[twister6]

Yeah, i had the W3s, same exact impression here O.o

Also, I saw a similar impression from reviews of the W30 and W80

Well, since they dropped W30 and W50 and reincarnated it now as B30 and B50 for basshead, makes me wonder if those will bring back the fun factor with a slamming bass

 

[assassin10000]

So here's my writeup on UM Pro 50 (2nd gen) vs. W60 - https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/review/21785/

Spoiler alert: the answer to the question which one is better is "it's complicated".

Great review.

Your point about the soundstage definitely makes sense, given the UM Pro is from a stage monitor line vs an audiophile one like the W60.


As an aside, if you have the desire you could consider changing the acoustic filter on the UM Pro 50 to slightly change the FR and increase the mids/treble. If you shine a light down the nozzle you can see the filter, once you identify the color you can order the filters that will dampen slightly less. It takes some patience and skill but may be worth it.

 

[twister6]

...
As an aside, if you have the desire you could consider changing the acoustic filter on the UM Pro 50 to slightly change the FR and increase the mids/treble. If you shine a light down the nozzle you can see the filter, once you identify the color you can order the filters that will dampen slightly less. It takes some patience, balls, and skill but may be worth it.

Sorry, had to edit your last sentence It definitely takes balls to crack the shell open, replace filter, and glue it back together. You are fearless

 

[WhatToChoose]

Well, since they dropped W30 and W50 and reincarnated it now as B30 and B50 for basshead, makes me wonder if those will bring back the fun factor with a slamming bass

Very curious about the B line as well

 

[assassin10000]

Sorry, had to edit your last sentence It definitely takes balls to crack the shell open, replace filter, and glue it back together. You are fearless

Nah. Not THAT difficult. There is absolutely no need to crack open the shells. Using just the cleaning tool you can remove the filter and any remaining glue. It stays soft/malleable.

The best tool to use so far is a drill bit that barely fits inside the acoustic filter. Using the solid/unsharpened end I lean it to the side so it catches the lip of the filter and pull it out.

Don't bother getting an Etymotic filter tool, it doesn't fit or reach correctly.

It's prepping the new filters with hot glue or a similar pva type glue that stays soft that could be difficult.

 

[Blackeyeliner]

It's prepping the new filters with hot glue or a similar pva type glue that stays soft that could be difficult.

Chills running down my spine when I think about it. Also, it's a big question whether it's worth it - UM Pro 50 is tuned this way for a reason, and I honestly believe this reason is that there's a lot of poorly mastered music that is overly bright. Basically, for me it boiled down to the following:

- UM Pro 50 is excellent for poorly mastered bright music (which is most music). It will balance out extra brightness as if the engineer didn't loose all his hearing in his teenage years. With good mastering, it sounds pretty dark to me. I start to lose touch with air, cymbals, hi-hats etc.

- W60 is excellent for well mastered music. It will provide extra depth, clarity and audiophile finesse to these records. With poorly mastered music it sounds borderline shrill and sharp compared to UM 50.

Changing the filter on UM Pro 50 will probably change that, and it may become overly bright with poor masters, which kind of defeats the point, because compared to W60, it's not as wide, not as deep and doesn't have these sweet singing low mids (at least, to my ears).

 

[assassin10000]

Chills running down my spine when I think about it. Also, it's a big question whether it's worth it - UM Pro 50 is tuned this way for a reason, and I honestly believe this reason is that there's a lot of poorly mastered music that is overly bright. Basically, for me it boiled down to the following:

- UM Pro 50 is excellent for poorly mastered bright music (which is most music). It will balance out extra brightness as if the engineer didn't loose all his hearing in his teenage years. With good mastering, it sounds pretty dark to me. I start to lose touch with air, cymbals, hi-hats etc.

- W60 is excellent for well mastered music. It will provide extra depth, clarity and audiophile finesse to these records. With poorly mastered music it sounds borderline shrill and sharp compared to UM 50.

Changing the filter on UM Pro 50 will probably change that, and it may become overly bright with poor masters, which kind of defeats the point, because compared to W60, it's not as wide, not as deep and doesn't have these sweet singing low mids (at least, to my ears).

Completely understandable.

I went with hot glue only on the filters, that just builds up the diameter and makes them interchangeable within a few seconds. No heat or glue applied to the IEM itself, so no chance of damage. I did the same to the original filter so I can go back to stock easily.

