[blazer78]

frequency response looks pretty good too!

 

[musicday]

frequency response looks pretty good too!

Yes it does, wonder why impedance is down to 5 ohm now.It may hiss with may portable music players.

 

[twister6]

frequency response looks pretty good too!

Yes it does, wonder why impedance is down to 5 ohm now.It may hiss with may portable music players.

It actually doesn't. It's a combination of low impedance and high sensitivity when you are in trouble. Here, sensitivity is reasonable.

 

[hkpm]

@twister6 , any chance you could write a mini impression of the new ALO cable on the ES60?
I have been waiting for SuperBax like forever.
If the new ALO cable is a good match to ES60, I may just get the new cable instead, assuming the new one sells sooner. 

 

[musicday]

Only $1499

 

[dwizard]

I hope they don't have that 'plastic' sound of the W30 through to W60 where the tone of instuments is off.
I notice particularly on Piano and Guitars.
My guess is the drivers are out of phase causing harmonics to be incorrect.
I've said it before, Westone iems have great cables, soundstage, comfort, isolation etc. Just sort out the tone!

 

[TCD1975]

  I hope they don't have that 'plastic' sound of the W30 through to W60 where the tone of instuments is off.
I notice particularly on Piano and Guitars.
My guess is the drivers are out of phase causing harmonics to be incorrect.
I've said it before, Westone iems have great cables, soundstage, comfort, isolation etc. Just sort out the tone!

 
 

 

[Onitsuka]

If the FR graph is accurate, then W80 is much better to me than Rhapsodio or JH TOTLs.

 

[twister6]

If the FR graph is accurate, then W80 is much better to me than Rhapsodio or JH TOTLs.

 
Trust your ears, not the graphs.  Many companies release compensated FR curves, not the raw data, so it's hard to judge just by "looking" at it.  You can predict how it will sound, but I would trust your own ears
 
In terms of tonality, never heard W30 but I have tested UMPro30 and it was tuned more for a commercial everyday listener.  W60 took it to a different level with a warm lush detailed sound, but not for those who want more revealing details with more transparency and better layering.  ES60 was tuned for audiophiles, that one hit a sweet spot but only available in Custom shell.  Now, W80 took W60 as a baseline and fine-tuned it with a more articulate/detailed/tighter bass and more revealing upper frequencies.  It's still has Westone house sound, but it's refined to appeal to a wider audience who likes better retrieval of details.
 
I think Rhapsodio is brighter, and not sure about JH.

 

[goodvibes]

   
Will see when i20 is released or when they have a working sample; so far they showcased it at the last 2 major audio shows and in both cases they stopped working

  Also, so far only Shure was able to get portable electrostatic in-ears to sound right, though requiring their own amp.  From what I have read, other electrostatic and planar in-ear attempts from different manufacturers have been not as successful.  I think the biggest fascination here is being able to use planar magnetic technology in a small in-ear footprint.
 
And speaking of small footprint, W80 is probably the smallest 8-driver shell I have ever seen, literally disappears in your ears, to the point where you can put your head down on a pillow and fall asleep with your ear facing down.
 

One should really differentiate electrostatic from electromagnetic planars. There is some commonality in how sound comes off the diaphragm in ES vs ED in a full size device but the force type, diaphragm and moving mass is significantly different. The force and damping available relative to mass of the diaphragm is also quite different. There are advantages and disadvantages to both with electrostatics having the performance advantage when convenience and price is removed from the equation. Convenience and price matter here so no winner depending on preference but for portables, the Audeze would be out for me due to lack of isolation and the Shure would be out for me due to the necessity of the added amp. Just saying.
 
Steps off soapbox.

 

[javahut]

damn it! been completely happy with w60 since it was released. now they gotta go and release a w80 at 1.5x the price. damn it! guess it's time to dig out & try to sell off my almost never, hardly ever used shure se846 to help pay for a w80!

 

[musicday]

damn it! been completely happy with w60 since it was released. now they gotta go and release a w80 at 1.5x the price. damn it! guess it's time to dig out & try to sell off my almost never, hardly ever used shure se846 to help pay for a w80!

At this price point i expect nothing but Made in USA, but if it still made in China is bye bye for me and others!

 

[dwizard]

   
 

I have lots of earphones and headphones and I have much less of a problem with them regarding tone, therefore my ears are fine thanks.

 

[koven]

@twister6 any brief comments about w80 vs andromeda? thx

 

[KB]

Hey Guys!
 
A lot going on in this thread
 
My disclaimer - Ok yeah I am a bias because I have worked with Westone in doing a cable for them but here are a few things I would like to note if I may.
 
I have a lot of respect for Westone and their engineers who are pioneers in the IEM industry. I have a W80 and find it to be pushing the envelop of their product direction in a very positive direction up from the venerable W60. Yes the W80 is not wildly divergent or going off the rails from the family of the W60 sound. I think they have done a very thoughtful and elegant job with this product and am very happy to be in some small way associate with the W80 and Westone.
 
They are using custom BA drivers, not off the shelf parts, then somehow cramming them all into a super tiny enclosure. I have measured the W80, I am not easily impressed with other earphones measurements, I am with the W80.
 
As for the comment about China made products, I dont think its not fair to indicate that all things made in China are cheap or poorly made or not worth the price tag. Most of the Apple products are made in China, my iPhone6 is made in China and is a marvel of engineering. If you can secure a good factory in China and have good cooperation with the factory owners I guarantee you that the quality of products will be very very high. Also most of the magic is done in the prototyping and R and D, and design. 
 
Just my 2 cents.
 
Ken