Westone W40 Quadruple Drivers IEM Earphones with Detachable Cable - Black

I'm not an audiophile but I'm serious about the quality of the music I listen to, both the music media/source/files and the equipment, which in this case are the Westone W40 earphones.I bought them after reading multiple highly positive reviews, both from professional reviewers and buyers, including on Amazon. Naturally I had high expectations and I wanted to keep them.I used these mainly with:1) FiiO X5 + FiiO E12A Mont Blanc IEM2) Sony AWZ A153) Pro-Ject Essentials II + Musical Fidelity M1HPA Headphone Amplifier4) Pro-Ject Essentials II + Alctron HPA002 Multi Channel Headphone Amplifier5) PC using FiiO X5 as the DACMedia mainly included vinyls, 92-24 and 192-24 flac files. Mainly art rock, prog rock, hard rock, jazz, soul and metal - David Bowie, Radiohead, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Adele, Amy Winehouse, Miles David, etc.As I mentioned that I'm not an audiophile so I can't use all the jargons which people with a lot of music/sonic knowledge do. Therefore I'll try to state my experience and impressions in a very layman style.Packaging - OK. Better than a lot of earphones in the market, including Shure SE425 but not worthy of a £300 plus IEM. They come with a variety of ear tips which is good and a standard for the earphones in this price range. Also come with 'faceplates'. I might have appreciated them if I was happy with the basics - the sound, alas! The good news is that they come with a hard plastic box to keep/carry them securely. There is also a 2nd cable which looks stronger and better than the one fitted out of box.Earphones > Physical aspects - They are very light and comfortable. But there is a problem - They look and feel ordinary :( Especially the wire looks very thin and flimsy. During my brief trial period I remained worried about breaking it (wire). I understand that they come with a 2 or 3 years warranty but who would want to get a product backed up by a good warranty but apparently unreliable quality?Earphones > Sound - They main factor now......Yes the sound is detailed, clear and spacious. Treble, Mids and Bass are balanced. They are pleasant to the ears as they produce warm and laidback sound. I personally like warn sound. However, they are so laidback that I didn't feel myself close enough to the music and vocals. And this is my main criticism - For me excellent earphones/headphones are those which will make me feel like I'm very near to the performance. There were no such feelings while using these earphones. If I can't feel myself closer to the music (the feeling of being there in the live performance or in the studio) then why not spend less than £100 or spend £300 on a pair of headphones? I can give more details but it will take me away from my most important complaint - The earphones didn't take me closer to the performance.I had read on multiple forums that they needed burn in and got better with use. During my limited time with them I gave them sufficient burn in opportunities and kept waiting for improvements. But still, :(I'm glad that I had Shure se535 for comparison purposes which are a lot more punchy, powerful and very close to the performance (they warrant a separate review).My final decision was to return them as they didn't sound, feel and look like £300 + earphones.

Truth of the matter is ive owned nunerous high end headphones and besides the sony ex1000 in ears these are my absolute favourite. tbe sony were a little tighter sounding and clinical but less fun.my most recent ones before these were ue900 and truth be told these blow them away for me. the biggest flaw with the ue900 for me was at high volume they would fall apart sound wise. the bass would distort terrible. i thought it was so bad i had a manufacturing issue so they went back. i have owned shure se530 aswell and these are a similar sound but have more extension and transparency up top and more emphasis on bass.my only reservation about these is with poor mp3 files they can be a bit sibilant and sharp in the highs at times and the bass is massive but lacks a little depth.these are warm sounding. if you dont like bigger bass look for something else. i cant say the ue900 sounded terrible because at moderate volumes they were tight and sounded really good with less bass and smooth highs but for me when the beat drops and you really crank up your volume my in ears need to stay solid and the w40 does a much better job and these babies are extremely loud and never struggle.something else to take away is the build and fit. these are nicely made unlike the ue900 which have had numerous reported issues. the connector for the cable on these is fully gold plated and the ue900 is not which has led to poor connections. the bodies on the ue900 have been poorly glued and fell apart in peoples hands under pressure changing cables. these again have no such issue.logitech have make incremental improvements the the ue900 over its lifetime but its completely random which set you will get. some have gold connectors and some dont for example. so my advice is steer clear of those. if however you like a shallower bass with less impact they may suit your tastes better.

It's one of the purchases that I am most satisfied with.- The presentation is worthy of the category of the product: They bring a pair of cables, very comfortable and very well constructed (I use the twisted without micro). Both of them of very good quality. Enough olives so that each one finds the one that fits him best. A very nice box to keep them. And also, as we know, you can change the 'look' based on putting exteriors in three different colors: black, red and blue.- Once placed, comfort is absolute. The cables fit perfectly. Come on, you forget that you wear them.- SOUND: They honor their price and rank. Sound clear, clean, very spacious. Nothing dry or analytical. Very natural. You can clearly see the fantastic work done by the four drivers of each handset.I had heard very good IEMs: The magnificent Audio Pinnacle P1, the small but fantastic Q-Jays, etc, etc ... but when you hear these you remember the old saying that "the best is the enemy of the good." Now one realizes that, being the others very good, these are a step ahead. The cleaning of the voices, their sharpness, etc ... not the same as the previous ones (and others).Conclusion ?: Yes, they are expensive. But they honor their price. Plus, you save money: If you buy these, you do not have to try others!If you can, buy them. If not, gather them and you buy them. If you want to spend less, Pinnacle P1 or Q-Jays are great alternatives.But beware! If you buy any of the above - or others -, do not listen to these anymore. Because if you wear them ... it will be difficult for you to continue using the above