 

[Blackeyeliner]

I went with hot glue only on the filters, that just builds up the diameter and makes them interchangeable within a few seconds. No heat or glue applied to the IEM itself, so no chance of damage. I did the same to the original filter so I can go back to stock easily.

What if I just remove the filter altogether? Would that be wrong to not put any other filter in - would that be the brightest sound UM Pro 50 can output? I experimented with comparing W60 to UM Pro 50 equalized to boost highs, and now I am confident I really lack highs in UM Pro 50 on most records except for the brightest ones (which sound straight out shrill and fizzy with W60). Also I didn't quite understand the hot glue part - where does it go, why do I need it?

 

[Pete7]

Have you considered the risks associated with attempting to remove the filter? You could push the filter closer to the driver housing, making it irretrievable. You could make striations on the inside of the barrel slipping with the wax tool. You could destroy the cloth part of the acoustic filter, making it impossible to reuse the filter if your new sound sig displeases you. You can order them, but that takes time. You could permanently warp the outside rim of the barrel. All of these potential mishaps could affect the SQ. And all of them have happened to me, playing around too much with the filters in the SM3/ SM64/ and Westone 4R. You have to ask yourself, is it really worth it to do something that could affect the resale value of a $750 earphone?
And I will guarantee you this, removing the stock green filter altogether (1500 ohm resistance) is not going to add treble to a sound sig that doesn't have it to begin with. It's going to add a lot of sibilance instead and tilt the rest of the sound signature upwards. I thought about removing the filters of the UM Pro 50 and putting the brown ones in that are a step down in resistance (1000 ohm, I think) and noticed how deep the stock filters are placed in the barrel. Not worth it. Choose wisely.

 

[Pete7]

Oops-sorry. Posted accidentally.

 

[Blackeyeliner]

I thought about removing the filters of the UM Pro 50 and putting the brown ones in that are a step down in resistance (1000 ohm, I think) and noticed how deep the stock filters are placed in the barrel. Not worth it. Choose wisely.

Thank you for this insight. I think you're right, it's going to be pretty complex to do that. Also, I seem to not understand how these filters work - I honestly thought they are acoustic filters, not electric (so, why Ohms then?)

 

[assassin10000]

What if I just remove the filter altogether? Would that be wrong to not put any other filter in - would that be the brightest sound UM Pro 50 can output? I experimented with comparing W60 to UM Pro 50 equalized to boost highs, and now I am confident I really lack highs in UM Pro 50 on most records except for the brightest ones (which sound straight out shrill and fizzy with W60). Also I didn't quite understand the hot glue part - where does it go, why do I need it?

Yes, you could remove it and try it. It will be the brightest and harshest it can be. I don't like listenening with no or grey filters on my UM Pro 10.

Here is what you do/how it works:

I decided to see if we can use that SE530/SE535 acoustic filter mod on my UM Pro 10. From this thread:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/se5...re-sq-improvement-than-cables-dampers.663273/

It is a little more involved than I expected but not too difficult. There were two 'hurdles'. First is that the Shure owners are able to remove their filters and just slide the new ones in. Ours have some sort of flexible silicone or pva glue used to retain the acoustic filter. It's not hard to get the filter out, as I was able to use the cleaning tool to do so. But I had to work at it for a few minutes. The glue cleans up easily using the filter tool in the nozzle and your fingernails on the filter.

The other difficulty is that the I.D. of our nozzles are slightly larger than the 2.08mm O.D. of the filters. Which the glue made up for, otherwise the filters would fall right out. I considered picking up some silicone or PVA glue with a mild or weak bond that would remain flexible like the original adhesive. Instead I decided to make it easier to change the filters, that way I could A/B them and choose the signature I liked best... or whenever I felt like changing it.

To do so, I slightly increased the O.D. of the filters by adding a very thin layer of easy to remove material with my small hot glue gun. I was able to set the glue gun on the counter with the nozzle pointing upwards and stick the filters on the end of the cleaning tool. I would then place the side of the filter against the nozzle of the gun which had a little bit of hot glue coating it and rotate the side against it for a thin and somewhat even coat of the hot glue. I let the glue cool for a few seconds on the filter while blowing across it, then check the filter on the IEM nozzle for a slip fit. If too much (won't fit) or too little (too loose) I would simply rotate it on the nozzle again against additional glue or the area with little to no glue as I had wiped one side clean at the start. Kept going until I had the fit I wanted for all the acoustic filters. Slips in but is not so loose that it falls out or moves when tapping or shaking the IEM's.



