Review: Westone W60 – Musicality²

Disclaimer: The Westone W60 was sent to us by Westone USA directly. The sample doesn’t need to be returned. It is the very first time we feature Westone on Headfonia.com ever, so that urgently needed to change.

Westone

Even though we never covered Westone, I’m convinced everyone knows the Colorado based company. Westone isn’t only well known for their earphones, they actually also are famous for their hearing protection, hearing healthcare and military products and all that since 1959. The most famous Westone probably is their top of the line Westone W80 universal IEM although they recently released the custom ES80 earphone.

Did you know that Westone already back in 1985 introduced the first custom-fit earpiece for the Sony Walkman style earbuds? Check out this page to learn more of Westone’s history: https://www.westone.com/store/music/index.php/about-westone

Established in 1959, Westone Laboratories has more than 55 years of experience delivering premium in-ear solutions for critical listening applications. Westone is the largest manufacturer of custom ear pieces in the world and was the first to design and manufacture a balanced armature driver earphone. With hearing healthcare and music specialists on our research and production teams, Westone invented the most ergonomic monitor design which provides the most comfortable, best fitting and quietest earphones on the market. The largest names in music turn to Westone in-ear monitors for on-stage use, just as U.S. Air Force fighter pilots depend on Westone’s ACCES® in-ear communications system for mission-critical noise isolation, hearing protection and two-way communication. It is our experience, our products, and our people that make Westone The In-Ear Experts®.

Westone W60

As said, this is our first Westone review on Headfonia, ever. Why we’re not “doing” the W80 instead? Well, that’s easy: the Westone W80 has been covered so much already that Westone preferred promoting the good old W60 at the moment. The Westone W60 once was their reference product and it even won the “Best of CES 2014” award, but that all was back in 2014. Things change quickly in this market, so the question is: Can the Westone W60 still keep up?

The six driver design yields the ¬finest audio available from any earphone.

The Westone W60 has a six-driver BA system with a three-way crossover. The W60 features dual drivers for the high frequencies, the midrange and the bass and according to Westone it produces a powerful yet balanced sound that offers great detail and high energy output. Westone’s Balanced Armature drivers are significantly more compact and efficient than traditional dynamic drivers. By combining multiple balanced armature drivers with sophisticated crossover networks, Westone monitors provide enhanced sonic detail and frequency range that extends well beyond typical in-ear solutions.

A unique feature of the Westone W60 is that you can change the face plates of the earpieces and I haven’t very often seen that with universal IEMs. The W60’s official price still is $999.99 and Westone offers a 2 year warranty on it.

Packaging, Build quality & Comfort

The Westone W60 comes in a more than standard, lovely box that has a magnetic locking mechanism. The build quality of the W60 – even though they’re made in China – also is excellent but at this price point we don’t expect anything less either. I really like the possibility to change the face plates and even after having done so several times, the W60 stays in perfect shape.

The Westone W60 has a replaceable cable and Westone chose the MMCX connector to connect the cable to the earphone and that means there are whole bunch of aftermarket cables you can use with it. The W60 has to be worn over the ear and the standard cables have a pre-bent memory part which perfectly fits my ears. Because of this and fact the MMCX connector lets the cable rotate, its imply sits very comfortable over the ear. On top of that, the Westone W60 itself has a very small housing for a 6-driver which also perfectly fits my small ears. So, for me, there really is nothing to complain about.

The stock cables themselves look and feel pretty standard (except from the excellent memory part) but sound-wise they don’t disappoint. I particularly like the typical Westone foam tips which also help make the W60 the comfortable earphone it is. The STAR Westone tips, compared to the Comply Foam tips, are larger, have a higher density and they isolate really well. I have the feeling they last longer too compared to my favorite T400 Comply tips. If you don’t like to stick things deeper in to your ears though, the STAR foam tips might not be the ones for you.

So in the end, the W60 comfort wise – especially with the foam tips – scores high.

Read all about Sound, Sources and Amplification on Page two after the click HERE or the jump below

Price & Accessories

The Westone W60 comes with:

• Exchangeable silver, gold and red color faceplates
• Five sizes of patented STAR™ silicone ear tips and five sizes of premium True-Fit™ comfort foam ear tips
• One MFi three button cable
• A Westone 3.5 mm braided replacement cable
• One mini-monitor vault
• A cleaning tool.

I own a lot of different hard case boxes but this is my first Westone mini vault, and I really like it. It’s small, has soft protective foam on the inside and it perfectly protects the monitors. I’ll for sure be using this box with other monitors.

Technical Specifications

Sensitivity: 117dB SPL @ 1mW

Frequency Response: 10 Hz – 20 kHz

Impedance: 25ohms

Passive Noise Attenuation: 25dB

Driver: Six balanced armature drivers with three-way crossover

Cable: MFi and EPIC Replaceable

Read all about Sound, Sources and Amplification on Page two after the click HERE or the jump below