[Fungus]

  I have never heard the UM series Westones - I just picked up a new pair of UM3XRC on the threads - I owned the W2, W3 and own a reshelled W4R - is the UM30 pretty similar to the UM3X? I just wanted to try something with a different treble presentation - I have for the most part stayed away from phones considered dark - this could be fun....

Yes, should sound identical.
But after hearing from peshay and the general consensus, the build quality on the um pro series leaves a lot to be desired.  

1.  

 

[Danz03]

I've owned 2 pairs of UM3x and 2 pairs of UM3xRC previously and now the Pro 30, they all sounded very similar if not identical. I didn't like W3 so much mainly because of the fit (same with the Westone 4 but Westone 4R havd better fit), and as far as I can remember they seemed to have a bit more treble but less bass than te um3x, I can't compare them now as I've lost them. All my previous UM3x and 3xRC have had at least one dead driver within 2 years (although Westone is quite good with replacing them), so I tend to think the Pro 30 have better built. I think all the IEMs in the new UM and W series have very similar housing, my W60 felt and fitted exactly like my Pro 30, very comforrable indeed.

I have never heard the UM series Westones - I just picked up a new pair of UM3XRC on the threads - I owned the W2, W3 and own a reshelled W4R - is the UM30 pretty similar to the UM3X? I just wanted to try something with a different treble presentation - I have for the most part stayed away from phones considered dark - this could be fun....

 

[Fungus]

I've owned 2 pairs of UM3x and 2 pairs of UM3xRC previously and now the Pro 30, they all sounded very similar if not identical. I didn't like W3 so much mainly because of the fit (same with the Westone 4 but Westone 4R havd better fit), and as far as I can remember they seemed to have a bit more treble but less bass than te um3x, I can't compare them now as I've lost them. All my previous UM3x and 3xRC have had at least one dead driver within 2 years (although Westone is quite good with replacing them), so I tend to think the Pro 30 have better built. I think all the IEMs in the new UM and W series have very similar housing, my W60 felt and fitted exactly like my Pro 30, very comforrable indeed.

You've owned four pairs and ended up with at least one dead driver. Really? 
What does a dead driver sound like? How do you know it wasn't another issue?  
I find this hard to believe.  

 

[Danz03]

Obviously they were not all bought, most were replacements. The driver just stopped working, no sound, so they were dead to me. They all just happened suddenly without warnings apart from my last UM3xRC, one channel started to sound dodgy when I was wwearing them lying down, within a week it died. Took them to the distributor and they just gave me a new pair right away, no question asked. Don't know, maybe it's the humidity of Hong Kong. I've had so many IEMs and UM3x and RC were the only ones that always died on me. Touch wood, my Pro 30 are still working super fine right now.

You've owned four pairs and ended up with at least one dead driver. Really? 
What does a dead driver sound like? How do you know it wasn't another issue?  
I find this hard to believe.  

 

[Fungus]

Obviously they were not all bought, most were replacements. The driver just stopped working, no sound, so they were dead to me. They all just happened suddenly without warnings apart from my last UM3xRC, one channel started to sound dodgy when I was wwearing them lying down, within a week it died. Took them to the distributor and they just gave me a new pair right away, no question asked. Don't know, maybe it's the humidity of Hong Kong. I've had so many IEMs and UM3x and RC were the only ones that always died on me. Touch wood, my Pro 30 are still working super fine right now.

Replacements? So they are all refurbished? 
Then that's probably why.  
I've had my um3x rc for nearly 3 years and not a single problem.
Maybe it's because mine are the blue limited edition one and I take extremely good care or it's just down to the luck of the draw. 
Have long did you have your um3x rc for before the channel issue started to occur? 

 

[Danz03]

Actually no, the replacements were all brand new, they opened the box and gave me the IEMs without the accessories if I didn't bring back the box. The last 2 pairs of RCs I had had bad connector too, the left one was so loose the driver came off many times then they got replaced when one of the drivers died and the new ones had one super tight connector that needs a lot of force to get it to connect properly if I changed the cable. I much prefer the new Pro 30 connectors now. The Pro 30 just felt better built to me. I use them when I commute or workout so I don't treat them extremely well but then I do take extra care to make sure they don't get wet and u don't use them when I'm sweating. The shortest period I had between buying them and then dying on me was within 6-9 months, I treated the UM2 the same way for over 2 yrs before that and they were fine apart from the Cable broke eventually. Tried to replace them with the UE900s but went back to Pro 30 eventually, just couldn't live without that sound signature. :-S

Replacements? So they are all refurbished? 
Then that's probably why.  
I've had my um3x rc for nearly 3 years and not a single problem.
Maybe it's because mine are the blue limited edition one and I take extremely good care or it's just down to the luck of the draw. 
Have long did you have your um3x rc for before the channel issue started to occur? 

