Interested myself in soon getting W80s and so am following this thread and posts. I currently enjoy two months of listening to the new UMPro50 v2 -- my thinking is that the W80s (v1 or v2) should have the same bass profile (and hopefully add a bit more sub/low) and be a crisper, brighter sound profile all around. The W60s may do this (?), but my sense is to try to jump to the W80s (perhaps be lucky enough to stumble upon a good v1 or deal someone exiting their w80s). I use my UMPro50s daily with V2 Bluetooth and am happy, but do think there is room to up the game by moving to W80s and incorporating the new Plussound Bluetooth (copper/silver cable). Although good, I have noticed the Westone V2 BT can distort or not grab the bass (and a bit veiled) as compared to wired, so am thinking W80s with new Plussound BT may be the way to go. Any thoughts, feedback re UMPro50v2 vs w60 or w80, vs Westone BTv2 vs Plussound BT is welcome. Or perhaps someone has used W80s with the first-gen Plussound BT cable. Deep bass and amazing bright, well-staged sound on Bluetooth is what I'm after...
P.S. Forum-thanks to Twister6 recommending the UMProV2s, my first IEMs and making an enjoyable mobile listening experience : )
I covered W60 v1 vs v2 and W60 v2 vs UMPro50 v2 in my
review, and in summary:
W60-2 vs W60-1 – I hear a very interesting change here, something you don’t appreciate as much until you compare one to the other. W60-2 soundstage has a wider perception, perhaps with a help of SPC cable, but either way it’s noticeable. Bass in W60-2 sounds tighter and more controlled, especially the transition into lower mids where I’m hearing W60-2 mid-bass having a faster/shorter decay, while the original W60-1 spills a little bit into lower mids. Mids is where I hear the biggest difference, with W60-2 being more neutral and more transparent while W60-1 being thicker with more body. As a result, W60-2 sounds less colored, more resolving, a little less laidback, but still natural in tonality. In comparison, the upper mids/vocals of W60-1 sound warmer, not as resolving, and a little more pulled back. Treble is identical here. The difference is quite noticeable in this comparison, especially when listening to vocals where W60-2 sounds more resolving, less colored, more audiophile quality tuned.
W60-2 vs Pro50-2 – I thought this might be an interesting comparison as well. Soundstage expansion here is very similar, in both width and depth. Bass is very similar in quality with both having a deeper rumble and stronger punch, but Pro50-2 has even stronger impact, hitting harder, while W60-2 bass is a little more relaxed. Mids are very similar, the same closer to neutral lower mids and resolving more transparent upper mids. Treble is where they differ again, with W60-2 being a little smoother and more controlled, while Pro50-2 being brighter and with a little more sparkle. As a result of these differences in bass and treble, W60-2 is more balanced while Pro50-2 is more v-shaped.
I also covered W80 vs W60 v1 in my original W80
review, but I might need to look at the actual W60 v2 vs W80 comparison, instead of going by A > B and B < C, thus A = C
I will take a listen tonight and post the update.
Regarding W80 v1 vs v2, those are identically tuned and you already have BT Cable v2. The only advantage are metal faceplates, and I'm hoping they will sell it as an accessory in the future. So, maybe you can get a good deal on used v1 somewhere?
With BT cables, many BT cables add noise, it's inevitable. You have a tiny digital chip decoding BT wireless signal and driving your low impedance higher sensitivity IEMs (like W80). Westone BT v2 cable performance is better than v1. But I haven't tried PS cable yet. I remember reading their original one had some hissing. I hope they fixed it in the new one. I saw PS posted on FB they finally ready to start shipping the first batch of new cables. I'm actually interested in it as well because they are using chipset which supports LDAC. But the jury is still out if it will hiss or not. If I get my hands on this cable, I will share my impressions, just have to remember to request mmcx since majority of my IEMs are 2pin, and all the sensitive IEMs (Westone, Campfire, iBasso) are mmcx.
