In 2014 Westone introduced their W60 IEM headphones at CES and the headphones received glowing reviews and rightfully won the “Best of CES” award. The W60’s were revolutionary first-of-a-kind IEMs packing 6 drivers and producing powerful yet balanced Westone signature sound that many have come to know and love.
Westone W60 has withstood the test of time and is still considered one of the best IEM’s on the market right next to Shure SE846.
Mark Tolbert
The big question here is did these headphones hold up for the last 7 years and are they worth the price in 2021?
Westone W60 Price
Westone W60 MSRP is $1000 which is a hefty price to pay for headphones that came out 5 years ago especially with so many IEM options on the market in 2021. The good news is you can find W60’s on sale for as low as $649 at BH Photo Video. If that is still pricey for you, consider getting them used for the low price of $399 available at Adorama.com. Ofcourse you could always check ebay for even better deals.
Sound and Noise Cancellation
When you are buying $1000 headphones you expect to be blown away by the sound and Weston W60 does not disappoint. The W60’s sound is very clear with just the perfect high’s low’s and mid’s. The bass is noticeable but not as overpowering and obnoxious as some of the more recent high end IEM’s. Some may see this as a negative especially if you are a “bass head” but trust me there is a huge benefit to having just the right amount of bass. First you can clearly hear the mid’s high’s and low’s without the overpowered bass interference and second you can listen to music for a very long time without much fatigue; something that is not possible with high bass headphones. I expected great sound from Westone and it sure didn’t disappoint but one thing that surprised me is the noise cancellation. When you think of IEM’s you don’t think about noise cancellation but W60 noise cancellation is impressive and comes very close to Bose QC 35 headphones. That is saying something considering that Bose QC 35 are known to be the best noise cancellation headphones in the market.
Comfort and Durability
I prefer over ear headphones because IEM’s and me don’t usually get along. You see i have this problem where my right IEM headphone typically falls out for no reason over and over and it can be extremely annoying. I am happy to report that i did not have this problem with the W60’s and i found them to be very comfortable, so much so that i was able to listen to music for 8 hours at a time with no fatigue or any type of discomfort. The comfort of W60’s just cant be matched even by some of today best and newest IEM’s on the market.
When it comes to durability i think this is where Westone headphones could use some improvement. The headphones are made out of thin plastic and don’t seem like they will be able to take any type of abuse. If you happen to step on them or bump them against something there is a very good chance they will crack so you will definitely have to take good care of the headphones. There is also a known issue with cracking of the face plates
The good news is that Weston includes 3 additional replacement face plates with every new W60 headphones. We also learned that if you need additional replacement plates Westone will ship them free of charge as long as your headphones are within warranty. If you happen to be out of warranty the face plates can be purchased for $10-$20. Still this is disappointing to see on such expensive headphones and in the future we hope that Westone will find a way to keep the amazing sound while removing these small issues.
