In U-Headphone and U-Audio editorial department, every Monday is an editorial meeting. At this time, the equipment review is distributed. I saw the editor-in-chief Cai Chengrong holding a black hardcover tray and said, "Please smile." I know the equipment. I wrote it to me. Looking at the exquisite packaging, I asked: "Early earphones?" I didn't expect the editor to answer: "No, it's earbuds, Westone's latest flagship W80!"
Since it is an earphone, why bother to make the box so big? The reason is not difficult to understand, it is a relative sense of value, although the W80 is Westone's latest flagship earphones, but the size is almost the same as the average earphones, the old saying, the style comes with function (form follows function) The earbud type earphone should be the size of the long one. It should not be smaller or larger. When the manufacturer designs the product, the price is higher and higher, but it is difficult to have a place to talk about it. It is a feasible solution to start on the packaging.
Therefore, the exquisite and compact W80 is packed in layers of packaging, making the appearance bigger, opening the carton, and there are also large and small carrying hard shells, including W80 related accessories, including detachable earphone cable. , various sizes of earplugs, replaceable color shells..., a wide range of random accessories are all available, and a large hard shell can be used to carry headphones and DAP, small hard shell can only be equipped with W80.
Of course, earphones such as the W80 are so expensive that the rich accessories and exquisite packaging are the basic conditions for rationalizing the price, but the most important value of choosing the earphones in the beautiful packaging and in the various accessories is still in the earphone itself. It’s hard to listen. Why is Westone capable of launching such expensive headphones? Because they are the inventors of earbuds! Really! Originally, I thought that Jerry Harvey of Ultimate Ears was the first to make armature earphones, but after studying Westone, I knew that the original originator was here.
The Westone company was founded in 1959 by Ron Morgan. He originally sold hearing aid-related products in Colorado. Later, he didn't want to run around, so he set up his own workshop to provide ear molds because of quality. Good and fast service, small business will soon be done. Of course, the family business must mobilize the whole family. Later, Randy Morgan, who took over his father's business, said that when they were in the summer and winter, all five children had to go to the factory to help make ear molds.
This Westone company in Colorado Springs has a family-run medical-related ear mold that has been in business for many years, from father to son, until 1985, when Sony launched the Walkman, a global trend, and Westone began to invest in the headset market. The outer casing is designed with their special ear mold design. This earphone earphone with good sound insulation performance is very useful for rock singers who perform live. Every musician on the stage is used as a monitor, so they are not afraid to listen. To her own voice, Westone began designing earphones for custom earphones for Rush and Def Leppard in 1991. Of course, at that time, it was not a balanced armature design, but a traditional moving coil unit.
Because of the close cooperation with the rock music circle, Van Hallen's drummer Jerry Harvey found Westone, hoping to turn the "reverse" working mode originally used on the hearing aid into a headphone unit, so technical assistance in Westone Next, Jerry Harvey founded Ultimate Ears. In 1996, UE launched the first customized dual-cell earphones. In 1997, Westone designed the first balanced armature earbuds for Shure, called Shure E1. In 1999, the earbud earphone E5 with double balanced armature unit was developed.
It’s a great success for people to marry. From 2002 to 2004, Westone launched earphones under its own brand. UM1, UM2, ES1, ES2 and ES3 came out one after another. In 2008, Westone launched the Westone 3, the first in the world. Three-tone earphones. At this time, Westone caught up with the wave of smart phones, the headset market is in the ascendant, and numerous products have been launched in the past ten years, while high-end products such as W50 and W60 are designed with more complex multi-channel design to show that Westone is in technology. In the lead position, W60 also won the best product recommendation of Digital Trends at the 2014 CES exhibition.
Westone's story is broadly described. Simply put, they are the founders of balanced armature headphones. Although the earliest brand may be Ultimate Ears, the technology behind it is taught by Westoen, a hearing-related product. Headphone products are not all of Westone's, but only part of them. Their careers in hearing care, hearing assisted medical and military applications may be even larger than headphones. For example, the US Air Force One is driving in the Westone ACCES. In-ear communication system. You see, Westone is not a small one!
