dvdonly
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2005
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Here are my initial impressions after listening to them for about 4-5 hours yesterday in a critical listening environment, and about 3-4 hours today in "normal every day mode" (i.e. walking to work, during breaks and lunch, at a coffee shop after work).
Note: I wasn't able to do a proper A/B yet, as I don't have a headphone output splitter to allow me to quickly go between my 3x and 50v2. I did plug in my 3x and I will say they held up surprisingly well to the 50v2. I was expecting a night and day difference going from 3 to 5 drivers but I did not get that. I guess I was expecting the same revelatory change I had like 7-8 years ago when I went from Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10 to the 3x. There's a reason I never seriously considered leaving Westone after I heard the improvement from UE. Again, I'll wait until I have a splitter until I do a serious A/B comparison between the two. What follows is just my preliminary review of the UM 50 Pro v2 in a vacuum.
Review equipment: either iPhone X or iPad Pro 10" using iTunes 320AAC files ripped directly from CD sources using XLD, MP3Gain applied at "album" setting for 89.0 db.
Fit
Westone has always had the best fit for me (I've tried Ultimate Ears, Shure, Beats and Apple). Best seal, once you find the right tip. Best noise isolation. Best seating of the bean in my ear. Most comfortable to wear over extended periods of time. The 50v2 has a slightly different shape than the 3x, but all of this still holds true. It's different but not any more or less uncomfortable. During my several hours of listening I have experienced zero ear fatigue due to fitment or sound quality. Again, being conscious of hearing loss, I listen at a respectable 90-95db (yes I have a RadioShack SPL meter which I confirm these settings with).
The new cable is superior in comfort to the ones that came with the 3x. Full stop. And a big reason I wanted to upgrade. Not that the old ones were terrible, they were superior to the UEs, but I felt it could be better, and the 50v2 proved me correct.
Isolation
Probably my biggest surprise. A bit better than the 3x, even with the same green star tips. Fit is a little different, the bean sits a little deeper in my "concha of auracle" (yes I Googled "parts of the ear" to find that term) which perhaps may explain the slightly better sound isolation. Having used my 3x nearly every day for 7-8 years I'm intimately familiar with what I can hear from the outside world while listening to music, and I hear quite a bit less with the 50v2. I had in a previous post mentioned they may be more efficient as I listen to them at a notch lower level on my iDevice than I do with my 3x, but that may also be due to better isolation. The less you have to compete with external sounds, the lower you can listen to your music with the same perceived volume.
Music played for evaluation
I listened to the following albums/bands: Garden State Soundtrack. Toad the Wet Sprocket. Soundgarden. Tool. Pink Floyd. Beatles (mono and stereo 2009s). Zeppelin (320AAC ripped from newest 24/96 remasters downloads from purchasing the deluxe vinyl + CD + HiRes box sets). Radiohead. Daft Punk. Appalachian Journey (Yo-Yo Ma). James Taylor. Elliott Smith. NIN. CCR. Queen (ripped from 24/96). Spoon. Sarah McLachlan. Nickel Creek. The Killers. Glen Phillips. Gillian Welch. Aimee Mann. Beck. The Cars. Rage Against the Machine.
Yeah I'm all over the place, but it's all music I'm intimately familiar with.
Sound Quality
For better or worse: typical Westone. Very balanced. No one part standing too much apart from the other. I know others say Westone is either mid-heavy, or analytic. I don't know if I agree with mid-heavy, as being "anything-heavy" means that part is emphasized at the expense of the other two parts of the spectrum. I find it's balanced so that nothing is pronounced or given extra weighting. Analytic is trickier, as is "laid back". Because while I find the sound balanced, those two terms lead one to expect something is unexciting. Nothing could be further from the truth. Songs that are meant to rock, rock. Mellow songs are mellow.
This is definitely not a bass-head's headphone. Even with 5 drivers, the traditional Westone sound signature has not been changed. What I found was that bass could go deep (some of the songs I tested go to nearly 20hz) and I found the 50v2 could reach down to those levels without being overpowering. Now I will say when I listen to these songs in my home system with a 12" 150w sub, those bass notes rattle the room and move your clothing. The 50v2 won't do that. But it will play the notes at a respectable level in your eardrums. So I will say the 50v2 can resolve down to the deepest notes, but it won't present it in a visceral head-shaking way that bass-head headphones do. But they don't lack in bass. Closer by NIN and Sober by Tool put to rest any concerns I had about bass reproduction, for both depth and aggressiveness of attack. Female vocals were sweetly reproduced. Stringed instruments sounded like the real thing (I go to a lot of concerts, I work in a university with a music school that does free performances).
Soundstage is decent. Doesn't feel like it's in your head but also doesn't feel exceptionally wide. But again, not all recordings are meant to sound like that. I feel like the Westone presents a pretty close soundstage to what was intended in the music as it was recorded. Make no mistake, though, you will always know you're listening on an IEM, you're not suddenly going to feel like you're listening to loudspeakers 10' away. I didn't find it to be, off the top of my head, substantially different from the 3x, but again, maybe the 3x were fine, and maybe I will change my mind once I get my hands on a splitter.
That's all I have for the first ~8 hours or so of listening. I'll update this thread if I find anything has changed, or discover something revelatory, or find time and the equipment to do an A/B with my 3x.
Which by the way, turns out the 3x is no slouch. I don't regret my purchase as at minimum I have slightly better sound and way better comfort and cable. But for those who like the balanced Westone sound but can't spring for a 5 driver, go and buy the 3 driver version. You'll get a lot of the way to the 50s and save a pretty penny.
Also: I did buy these with the discount code from earphonesolutions, which still works. I'm not sure I'd be as happy if I paid full price. But for $422 I don't regret the purchase at all. Which means you can probably use that coupon to get a pretty big discount on the 30v2 as well.
