[ibis99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by metabaron /img/forum/go_quote.gif What can one do, seems the Shure story all over again. Well, that ought to teach me to not trust reviews of products done by fans of the product.

I can't beleive you are still whining about this.

 

[p0wderh0und23]

Quote:

Originally Posted by metabaron /img/forum/go_quote.gif What can one do, seems the Shure story all over again. Well, that ought to teach me to not trust reviews of products done by fans of the product.

Ummm, slight over reaction. We stand behind our products and we do apologize this happens. We are human and we do make mistakes. Prolly will make plenty more, it's unfortunate but part of life. I'm hoping you contacted Kyle and the email address I provided and he got you taken care of, if not please let me know.

 

[metabaron]

People, let it go. I already said that I should kept that first coment to myself. It was shocking to find a $300+ product in that condition, but if it is an isolated incident then well. My problem, though, was reported elsewhere and even in this thread, my cable wasn't frayed, it was loose from the right socket, while the left one has superglue encrusted all the way from the phone socket to the cable. One last thing though. I didn't accuse Westone of making crappy products. I did, however, question their QC, because it was something that I noticed right away after opening the box. I apologized but, coming from Shure, having dealt with issues like these before, you will understand why I was dissapointed.

 

[VicAjax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by metabaron /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...I apologized but, coming from Shure, having dealt with issues like these before, you will understand why I was dissapointed...

not to pile on, but i don't think you did apologize. p0wderh0und did...twice. but the closest i saw from you was saying you "concede." not exactly the same as contrition.

i'm sorry you've had bad luck with expensive products, but that's what warranties are for.

as for trusting fans of products... maybe you should only read comments from people who think they suck. it'll save you a lot of money over the long term.

 

[metabaron]

That should have read apoligize, not apoligized. Not on my opinion, I believe build quality and QC are essential parts of the earphone experience, but I simply believe this was not the right forum to expose this problem and that first post just didn't come out right. File it under typing out loud. Things that sound fine in one's head (and in another language, I might add) don't necessarily translate as well when typing, especially from your iTouch. I don't want to derrail this thread any longer, just say I was actually looking forward to contribute to this thread, and still want to once I actually get my replacement for them. As I said though, sometimes as fans of certain products, people can be more forgiving of things than others are willing to. Read any of the posts around here, and you will see that as soon as someone has anything negative to say about a favorite at headfi you will have other posters jump at the chance to defend it. but oppinions are like...well you know how it goes, everyone has one

The only thing I take issue though, is posters saying that I either personally attacked Westone owners, or I accused a company of making crap products, none of which I did. As I said, what's done is done, I apologize again if any of you got personally offended, but as a consumer, try to see it from my point of view as well and not necessarily as a fan.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VicAjax /img/forum/go_quote.gif not to pile on, but i don't think you did apologize. p0wderh0und did...twice. but the closest i saw from you was saying you "concede." not exactly the same as contrition. i'm sorry you've had bad luck with expensive products, but that's what warranties are for. as for trusting fans of products... maybe you should only read comments from people who think they suck. it'll save you a lot of money over the long term.

 

[VicAjax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by metabaron /img/forum/go_quote.gif That should have read apoligize, not apoligized. Not on my opinion, I believe build quality and QC are essential parts of the earphone experience, but I simply believe this was not the right forum to expose this problem and that first post just didn't come out right. File it under typing out loud. Things that sound fine in one's head (and in another language, I might add) don't necessarily translate as well when typing, especially from your iTouch. I don't want to derrail this thread any longer, just say I was actually looking forward to contribute to this thread, and still want to once I actually get my replacement for them. As I said though, sometimes as fans of certain products, people can be more forgiving of things than others are willing to. Read any of the posts around here, and you will see that as soon as someone has anything negative to say about a favorite at headfi you will have other posters jump at the chance to defend it. but oppinions are like...well you know how it goes, everyone has one The only thing I take issue though, is posters saying that I either personally attacked Westone owners, or I accused a company of making crap products, none of which I did. As I said, what's done is done, I apologize again if any of you got personally offended, but as a consumer, try to see it from my point of view as well and not necessarily as a fan.

well, kudos to you for sticking this little exchange out against multiple temporary antagonists instead of splitting. personally, i look forward to hearing your thoughts on the actual sound of the UM3X, once you get everything sorted.