Back to the W80, in terms of size, the W80 is not bigger than the predecessor flagship W60, but it is more complicated because it has eight balanced armatures, while the W60 is six balanced armatures. The W series is a good demonstration. The W10 has only one balanced armature, the W20 is changed to two, and the W30 has three. This is easy to understand. Two are high and medium bass, and three are high, medium and low. How to divide W40, W50, W60, W80? The four balanced armatures of the W40 are 2 low 1 middle 1 high sound, W50 is 1 low 2 medium 2 high pitch, W60 is 2 low 2 medium 2 high pitch, and W80 becomes 8 balanced armature, and the allocation is 2 low 2 medium 4 Treble. What is the logic?
The W40 uses two balanced armatures to enhance the bass. Just like the traditional speaker has a double bass design, it is easy to understand, but the W50 is doubled in the middle and high notes, the bass is unchanged, and the W60 is doubled, while the W80 is doubled as the tweeter. ? I think this is the secret of Westone's biography, only they know how to mix the complex balance armature ratio of multi-channel.
I have seen this application of balancing armatures becoming more and more complicated. It seems to be dazzling, but the change is not the same. The W80 is a 3-way design. It is not because the balance armature is increased, but the sound is cut finer. This is a reasonable design, because every time there is one more point, there will be one more frequency connection point, and the human ear is very sensitive to the phase in the middle of the frequency connection. As long as it changes slightly or reverses, it will not sound immediately. natural. Therefore, although Westone balances the armature more and more, it does not change the simple 3-way design.
Regardless of the sound performance, the sound insulation performance of the W80 is quite good. The original factory specification is -35dB, which means that when you wear the W80, the external noise will be reduced by 35dB, which will make the noisy environment relatively quiet. During the period of listening to W80, I often wear it in the MRT. I also wear it when I go to the North High-speed Rail. The sound insulation effect is really good. If you use specifications, I remember that the UE's specification is -26dB, which shows that Westone's -35dB is better.
Sound insulation is good, it does not mean that the expensive W80 is just used as a soundproof earplug. In fact, it allows you to listen at a smaller volume. If you take the MRT or the high-speed rail, the outside noise is quite loud. You must open it when listening to music with headphones. A louder volume, overcoming the interference of outside noise, can hear enough music details, and most of the volume at this time has already hurt the hearing. I actually use W80 on mass transit, with AK 380 DAP, the listening volume is about 10~20% less than other headphones. I believe that earphones with good external noise isolation like W80 are used. Listening to music at a low volume will be a healthier thing for hearing in the long run. For this "health", the W80 is very valuable.
However, in the MRT and high-speed rail, I don't feel that the sound performance of the W80 is comparable to its value. Although it isolates 35dB of noise, it still has annoying noise effects. The music details are no better than my own Atomic Floyd. Superdarts is better, but when I was in the dead of night, I used the AK 380 to listen, and the strength of the W80 was really released. For example, "Looking For A Home" is a series of songs commonly used by Blue Coast Records. When listening to the 16bit/44.1kHz standard CD format, the W80 has a natural warm sound quality, and the sound is slightly brighter, but the overall frequency band is evenly distributed. In fact, most of the balanced armature headphones, the high-frequency performance problems are not big, but the low frequency often sounds slightly tight, that is the technical limitations of the sounding components themselves, but the W80's super multi-balanced armature design, plus Westone's own unique formula, The low frequency extension of the W80 is very natural, although the volume may still be slightly inferior to the dynamic single earphones, but the beautiful low-frequency line sense is better than the dynamic single.
The same "Looking For A Home", I put on the DSD 2.8Mhz format to listen to, the benefits of W80 can be more performance, listening in a quiet environment, put on DSD to listen, W80 music level is more beautiful, the space is more spacious The interaction between the lead singer and the chorus, the guitar accompaniment of the subtle vibration and friction, the details are quite rich, the singer occasionally hits the beat on the floor of the studio with a foot, a rather low humming, strengthening the sense of the music. Of course, if you want to hear the details of the extremely low frequency, you must turn the volume up enough, but if you are very quiet, the W80 will not let you miss the details above the high frequency. Also, the W80 can clearly hear the difference in sound quality between 16/44.1 and DSD, which means that the W80 has a fairly high resolution and has a fairly good listening personality.
