Quote:
Originally Posted by SierraHotel01 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
You know, this whole topic of individual variance interests me.
We are all into this hobby enough to have our (by definition, subjective) comments be taken at face value.
Therefore, there has to be some real phenomenon, or more than one,
which is causing the variance.
1. Personal taste for that particular "acoustic signature"
(assuming it's well-rendered, in all cases)
2. Individual variance in the mechanical / acoustical coupling of that particular earphone, with that particular tip, in that particular ear canal.
3. Synergy, or lack thereof, with the rest of that particular signal train (source, LOD, amp)
4. ?Beats me?
Anybody have any suggestions for what else might be going on?
(that's an invitation for sarcasm, but please, try to resist)
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I have to agree with the first two bullet points for sure. Personal taste has a huge effect on what ends up sounding good, or right, from individual to individual (and personal taste in and of itself is already profoundly affected by the hearing sensitivities of the individual as well). The mechanical/acoustical coupling is also key, because many may not realize it, but although we are all the one and same species, our ears differ
dramatically in size, shape, form etc. from each other (as evidenced by the difference in shape from one person's set of UM56s to the next). This has a huge effect on which tip suits each wearer best!
That being said, I'm a fool and didn't find
this thread until
after I posted
this one. If a moderator sees this post and/or that thread, please delete that thread for me. Apologies. Anyhow, I'll just reiterate what I stated there to here for convenience:
Recently made the switch to Westone 3s from the UE Triple.fi 10 Pros (which, a while back, were already an upgrade from an old pair of Etymotic ER-4S'). I noticed that the vocals were way out in the back with most tips I tried until I finally bought some size S Shure black olives.
After initial auditioning of tips that I had handy, I settled on the small size Comply tips that were included with the Westone 3s up until this point because they sounded the most natural and flat with my ears compared to using the rest of the provided tips. I had a set of size M Shure black olives laying around that I tried, but they were uncomfortably tight for me and it seemed they were dimming out the sound signature (perhaps from the openings being pinched tight or shut due to them being too big).
Going on a hunch though, I decided to try ordering a set of the size S black olives. They came in today and I immediately auditioned them. As it turns out, with the size S black olives, I'm getting very close to the sound I wanted! Everything is as bright as I'd hope without being ear-bleeding sharp (my hearing sensitivity has as significant peak in the high range, so IEMs with a sound more like the Etymotic ER-4S tend to cause significant hearing fatigue for me in short time). Essentially, brightness is now, "perfect," for me.
Midrange has come alive as well; vocals are way more forward, very close to where I'd want it to be now (not in your face, but in the foreground, as the vocalist would and should be coming from when in a stage setting). I think the only weak point I am detecting in the sound signature, personally, is that the bass, while sufficiently fast and resolute, is a bit heavy, and as a result a bit lacking in dynamics (there's rarely a dynamic spread of subtle bass when it should be and heavy bass when it should be--it's just pretty much always medium to heavy). The only solution I've found for this, so far, is to listen with the volume down, but then that pushes the mids and highs back a bunch.
Anyone else want to chime in on the results of their experiments with various tips on the Westone 3s? How about suggestions on how to soften the bass a little bit without resorting to using an EQ (or is EQ really the only solution)? Just FYI my source is an iPhone 3G and I actually listen to a very wire variety of music, though primarily concentrated on rock/metal/alternative and Latin/Columbian music, with a sprinkling of pop and jazz/blues.
Judging by the responses in this thread though, it seems the jacked-up bass is essentially a side-effect of using the black olives. I will experiment a little more with the tri-flanges now, but my initial testing (when these IEMs were completely brand-new) told me that bass was insufficient for my taste with them. Perhaps now that I have put in a few weeks' worth of break-in/listening, they may work better with the tri-flanges (which I modified by shortening the base since they were running into my ear drums at stock length).
Btw, an observation I've made while reading this thread, is that the body of the IEMs themselves are sitting in
very different positions from person to person. Some people are indicating that with the short Complys, they can't get any seal at all and it sounds as though the units sit almost like ear buds for them, way out from the canal. On the other hand, when I use any of the Comply tips with these, the body nestles fully into my ear and the entire tip is in my canal; as a matter of fact, the thick, translucent single-flange tips that came with the Westone 3s literally hurt my ears because of the rough edges on the far-/body-end of the flanges rubbing up into/against my ear canals, so I can't barely even audition them from lack of comfort.
-Ed