 

[Fungus]

Actually no, the replacements were all brand new, they opened the box and gave me the IEMs without the accessories if I didn't bring back the box. The last 2 pairs of RCs I had had bad connector too, the left one was so loose the driver came off many times then they got replaced when one of the drivers died and the new ones had one super tight connector that needs a lot of force to get it to connect properly if I changed the cable. I much prefer the new Pro 30 connectors now. The Pro 30 just felt better built to me. I use them when I commute or workout so I don't treat them extremely well but then I do take extra care to make sure they don't get wet and u don't use them when I'm sweating. The shortest period I had between buying them and then dying on me was within 6-9 months, I treated the UM2 the same way for over 2 yrs before that and they were fine apart from the Cable broke eventually. Tried to replace them with the UE900s but went back to Pro 30 eventually, just couldn't live without that sound signature. :-S

The um2 are made identical to the um3x so it looks you were just very unfortunate to have received so many faulty units in a row.
I don't think the faulty drivers or the connector issues you're having are a common issues with um3x users. 
An example of a common issues would be the fi.10 which were very prone to cracked housing and sockets falling out. 

 

[Danz03]

The UM2 were a little smaller than the UM3x. Anyway, maybe I was unlucky, but I really haven't had any problems with my other IEMs, and I do have a lot. The only other ones that had driver problems were the AKR03, one of the drivers was faulty from day one and it took me 2 weeks to confirm it. Otherwise, one of my monster turbine copper driver housings splited open after 2 weeks, and one of the SE530 sound tubes broke off after 9 months.

The um2 are made identical to the um3x so it looks you were just very unfortunate to have received so many faulty units in a row.
I don't think the faulty drivers or the connector issues you're having are a common issues with um3x users. 
An example of a common issues would be the fi.10 which were very prone to cracked housing and sockets falling out. 

 

[Fungus]

The UM2 were a little smaller than the UM3x. Anyway, maybe I was unlucky, but I really haven't had any problems with my other IEMs, and I do have a lot. The only other ones that had driver problems were the AKR03, one of the drivers was faulty from day one and it took me 2 weeks to confirm it. Otherwise, one of my monster turbine copper driver housings splited open after 2 weeks, and one of the SE530 sound tubes broke off after 9 months.

Lol. You seem to be quite rough with your gear. 

 

[Danz03]

Not at all, I do look after my gear well, the monster turbine copper have had a lot of complains about built quality, the SE530 were just badly made, I swore not to buy any more Shute products after that until the SE846. The AKR03 were just faulty right out of the box, just that the shop convinced me to burn them in for 2 weeks.

Lol. You seem to be quite rough with your gear. 

 

[Fungus]

Not at all, I do look after my gear well, the monster turbine copper have had a lot of complains about built quality, the SE530 were just badly made, I swore not to buy any more Shute products after that until the SE846. The AKR03 were just faulty right out of the box, just that the shop convinced me to burn them in for 2 weeks.

Well are least you got your refund. That would suck to be told to hold on it for 2 weeks just to burn them in

 

 

[Danz03]

I got a brand new boxed AKR03, but I still preferred the W60 at the end.

Well are least you got your refund. That would suck to be told to hold on it for 2 weeks just to burn them in

 

 

[Hellkitchen]

Well the UM Pro 30 seems to be well built, probably also the connector is well designed. I remember that my se535 had a faulty connector and I needed to replace the entire cable.. As comfort I think these are even more comfortable than se535 which were the best I had tried before.

I hope mine will not break since here in Italy there are no Westone shop I think..

 

[Spyro]

  The UM PRO 30 (UM3X) has far better mids than the SE535 IMO. 

 I agree.  They are much smoother.  There is something about the upper midrange of all Shure IEM's than sounds "hornish"  or a little tough on the ears.
 
Someone else mentioned they never heard any IEM do instrument separation like UM3X.  I agree it is awesome but is that what you really want?  What I mean is that the UM3X's instrument separation really compartmentalizes the music and sort of boxes things in their own specific area.  Again, this is suppose to be this way because of it being a musicians monitor but still may not be natural.  You would never realize or hear this until you went to the next level.  I think the W-series still does instrument separation well but it's more natural and less boxy.

 

[Hellkitchen]

For instruments separation and soundstage I've found the ue900 to be the best between the IEMs that I've heard.

The UM Pro 30 have good separation but the soudstage seems to be smaller or at least different. Just like have all instrument in front of you while with the ue900 I felt to be in the center with all the instruments around me.