Westone 3 a la venta el 28 de noviembre

[jorgillo]

Miguel, creo que has malinterpretado las cosas. Conociendo como conozco a picodeloro, él jamás se atrevería a dudar de la competencia de alguien... y menos sin conocerlo Si te fijas, la palabra "competente" va entrecomillada y tiene que ver con el post inmediatamente anterior, en el que se reprocha que todas las reviews estén en inglés 

[picodeloro]

Me ha contado un pajarito que con un poco de suerte tendremos una review "competente" de estos auriculares por el foro  : :

-- o --
Rodrigo

P.D: Aclaración, yo no hago "reviews compententes" de nada...

Ojo, te dire que conozco a vorlon1 hace un par de anos. El posee un buen oido, y aunque el y yo no siempre estamos de acuerdo (lo cual es bueno en asusntos de musica) considero que escribe bien y al punto. Tal vez no compartas sus opiniones pero no me creo que deberias de implicar que no su escrito del Westone 3 no es competente. 

No Miguel, debo de ser de los pocos en este foro que no entro en Head-fi, se que vorlon1 es un usuario de Head-fi de casualidad, pero no se sus gustos y creo que tardaré mucho tiempo en saberlo, pues para serte sincero no me interesa.

Me quedo con lo que se "cuece" en este foro y ya me va llegando, pues tengo otras aficiones que me roban mucho tiempo.

Cuando comenté este tema, no he caído en la cuenta de que tu debes de ser uno de los que tienen una de esas unidades de prueba para poder hacer comentarios anticipados a la venta del auricular... el caso es que me da que no eres el único en este foro que tiene una de esas unidades de la primera hornada...

-- o --
Rodrigo

[mrarroyo]

Yo no tengo un Westone 3 el cual lo pude haber comprado en eBay con el 30% de descuento ofrecido por Live Search mas un cupon de 10% de eBay/PayPal ($265 USD mas o menos). Yo hace tiempo que deje de usar iems, y a menos que este en un avion/tren no los usaria. Para esas pocas veces que tomo el avion uso unos iems baratos. UE super.fi 3 live.

Asi que es otro del que habla, ok.

[rodaballo]

Lo siento en inglés...

Vorlon1

After going several rounds back and forth with the TF10s and the W3s, I'd have to say both are great phones. They have a certain similarity of sound signature also, but the W3s are slightly cleaner sounding, kind of like if you took the TF 10s and with some kind of magic sound cleanser stripped away a very fine layer of sonic film from the entire presentation. This is not dramatic, but you can certainly hear it. In addition, the bass on the TF10, while quite good, is not as deep, clean, detailed, or impactful as the W3. One of the songs I have been using for this comparison is Patricia Barber's version of "Norwegian Wood" by the Beatles. Besides excellent recording quality and female vocals, there is a lot of stand-up bass, piano, drums and some bells in the background. While the TF10 renders the bass fiddle well, the W3 is just cleaner and more impactful, including the sound of the fingers plucking the strings, which you do get some of with the TF 10, just more resolution and impact comes with the W3. The vocals are competent with the TF10, although the placement is ever so slightly recessed compared to the main body of the music. The W3 places the vocals slightly forward of the instruments on this cut, which is, in my opinion, where it belongs. It is not way out front just a bit and pleasantly so. The W3 has a very smooth musicality to its presentation, you hear no grain in the voice, it flows very well. With the TF 10 there is a very slight hint of grain and a sense that something is resisting the flow of the music very slightly. Again, this is a subtle effect, but depending on one's sensitivity to such things, noticeable.

