Westone Earphones

If you’re like most people in their late twenties and above, you have at least dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands of CDs just waiting to be added to your iTunes or other digital music library. Day after day, month after month, and year after year they sit there, reminders of a past when music was more tangible that it is today.

I still remember the first CD I bought in my early teens. I remember the excitement of opening it, the care with which I handled it, and the countless hours spent listening to it as I followed along with the included lyrics memorizing every ‘a’ and ‘the.’ For every CD that joined my collection thereafter, this process was repeated. There were no YouTube lyrics videos or lyrics web sites – all I had was a carefully tuned ear and a list of words. And, of course, there was the artwork, pictures and notes within as well. Without those and videos on MTV, we might not have had any idea what our favorite artists even looked like.

As digital music moved to the forefront, our CDs quite literally got a lot less play. Our absolute favorites were usually added to our digital library, but those that had fallen from heavy rotation were left to collect dust, and may still be collecting. And – quite frankly – it’s a shame. We’re not pointing fingers –we’re right there with you! We too never got around to uploading Hootie & the Blowfish or those sometimes-amazing compilations from BMG. But this is the year we will put an end to our slacking. This is the year we will make an event of it!

While many of us have similar musical collections to our friends, the chance of even a 70% overlap would be quite a rare occurrence. Yes, for all the hidden gems of your own you’ve been sitting on, your friends surely have gems you never plopped down $15 for in the first place. For me, this would include the self-titled Blind Melon, and iconic Pearl Jam Vs. I know, I know – I have no excuse that will make this even close to OK. But I comfort myself knowing there are must-have albums we’ve all somehow managed to skip, and that if I put together a get-together with friends, asking that everyone bring along their laptop and a snack, we can have a pretty great night trading music and uploading like mad! We can reminisce about all the great music we grew up with, beef up our digital musical libraries, and add quite a few gigs of fresh tunes to our iPods and iPhones once it’s all been uploaded. In fact, if you’re a friend of mine and you’re reading this, let me know a night and time that works for you!

As for what will happen after this music party (and I hope you’ll host one for your friends, too!) – I anticipate my new Westone 4R earphones will be pumping out some Goo Goo Dolls and classic Nirvana at a level of quality I couldn’t have imagined in the 90s! Maybe I’ll even break out my old flannel shirts and JNCO jeans and see if anyone is up for hitting the skate park after work.

While most of us listen to a wide variety of music, and a favorite playlist can find hip hop and pop right on top of one another, there is often one type of music we listen to most often. Or, at the very least, there is one type of music whose audio crispness and quality matters most. That quality comes from the recording itself, of course, but also from the speakers or earphones through which we listen to it. And as it turns out, those earphones might have some musical preferences of their own!

We decided to run a little experiment to determine the best earphones by music type. Working with our staff and some carefully-chosen friends and family members, we put together a 12-person team of testers – 8 males and 4 females. The mission they were given was simple and sweet; to listen to a variety of songs from a chosen group of popular musical genres. These genres included Classical, Rock, Hip Hop, Techno/Trance, Acoustic, Latin, Country and Jazz. Each was given an assortment of popular high-end earphones through which to listen to the music and asked to rate each set on its sound for the songs they listened to in each genre. Each tester had the same earphones, same songs. And once the results were in, we tallied them up to find the best of the best!

You can scroll to the bottom of our best earphones by music type page to see all the results and read more about the test itself, but we’ll provide you with a quick summary here…

You ready to Rock? Then Westone 3 and Westone UM3X should top your list! In fact the Westone 3 was the most popular of all the sets we tested, being the hands-down selection for Hip Hop and Techno/Trance, and one of the 2 top picks for Rock, mentioned above, as well as Country music. For Classical, testers’ ears were pleased as punch by the Shure SE535 and Westone 4. The Shure SE535 also joined the Westone 3 for Country tunes, the Westone UM3X for Acoustic tracks, and the Shure SE425 for Jazz. Who took home the most honors? Let’s have a look at which phones will best meet your musical needs, and which have the most well-rounded sound…

Westone 3 – Rock, Hip Hop, Techno/Trance, Country
Shure SE535 – Classical, Acoustic, Jazz, Country
Westone UM3X – Rock and Acoustic
Westone 4 – Classical
Shure SE425 – Latin

We all know the importance of a perfect fit for earphones, but fitness goes far beyond the ear! If you’re among the countless teens, men and women working hard at keeping your New Year’s Resolution to get in better shape, one of the important tools you can add to your arsenal of motivation is a serious set of workout-ready earphones. Whether you’re keeping it indoors at the gym, or with workout DVDs, or venturing outdoors for walks, jogs, hikes and runs, Earphone Solutions has the best earphones to help you take some tunes along on your journey!

