Westone’s 6 balanced armature universal IEM – the King of the universals?
Westone W60
Pros
- Warm detailed refined signature
- Extremely well tuned with versatile range
- Fantastic fit, Great stock cables and accessories
Cons
- MMCX is not the first choice for most people
- Replacement Faceplates prone to cracking
- Storage case could be improved on
Sound Signature
Bass
The bass is almost everything I could want from my in ear experience. There is plenty of warmth present and the bass hits with authority. It does not achieve the incredible levels of punch and accuracy that ACS Encore Studio Pro CIEMs achieve. They have more depth and sub bass impact and are achieving this with a 5 driver set-up. The W60s are outperforming everything else I can compare them to in the lower regions bar this set of in ears. The Sony XBA4ips I pitted them against have a more linear bass response which is faster than the Westones. The Sony’s use a 4 driver balanced armature system. I still prefer the more fun approach of the W60 to the more clinical representation of the Sony earphones.
Lower Mids
The lower mids are what I am hearing as male voices and sounds broadly in that frequency range. This is an area I find is often muted and I often find it harder to follow male vocals compared to the higher response of a female or a falsetto performance. The Westone earphones are muted slightly in this area compared to my Sony earphones, but less muted than my ACS Encores and a very similar representation to my Sennheiser IE800s. The IE800s have a single Extra Wide Band dynamic driver.
Upper Mids
Female vocals, male vocal peaks strings , piano. So much is going on in this area of the music, that it definitely deserves separating from the lower mids. The W60s are a triumph in the area. they trounce my IE800s and my ACS Encores are left behind. My XBA4ips sound thin in comparison. Only my oBravo Erib 2as can stay with these in this department. The oBravos throw effects in the upper mids and treble at you. They have a Planar tweeter as a driver and a dynamic for the lower frequencies. The Bravos have magic in this area, but are definitely not everyone’s cup of tea. Possibly they will be looked at in more detail in a subsequent review.
Treble/Soundstage
The area which lets so many of us audiophiles down. The area of much contention too. What one person can tolerate in the upper ranges and views as extension and vastness in the sound stage will come across as grating to another. I tend to venture very carefully in this territory because I would not want someone to spend £1000 on something which will grate on their ears, in hours, days, months or years to come. The treble has been rolled off on the W60s. There is detail in spades; echo is present and the instruments are separated as you would expect from a top tier IEM and there is no stretch or thinness or shrillness from the upper registry of the Westones. The overall treble tone was exactly as Karl Cartwright has described what he wants to hear from his audio; warmth. Warm tranquil effortless detail with nothing particularly jumping out at you. There are more resolving models on the market – the Sennheiser IE800s dig out just a little more without seeming forward strident or overly hot. Conversely my ACS customs are rolled off far sooner and come across as slightly dull in comparison.
Value for Money
There are enough tips to satisfy anyone. I would like to see more, many more Comply Foam Tips in the package as in my opinion there is nothing that touches the sound that the W60 gets from them. The sound can be tailored for more detail by wearing different tips. It was great to see Westone offering 2 cables in the package. Sound quality is paramount. For £1000 no one is under any illusion. The sound must bring a top tier level. Without the sound being every bit as much as any IEM, no accessories will cause an impulse purchase. The sound brings what it needs to. The package once opened and assembled need hardly be looked at again. The IEMs once put to the ears will suffice. For £1000 our captive audience looks for the very best there is out there.
earphonia.com readers, I am confident that you will believe me when I say – in the IEM World the Westone W60 sits right up there with a handful of the elite.
Conclusion
We have a top class IEM sound signature in the Westone W60. They hit hard when needed , have its to praise in the higher mids and the treble is rolled off just before it becomes too much. There is warmth present but detail and clarity too is included in the package. The lower mids are slightly pulled back for my tastes but so are many others. For 6 drivers, for a little while, this was the best that Westone could give us. I cannot imagine what they have done in their newer W80 to surpass this, but let me heartily recommend this model as a balanced warm detailed world class monitor that is possibly the best I’ve heard.