The biggest difference I found between the W3 and TF 10 was in listening to classical music. I used the Cleveland Symphony's recording of the Dvorak 8th Symphony, conducted by Christophe von Dohnanyi for this test. Listening to large string elements with complex textures of woodwinds in the mix, the W3 is phenomenal at rendering the weight of the orchestra with clarity and definition. I do not think I have heard anything like this done so well. You get the low rumble that a real orchestra creates in the hall, but the string definition is all there, not smudged or approximated, and the woodwinds and flutes are all there very clearly heard, but integrated into the sound as they should be. The 4th movement of this work starts with a big trumpet introduction and this is clear and biting while retaining a certain sweetness in the sound, like it sounds live. This section of the music can sound more biting and acerbic on lesser phones. I am extremely impressed with the W3s performance with classical music. The same holds true for piano music. The W3s ability to pick up bass energy just gives a reality to the piano that the TF 10 does not duplicate. In fact, as I have been listening to the W 3 off and on all day, I have gotten used to hearing this lower bass weight underpinning the music and now I hear the lack of it with other phones quite glaringly, when I wouldn't have recognized it before to the same degree.

To test the higher registers I listened to a Judy Collins tune called, "All the Pretty Horses" which has bells and triangles and such. Here the TF 10 showed a lot of strength, with clarity and definition in the higher realms. The W3 was also quite good, but the higher sounds of the bells and triangles didn't sound quite as defined, but more "in the mix" of the music. Whether they should stand out like the TF 10 allows or be slightly less emphasized like the W3 presents, I do not know. The highs on the W3 are very clear and very smooth, with a kind of golden color to them (if that can describe a sound) while some of these sounds with the TF 10 may be ever so slightly more extended and defined. Others may perceive this differently, I do not see it as a major difference. Also, I dod no mention soundstage. Generally the TF10 has a slightly larger and deeper soundstage, I'd say about 5% larger all around, not so much, but perceivable. BTW, if there are any lovers of classical violin out there, the W3s sound fantastic on violin music because of their smoothness and lack of grain and easy flowing sound they allow. So, those are my attempts to compare the TF10 and the W3. Coming later the Shure E 500s and Sleek SA 6s.

La de Headphoneaddict...

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/review-westone-3-ultimate-iem-vs-losers-everything-else-aka-w3-appreciation-thread-386477/

Y otra

Powderhound was very helpful with this problem of mine ^^. I registered online and got a "form submitted" confirmation, so hopefully now I have a 2 year warranty =). no email confirmation though, I assume this is normal?

anyways, I guess I'll input some of my thoughts on these phones now that I've been listening to them on and off for about a day now. I did let my roommate borrow the w3's for a couple of hours and he (thankfully) returned them with a look of awe on his face.

First off, I listen to mostly alternative rock, rock, hiphop and pop. There was the occasional classical song in there, and all my songs are ~256kbps. (I actually reripped my library to higher bitrates in anticipation of these earphones a couple of months back). My source is the month old sony walkman S638F and I used the w3's with them unamped. I also did some listening with the w3's on my dell xps laptop, but the hiss was almost unbearable =\. my old um1's also have the hiss problem with the laptop.

Speaking of my old um1's, I have to say that the w3's are my first high-end earphone. Because of this, I cannot compare the w3's with other high-end phones, but I can tell you my opinions of the SQ. I can also tell you that the w3's blow away the um1's, but I think that's pretty obvious . Also, another disclaimer: I'm pretty new to this describing sound thing, so please don't hate me if I don't seem to make sense.

Alright, to the actual review. First thing I noticed when I picked up the w3's is how soft and flexible the cord is. This is different from the cord of my um1s, which has more braids (and thus is less flexible I think). Powderhound confirmed that the older models of the um1s and um2s have slightly different cords, so this discrepancy is perfectly normal. Whether the softer cord is better or not, I do not know - I just hope the cord for the w3 is just as durable.

The tips that came on the w3's were hard and clear (someone referred to them as "bullets" if I recall correctly). The bullets come in 3 sizes, but I did not really spend too much time with them. They are too hard and do not provide isolation in my ears. I tried the soft silicone tips next - medium fits me the best - and then the triflange. The silicone tips provided good isolation and medium comfort, while the triflanges were too long to be of any good use(as many others have commented on). I've been using the standard comply tips on my um1s for a year now, so I tried them out with the w3's. I love the comply tips for its superior comfort and sound isolation. I used the comply tips for a good 4 hours before reading Headphoneaddict's great review, thinking that I would continue to use them for as long as I had the w3's. However, after reading that the comply tips muffle the treble a little bit, I tried the silicone tips again. Indeed, I found that with the silicone tips, I could hear treble that I couldn't really hear with the complys. As a result, I'm now using the medium silicone tips supplied with the w3's to listen to my music. In terms of comfort and isolation, the complys are still a first, but the silicone tips are a close enough second for me to sacrifice comfort for SQ

