Westone 3 impressions?

[catscratch]

Right, time to revive the dead. Ghoulish, I know.

I have been messing around with the W3 some more, and experimenting with fit, and I finally found something that works: large clear silicone tips, which are too big to go into the ear canal and make a pretty good seal just outside the ear canal. Not very comfortable, but driver distance from the ear seems to be about right.

The sound improved massively.

Mids aren't quite as distant and not veiled. Treble is no longer harsh and sibilant. Bass isn't overblown, though upper bass is still exaggerated. But, on the whole, what was originally a mess of a canalphone is sounding very nice now, and I never thought I'd say that! It doesn't have the finesse of the ES2 but it's getting closer. I actually kinda like it!

Too bad the fit sucks. I think that Westone made the stems, sound tubes, whatever you want to call them, too short. When the W3 is worn as any other canalphone - i.e. shoved in as far as it will go - the sound seriously sucks. So you have to come up with stupid fitting techniques to get the driver-ear distance just right.

So from another mediocre canalphone I will upgrade this to a rather good canalphone actually with some major design flaws. The comfort [is bad] and makes me stick with the ES2 just for that alone, but the sonics are definitely something I could live with.

Still going to get the UE11 though.

[elnero]

It's seeming more and more like fit (placement) and tip selection are the real determining factors for the 3's. Some people seem to be able to get a comfortable fit and decent sound right off the bat while others really have to work at it. For myself Shure tri-flanges with the stock cut down gets a pretty decent sound with little to no sibilance issues but unfortunately those tips tend to irritate my ears a bit. It hasn't been too bad though because due to the design of the 3's the tri-flanges don't go nearly as deep as they did with the E500's.

Which brings me to something else I've noticed about the 3's, some people, me being one of them, can't use the shorter tips at all. The tri-flanges I'm using barely go far enough to get a proper seal.

[HeadphoneAddict]

Right, time to revive the dead. Ghoulish, I know.

I have been messing around with the W3 some more, and experimenting with fit, and I finally found something that works: large clear silicone tips, which are too big to go into the ear canal and make a pretty good seal just outside the ear canal. Not very comfortable, but driver distance from the ear seems to be about right.

The sound improved massively.

Mids aren't quite as distant and not veiled. Treble is no longer harsh and sibilant. Bass isn't overblown, though upper bass is still exaggerated. But, on the whole, what was originally a mess of a canalphone is sounding very nice now, and I never thought I'd say that! It doesn't have the finesse of the ES2 but it's getting closer. I actually kinda like it!

Too bad the fit sucks. I think that Westone made the stems, sound tubes, whatever you want to call them, too short. When the W3 is worn as any other canalphone - i.e. shoved in as far as it will go - the sound seriously sucks. So you have to come up with stupid fitting techniques to get the driver-ear distance just right.

So from another mediocre canalphone I will upgrade this to a rather good canalphone actually with some major design flaws. The comfort [is bad] and makes me stick with the ES2 just for that alone, but the sonics are definitely something I could live with.

Still going to get the UE11 though.

It's seeming more and more like fit (placement) and tip selection are the real determining factors for the 3's. Some people seem to be able to get a comfortable fit and decent sound right off the bat while others really have to work at it. For myself Shure tri-flanges with the stock cut down gets a pretty decent sound with little to no sibilance issues but unfortunately those tips tend to irritate my ears a bit. It hasn't been too bad though because due to the design of the 3's the tri-flanges don't go nearly as deep as they did with the E500's.

Which brings me to something else I've noticed about the 3's, some people, me being one of them, can't use the shorter tips at all. The tri-flanges I'm using barely go far enough to get a proper seal.

I've been saying this for a while now that I think the fit, ear canal shape and tip choice makes all the difference between good and bad sound - explaining how one could hear something completely different than another person. Several other people have reversed their opinions of the W3 on "the forum that must not be named" once they found the right tips and positioning.

I am glad you two have found a way to get the improved sound, but am sad about the continued comfort problems to achieve the sound I have heard from the start. I guess I am lucky to have the right ear size/shape to make several tips and ear positions work for me, including my custom UM-56.

[Hopstretch]

Sophistone 3.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBQAuw4NYLA]YouTube - Hugh Laurie-The Sophisticated Song[/ame]

[insyte]

Read through the thread, just glad I didn't order the westone 3, cause from the impressions here, I also don't think its for me

[peanutbutterjam]

Read through the thread, just glad I didn't order the westone 3, cause from the impressions here, I also don't think its for me

You never judge a product by people's impressions. Its their ears, not yours. And besides I think that some have already highlighted that its a very personal preference.

I personally tried the W3 before, but it wasn't to my taste. That's just me however.

For all you know this might just be your perfect IEM, or the crappiest one.

[insyte]

You never judge a product by people's impressions. Its their ears, not yours. And besides I think that some have already highlighted that its a very personal preference.

I personally tried the W3 before, but it wasn't to my taste. That's just me however.

For all you know this might just be your perfect IEM, or the crappiest one.

I guess you're right, but no one has taken the plunge here locally so i haven't tried it yet.

It's going to be quite expensive to pay for shipping the item back if I didn't like it, though I guess I could sell it. But nah, seeing at how many westone 3's suddenly appeared in the FS section in the other site after it wasn't the flavor of the month anymore, kinda tells me that it isn't the IEM that everyone was hoping for.

Just like the HD800, I hope its not just hyped up. I was also hoping the forums here would bash the esw10 so I wouldn't be tempted (since Ive already heard the esw9), but my wallet seems to be disappointed with what I've read here

[elnero]

It's going to be quite expensive to pay for shipping the item back if I didn't like it, though I guess I could sell it. But nah, seeing at how many westone 3's suddenly appeared in the FS section in the other site after it wasn't the flavor of the month anymore, kinda tells me that it isn't the IEM that everyone was hoping for.