The Best Earphones for Running and Sports

When it comes to a snug fit that won’t quit, two brands that are always at the top of their game are Westone and Shure. Fumbling with your earphones at the gym or on the track or trail isn’t only annoying – it can be downright dangerous to you and your earphones. Dangling cords can easily get caught in a machine or trip you up on the treadmill if they slip free. Plus, as we said, it’s annoying! You’re trying to stay in the zone with your carefully-chosen playlist of motivating music and your earphones keep trying to make the great escape. Not cool, earphones. Not cool at all. So skip the cheap sets and treat yourself to some quality earphones in our selection of recommended options from Westone and Shure. It’s an investment in keeping your annoyance level low and your motivation high!

Have you had a chance to take a peek at the latest and greatest from Westone – the Westone 4R? If not, now is definitely the time. Coming from Westone, you already know the 4R is going to be something to write home about for sure, especially if you forgot to include it in your letter to Santa! But as for what you’ll actually be writing?

First, you’ll likely jot down the specs: 118dB @ 1mW sensitivity, 4 symmetrically balanced armature drivers, TrueFit Technology, a generously-sized 50” removable cable, 31 ohms, sleek style, and of course, even more. And even with these phones being oh-so-fresh, the reviews are already rolling in, and we anticipate many more once everyone has had a real chance to enjoy them after the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.

If your presents this year didn’t include a new set from Westone, don’t sit around sulking for 12 more months. Make a resolution to put your holiday cash toward buying something you’ll enjoy every day, whether you’re relaxing on the couch, concentrating on work, or letting your favorite gym playlist carry you through the last mile on the treadmill. They’re comfortable, have superior symmetry and the Epic removable cables will even resist tangles – these are the earphones for the job!

We’re excited to see what you think of the new Westone 4R, and hope you’ll share your review with us on this most impressive set. The more people in the world listening through high-quality earphones, the happier a place it will be!

At Earphone Solutions, we fully recognize that we are only a part of what makes us one of the best earphone retailers. We think we’re an important part, but still just a part! After all, we couldn’t be the best at offering high-quality earphones at a great price if companies including Shure, Westone and Klipsch didn’t produce those earphones in the first place. We also couldn’t beat Amazon’s prices if Amazon didn’t exist in the first place!

But what we really couldn’t do is provide people with such an amazing, thorough, diverse variety of feedback without you. We truly mean it when we say the knowledge, dedication to quality sound and willingness to help others that our customers bring is a huge, integral part of what makes us a premiere destination for earphones. The product reviews you’ll find at Earphone Solutions, all 2,500+ of them and counting, help others make an informed decision and learn more about what they should be looking for. Read enough reviews and you can go from Earphones 101 to advanced classes in no time, so in short…Thank You!

What you may not know is that in addition to the reviews you see on our site, we are the first online high-end earphone retailer to give you the option to ask a specific question about any of the products we offer and get answers not only from our tech support team, but also the Earphone Solutions community! We will always try to answer any and all questions you might have, but we also invite others who have purchased the same earphones you have questions about to share in their experience. These are real people who are really using these earphones and can provide a real world perspective on how well they are working for them in a variety of settings. So we can ask Jim if they’re good for the gym – ask Olivia if they’re good for the office – ask Ron if they’re good for running!

You get the answers you need, and we consider all the information we receive to better categorize our best earphones by lifestyle and provide more well-rounded feedback in the future. It’s a beautiful system, and we’re grateful for how helpful you’ve all been, how many questions we were able to solidly answer, and how much we all help each other learn every day. Thanks for joining us on this journey to the best sound possible for the most people. It may be a small revolution, but it’s ours!