Through it, I seem to see what this product should look like in the future.
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In September, 20021,Westone Audio released brand-new earplug products in China, including PRO X series for professional monitoring and W80 V3 for music appreciation.
Among them, PRO X series is an upgrade of UM series in 20 13 years, and the specific models are PRO X 10, PRO X20, PRO X30 and PRO X50, and the numbers in the models correspond to the number of moving iron units.
PRO X series earplugs continue the transparent cavity design, and the models are distinguished by red/blue/green/black near the sound outlet.
PRO X series earplugs are all equipped with Danish Linum brand HI-END grade BaX earphone cable (it is reported that the price is 80 euros), and combined with the ultra-light cavity design, the comfort will be qualitatively improved compared with the old series.
It should be noted that the Chinese and English names of the westone brand have changed: Chinese is Weston audio, not Weston in the past; English is Westone Audio.
Open the westone official website and find that it (founded in 1959) has gone through 60 years. ...
In addition, it is also found that the manufacturing of its communication products is closely related to the US military (somewhat similar to qdc in China). Besides developing moving iron headphones, it is also engaged in a lot of technical research related to hearing protection. In short, it is a manufacturer of earphones and earplugs with high technical content.
unfortunately ...
Only 10 years ago, I heard of a W-series earplug of this brand (a prototype of a tour given by Sun Maofeng, the boss of Shanghai for five days at that time), and I was not impressed.
But this time, I didn't expect the PRO X 10 of the single-acting iron to make me a little moved.
Yes, it sounds good, and even makes me have a strong yearning for every new earplug in Weston. I haven't had this desire to collect for a long time.
Besides, I'm not a fan of this brand, but at the moment, I understand why the "ancient HIFI circle" has so many friends, so many Weston stories and so many Weston plots.
The packaging is beautiful and the material is very good.
The box was originally covered with a plastic film and a warranty. Be careful not to lose it after unpacking.
You can see Weston's new logo and the design next to WA on the side of the box.
Linum T2 marked on the box body refers to the T2 interface of Linum wire brand, corresponding to the 3.5TRS plug.
Come back.
The biggest feature of PRO X 10 is its thinness. It's like pursuing the ultimate thinness of wired earplugs.
The most extreme part is "Linum's BaX headphone cable".
It is reported that BaX is made of copper and silver plating, with a very fine wire diameter of only 0.9mm and a weight of only 4-8g. The wiring of most HFI earplugs is weaker than others, and at the same time, it can withstand a tensile force of up to 60N.
(On the day of the press conference, a staff member hoisted a 6kg weight with a BaX headphone cable, and the wire was not damaged at all. )
In addition, this kind of wire is soft, skin-friendly and not easy to yellow.
There is the WA brand abbreviation logo outside the shell, and there is a moving iron unit without any information inside. The rest are very simple, have no sense of class, just vaguely exude a professional atmosphere.
In addition, as far as the shell technology is concerned, there is no groove, which is similar to that of sennheiser IE40PRO.
Through the shell of PRO X 10, you can see a red object near the catheter with the words "10" engraved on its surface. From the limited data, the shell of PRO X series is the same, but the internal design is different.
The fully enclosed design of the cavity will have a passive noise reduction effect of 25dB under the condition of good wearing.
According to my limited knowledge in recent years, Weston PRO X 10 is probably the lightest HIFI earplug with passive noise reduction capability.
There is a ring of raised plastic around the plug connecting the earphone, which is very friendly to fingers and obviously improves the convenience of removing the wire and installing it. Great.
Because the width and thickness of the cavity are small, the earmuffs are large.
Accessories: small 1 waterproof hard storage box, 1 large storage bag, several ear muffs, 1 earphone brush.
Velvet bag, exquisite workmanship, can also put a lot of things.
For tying the thread?
T2 connection terminal seems unstable and unreliable, but the actual plugging and unplugging experience is very good.
Whether plugged in or not, Badou is more comfortable than the traditional MMCX terminal.
It is reported that Linum's T2 patent interface has the advantages of high durability, uninterrupted signal transmission and small casing wear.
