Weston UM Pro 30 in-ear moving iron earplugs evaluation

The Weston UM series was ushered in in September 2013. Over a month ago, the author evaluated the UM Pro 10 single-unit moving iron headphones [hereinafter the same name is abbreviated as UM10]. According to the naming rules, two units, three units and the first The five-unit moving irons correspond to UM20, UM30 and UM50. Today's evaluation is UM30, and the national bank price is around 2,000 yuan.

Similar to the correspondence between UM Pro 10 and UM1, it seems that UM Pro 30 is an upgraded version of the previous generation UM series three-unit headset UM3XRC. This headset was also sent by netizens last year. It maintains the neutral style of Weston. At the price of the headphones in the performance is still good. At the time, I just measured the Logitech UE 900, and have not heard of the Weston W4R. We especially talked about the relatively better performance of the UM3XRC in the intermediate frequency. Looking at the sales title of UM30 in Taobao store, it seems that everyone is also willing to highlight the UM30 is better at vocal performance. Is this really inherited? At least the Westone official does not seem to define the UM3/UM30 series.

The price of Weston UM30 is not much lower than W4R. From the perspective of thinking and selling price, W4R is around 2500-2600 and UM30 is 2100-2200 yuan. The actual transaction price of parallel imports is about 300-400 yuan lower than the licensed ones. It seems that I am afraid that they all belong to the high-end in-ear headphones at the price of 2000 yuan. The price difference may not pose too much obstacle for such consumers to buy. Which one to choose, which one is better? More important. So, today's assessment will also focus on the Weston W4R.

Looking back at the specifications and configuration of the UM30 headset. The UM30 uses a three-unit moving iron design. The internal structure does not give any information. From the translucent outer casing, you can easily see a little internal structure. If there is nothing wrong with the speculation, the current three units The moving iron configuration is still a combination of a single treble plus a double-headed parallel woofer. The three-unit design also makes the UM30 smaller than the W4R, and the UM30 is a new product in 2013, and the design of the earphone cable is also It is much better than W4R. On the one hand, it is a design of interchangeable coaxial connection. On the one hand, the shape of the connector part and the outer casing are also more beautiful, and the wearing comfort is more secure.

The UM30's 360-degree free-wheeling headphone cable and the upper-wound ear are all traditionally designed for the Weston-in-ear headphones. For the wire, the lighter braided wire is also consistent with the W4R and other headphones. The wire also makes it easier to wear [for example, it is more comfortable to wear than the Shure SE535].

In terms of earphone accessories, the UM30 is equipped with a similar three-proof storage box as the W4R, which is considered to be an iconic configuration of the Weston headphones. The size of the catheter in the ear portion of the earphone is exactly the same as that of the W4R. Also consistent with UM3XRC], so the rubber plugs equipped with earplugs are the same size. Weston gives the UM30 headphone index, impedance 56 ohms, sensitivity 124dB [@1kHz, 1mW], which is the same as the UM3XRC indicator number; and W4R The impedance is 32 ohms and the sensitivity is 118dB [@1kHz, 1mW]. From the previous evaluation, W4R does not have a good push for UM3XRC, but most of the better players have already performed well enough.

Before the evaluation, we took the headset down for about 100 hours. Since the Shure SE535 was sent by the netizen recently, the evaluation report was just released two days ago, and the same three-unit design, we are also very much looking forward to this. Comparison between the two headphones. When you hear the sound performance of the UM30, you will find that it still maintains the obvious Neuter's neutral style, so the difference with the SE535 is still very obvious. The next evaluation is still based on W4R. Main reference. The players used include vivo Xplay3s, iPhone 5s, FIIO X5, HifiMan HM-901 player [Minibox amp], and Le Bang Monitor 06 MX sound card [battery mode].

Overall performance : UM30 does continue to have more prominent advantages in the intermediate frequency, but the memory of UM3XRC is harder and harder, but the sound of UM30 is relatively softer, and some of it is looser. The high-frequency quality should be improved compared with UM3XRC. Compared with the W4R, the UM30 is obviously easy to drive. If you only use your mobile phone as a sound source, the UM30 can easily get a full and thick sound, and the overall dynamic will be better.

High-frequency performance: Although the overall style of the UM30 is still relatively neutral, the high frequency is relatively dark in many music. This is because the UM30 is relatively prominent in the intermediate frequency. Compared with the W4R, the resolution of the UM30 is worse, W4R. The high frequency is brighter, and the intermediate frequency and the middle and high frequency are more balanced. If the content of the middle frequency part of the music is less, only concentrated in the high frequency, it will be found that the high frequency of the UM30 seems to be intentionally enhanced to balance. The overall sound style, its high frequency is even harder and denser than W4R.

