jinx20001
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2007
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Ok, first of all folks, I'm not going to compare these headphones to anything else. It's a standalone review on the merits and shortfalls of the Westone W40 in-ear monitors. I'm hoping to highlight who these monitors are made for, and who will likely take maximum enjoyment from them. All views are that of my own, purely my experience and opinions. Please excuse image quality and any grammar mistakes. I rarely write any reviews.
[size=medium]PACKAGING:[/size]
Theres really not that much to say about the packaging: It's simple in design. The box has a nice soft touch effect that is a pleasure to hold. Overall however, I would classify it as fairly basic, standard stuff. Inside the box you will find the headphones, a generous bundle of eartips, spare headphone "bodies," as well as fitting instructions and usual paper work.
Its functional, but it really isn't bells and whistles. There's no fancy box in which to open to find the monitors, and nothing out of the ordinary in the way of content. However, this being said, you get exactly what you expect to get with monitors at this price. Spare cable? Check. A mass of eartips including foam? Check. etc. etc.
[size=medium]Design & Fit:[/size]
Now, the design and comfort is something I feel is extremely important when it comes to high end in ear monitors. If there is a shortcoming with the design in any way, it can have a massive effect on comfortable use over a number of hours. Thankfully, these monitors are right up there with any of the other high end in ear monitors.
Design-wise, they are smooth, elegant, and relatively small. If anything, they are exactly what you expect. Monitors have been almost visually identical to these for years, particularly multiple armature setups. Only a select few have swayed away from the norm, but its almost always found that this bulbous but small design that fits inside the outer ear works almost flawlessly. Only those that dare to venture on the outside of the outer ear tend to feel heavy, or make themselves particularly noticed when worn.
The fit of the monitors is fantastic. They are light enough to be almost weightless in the ear. The body of the monitors melts away. There's no cold metals used, and this helps the earphones slip away in your ear and become almost forgettable. A massive contributor to this is the cables which are relatively thin, however well constructed, and made of a super smooth material. Tthere are no ear guides, and I have found there hasn't been one time I have wanted them while using these. This means there is no extra weight on the ears, and its lovely.
Sound Quality:
OK, I'm going to cut to the chase: these monitors are warm. The first thing you will likely notice with these is the bass. They are clearly tuned with the casual audiophile in mind rather than the anal audiophile.
The overall sound signature is one that is suited to all mainstream music: bass is thick and slamming, mids are relatively forward, and vocals come through crystal clear (if a little smooth rather than clinical). Highs are again very crystalline.
Now, I'll break it down a little better.
Bass:
Now, I find bass to be a very crucial part of my listening experience, but I constantly have to keep myself aware and be realistic. I'm never going to put in ear monitors in my ears and feel the vibrations in my feet. However, over the last few years, manufacturers are getting ever closer to delivering incredibly detailed and deep bass from in ear monitors, while keeping the rest of the music in check, and Westone has accomplished this here with the w40.
The bass hits hard. It's a sweet listening experience, because the nature of the materials used (balanced armatures) means the bass is also fast, and rarely becomes uncontrolled and unnaturally boomy. However, with this in mind, the bass is going to be too thick for some. There is a definite lean on the mid bass, and again it lends itself very well to mainstream music, and vocals also benefit sounding full bodied and forward.
If there's anything to complain about, it's the lack of sub bass. It's not to say its not there, but because the overall tone of the bass is thick and forward, it's sometimes a little surprising how much sub bass takes a back seat. I can't help feeling, however, that if the sub bass was brought forward, it would almost ruin the experience and would overwhelm. So although it's a shortcoming, I am not inclined to say its a negative, because it isn't.
Mids:
The midrange is a difficult one to really judge. It's fairly forward, and the mid bass helps give the vocals some body. There's a very soulful sound to the monitors: It's smooth and luscious, and makes a very relaxed listening experience. There's rarely a hint of cold, unloved vocals.