Note: I wasn't able to do a proper A/B yet, as I don't have a headphone output splitter to allow me to quickly go between my 3x and 50v2. I did plug in my 3x and I will say they held up surprisingly well to the 50v2. I was expecting a night and day difference going from 3 to 5 drivers but I did not get that. I guess I was expecting the same revelatory change I had like 7-8 years ago when I went from Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10 to the 3x. There's a reason I never seriously considered leaving Westone after I heard the improvement from UE. Again, I'll wait until I have a splitter until I do a serious A/B comparison between the two. What follows is just my preliminary review of the UM 50 Pro v2 in a vacuum.
Review equipment: either iPhone X or iPad Pro 10" using iTunes 320AAC files ripped directly from CD sources using XLD, MP3Gain applied at "album" setting for 89.0 db.
Fit
Westone has always had the best fit for me (I've tried Ultimate Ears, Shure, Beats and Apple). Best seal, once you find the right tip. Best noise isolation. Best seating of the bean in my ear. Most comfortable to wear over extended periods of time. The 50v2 has a slightly different shape than the 3x, but all of this still holds true. It's different but not any more or less uncomfortable. During my several hours of listening I have experienced zero ear fatigue due to fitment or sound quality. Again, being conscious of hearing loss, I listen at a respectable 90-95db (yes I have a RadioShack SPL meter which I confirm these settings with).
The new cable is superior in comfort to the ones that came with the 3x. Full stop. And a big reason I wanted to upgrade. Not that the old ones were terrible, they were superior to the UEs, but I felt it could be better, and the 50v2 proved me correct.
Isolation
Probably my biggest surprise. A bit better than the 3x, even with the same green star tips. Fit is a little different, the bean sits a little deeper in my "concha of auracle" (yes I Googled "parts of the ear" to find that term) which perhaps may explain the slightly better sound isolation. Having used my 3x nearly every day for 7-8 years I'm intimately familiar with what I can hear from the outside world while listening to music, and I hear quite a bit less with the 50v2. I had in a previous post mentioned they may be more efficient as I listen to them at a notch lower level on my iDevice than I do with my 3x, but that may also be due to better isolation. The less you have to compete with external sounds, the lower you can listen to your music with the same perceived volume.
Music played for evaluation
I listened to the following albums/bands: Garden State Soundtrack. Toad the Wet Sprocket. Soundgarden. Tool. Pink Floyd. Beatles (mono and stereo 2009s). Zeppelin (320AAC ripped from newest 24/96 remasters downloads from purchasing the deluxe vinyl + CD + HiRes box sets). Radiohead. Daft Punk. Appalachian Journey (Yo-Yo Ma). James Taylor. Elliott Smith. NIN. CCR. Queen (ripped from 24/96). Spoon. Sarah McLachlan. Nickel Creek. The Killers. Glen Phillips. Gillian Welch. Aimee Mann. Beck. The Cars. Rage Against the Machine.
Yeah I'm all over the place, but it's all music I'm intimately familiar with.
Sound Quality
For better or worse: typical Westone. Very balanced. No one part standing too much apart from the other. I know others say Westone is either mid-heavy, or analytic. I don't know if I agree with mid-heavy, as being "anything-heavy" means that part is emphasized at the expense of the other two parts of the spectrum. I find it's balanced so that nothing is pronounced or given extra weighting. Analytic is trickier, as is "laid back". Because while I find the sound balanced, those two terms lead one to expect something is unexciting. Nothing could be further from the truth. Songs that are meant to rock, rock. Mellow songs are mellow.
This is definitely not a bass-head's headphone. Even with 5 drivers, the traditional Westone sound signature has not been changed. What I found was that bass could go deep (some of the songs I tested go to nearly 20hz) and I found the 50v2 could reach down to those levels without being overpowering. Now I will say when I listen to these songs in my home system with a 12" 150w sub, those bass notes rattle the room and move your clothing. The 50v2 won't do that. But it will play the notes at a respectable level in your eardrums. So I will say the 50v2 can resolve down to the deepest notes, but it won't present it in a visceral head-shaking way that bass-head headphones do. But they don't lack in bass. Closer by NIN and Sober by Tool put to rest any concerns I had about bass reproduction, for both depth and aggressiveness of attack. Female vocals were sweetly reproduced. Stringed instruments sounded like the real thing (I go to a lot of concerts, I work in a university with a music school that does free performances).
Soundstage is decent. Doesn't feel like it's in your head but also doesn't feel exceptionally wide. But again, not all recordings are meant to sound like that. I feel like the Westone presents a pretty close soundstage to what was intended in the music as it was recorded. Make no mistake, though, you will always know you're listening on an IEM, you're not suddenly going to feel like you're listening to loudspeakers 10' away. I didn't find it to be, off the top of my head, substantially different from the 3x, but again, maybe the 3x were fine, and maybe I will change my mind once I get my hands on a splitter.
That's all I have for the first ~8 hours or so of listening. I'll update this thread if I find anything has changed, or discover something revelatory, or find time and the equipment to do an A/B with my 3x.
Which by the way, turns out the 3x is no slouch. I don't regret my purchase as at minimum I have slightly better sound and way better comfort and cable. But for those who like the balanced Westone sound but can't spring for a 5 driver, go and buy the 3 driver version. You'll get a lot of the way to the 50s and save a pretty penny.
Also: I did buy these with the discount code from earphonesolutions, which still works. I'm not sure I'd be as happy if I paid full price. But for $422 I don't regret the purchase at all. Which means you can probably use that coupon to get a pretty big discount on the 30v2 as well.
Head-fi has "Head Gear" section, a database of all the reviews, so for example you can add it under the original UM Pro 50 listing here: 