 

[metabaron]

Thanks, and not to worry. We as fans (and I include myself in that group, if not, why even post at headfi) can be extremelly passionate about a product, in positivite and sometimes negative ways. In my normal circle of friends, people could not give a flip about headphones costing over $100 (they still think Bose is top of the line, regardless of what I say) so finding a community of people that share your interests is very exciting to me (not so much for my wallet). I will not split, but come back when I have something more positive to contribute. I cannot promise i will love the 3X, but at least I will be able to provide an honest opinion on the actual sound, and not

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VicAjax /img/forum/go_quote.gif well, kudos to you for sticking this little exchange out against multiple temporary antagonists instead of splitting. personally, i look forward to hearing your thoughts on the actual sound of the UM3X, once you get everything sorted.

 

[MetalGeek]

After reading review after review, thread after thread of praise for the UM3X, I finally bit the bullet during the Cyber Monday sale at Earphone Solutions. I was so excited to finally own one of the most highly regarded universal IEMs available.

They arrived 3 days later, and having agonized and drooled over the UM3X for several months, I couldn't wait to finally try 'em out! Immediately after their arrival, I hurriedly slashed the outer box open and stuck 'em in my ears. Can you imagine my dismay when I realized that I DIDN'T LIKE THEM?

While the bass was spot on with what I had expected, and the highs were right where I imagined (I couldn't imagine them possibly beating the highs on my 325is), my favorite part, the mids, sounded veiled and boring. Oh, it was a sad, sad day.

Maybe I was holding them to a standard that they just can't possibly beat. I've been so accustomed to and spoiled by the Grado sound (I love me some SR325is) that anything non-Grado comes up short of perfect to me, and for the price of the UM3X and the acclaim they've been receiving, I guess I expected perfection. I knew at that point that I had a problem

. Generally not one to use EQ unless absolutely necessary, I resorted to adjusting the EQ on my Cowon D2 in order to suit my tastes. Aaahhhhh...much better! That completely fixed the problem with the mids, and while the UM3X now certainly sounded awesome, a part of me was still a little empty because I had to EQ them in order to love them.

So, I've been slowly weaning myself off of the EQ, but as of yet I still can't get myself to listen to them with flat EQ on my D2. I've got it tipped just a tad bit upward on both ends of the spectrum. But, after reading some posts from other people who prefer to use a bit of EQ on their D2 also, I guess I don't feel quite so bad.

But here comes the really surprising part...

I've never really loved the sound of my Rockboxed 30GB 5.5G iPod. I'd tinker with the EQ constantly, struggling to get it to come out just right. I've never been able to put a finger on it, but something's always seemed just a little...weird...about its sound. Eventually I gave up, and really only listened to it when I didn't care too much about having top notch sound on the go. Well, out of the blue today and just for funsies, I decided to try my UM3X with it...

O M G

It's like a whole new player! Even more surprising, I realized that I didn't even have the EQ on! I just about crapped my pants. It's far better than it's ever sounded with either my Sleek SA6 or Klipsch Custom-2, and although it's still a bit behind my EQ'd Cowon D2, it's actually truly enjoyable for once. I can't quite describe it, but for whatever reason, the UM3X just fit right into the iPod's happy place. Then, another revelation...I wasn't using my LOD and iBasso D2-Viper! Now, generally I'm a metalhead, but I dabble in the occasional electronic and trance music as well. So, I hooked 'em up and queued up "The Shen" off Classical Mushroom by Infected Mushroom...

OK...now I need to change my pants.

I've since been searching through some of my regular audio-equipment-evaluation library and queuing up my favorites, and while the UM3X are still a bit behind on some of my favorite music to listen to with my 325is (uppper mids for the lead guitar on The Faceless's Planetary Duality in particular...absolutely magical with the 325is), overall I really can't find a fault with them. The bass is deep, fast, and (while amped) hits hard; the mids are smooth and fluid, yet still aggressive enough for metal guitar; and the highs sizzle and sparkle. They really don't seem to have a single weak spot. I really can't believe I ever disliked these things.

Next on my list, I need to get myself a RSA P-51 Mustang to pair with 'em.

That's my story of my first 6 days of ownership of my UM3X. So, for any of you who are like me and just plain don't like them at first, don't give up! I'm really glad I stuck with them, because they absolutely TROUNCE any other IEMS that I own.

Yet another satisfied UM3X owner.

 

[Hsiu]

what non-apple DAP work well with UM3X, must be about 32GB or can expand to similar capacity, must no hiss. prefer small size and decent battery life. I currently has 5800XM and Clip+ (4GB + 16GB card) and can properly display song info (Sony X cannot and it hiss)

 

[obentou]

I have the Sony NWZ-S6xx series and it works well

 

[unclejr]

For the last couple of months, I've made my way patiently through this thread in spare moments here and there. I skipped most of the epic arguments/name-calling, which probably saved about 20 pages of reading total. I actually didn't start reading this thread until after I had already purchased the UM3X. It's like when you buy new music, and you don't want to hear any samples of it first because you want to hear it fully the first time (not sure if many others have this experience?).