In the performance of some high-frequency instrumental music, even some instrumental music in the high-frequency overtone performance is a significant weakness of the UM30 compared to the W4R. The extension of the UM30 in the high-frequency direction is obviously not rich enough, the sound is not bright enough, even the performance of the piano Some lack of details. However, the overall performance of the UM30's high frequency is no longer as straightforward as the UM3XRC, but it is a lot softer. This kind of softness is similar to the processing of high frequency by the old moving iron headphones, which may bring more to the high frequency. It is a sound that is resistant to hearing and warm, but it loses the level of high frequency and extremely high frequency parts such as transients and resolution.

IF performance : UM30's IF advantage is still very obvious, plus it is easier to drive than W4R [also easier to drive than SE535, GR07 MKII, etc.], so if you like vocals then UM30 will catch you the first time The ears. And the performance of the intermediate frequency in the details, the impact of different sound sources is also relatively large. In the following we specifically talk about the difference.

The UM30's voice is very full, which is very different from the W4R. Compared with the UM30, the W4R's IF is very light. The SE535's IF is obviously collapsed. The thick IF and vocal performance is not like the UM3XRC. Hard and straight, but a slightly softer state, regardless of female or male performance, UM30 is showing warmer, slightly more flavorful side. And W4R is very straightforward, but it must be a lot of performance. Maybe everyone Looking back at the W4R evaluation meeting, does it not always say that the W4R sound is balanced? How is it thin here? Indeed, the subjective evaluation of the sound should refer to the comparison object. In absolute evaluation, the sound style of W4R and GR07MKII is indeed more balanced, while UM30 Some are loose, warmer, and strengthen the trend of the intermediate frequency.

We are not entirely sure whether the subjective comparison of UM30 and UM3XRC is accurate, because UM3XRC is no longer able to compare AB at hand. However, it is still simple to evaluate the difference by memory. UM30 seems to have no such neutrality on UM3XRC, straightforward Style, compared with W4R, UM30 is even more soft. It has to be said that moving iron seems to lose some resolving power once it goes in this direction, but this style on the intermediate frequency does not sound. Loop nature.

Although the UM30 is very easy to be driven, if the driving force and the sound source style are more suitable, the UM30's intermediate frequency resolution and transient performance will be better. Overall, the UM30's intermediate frequency ratio is W4R and SE535. And GR07 MKII and other thicker and fuller, it is easy to get better dynamics on the portable sound source, the vocal performance is relatively prominent, but not stiff, relatively soft. In terms of instrumental performance, the resolution is slightly insufficient compared with W4R. The mid-frequency and mid-high frequency parts seem to collapse slightly, and the sound can't stand on the dynamics, and some are imaginary.

When the moving iron makes the sound relatively soft, it may encounter problems such as being too soft and some out of control when pairing with some sound sources. The MF30's intermediate frequency and low frequency have similar situations, but they are much stronger than the UE900. Just under a warmer sound source, the UM30 will be slightly ambiguous and not transparent enough.

Low-frequency performance: The low frequency of UM30 is not particularly exaggerated, but the volume is still relatively high in the middle and low frequency parts. It does not show relatively stiff, and it is also relatively loose. Compared with W4R, UM30 is also fuller. The sense of volume is stronger. But under the big dynamics, the transient and resolving performance of the whole low frequency is slightly worse than that of the W4R. The middle and low frequencies are somewhat loose and need better sound source support. The deeper part of the low frequency dive also has a little performance. Weak than W4R.

Different sound source performance: Although UM30 can be more easily displayed, the intermediate frequency is very full and has thickness, but the resolution is slightly reduced. Too much low frequency and warm sound will make it too rich. For example, 06 MX, UM30 The IF is the best, but it seems to be too heavy. Under the FIIO X5, the IF is not good enough under the big dynamics. Under the HM-901's Minibox amp, the MV30 sounds brighter in the mid-high frequency. It is a sound source that I personally think is the best performance of the UM30. To take a step back, on the cold iPhone 5s or vivo Xplay3S, the MF30's mid-range and mid-high frequency are more open and bright, and the whole sound field is more stretched. .

to sum up

The Weston UM Pro 30 may continue the more prominent sound style of the UM3XRC IF section. In the personal product, the UM series of tuning is obviously more in line with the general vocal-based user listening needs. If you are popular Music and vocal music account for a large proportion, so the performance of UM30 is more resistant than W4R. The sound of UM30 is very similar to the American style IF, the details are slightly poor but full enough, the taste is slightly heavy, easy to drive.

Compared with the predecessor UM3XRC, it is no longer neutral and straightforward, and the sound is softer and more tolerant. But compared with the moving circle or the SE535, this softness seems to be slightly less refined, sometimes slightly loose [different music types] Compared with the UM30, the W4R's high-frequency resolution has obvious advantages, and the overall sound control is better. The MF30 is slightly lighter than the mid-range and mid-low frequency, but the UM30 is not dynamic in the iPhone 5s. Well, UM30 is easier to drive. As a 2000 yuan-class moving iron headset, UM Pro 30 also has a good performance. But we prefer W4R more.