I also want to mention The Persuations' "Angle of Harlem", which is an a cappella vocal chorus. The recording is very good. I listened to a 24-bit/96 kHz high-resolution file, and the W80 faxed the recorded channel resolution. Shown, the bass is on the left, the lead singer is in the center, the harmony is scattered in the center and the right, and the female voice is standing with the bass. In this way, the high school, low and female voices are up and down, although I just wear W80. Earphones, but the recording effect creates a virtual sound field in the ear. Even the earphones that are stuffed in the ear, the virtual space feels quite natural. I don't want to say that the W80's virtual open sound field is better than earmuff headphones, but the W80's ability to portray virtual sound fields is much better than most earphones.
Listen to the higher-level digital music files and listen to Rebecca Pidgeon's "Spanish Harlem" in 24bit/176.4kHz format. The prelude starts with bass bass and Rebecca Pidgeon's voice sings quietly, through W80 and AK 380. When listening to the high-resolution mastering, the echo effect applied in the recording is more clear, the sound of the piano is warm in the middle of the recording, then the string group is added, the percussion and the guitar are interlaced, and the piano then enters the dominance. W80 shows the texture and level of each instrument very well. It is a kind of fusion that makes people completely immersed in the music situation. It is easy to focus on the music, followed by rich music details, one Another song is heard.
Then come to a high-level format, listen to Eric Bibb's "Needed Time", listen to DSD 5.6Mhz twice, I unconsciously keep the volume of the AK 380 up, I know, with such a large volume to listen, It has an impact on hearing, but occasionally indulgence, why not listen to W80 is not a good thing every day! I am more and more able to understand the sense of hearing after the DSD multiplier, which is the W80 to help me have a deeper understanding of high-resolution music. Familiar "Needed Time", I didn't expect the music details so much, the level is so good, and even if the volume is very large, the W80 still maintains a steady and beautiful low frequency, and does not let the middle and high frequency bands get out of control, high frequency extension It is delicate and beautiful, and it doesn't feel that the sound quality is rough and loud.
Listening to classical music with W80? Just as good! W80 has a balanced music band distribution, listening to classical music with lines, muscles, details, and fluidity, but if you expect the W80 to have a very strong low frequency, then I suggest you choose the tide brand headphones, any low frequency can be More than the W80, but it is not a good low frequency, but a puffy low frequency. W80's full-band performance, listening to what music has a proper performance, I listen to the "Baha Brandenburg Concerto" by Praia and the St. Martin Orchestra, listening to the DSD standard format, is not a burst of music, but Bach The quiet and calm music, rich harmony and elegant harmony, presented a quiet and huge appearance, the sound of the W80 is very clean, the music details in the middle and high frequency bands, the instrument has a natural and clear texture, the orchestra The level is clear, although the W80 is an earbud-type earphone that can display a relatively wide virtual sound field at a small volume, while listening loudly allows you to fully grasp the details of the music and listen carefully to each part.
I want to emphasize that the W80 is good and really needs a quiet environment! Don't expect to see the W80 in the MRT or high-speed rail. The noise from the outside world will definitely cover up the W80. It makes you feel that this headset is too expensive and not worth it. However, if you are kind to the W80, in a quiet environment, with the matching DAP, listen to high-quality high-resolution music, this can hear the W80. I know that the W80 is expensive, but its ability to express music is really not simple. Give it a quiet environment and use your ears to understand how good the W80 is.
Equipment specification type: balanced armature earphones: 8 balanced armature unit (3 sound channels)
Frequency response: 5Hz – 22kHz
Impedance: 5 ohms sensitivity: 111dB/1mW
Wire: AOL Audio/MFi
Therefore, the exquisite and compact W80 is packed in layers of packaging, making the appearance bigger, opening the carton, and there are also large and small carrying hard shells, including W80 related accessories, including detachable earphone cable. , various sizes of earplugs, replaceable color shells..., a wide range of random accessories are all available, and a large hard shell can be used to carry headphones and DAP, small hard shell can only be equipped with W80.