Parts ordered:
BF-1999-000 Grey 330Ω
BF-1859-000 White 680Ω
BF-1860-000 Brown 1000Ω
BF-1861-000 Green 1500Ω
BF-1921-000 Red 2200Ω

Here they are, with the originally installed green filters from Westone. One side still has the flexible adhesive on it.




Short notes on how I think the acoustic filters altered sound on my UM Pro 10 v2 (using foam tips):
Grey 330Ω: Ok bass, forward and almost harsh upper mids / lower treble. I guess it could also be called a bit shouty.
White 680Ω: Good bass, neutral to slightly forward mids and highs. Better clarity. Not sibilant or harsh.
Brown 1000Ω: Good bass, slightly recessed to neutral for both mids and highs. Good clarity. Still smooth but not lush.
Green 1500Ω: Good bass, somewhat recessed mids and somewhat reduced highs. Ok clarity. Lush and smooth. Original acoustic filter from Westone for the UM Pro 10
Red 2200Ω: A bass heavy signature, recessed mids and reduced highs. Only listened for a couple minutes.


I've settled on using the White 680Ω acoustic filters for the moment as they fit the sound signature I currently like the best. The Brown 1000Ω being a very close second.

I do still use a 10 band EQ, but with these only near the top and bottom of the frequency range where the single BA of my UM Pro 10 rolls off. Where as before I was adjusting across the whole range.

EDIT: Changed to a wide mouth foam tip and to the Brown 1000Ω filters. The wider tip doesn't attenuate as much.

Have you considered the risks associated with attempting to remove the filter? You could push the filter closer to the driver housing, making it irretrievable. You could make striations on the inside of the barrel slipping with the wax tool. You could destroy the cloth part of the acoustic filter, making it impossible to reuse the filter if your new sound sig displeases you. You can order them, but that takes time. You could permanently warp the outside rim of the barrel. All of these potential mishaps could affect the SQ. And all of them have happened to me, playing around too much with the filters in the SM3/ SM64/ and Westone 4R. You have to ask yourself, is it really worth it to do something that could affect the resale value of a $750 earphone?
And I will guarantee you this, removing the stock green filter altogether (1500 ohm resistance) is not going to add treble to a sound sig that doesn't have it to begin with. It's going to add a lot of sibilance instead and tilt the rest of the sound signature upwards. I thought about removing the filters of the UM Pro 50 and putting the brown ones in that are a step down in resistance (1000 ohm, I think) and noticed how deep the stock filters are placed in the barrel. Not worth it. Choose wisely.

The sound tube adapter on my UM Pro 10 was too small for the acoustic filter to slip further into. I checked it once I had removed all the glue from both the nozzle and the acoustic filter. No heat is applied to the IEM itself so I had zero warping issues removing/replacing the filters. Also, once the hot glue is applied (to the acoustic filters only), it won't slip in too deep as there is a slight taper or lip inside the nozzle that prevents it from going too far.

Thank you for this insight. I think you're right, it's going to be pretty complex to do that. Also, I seem to not understand how these filters work - I honestly thought they are acoustic filters, not electric (so, why Ohms then?)

Ohms is used to refer to resistance. Acoustic filters resist air movement and they use Ohms to describe the level of resistance each filter has (IE: higher = more resistance/attenuation)

 

[assassin10000]

Here's pics on how to remove easily.

1/16" drill bit (May be able to use a 1.5 or 1.6mm drill bit as well).





The drill bit needs to be angled so it catches the lip of the acoustic filter. Some pressure against the wall while pulling it out is needed so the bit doesn't slip free.

 

[twister6]

Here's pics on how to remove easily.

1/16" drill bit (May be able to use a 1.5 or 1.6mm drill bit as well).





The drill bit needs to be angled so it catches the lip of the acoustic filter. Some pressure against the wall while pulling it out is needed so the bit doesn't slip free.

Ok, this looks a little more manageable

 

[ACSlater]

Do Westone sell replacement shells? My um3x have been reshelled and the left side loses it's seal when I move my jaw. Inearz (where I got them reshelled) don't do reshells anymore for universal inear headphones. I don't have the original shells anymore and I'm wondering if I could reverse them from customs to universals.