Now, the soundd of the earphones... Immediately after putting on the w3's for the first time, I could tell that the w3's were a lot more musical (than what I've previously owned). I could hear the bass bumping away tightly and firmly, but it wasn't overwhelming the mids or highs as some other earphones I've owned do (bose in-ear as an example). The bass is significantly more present than in the um1s, which pleases me a lot since I thought the bass was lacking in the um1s. The bass goes pretty deep - not as deep as the bose inears, but still among the deepest I've heard in Iems. One other thing about the bass: it seems to be more present in songs where it is needed, and less present in songs where it isn't as needed. For example, in a hip hop song, the bass would be thumping away, sounding glorious, while in an alternative rock song, the bass would be more recessed into the whole sound of the song. The way the bass presence changed with each song amazed me, and I must say that although there were a few songs that I felt should've had a tad more bass or a tad less bass, the w3's balanced the bass perfectly 95% of the time.

After noticing the beautiful bass of the w3s, I tried listening for 3 distinct drivers. I knew the low driver was most likely working, so I tried to see if I could detect the other drivers. TBH, I couldn't tell there were 3 drivers at all! It all sounded like one amazingly good driver with a huge range in frequencies. This contributed to the "musical" feel I got from these earphones. the music played and flowed together flawlessly, without any obvious divides where notes were missing. In fact, the only way I can tell there are three drivers is when I hear the highs playing so crisply, the lows playing so tightly, and the mids sounding so detailed.

When listening to my library with the w3's I discovered notes and details in the highs and mids that I never heard before with the um1s. I discovered the most in the high frequencies, hearing crisp crashes of cymbals that I never paid attention to before. The high frequencies aren't too bright though, just emphasized enough to make it sound amazing with the rest of the song. The details I heard in the mids were just notes here and there. Vocals are clear and very detailed. I'd occasionally come across a song which I didn't think sounded as good as other ones I've heard, but that may have to do with the actual quality of the recording.

Soundstage of the w3's are okay. Definitely wider than the um1's, but perhaps not as wide as I had hoped.

Comparing these with the um1s, I can say that overall SQ is increased tremendously (duh!). When I switched back to the um1s after listening to the w3s, I found the um1s to be very flat sounding, lacking any musical feel to it at all. The bass of the w3 is extended (by loads) and is tight, the mids of the w3 are more natural and musical and very detailed (the um1s I thought had pretty good mid detail as well), and the highs of the w3 made me think the highs of the um1 were crap!

phew, what else do I say? These earphones are simply the best I've heard. I do not regret paying full price (yes, I'm one of the few) for these at all. If only they came with the registration card and user manual like they were supposed to . no worries though, Powderhound was very willing to help with the situation and I [think I] am safe with the 2 year warranty.
earphonesolutions was also extremely fast shipping the w3's to me in NY thanks!

I plan on selling my um1s to a friend now that I have the w3's. He's going to come over friday and have a listen to the w3's as well. Hope he still buys my um1s after the listen

haha, hope you guys enjoy your w3's when you get them! I know I do!

Estoy revisando mis IEMs y la verdad estos Westone deben ser buenísimos porque yo ahora estoy con los Etys E4P/S y me encantan (otra vez!!!!).

