NightFlight
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2013
- Posts
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- 80
No doubt, there are a ton of great sounding IEM's currently on the market and one would be well served to listen to as many as possible before making a final decision. Have you tried the X5 with the E12 Mont Blanc into the W40's? The X5 is a great player without a doubt, but the W40's "to my ears" sound better with some of my stand alone amps (and a very good DAC) or the X3 with its Line Out feeding the E12 then to the Westones. I think they scale pretty well and can sound better when hooked up to a pretty good home DAC and headphone amp...at least that's how they sounded best for me. Of course, what matters most is what sounds best to you since its your setup.
I've tried the W40 on my XDA-2 output, as it most conveniently has a 3.5mm TRS socket. My XDA-2 happens to be modded to scrape out a bit more from the DAC section than the stock unit. The output to the W40 is better than the portable player. So much so it becomes possible to detect the performance difference between the epic and the iPhone TRRS cable. I don't find it as glaring a difference with the stock output on the X5.
And your right about the stupid audiobooks. I'm on book two of the GoT series and at 30hrs each it seems like I've been immersed into a little slice of forever. I keep the books on my iPhone because its handy and I can answer without issue using the TRRS cable. Very handy when I'm out and about.
I do imagine that the W60's would sound incredible!
At the price point, that would be the hope. A few have reviewed it, and it mostly gets compared to the Shure 846 and other HP's at the same price bracket. I'd like to see it compared to the 40's and 50's.