I think the number of 3's that went up for sale shortly after their release may be a bit misleading. I think there were at least a few that were bought via the cashback deals on US Amazon which were only available to US residents that had the 3's going for around $250 then flipped for profit on HF. The number of 3's in the FS forums has certainly dropped significantly since that time. No doubt the 3's are a bit of an enigma though.

[The Monkey]

You never judge a product by people's impressions. Its their ears, not yours.

Sometimes impressions are all we have to go on. That's one of the reasons we post them and seek them in the first place. After a while, you learn that some people share relatively closely your own preferences and serve as a pretty accurate proxy for your own experience.

[peanutbutterjam]

Sometimes impressions are all we have to go on. That's one of the reasons we post them and seek them in the first place. After a while, you learn that some people share relatively closely your own preferences and serve as a pretty accurate proxy for your own experience.

Yep I guess that's true. After all I suppose that's why most of us are here.

What I meant was not to dismiss the IEM just because of reviews, not because reviews cannot be trusted, but because there are far fewer selections avaliable in the IEM arena compared to hi-fi or head-fi. In hi-fi there are just too much stuff out there for one person to fully try out, so impressions might be the only reasonable compromise. But you can't really afford that for IEMs, because you don't have much choice anyway.

[elnero]

To go back to some earlier discussion in regards to the Triple.fi's, I have the same pair on loan again but this time recabled with the Null Audio cable and again only with Comply tips. Comfort is still a bit of an issue and the cable itself is rather short and stiff but I'm liking the sound. Based off my previous impressions the bass seems like it might be lessened just a touch but the mids are more forward and the treble hasn't lost any presence but seems cleaner, less smeared. They're still a touch dry but overall I'm really liking them especially for things like Muse and Porcupine Tree.

Do I now like the Triple.fi's more than the Westone 3's? That's a tough call, they're very different beasts, the Triple.fi's seem to excel with my more rock based music while the 3's do a very nice job with more acoustic music. I'm now adding the IE8's into the mix as well, I had a couple of days with a fairly new pair and was impressed enough with them to order my own pair. Ultimately the 3's will likely have to find a new home because of the tips irritating my ears so I'm expecting it will come down to slugfest between the IE8's and Triple.fi's.

[Tony]

Hey Elnero, have you noticed any changes in cymbals energy or sibilance? How much is the Null Audio cable?

[elnero]

I don't know for sure how much the cable is but I don't think it's too expensive. Sibilance seems to be cleaned up to the point where it seems quite natural as do cymbals. I'm fairly sensitive to "hot" treble but I thought this time round the Tri.fi's sounded revealing and extended without being fatiguing. I'm not sure that the treble is lessened much but it seems cleaner less smeared.

I should note I've had a bit of a head cold while auditioning them but I'm going to have them for a little while yet so I should get a better feel for how they perform.

[HeadphoneAddict]

To go back to some earlier discussion in regards to the Triple.fi's, I have the same pair on loan again but this time recabled with the Null Audio cable and again only with Comply tips. Comfort is still a bit of an issue and the cable itself is rather short and stiff but I'm liking the sound. Based off my previous impressions the bass seems like it might be lessened just a touch but the mids are more forward and the treble hasn't lost any presence but seems cleaner, less smeared. They're still a touch dry but overall I'm really liking them especially for things like Muse and Porcupine Tree.

Do I now like the Triple.fi's more than the Westone 3's? That's a tough call, they're very different beasts, the Triple.fi's seem to excel with my more rock based music while the 3's do a very nice job with more acoustic music. I'm now adding the IE8's into the mix as well, I had a couple of days with a fairly new pair and was impressed enough with them to order my own pair. Ultimately the 3's will likely have to find a new home because of the tips irritating my ears so I'm expecting it will come down to slugfest between the IE8's and Triple.fi's.

You could still consider some Westone UM56 custom tips for the Westone 3.

[elnero]

You could still consider some Westone UM56 custom tips for the Westone 3.

They're not really economically feasible for me. The cost of getting impressions around here seems to be upwards of $100 which would be on top of the cost of the tips themselves. Considering the modded tri-flanges are the only tip to solve the sibilance issues for me and how finicky the 3's are in regards to tips I'd be very reluctant to spend what would probably end up costing me close to $250 - 300 on something that only might work for me especially when they wouldn't fit my other two possible options. In addition with my sensitivity to many of the materials used in these tips I'm not convinced I won't have the same problems with customs.

[HeadphoneAddict]

They're not really economically feasible for me. The cost of getting impressions around here seems to be upwards of $100 which would be on top of the cost of the tips themselves. Considering the modded tri-flanges are the only tip to solve the sibilance issues for me and how finicky the 3's are in regards to tips I'd be very reluctant to spend what would probably end up costing me close to $250 - 300 on something that only might work for me especially when they wouldn't fit my other two possible options. In addition with my sensitivity to many of the materials used in these tips I'm not convinced I won't have the same problems with customs.

Wow, that is expensive. It sucks that impressions are only $30 for me here, but $100 where you are. At the Beltone Hearing Center here in town the UM-56 cost me $70 with free impressions, because I had already spent $30 x2 on impressions for my 2 pairs of Livewires.

I'm gonna see if the UM56 will fit my Phonak Audeo PFE, since I was able to force them onto the XM10 with good fit and sound. That means you could use them with Westone, Shure, Ety, Image X10 and maybe Phonak too.

If you did decide to do UM56 and don't get along with Silicone, you could get them in Vinyl which will last at least 3 years before getting hard or shrinking. Or, stick to the original plan.