Out of curiosity, I matched the thread of Danone Zen PRO and found that the diameter of the male end of Danone MMCX was slightly larger than the female seat of Weston earplug, so it could not be inserted.
It is equipped with an inert sponge sleeve and a traditional silicone sleeve to enhance noise isolation.
I think the sleeve installed by default in the factory has some sound leakage and insufficient bass response. Later, I changed it to a relatively large sleeve, which has been obviously improved. The quality of tri-band has also been significantly improved.
Ultra-fine catheter similar to Shure and Intemet EVO.
Wearing earplugs has always been important. As far as comfort is concerned, in my judgment, the lighter and thinner the better.
There is no doubt that the Weston PRO X 10 belongs to the extremely compact type of surround headphones.
The wearing comfort of IE40PRO is regarded as excellent by most people, but I think it is slightly inferior to PRO X 10.
The overall size of PRO X 10 is smaller, even in the thickness of the shell, it gives people an "ultra-thin feeling". Similar to 1MORE comfobuds z (sleeping beans), it is suitable for pillow listening.
PRO X 10 is even smaller than the customized HIFI wired earplugs popular in China in recent years.
To sum up, combined with Weston official website, you will find that the company attaches great importance to the comfort and health of "hearing products", which I think is also what many Weston brand fans are keen on.
No matter how small, there are rivals, such as the Yamaha EPH-200 in the above picture.
However, PRO X 10 is relatively light, and I often wonder if it was blown away by a gust of wind.
Well, it's time to talk about sound quality.
Easy Push: Very good, Apple mobile phone+Apple original patch cord, just adjust the volume to 70%, and the loudness and fullness will be greater. Driving 80% will have a shocking sense of existence. 3-60% volume is more suitable at night. You can turn the volume to 1 when you sleep.
By analogy, with the portable HIFI player, it is basically multifunctional.
However, because it is a single moving iron, its full-frequency dynamics may not be as powerful and shocking as some moving-coil earplugs with the same sensitivity under some music.
Front-end: IPHONE XR+ various small tail pushers, Orpheus M 1 1 with outstanding CMA 12 desktop power amplifier, Shanling M6 2 1 version.
Bottom line: As a single-acting iron, it is successful. And it's not easy. You know Sony has made four single-acting iron earplugs, and none of them have been really recognized.
Slightly neutral (different from Sony MDR-Z 1R), different from earplugs for music appreciation, so it is unlikely to emit soft and gorgeous sound (it may be moist under some players); It is different from the cold sounds with strong analytical sense like NF AUDIO NA2+ and NM2+, but it is a rare sound with good analytical sense but full sense of reality.
The resolution and thickness are good, and it is resistant to listening in most cases, and sometimes it sounds a little sweet (see the sound source). What is even more unexpected is that there is no shortage of low frequency sense, even a little more than Senhai IE40PRO, but not as much as Sony IER-M7 and M9. The low-frequency atmosphere is comfortable and not stiff, and it is usually not easy to hear the iron smell (it can still be perceived under extreme conditions).
The reason for moving iron is that it will be sharper than some ordinary moving earplugs, and it is easier to show the "clear" and "pure" musical instrument texture.
Compared with Sony's previous three single-acting iron earplugs, namely XBA- 10, XBA- 10 and XBA-C 10, Weston Pro XBA- 100 may have the best bass expression, at least better than XBA- 10 and C.
Using Apple mobile phone+original patch cord, the sound is slightly darker, the image is softer, the taste is slightly dull, the sense of balance is good, the analysis is not bad, but it is not brilliant.
With several portable players from Shanling, the M6 2 1 version is even more brilliant, and the sound quality and listening sense are one or two grades better than those of Apple mobile phone and various amp cables. The analysis is very good, solid, exquisite, and the line connection is obviously higher. The female voice is nice.
When using a desktop amplifier, pay attention to the volume knob. If you turn it a little bigger, you will feel slightly out of control because of "pushing". Based on this front end, the male voice is slightly dry, the female voice is thin, and the sense of space is larger than other playback devices. Some can't imagine it coming from such a "small" cavity, like it is solid, but it is cold, and the overall hearing is full and quite amazing. During this period, there will be a feeling of "worth paying 1 1,000 yuan".