The Westone company was founded in 1959 by Ron Morgan. He originally sold hearing aid-related products in Colorado. Later, he didn't want to run around, so he set up his own workshop to provide ear molds because of quality. Good and fast service, small business will soon be done. Of course, the family business must mobilize the whole family. Later, Randy Morgan, who took over his father's business, said that when they were in the summer and winter, all five children had to go to the factory to help make ear molds.
This Westone company in Colorado Springs has a family-run medical-related ear mold that has been in business for many years, from father to son, until 1985, when Sony launched the Walkman, a global trend, and Westone began to invest in the headset market. The outer casing is designed with their special ear mold design. This earphone earphone with good sound insulation performance is very useful for rock singers who perform live. Every musician on the stage is used as a monitor, so they are not afraid to listen. To her own voice, Westone began designing earphones for custom earphones for Rush and Def Leppard in 1991. Of course, at that time, it was not a balanced armature design, but a traditional moving coil unit.
It’s a great success for people to marry. From 2002 to 2004, Westone launched earphones under its own brand. UM1, UM2, ES1, ES2 and ES3 came out one after another. In 2008, Westone launched the Westone 3, the first in the world. Three-tone earphones. At this time, Westone caught up with the wave of smart phones, the headset market is in the ascendant, and numerous products have been launched in the past ten years, while high-end products such as W50 and W60 are designed with more complex multi-channel design to show that Westone is in technology. In the lead position, W60 also won the best product recommendation of Digital Trends at the 2014 CES exhibition.
Westone's story is broadly described. Simply put, they are the founders of balanced armature headphones. Although the earliest brand may be Ultimate Ears, the technology behind it is taught by Westoen, a hearing-related product. Headphone products are not all of Westone's, but only part of them. Their careers in hearing care, hearing assisted medical and military applications may be even larger than headphones. For example, the US Air Force One is driving in the Westone ACCES. In-ear communication system. You see, Westone is not a small one!
The W40 uses two balanced armatures to enhance the bass. Just like the traditional speaker has a double bass design, it is easy to understand, but the W50 is doubled in the middle and high notes, the bass is unchanged, and the W60 is doubled, while the W80 is doubled as the tweeter. ? I think this is the secret of Westone's biography, only they know how to mix the complex balance armature ratio of multi-channel.
I have seen this application of balancing armatures becoming more and more complicated. It seems to be dazzling, but the change is not the same. The W80 is a 3-way design. It is not because the balance armature is increased, but the sound is cut finer. This is a reasonable design, because every time there is one more point, there will be one more frequency connection point, and the human ear is very sensitive to the phase in the middle of the frequency connection. As long as it changes slightly or reverses, it will not sound immediately. natural. Therefore, although Westone balances the armature more and more, it does not change the simple 3-way design.
Sound insulation is good, it does not mean that the expensive W80 is just used as a soundproof earplug. In fact, it allows you to listen at a smaller volume. If you take the MRT or the high-speed rail, the outside noise is quite loud. You must open it when listening to music with headphones. A louder volume, overcoming the interference of outside noise, can hear enough music details, and most of the volume at this time has already hurt the hearing. I actually use W80 on mass transit, with AK 380 DAP, the listening volume is about 10~20% less than other headphones. I believe that earphones with good external noise isolation like W80 are used. Listening to music at a low volume will be a healthier thing for hearing in the long run. For this "health", the W80 is very valuable.
However, in the MRT and high-speed rail, I don't feel that the sound performance of the W80 is comparable to its value. Although it isolates 35dB of noise, it still has annoying noise effects. The music details are no better than my own Atomic Floyd. Superdarts is better, but when I was in the dead of night, I used the AK 380 to listen, and the strength of the W80 was really released. For example, "Looking For A Home" is a series of songs commonly used by Blue Coast Records. When listening to the 16bit/44.1kHz standard CD format, the W80 has a natural warm sound quality, and the sound is slightly brighter, but the overall frequency band is evenly distributed. In fact, most of the balanced armature headphones, the high-frequency performance problems are not big, but the low frequency often sounds slightly tight, that is the technical limitations of the sounding components themselves, but the W80's super multi-balanced armature design, plus Westone's own unique formula, The low frequency extension of the W80 is very natural, although the volume may still be slightly inferior to the dynamic single earphones, but the beautiful low-frequency line sense is better than the dynamic single.
