Verdict
In sonic footing the Mach 70 have plenty to recommend them , even if some additional low frequency would n’t go awry . As objects , though , they do n’t remotely live up to the request price .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The concept of the on - microscope stage in - ear monitor was Westone ’s in the first plaza – so it ’s not a huge jump of imagination to imagine the company knows precisely what it ’s doing where the consumer combining weight is worry .
But with venerable stain from every continent appear to part you from a comfortable four figure for their choice , what have the Mach 70 got to help them stand out ?
Availability
The Westone Mach 70 wired in - ear monitors are on sale now , and in the United Kingdom they ’re yours for £ 1399 . In their native America they sell for $ 1399 , while in Australia they ’re more like AU$2099 . Remarkably , this kind of pricing makes tantamount high - end IEMs from company as auspicious as Sennheiser and Shure search like bargain …
Design
It ’s quite an achievement on Westone ’s part to have found outer space for seven balanced armature driver in earbuds so lightweight and compact . The earbuds are carefully shaped , and once in place using the conversant ‘ twist / curl ’ action they stay comfortable for hours at a time . Add in a line that ’s slender and equally faint , and you ’ve a pair of wired IEMs that are no burden whatsoever to wear .
work up quality and finish is good , too – which is the least you ’re entitled to wait at the price . The case is quiet , the seam where its two section join is nigh - on inconspicuous … but unlikeAudeze(for instance ) or Sennheiser ( especially ) , Westone appears to have live to no lengths at all to create a perceptual experience of the Mach 70 as a premium product . There ’s no skin perceptiveness here , no visual dramatic event – and that grey plate with the ‘ Mach 70 ’ caption on it is as plasticky as it looks .
Features
So yes , as already mentioned : there are no few than seven balanced armature driver in each Mach 70 earbud . Four take care of treble reaction , a couple more cover the midrange , and the one remaining looks after the low frequencies .
The earbuds apply T2 connective to attach to 127 cm of Linum Estron UltraBaX cable . This is a silver - plated copper , doubly - squirm litz design that ’s renowned for its super - gloomy microphonics and crosstalk . It ’s very light at just 6 g , svelte than seems potential , and is peel - well-disposed too .
Westone supply the Mach 70 in a sturdy Pelican hard - case , and as well as the cable , the earbuds and , oddly , a karabiner clip , the box turn back a gentle carry - sac and no fewer than ten twain of eartips . on the side , they ’re sized from ‘ very little ’ to ‘ extremely large ’ – and there are five pairs in silicone and five pairs in foam .
There ’s only one cable , though – and to double over my dashing hopes at this fact , it ’s end in an unbalanced 3.5 mm jack . Quite a few contender are supplied with 2.5 mm or 4.4 mm balanced alternatives in add-on to a 3.5 millimetre cable , or even both – but Westone does n’t even furnish a 6.3 mm adapter .
Sound Quality
Because of the means Westone supply the Mach 70 , you ’re restricted to using sources ( or earphone amps ) with unbalanced outturn – and , unless you ’ve got a 6.3 mm adapter William Christopher Handy , source with 3.5 mm unbalanced turnout . And this rules out virtually every smartphone – although it seems improbable anyone with this sort of money to expend on IEMs is going to pair them directly with a smartphone anyway .
attach to an appropriate author and with a chunky 24 - bit/96kHz file of PJ Harvey ’s I Inside the Old Year Dying playing , the Mach 70 are immediately , and in many way profoundly , impressive . In fact , even before they start making a sound , the combination of abstemious weightiness , ergonomic salutary sensation , and the warrant of a yoke of eartips that conform to really well , their passive haphazardness isolation creates a great first belief .
Once up and run , the amount of particular they can extract and let out in a transcription is really quite startling . Where smell and texture are occupy , as well as the little harmonic variations observable in item-by-item instrument , the Mach 70 are almost fanatical in the attending they bear . They key out even the most minor and/or transient events without effort , and always give them appropriate weight .
This gift combines well with an equal skill in soundstaging . These IEM make a outstandingly heart-to-heart , broad , and expansive soundstage , and unionise a transcription upon it with absolute authority . Every strand of a recording gets wad of elbowroom in which to express itself – but at the same , time , the Mach 70 are skilled at create a wholeness and a singularity of performance from even a disparate or complex recording . Their adroitness with timing , the power to conjure the sensation of commonality from a recording , is always patent .
From the top of the frequency range to the bottom , the Westone are smoothly integrate and generally nicely balanced . The high frequency reproduction here is crisp and bright , but there ’s plenty of substance to go along with the two-fold radiancy that ’s uncommitted . And in the midrange , the Mach 70 pass on with substantial exemption , giving vocalists of all form real eloquence – no matter if they ’re balladeer , shouters , accomplished technician or complete chancers .
There are similar level of conviction , of positivity , contingent , and control , as the bottom of the frequency range as elsewhere . onset of basso audio is straight abut , which mean cycle are described confidently , and attack is managed with complete strong belief too . Momentum is considerable , and there ’s real smartness to the way the Mach 70 snap into and out of low relative frequency natural event .
What there is n’t , though , is a peachy pile of body or substance to the bass the Westone generate . There ’s rapidity , yes , a expectant deal of detail regarding shape and texture , and plenty of all - around faithfulness – but there ’s no two ways about it , the Mach 70 could be a punchier and more robust listen .
That ’s not to say they ’re unretentive of dynamic headroom , you sympathise . The space between the smaller , soft instance of a recording and its full - on attack overload is considerable . It ’s just that there ’s not as much low - frequency meat on the finger cymbals as is ideal .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
If there ’s a more easy wire high-pitched - terminal IEM out there , it has n’t yet made it as far as Trusted Reviews .
The Mach 70 are n’t on the nose judgemental , but they only begin to sound like the money’s - worth when paired with a capable music instrumentalist .
Final Thoughts
You drop this sort of money on IEMs first and frontmost to get flawless sound quality , of class – and while they ’re not unflawed , the Westone Mach 70 are profoundly impressive in many sonic departments .
But I refuse to believe that anyone laying this form of money down does n’t want to be made to finger adept about their purchase in other ways , too – at the very least you ’re entitle to expect some mad drama a laCampfire Audio , or some complicated machining of premium textile such as is provided by Sennheiser . There ’s none of this with the Mach 70 , not even a tip .
Trusted Score
How we test
We try out every circle of earpiece we refresh thoroughly over an protracted period of time . We practice industry standard test to liken lineament properly . We ’ll always tell you what we retrieve . We never , ever , swallow money to review a ware .
happen out more about how we test in ourethics policy .
FAQs
The Mach 70 is only supply with an unbalanced connection , so the respectable performance is had with unhinged yield / sources .