Compare XBA- 100:
Weston PRO X 10 will obviously win the full-frequency natural fluency, and it is not easy to feel "dry". In addition, the human ear feels the most direct frequency band, from mid-low frequency to mid-high frequency, PRO X 10 will also have a relatively fuller and more direct output, while XBA- 100 is relatively introverted and blunt. I feel that Sony's single-acting iron has not made any substantial progress, and it sounds that there will be some shortcomings, and X 10 is basically in place in all frequency bands, although
Compared with qdc Neptune: This is a hard opponent, and both sides are very strong. I can only say that Neptune's voice is more stretched and he will make a fuss about the sense of space. Weston PRO X 10 is better at expressing "pure" sound because of professional monitoring. Its decoration is very few, and the "pleasure" needs you to savor slowly, which is also the difference between listening earplugs and music appreciation earplugs. Even so, I was poisoned by PRO X 10 from time to time during my three-day feeling.
I can't say why at the moment. It feels like drinking tea. You know this is not a sweet drink, but it will make you addicted. Sweet drink is Neptune, and tea is PRO X 10.
I think PRO X 10 is very good in listening to earplugs, and the other one is Sennheiser IE40PRO, which is also very nice. Of course, there must be a group of people who can't adapt to this dry and cold pure sound quality at all. )
The treble of X 10 is not gorgeous, but it has been hanging in the ear, showing a slightly hard texture, brighter and less elegant. This kind of plug lacks the "sense of height" or "sense of depth" that some more advanced monitoring earplugs often have, so high-frequency overtones tend to nest in a slightly smaller space, which may be unfriendly to music lovers who want more "big compilation".
Suitable for listening to domestic, vocal, plucked and orchestral instruments. Not good at strong bass, such as some movie soundtracks, hip hop, electronics and so on. As a single-acting iron, its limit is perceptible, as long as it does not cross the border (frequency band, music type), everything is almost perfect.
Compare Yamaha EPH-200:
Simply from the sound quality point of view, Weston's will be better, because it is basically healthy and clear in the whole frequency domain, while EPH-200 is slightly decorated in the bass and treble parts, with a strong bass sense, slightly overshadowing the human voice, and the treble floats far away, which is suspected of deliberately creating an "upper" sense of space. PRO X 10 is relatively "honest", and all kinds of sounds show their postures in a brighter way, with a better sense of entity and therefore more stereoscopic. The problem with EPH-200 is that there may be too much bass, otherwise, from the perspective of music appreciation, its listening sense is still good.
Compare IE40PRO:
IE40PRO has a great horizontal stretch, and it feels thousands of miles away. The resolution is excellent, but the total frequency offset is thin, and the high-frequency junction image is a bit exaggerated and looks a bit fake. Of course, I still feel quite good. Weston PRO X 10 is better than it, mainly because it is "healthy" and has a thicker foundation. Even if the degree of separation is not so exaggerated, sharp and clear monitoring and tuning is still enough for you to appreciate the form of each "music".
The vocal thickness of X 10 is better than that of IE40PRO. Especially with advanced playback equipment, its full-frequency density and thickness sense will be more brilliant, which may not be very pleasant, but it is likely to exceed your imagination of the energy sense of single-acting iron.
Finally, I need to remind you not to turn up the volume too much, because PRO X 10, a moving iron earplug, is not easy to bear.
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In a word, I personally like this plug. It is extremely light and pure.
Nowadays, TWS forces wired earplugs to become bigger and heavier, but Weston does the opposite. Ah ... it's really bold and fashionable. It seems that the form of wired earplugs has been redefined, bringing a new design atmosphere to the whole market, which is quite forward-looking and even "sci-fi".
The commodity value of PRO X 10 comes from Weston's excellent ergonomic design and rigorous sound adjustment. Although its first hearing is relatively simple, it may not be as easy as moving a circle, but at the current price of "single-moving iron" of 1,000 yuan (988 yuan), its comprehensive strength is still ok.
In addition, I am also curious about the comparison between it and Shure AONIC 3. If there is an opportunity in the future, we will talk again.