Saludos

[Aevum]

quidado con head-fi que hay mucho niñato, hay que esperar que baje la espuma,
cada vez que salen unos cascos nuevos, estan como niños y al final cuando baja la excitacion tienes la verdad, yo casi hice el error de pillarme unos IE-8 de sennhaiser cuando estaban con la euphoria, y despues mas adelante se veia como se desinflaba el asunto,

por ahora, bastante error he cometido con los triple.fi, que por MUY buenos que sean, no los puedo disfrutar porque el cuerpo del audicular esta muy mal diseñado,

no me entiendan mal, los westone 3 pueden ser los mejores audiculares IEM jamas creados, son los primeros 3 way de verdad, los Shure SE530 y los Triple,fi 10 llevan 2 armaturas de bajos y 1 de altos, entonces solo necesita 2 crossovers, supuestamente los Westone 3 son los primeros con separacion altos, medios y bajos, pero ya saben que las opiniones de head-fi, con un salero entero,

[countach]

Yo estoy muy muy tentado.

Esta review me ha dejado temblando:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/westone-3-impressions-appreciation-thread-382767/index77.html#post5082391

Kudos, congratulations, and thanks to Westone - they're simply wonderful! (and every other superlative I can think of).

The Westone 3's were DEFINITELY worth the 2 year wait, as well as the full retail price (and, even the cost of buying SE530's in the interim - which will promptly go up for sale, or be given away!)

(...)

Absolutely lost in the most immersive earphone (maybe even headphone) listening experience I've ever heard.

What an epiphany!

This is exactly why those of us who frequent Head-Fi do this stuff. (continually abuse our wallets in search of sonic perfection)
I just can't get over these things.

(...)

So far, the only comparison that comes to mind is with my Definitive Technologies BP2000 speakers (bipolar line source + 15" 500 watt powered subwoofer in each). The 3's sound more like the Definitives, than anything else; and more than any other headphone I own (HD600, SR325i, ER4P, SE530, PK2). I swear; they sound just like I stuffed the Definitives into my ears. Only difference is the lack of chest thumping sub bass from the 1,000 watts of subwoofer power on the Definitives.

These little puppies sound more like high end speakers than ANY headphone I've ever listened to. Balanced, detailed, more PRAT than you can shake a a stick at; deep, tight, articulate & punchy bass, almost surreal mids, and sweet, sweet high frequencies.

They put you right there - in the 2nd row.

wrt high frequencies: I don't know how Westone managed to maintain the detail and air I'm hearing, without getting that "too sharp / analytical" quality to the sound that I hear with the Grados & Ety's.

The bass is simply the best I've ever heard in an IEM, by a factor of 2, at least.

What really surprised me is the superior, smooth, lush mids. They blow the SE530's away in mids too (and I thought that was the 530's strong suit). The 3's do male & female vocals like no other. And, electric guitars are simply visceral on the 3's!

Matter of fact, it almost seems trivial to attempt to discuss the Westone 3 sound in terms of the traditional low / mid / high frequency parameters common in these forums. There is something about the 3's that seem to "integrate" those otherwise distinct sections of the frequency curve into a single, unified, holistic experience.

Headstage is fantastic. Close your eyes, and you can easily position each instrument.

May have to "call in sick" today - because I don't know if I can uplug, anytime soon.

(...)

Better end this post now.
Spent the last 10 minutes just staring off into space, shaking my head at the sound of this "disruptive" product.

The Westone 3's are un-freakin' believable!

Estoy encantadísimos con el ER4P, y tuve lo UM2, que los considero demasiado sonido aterciopleado y poco definido.

Pero estos W3 parece ser que tienen la grandeza del sonido de los UM2 mejorada +  la definición de los ER4P y un poco más de todo.

Vamos, la perfección..


MUY TENTADO.

[Carlos]

quidado con head-fi que hay mucho niñato, hay que esperar que baje la espuma,
cada vez que salen unos cascos nuevos, estan como niños y al final cuando baja la excitacion tienes la verdad,

No te falta razón, pero tampoco hay que ser injusto . Lo que observas es algo normal en un foro del tamaño de Head-Fi, que sea como sea es "LA" referencia para cualquier dispositivo nuevo que tenga que ver con auriculares. Todos nos entusiasmamos con las novedades, es algo muy humano . Lo que no quita para que haya que tomarse siempre las cosas que leemos con escepticismo, no sólo en Head-Fi, sino en general en todos los ámbitos.