I said I would not compare the monitors in this review, but I have to point out that the midrange is very smooth and liquid, like Shure monitors. The mids are very comparable, and you could never listen to these monitors and say the mids are taking a back seat. The nature of the monitors is to bring almost everything forward.
Where it gets complicated is that the mids are not on the same playing field as the bass and highs. There's certainly a bit of a V shape to these. It's exciting to listen to, and it's comforting to know that the V is relatively small, because the mids are still forward enough to not be left behind and bloated out.
If you take anything from this section, be it that the monitors are not flat.
Highs:
Highs are very crisp with these monitors. It's almost a direct contrast to the rest of the signature, in that they are not as smooth as the rest of the frequency range. It seems to extend very, very well indeed, and its pretty clinical when compared to the bass and mids. It's fantastic, because it takes away from the ''too warm'' feeling of the monitors. The highs are very clear, detailing is brilliant and I'm often left thinking ''thats sparkly clean''.
The highs are not perfect: there are hints of sibilance on poorer quality tracks. High volume can be a little tiring, because the highs can be very sharp and spike at times. It's only something absolute perfectionists will notice, but at this price you are likely listening to your monitors while doing a hint of fault-finding, and the highs will come to your attention at times because of the sibilance.
Now, sometimes sibilance can lend itself to the music and give a great impression of clarity and tingly highs, but the majority of the time (especially at high volume), it's uncomfortable.
Now luckily, it's really pretty rare that i hear it. Overall, the highs are excellent, great extension and never lost in the listening experience. I have used these monitors now for about 3 weeks, and I've only been able to point out harsh highs maybe five times over constant daily use. So, its not a deal breaker. And to point out this harshness is only really on poorer recordings or bad quality mp3's is testament to the revealing nature of balanced armatures.
They are, by far and away, not bad in the high frequencies, but if there's anything Westone could improve on, it's the occasional sibilance that creeps in. I'm confident enough to say you are not likely to be upset by this as long as your music quality is high. However, the rest of the frequency range is so obviously tuned for mainstream music. The monitors cope very well overall with poorer quality mp3's, only as i say, getting harsh in the highs. I say poorer quality, but by this i mean 320kbps as a minimum really for mp3 files. The majority of my music is lossless, save for a few albums of mp3 quality for space issues.
[size=medium]Overall:[/size]
So, what can i say about these monitors overall? They are almost certainly a 8/10 for me. The bass could extend deeper and bring the sub bass forward, and the highs could become a little hot at times... But besides these small issues in the sound, the monitors are absolutely excellent. I should point out the sound signature is absolutely perfect for me. It suits my tastes in music perfectly, and I'm enjoying them immensely. I'm rarely finding issues with the sound at all. They can be driven very, very loud from a simple source which i like, and the sound stays clean and clear. They are aimed at somebody who listens to the mainstream. There's a very warm tone to the monitors, but it still manages to reveal an excellent amount of detail, and clarity is brilliant.
The fit and finish is some of the best i have experienced. The monitors are small and light. They insert pretty deep, and they take a bit of pulling to take back out -- much more so than say, the Sony EX1000, UE 900, or even Shure monitors. I think the tips are a bit longer, and they do fit quite deep, but it works. Sound isolation is standard fare with the design: it's high. The cables are excellent. Did I mention theres 2 in the box? One braided, and one standard round. I prefer the braided -- No excess weight to the cables, and they very rarely tangle.
There's the usual lot of accessories. Again, standard stuff at this price. Nothing exotic, but all what you would expect. The monitor case is a touch small, and only really suitable to house the monitors in, but nothing more. It works and it protects your monitors. Small enough to pocket also, but if you like a case to be of good size and have a built in cable wrapper of some sort, it's not the one for you. You may purchase something else to keep them in. I, myself, like it.
So there we have it. I wrote this because I have not seen something similar when searching, and it may help some of you make that decision you have been waiting to make. I hope it was a enjoyable read, and you take something away from it, or learn something about these monitors that will benefit you in your choices.
Enjoy, Jason.
