[sonickarma]

I hear you,but they still made of same plastic like W60.
If they haven't changed that , then lots potential buyers will move to different brands.

I agree a new shell build would certainly be welcome

 

[TCD1975]

I hear you,but they still made of same plastic like W60.
If they haven't changed that , then lots potential buyers will move to different brands.

 
I think a lot of buyers have already deserted Westone.
 
Back in the days when Westone were setting the agenda, with things like the Westone 4 (the first quad driver universal), they used to get a loads of attention on this forum. Westone threads hardly set this forum alight nowadays.
 
There's so much competition, and in my opinion Westone have damaged their reputation over the last few years through poor quality control and materials that don't match their premium price.
 
They've got a long climb back to rebuild their reputation and I personally don't think the W80 looks like step in that direction.

 

[Mimouille]

I think a lot of buyers have already deserted Westone.

Back in the days when Westone were setting the agenda, with things like the Westone 4 (the first quad driver universal), they used to get a loads of attention on this forum. Westone threads hardly set this forum alight nowadays.

There's so much competition, and in my opinion Westone have damaged their reputation over the last few years through poor quality control and materials that don't match their premium price.

They've got a long climb back to rebuild their reputation and I personally don't think the W80 looks like step in that direction.

Plus if you compare to Shure, whether or not you like their products, they are really lagging behind in terms of innovation. The 846 came up with their bass system, which really changes things, no other BA has bass that sounds like this. And then the KSE1500, first electrostatic iem. And what are Westone answering with? A 6 BA and an 8 BA, with no specific innovation, just a bit of tuning. I tested the W60 quite a few times, and you won't see me spending 1k on it. Not by far. I really hope the W80 is significantly above...but from Twitter's impressions, it seems to be going in the right direction, but without being a complete breakthrough.

 

[H20Fidelity]

I think W80 will probably still sell to semi-mainstream buyers who haven't discovered the niche companies (who are powering forward recently) and Head-fi forums in general. However here in the forums itself I don't see much attention brewing overall.

 

[shotgunshane]

Yeah W80, from Twisters initial impressions, just seems like an evolved and improved W60. Same Westone house sound. Same iem, just incrementally better. Meh.

 

[sonickarma]

Most Westone fans will have W60 (I do and like it a lot) but there seems little reason to upgrade for current flagship owners IMO

 

[gjc10212]

   
I think a lot of buyers have already deserted Westone.
 
Back in the days when Westone were setting the agenda, with things like the Westone 4 (the first quad driver universal), they used to get a loads of attention on this forum. Westone threads hardly set this forum alight nowadays.
 
There's so much competition, and in my opinion Westone have damaged their reputation over the last few years through poor quality control and materials that don't match their premium price.
 
They've got a long climb back to rebuild their reputation and I personally don't think the W80 looks like step in that direction.

 
Very true, and with many companies racing to the top with price people are forging ahead with cheaper/better alternatives.

 

[twister6]

Yeah W80, from Twisters initial impressions, just seems like an evolved and improved W60. Same Westone house sound. Same iem, just incrementally better. Meh.

 
That's true, Shane, they are not stirring too far away from their house sound.  For me personally, going to ES60 was a big step up and that's what I recommend if you are looking for a more audiophile quality tuning.  Always puzzles me why Westone never made universal version of ES60 - that would have been their best seller.  But in my opinion, W80 is their best tuned release in W-/UMPro-series.
 
I don't use W60 with a stock Epic cable, and typically switch to either BaX or SuperBaX or some other silver cables to get to my ideal sound signature.  For a consumer who is in the same situation with a sound preference and has to spend extra money to fine-tune W60 (to be clear, in my case it's a review sample), it's a safe move to upgrade to W80 without a need to invest into another cable on top of it.  Plus, the quality of W80 bass is noticeably improved over W60.  W60 has a laid back analog "dynamic" performance, while W80 has a tightness and a speed which is leaning more toward BA performance.
 
Bottom line, if you are expecting a significant change from the original W60 signature, W80 is not it.  But if you want a refinement of W60 sound - W80 got it.
 

 

[shotgunshane]

The ES60 sig, from what I've read, would be interesting to me. Too bad they don't offer that in a uni.

 

[Deftone]

   
I think a lot of buyers have already deserted Westone.
 
Back in the days when Westone were setting the agenda, with things like the Westone 4 (the first quad driver universal), they used to get a loads of attention on this forum. Westone threads hardly set this forum alight nowadays.
 
There's so much competition, and in my opinion Westone have damaged their reputation over the last few years through poor quality control and materials that don't match their premium price.
 
They've got a long climb back to rebuild their reputation and I personally don't think the W80 looks like step in that direction.

 
very true when you compare the stainless steel (£70) RHA MA750 to the plastic (£870) Westone W60 

 

[audio123]

So w80 is es60 oo if thats true, most likely getting one

 

[audio123]

very true when you compare the stainless steel (£70) RHA MA750 to the plastic (£870) Westone W60 

more drivers count

 

[knopi]

For me is the most interesting from their collection only ES60 which seems to be amazing ciem big interest too. Also if UM PRO 30 is the same as UM3X it have to be very good budget iem. I do not know but I liked more their previous models UM3X, W4 which looked and felt better and probably sounded better strangely than current line. So basicaly I agree completely with TCD1975 and mimouille etc.
Westone sure know how to make top iem (see ES60) but in my opinion do not know if the new flagship will change something because it have to be great in everything, I think they should change all universal line firstly to correct their reputation, just my opinion.     

 

[twister6]

So w80 is es60 oo if thats true, most likely getting one

It's NOT. W80 is a refined W60, with improvements toward ES60 direction.

 

[audio123]

It's NOT. W80 is a refined W60, with improvements toward ES60 direction.

oh icic is there a tonal change in sound from the w60?