En el caso de los UM3, tampoco creo que sea muy arriesgado creernos que sean unos buenos auriculares. Se trata del nuevo modelo insignia de una marca reputadísima en este campo. Otra cosa es que casen con nuestras preferencias personales, pero seguro que son una opción excelente para muchos usuarios.

[picodeloro]

Vaya, me parece muy optimista eso de "The 3's sound more like the Definitives, than anything else; and more than any other headphone I own (HD600, SR325i, ER4P, SE530, PK2)".

Creo que ciertas opiniones hay que cogerlas con pinzas, sea cual sea el foro en el que se escribe.

No voy a discutir si resulta más "funcional" el tener unos Westone 3 o unos HD600, por eso de que los primeros puedes llevarlos discretamente por la calle o usarlos en casa, pero si nos ceñimos al sonido no acabo de tener claro que un IEM supere a un auricular de la calidad del HD600, ojalá sea verdad, pues entonces mañana mismo me los compraría  :.

-- o --
Rodrigo

[countach]

Ojo, soy consciente del "hype" de estos momentos en head-fi, que muchas opiniones pueden estar un poco desorbitadas, pero lo que está claro es que "algo hay".

He asistido en head-fi al lanzamiento por ejemplo de los E500 (los primeros triples de shure) o de los nuevos UE triples universales y no se llegaba a este nivel de "emoción".

Es una decisión complicada. Poner el cable APureSound a los Etys... un ampli mejor... o olvidarse y ir a por estos W3...



----
Añado: Sobre lo de los niñatos en head-fi (que no dudo que los haya), pero este es el que más está publicando maravillas sobre los W3: "Headphone Addict" se hace llamar. Su foto aquí:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/review-westone-3-ultimate-iem-vs-losers-everything-else-aka-w3-appreciation-thread-386477/index27.html

[Carlos]

Cómo que no . Cuando salieron los e500 fue una bomba total. Yo diría que el hype fue incluso mayor XDXDXD. Los de Shure planearon mejor e hicieron el lanzamiento durante la reunión anual de Head-Fi. Los primeros IEMs de gama alta a precio asequible... Y los primeros en dar unos buenos bajos, que ahora todo el mundo se queja de que "sobran", pero antes era lo contrario . Dudo que Westone venda tantos UM3 como Shure vendió e500.

[rodaballo]

Y los Etys (E4P/S)? Donde quedaron?

Ayer los usé en un viaje de avión y son más que decentes...

A la ida usé los e500.

Me da a mi que la cosa está bastante igualada.

Resistiremos?

Salud

[macbcn]

Hola a todos,

Esta mañana acaban de entregarme los nuevos W3  , no los he podido utilizar demasiado (estoy trabajando). Mientras les doy unas horas de uso, comentaros un poco por encima lo que me parecen, habiendo tenido unos UM2 transparentes por unas horas... hay tantas reviews que no se si os será de utilidad que suba algunas fotos. Si queréis algo concreto las hago y las pongo en un momentito.

En términos generales diría que están mucho mejor terminados, es evidente que en diseño han mejorado notablemente. Conectores y cableado es el mismo que el modelo anterior. Como sabéis además traen un regulador de volumen y varios adaptadores, entre ellos los triple flange y una pequeña funda de transporte mas cuidada también.

Vienen con un pequeño catálogo de accesorios, un packaging mas atractivo que el modelo anterior y sin la pegatina esa fea de Westone de regalo .

Los tengo conectados a un ipod nano de la anterior generación. No quiero dar mi opinión a nivel sonoro aún porque imagino que le quedan unas horas de uso para empezar a valorarlos con justicia; el nivel de detalle continúa en la línea de los UM2, graves algo mas contenidos quizás, pero para nada cortos.

Lo que si puedo decir es que son cómodos, comodisimos y una vez puestos quedan muy bien sujetos. Muy discretos, extremadamente discretos.

Seguiremos informando.

Saludos!!

[Howard Wolowitz]

Más, más, más.....  , y no es lo que parece.

Saludos

PD fotitos