I'm pretty happy with the UM3X. I've recently owned the Westone 1 and the Westone UM2, and where the UM2 largely fixed the problems with the W1, this is good enough to have convinced me to get custom molds for them. Westone as a company seem good enough for me to look longingly at the ES3X.

To have both low frequency impact and detail has been the most missing thing in other earphones for me. Usually, the ones with a large qty of bass have poor resolution; the ones with detail resolution have no amplitude or lack low frequency extension. These go audibly deeper than many others I've heard, though they do sound like they're struggling on the lowest of low frequency notes. It's very good, however.

The one thing I won't ever sacrifice is midrange accuracy, and like many other earphones out there, I find the UM3X to be excellent in this capacity. Instrument reproduction and separation are very believable.

High frequencies are rolled off, but I was surprised to find the ER-6i to be shrill in direct comparison -- all of a sudden, the ER-6i sounded unnatural in the high frequencies, with large orchestral violins. As a violinist, I actually favor warmer, sweeter sounding violins, so perhaps this is a personal taste -- I suspect my violin is somewhere between the UM3X and an ER-4P in this regard.

It's true that the soundstage is narrow. I've all but given up on having the Symphony Hall experience from earphones or headphones at all. There's simply nothing like live to me -- my speaker rig isn't the greatest ever, but it's still unsatisfying. And so it goes.

Rigs:
Computer > Gamma-1 USB DAC > Mini3 Amp > UM3X/MS-2i, etc. etc.
iPod classic > Mini3 Amp > UM3X

I had never really been fully convinced when I heard folks say, "so-and-so responds well to amplification," by which they mean really mean an alternative means of external amplification (since a headphone output is still an amplified signal, obviously). One note, the headphone out of the iPod classic has a poorer low frequency response than from the line out dock to the mini3. It's not huge, but it is noticeable, level matched. It's the first time perhaps that I've had earphones that can, as they say, scale.

One more note about hiss: the high sensitivity/low impedance of the UM3X makes it very sensitive to the source. A MacBook Pro headphone out is awful, as many know. The iPod classic's headphone out is far better, but at all volume levels, one can still detect a noticeable hiss, even during music. Hiss can even be detected with the mini3 when the input signal is from the iPod's line out. However, I've found the computer to gamma-1 to mini3 to be dead quiet, which was surprising and quite welcome. So, for the budget-minded, this is a really nice solution. Don't mind the wires.

I just had impressions done at the local audiologist for the UM56, so I'm looking forward to replacing comply foams with the harder vinyl material that I'm hoping can simultaneously provide even better isolation (though there is plenty with the foams) and perhaps make the higher frequencies less rolled off.

 

[Nirmalanow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetalGeek /img/forum/go_quote.gif But here comes the really surprising part... I've never really loved the sound of my Rockboxed 30GB 5.5G iPod. I'd tinker with the EQ constantly, struggling to get it to come out just right. I've never been able to put a finger on it, but something's always seemed just a little...weird...about its sound. Eventually I gave up, and really only listened to it when I didn't care too much about having top notch sound on the go. Well, out of the blue today and just for funsies, I decided to try my UM3X with it... O M G It's like a whole new player! Even more surprising, I realized that I didn't even have the EQ on! I just about crapped my pants.

It does seem like synergy is a huge factor. We should probably have separate threads here on Headfi for UM3X with the D2, UM3X with the various Ipods, UM3X with Pico, UMX3 with Predator and so on ad infinitum. otherwise what does it really mean when someone posts that the mids are recessed on the UM3X? Is it the headphones, the amp, the DAC or other source, the music encoding, the IC or dock, or what that is causing the mids to be recessed? Or is it really due to the endless interactions between these various elements?

Anyways, I am glad you found a blend of elements that works so well. I had a similar experience with the UM3X. They sound great in some setups and not so satisfying in others, although I do not ever have a lot of equipment on hand, since I have to sell stuff to fund my newest purchases. I do have a Hifiman 801 on order and I hope that magic synergy thing happens with the 801 and the UM3X.

 

[VicAjax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetalGeek /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...That's my story of my first 6 days of ownership of my UM3X. So, for any of you who are like me and just plain don't like them at first, don't give up! I'm really glad I stuck with them, because they absolutely TROUNCE any other IEMS that I own. Yet another satisfied UM3X owner.

don't forget that different tips make a huge difference in the sound as well! i hope you've tried some?

 

[cyberspyder]

I like the standard length Comply's over the longer ones.

 

[VicAjax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberspyder /img/forum/go_quote.gif I like the standard length Comply's over the longer ones.

the Comply tips don't work for me at all... swallow up all of the top end. but i've got oddly small ear canals.