Fit
This is simply the best part about Westone IEMs. It doesn’t get better than this for a universal IEM to be honest. The fit is incredibly good and comfortable and with all the tips provided, there’s nothing to complain about. The low profile structure helps to wear them in every situation, including sleeping or taking a nap. They feel very natural and smooth inside your ears. I think sleepers can appreciate this particular benefit.
Additionally, removing and inserting tips is very easy. The tips are soft but strong enough to stick to the earphones’ nozzles at the same time, which prevents any danger when removing the IEMs. Overall the fit to me is perfect and I liked the long nozzles and ear tips for a flush fit. I especially liked the long silicone tips.
The isolation also is exceptional, particularly with the foam tips. It is also very good even with silicone ones, which normally are not great when it comes to isolation. But yeah, Westone has such a great fit, so you will be comfortable on every occasion.
Package Content
Both Westone B30 & B50 have the same packaging with a black/orange box with a slide-out system. When you open up the box you have a large carrying case, a Bluetooth cable, a pair of replaceable face-plates and a LOT of tips. You have a total of 10 pairs of tips mixed as silicone and foams. The foam tips of Westone are my all-time favorites for their durability and noise isolation. A lot of foam tips in the market break down after a short time if you use them at a high rate.
The carrying case is quite large but it has 2 compartments and you can store many things inside. Yet, I used to love the compact Westone cases so it would’ve been nice to see it again. You can of course find aftermarket solution for a smaller case.
Westone B30 & B50
The Bluetooth cable has an 8 hour battery life, a 10 meter/ 32 foot range, and it also has a water and dust resistant IPX-4 rating. The BT Codec is aptX standard. The MMCX connection means that you can use it with every IEM which uses the same connection method. You can charge the cable with a USB cable, sadly not type C. The cable is supplied in the package.
The standard cable features four strands of low-resistance, pure-silver plated copper alloy, braided around a center strengthening core. The cable is made from a low resistance silver-plated copper wire. It feels lightweight and the microphonic effect is non-existent. The cable is overall very comfortable to use.
Sound
The B30 and B50 appeal to smooth and dark sound lovers who like to listen to music for long periods. They present the sound in a very sleek and smooth way, and it’s an enjoyable experience all around. These however are not for people who crave resolution and ultimate transparency. Let me explain model by model so you better understand.
For sound evalutaion, the Sony WM1A and the good old Chord Hugo were used.
B30
The B30 is the more balanced model of the two, which sounds quite mellow and it’s pleasing to listen to. The IEM gives a very soft presentation and good amount of bass to be a good all-rounder. The approach is smoothness from start to finish. It goes well with many genres but I found it to be especially good with RnB, Rock and Pop Music.
The bass quantity is pretty much on point, and it doesn’t interfere with other frequencies. The control in the bass department is particularly impressive, and the texture is very good. I found bass to be detailed and resolving. The midbass is also very good in quantity. Its quality and texture are also good and somewhat soft as well. However, I would prefer bass to be slightly less in quantity, especially in the midbass area.
Westone B30 & B50
Mids sound veiled to some degree and they’re slightly dark on many occasions, especially in vocals. So this is not the best resolution out there, but the timbre is so pleasing and touching with the Westone B30. It has that quality to give some life and liveliness to the vocals. I found the tonality spot on, except being a littler darker than I would’ve liked. But still, it has that euphonic and romantic touch in the mid section to be very smooth to listen to.
The treble area is not very pronounced but the resolution in that part is good. Treble is also articulated and well defined, yet it sounds from some distance compared to bass and mid sections. The treble section is also not too transparent, but it has plenty of detail with enough sparkle to prevent this IEM to be called too dark or “too smooth”.
The soundstage is fairly good with nice depth, but the width is not the best in this range. The separation and stereo imaging is good but not very sharp, and that is OK considering its soft and smooth sound overall.
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