Closer Examination

When it comes to design Westone has moved away from the basic design that the UM-series earphones was based on. The shell is totally smooth, only a small negative black "3" sign is present on the earphones. This design is more stylish yet it retains one of the original design traits from the UM-series with its flush fit form factor.


The only thing that looks unchanged from the UM2s to the Westone 3s is the cable design, and the rubber stress relief on each of the earpieces. That being said the old Westone cable design is still one of the best on the market today. It handles microphonic noise extremely well and with the cable passed over your ears there is almost zero sound being transmitted to the earphones from the cable. The wound type cable can be problematic because they unravel, however, I believe Westone handles this error under warranty with recent purchases if it is not due to abuse.


From the ear on out the earphones look very simple. I found that the fit was good with a large variety of tips right from the medium silicone tips to the Comply tips and triple flanges.


The set of Westone 3s I received came premounted with the medium sized Comply tips. The Comply tips drain a lot of treble energy, but they provide a really good fit almost no matter how your ears are shaped.


Looking down the sound tube of the Westone 3s you can see that there is a small filter. The good news is that it sits roughly 3 mm back in the tube so you have to have seriously nasty ears to clog the filters in between cleans. The bad news is that the filter is not user replaceable.


The cable is the same as that featured on the UM-series earphones. The mini jack is really solid, but it is a right angled plug so it might not be compatible with some MP3-players with recessed jacks, like the old iPhones and the new Cowon S9.


Surprisingly enough Westone ships the 3s with a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter which enables you to use it with your home stereo or headphone amplifier. Since the Westone 3s are incredibly easy to drive you will probably have major issues controlling the volume and background noise. Also supplied in the box is an attenuator which can be used in cases where the output is too powerful, however, adding something like that to the signal chain will most likely have a negative effect on the sound quality.


No earphone bundle is complete without a scraper tool.


The single flange tips each come in three different sizes. The clear single flanges are made from a thicker type of silicone which makes them a bit stiffer. Also worth noticing is that the thicker single flanges do not have the small groove (one piece design) on the outside because they are not double rounded.


Westone still ships their in-ears with foam plugs made by Comply. With each set of Westone 3s you get small, medium, and large Comply tips, but only one set of each.