try!

The 30's sound warmer, and with more presence and definition. The soundstage is not as intimate as the 10's, or what I'm generally used to I'm used to, and I'll need to adjust to that. However, the sound isn't just pushed back a little bit, it gains space and depth. The 10's have decent enough stereo imagery and separation of the instruments, but the 30's take it to another level entirely.

The bass on the 10's is somewhat lacking, but what little you do get is actually quite nice. However, The 30's deliver what the 10's only suggest, the bass has depths and presence. I was concerned the bass might actually be a bit too much, going by some comments I've read, but it's not. It's not over done, and I an even imagine some bass heads might not be satisfied. I am though.

The mids are clear and have a lot more definition and presence than on the 10's. The 30's are definitely darker sounding than the 10's, and sometimes the mids can sound a touch laid back, but maybe that's just me not being used to the way these present the sound.
F
The highs are meant to be a bit lacking on the 30's, from what I've read but not for me. The overall warm signature could mean they don't sound bright enough for some, but the highs come through just fine for me. Detail retrieval is good. At one point I could hear a bit of hiss coming from my Fiio M6, which is known for being very quiet. Turns out it was WiFi noise that the 10's don't pick up.

Althounding a bit dark, the 30's are not at all dull sounding. The 10's aren't as dark, but can sound a bit dull and ordinary. (especially compared to the 30'). I feel bad saying that though, because the UMPro 10's are very competent, and I will still have a use for them.

I'm not normally a fan of darker sounding headphones, but I'm liking these. They sound smooth without being too laid back, and I don't think fatigue will be an issue. The 10's are also very non fatiguing.

When I first tried the UmPro 10's, (and UM1), they were a little bit underwhelming, but the sound soon grew on me, and the more I listened, the more I liked them. I'll be interested to see whether I have a different impression of the 30's over time.

 

[twister6]

I'll try!

The 30's sound warmer, and with more presence and definition. The soundstage is not as intimate as the 10's, or what I'm generally used to I'm used to, and I'll need to adjust to that. However, the sound isn't just pushed back a little bit, it gains space and depth. The 10's have decent enough stereo imagery and separation of the instruments, but the 30's take it to another level entirely.

The bass on the 10's is somewhat lacking, but what little you do get is actually quite nice. However, The 30's deliver what the 10's only suggest, the bass has depths and presence. I was concerned the bass might actually be a bit too much, going by some comments I've read, but it's not. It's not over done, and I an even imagine some bass heads might not be satisfied. I am though.

The mids are clear and have a lot more definition and presence than on the 10's. The 30's are definitely darker sounding than the 10's, and sometimes the mids can sound a touch laid back, but maybe that's just me not being used to the way these present the sound.
F
The highs are meant to be a bit lacking on the 30's, from what I've read but not for me. The overall warm signature could mean they don't sound bright enough for some, but the highs come through just fine for me. Detail retrieval is good. At one point I could hear a bit of hiss coming from my Fiio M6, which is known for being very quiet. Turns out it was WiFi noise that the 10's don't pick up.

Althounding a bit dark, the 30's are not at all dull sounding. The 10's aren't as dark, but can sound a bit dull and ordinary. (especially compared to the 30'). I feel bad saying that though, because the UMPro 10's are very competent, and I will still have a use for them.

I'm not normally a fan of darker sounding headphones, but I'm liking these. They sound smooth without being too laid back, and I don't think fatigue will be an issue. The 10's are also very not fatiguing.

When I first tried the UmPro 10's, (and UM1), they were a little bit underwhelming, but the sound soon grew on me, and the more I listened, the more I liked them. I'll be interested to see whether I have a different impression of the 30's over time.

So, now you can understand my reference to "deflated ball" You get a lot more appreciation going from Pro 10 to Pro 30 when comparing, and more "meh" feeling going the other way. Of course, always subjective and depends on a personal taste, Pro 10 are super comfortable but I reach out to them only for something like "podcast" listening where I don't care as much about the music and just want to focus on content of a talk.

 

[Claypole]

So, now you can understand my reference to "deflated ball" You get a lot more appreciation going from Pro 10 to Pro 30 when comparing, and more "meh" feeling going the other way. Of course, always subjective and depends on a personal taste, Pro 10 are super comfortable but I reach out to them only for something like "podcast" listening where I don't care as much about the music and just want to focus on content of a talk.

I do now understand the “deflated ball” reference, but it is all relative, and subjective. When I heard the Pro10 for the first time, it made my £30 iems sound dull and coloured, when in reality they are ok. When I heard the Pro30, the Pro10 didn’t suddenly become bad. I just need to find another use for them...

 

[davidcotton]

I just need to find another use for them...

Get a small mp3 player like the shanling m0 or similar and have them as an emergency backup rig to keep in your bag in case anything happens?

 

[Oscar-HiFi]

So, with a discussion about Westone present and past iems, what do you think going to happen in the near future? Talking about the announcement a few weeks ago, about Lucid Audio acquiring Westone Audio, here? Considering Lucid Audio acquired Etymotic 2 years ago and nothing really changed with Ety, I assume it will be transparent with Westone as well. But still curious how is it going to affect future releases.

It sure is going to be interesting, now 2 brands we sell are under Lucid Audio.

Westone and Etymotic were both pioneers in the IEM market for years, and then they both seemed to fall behind in recent years with all the competition out there. The ER2 range from Etymotic was the first really interesting, and great sounding release for a while. With Westone, they just seemed to refresh their lineup with bluetooth cables that not many people asked for, and hiked their prices.

I feel Westone need to trim down their range and focus on being more competitive with releases. The W series seems somewhat overpriced for what you get, they need to remove the bluetooth cable and cut the price. The UM Pro series on the other hand is quite a solid range, and I have long recommended them over the equivalent W series models.

 

[assassin10000]

It sure is going to be interesting, now 2 brands we sell are under Lucid Audio.

Westone and Etymotic were both pioneers in the IEM market for years, and then they both seemed to fall behind in recent years with all the competition out there. The ER2 range from Etymotic was the first really interesting, and great sounding release for a while. With Westone, they just seemed to refresh their lineup with bluetooth cables that not many people asked for, and hiked their prices.

I feel Westone need to trim down their range and focus on being more competitive with releases. The W series seems somewhat overpriced for what you get, they need to remove the bluetooth cable and cut the price. The UM Pro series on the other hand is quite a solid range, and I have long recommended them over the equivalent W series models.

Agreed.

Besides dropping the Price and the BT cable. I wish they had refreshed the W-series line with shells similar to the UM Pro v2 but in black with silver identification (w10, w20...) and no cover plates.

 

[davidcotton]

Agreed.

Besides dropping the Price and the BT cable. I wish they had refreshed the W-series line with shells similar to the UM Pro v2 but in black with silver identification (w10, w20...) and no cover plates.

Always struck me as strange as to why they had two separate style of fitting with the um and w series, with most people preferring the um style.

 

[assassin10000]

Always struck me as strange as to why they had two separate style of fitting with the um and w series, with most people preferring the um style.

That is because the current and 'prior' generation W-series shells were designed before the current UM Pro v2 series was.