The same "Looking For A Home", I put on the DSD 2.8Mhz format to listen to, the benefits of W80 can be more performance, listening in a quiet environment, put on DSD to listen, W80 music level is more beautiful, the space is more spacious The interaction between the lead singer and the chorus, the guitar accompaniment of the subtle vibration and friction, the details are quite rich, the singer occasionally hits the beat on the floor of the studio with a foot, a rather low humming, strengthening the sense of the music. Of course, if you want to hear the details of the extremely low frequency, you must turn the volume up enough, but if you are very quiet, the W80 will not let you miss the details above the high frequency. Also, the W80 can clearly hear the difference in sound quality between 16/44.1 and DSD, which means that the W80 has a fairly high resolution and has a fairly good listening personality.
I also want to mention The Persuations' "Angle of Harlem", which is an a cappella vocal chorus. The recording is very good. I listened to a 24-bit/96 kHz high-resolution file, and the W80 faxed the recorded channel resolution. Shown, the bass is on the left, the lead singer is in the center, the harmony is scattered in the center and the right, and the female voice is standing with the bass. In this way, the high school, low and female voices are up and down, although I just wear W80. Earphones, but the recording effect creates a virtual sound field in the ear. Even the earphones that are stuffed in the ear, the virtual space feels quite natural. I don't want to say that the W80's virtual open sound field is better than earmuff headphones, but the W80's ability to portray virtual sound fields is much better than most earphones.
Listen to the higher-level digital music files and listen to Rebecca Pidgeon's "Spanish Harlem" in 24bit/176.4kHz format. The prelude starts with bass bass and Rebecca Pidgeon's voice sings quietly, through W80 and AK 380. When listening to the high-resolution mastering, the echo effect applied in the recording is more clear, the sound of the piano is warm in the middle of the recording, then the string group is added, the percussion and the guitar are interlaced, and the piano then enters the dominance. W80 shows the texture and level of each instrument very well. It is a kind of fusion that makes people completely immersed in the music situation. It is easy to focus on the music, followed by rich music details, one Another song is heard.
Then come to a high-level format, listen to Eric Bibb's "Needed Time", listen to DSD 5.6Mhz twice, I unconsciously keep the volume of the AK 380 up, I know, with such a large volume to listen, It has an impact on hearing, but occasionally indulgence, why not listen to W80 is not a good thing every day! I am more and more able to understand the sense of hearing after the DSD multiplier, which is the W80 to help me have a deeper understanding of high-resolution music. Familiar "Needed Time", I didn't expect the music details so much, the level is so good, and even if the volume is very large, the W80 still maintains a steady and beautiful low frequency, and does not let the middle and high frequency bands get out of control, high frequency extension It is delicate and beautiful, and it doesn't feel that the sound quality is rough and loud.
Listening to classical music with W80? Just as good! W80 has a balanced music band distribution, listening to classical music with lines, muscles, details, and fluidity, but if you expect the W80 to have a very strong low frequency, then I suggest you choose the tide brand headphones, any low frequency can be More than the W80, but it is not a good low frequency, but a puffy low frequency. W80's full-band performance, listening to what music has a proper performance, I listen to the "Baha Brandenburg Concerto" by Praia and the St. Martin Orchestra, listening to the DSD standard format, is not a burst of music, but Bach The quiet and calm music, rich harmony and elegant harmony, presented a quiet and huge appearance, the sound of the W80 is very clean, the music details in the middle and high frequency bands, the instrument has a natural and clear texture, the orchestra The level is clear, although the W80 is an earbud-type earphone that can display a relatively wide virtual sound field at a small volume, while listening loudly allows you to fully grasp the details of the music and listen carefully to each part.
Frequency response: 5Hz – 22kHz
Impedance: 5 ohms sensitivity: 111dB/1mW
Wire: AOL Audio/MFi
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