Audiophilepure

The bass is big and impressive but it’s not always in control, yet it has its stage purpose. The EM64 isn’t as refined, precise and clear sounding and the mids compared to the Craft Six are very light and to the back. Upper mids and vocals are forwardly tuned so you’re getting a more w-shaped signature here. The treble is also very different as it in the Craft six is more extended, refined and refined.

To complement the FH5s’ unique driver complement is a user tunable crossover network with three two-position switches for Bass, Midrange, and Treble offering eight different crossover settings in addition to the five differently tuned eartips (bass, vocal, balanced, foam, bi-flange), meaning the FH5s can be adapted to almost any listening taste or preference.

Westone ES80 custom-fit in-ear monitors

Another signature design element Westone’s ‘Deep Open Bore’, which is a deeply flared mouth that is moulded into the outer openings of the Flex Canals and into which sounds from the driver sound outlet tubes flow. Westone says the Deep Open Bore helps provide “a smoother transition between the monitor mix and the ambient sound.” My point in providing all this construction detail is to indicate that Westone assiduously works to address key earpiece design issues that most competitors have yet to address.

This same care and attention to detail has gone into the selection of accessories provided with the ES80. The CIEMs ship in a watertight, internally padded Pelican carry case whose lid sports a Westone logo plate, and a top surface etched with the owner’s name, the CIEMs’ date of manufacture, and the unit’s serial/model number. Within the case are found an owner’s manual, a padded microfibre cleaning cloth, a cleaning tool/brush, a small vial of Oto-Ease fluid (a gentle lubricant users can apply to earpiece shells to facilitate smoother insertion and removal), and a renewable desiccant-filled pod to help prevent moisture damage to the CIEMs. 

The ear pieces are not the biggest but they’re not small either, so the units do stick out of your ears quite a bit, but it’s still acceptable. This of course strongly depends on the shape of your ears, but listeners with smaller ears will for sure notice this.

Design-wise I like these IEMs: smooth edges, discrete L/R markings, a pretty face plate and eye for detail with a golden ring in the middle of the shell. The nozzle size is reasonably normal. The length is actually short, but because of the typical design of the shell, it looks quite long. The width of the nozzle is quite large, so this should be taken into account if you have small canals, especially of you want to use foam tips.

The Astrotec Volans have a rounded not-so-agile low end. They reproduce the low region in a very clean and delicate way. The bass quantity is adequately tuned, not overwhelming but also not light. It is not flat by any means, it is a little more emphasized than that. The sub-bass quantity fares similarly, it provides essential harmonics without any issue and that is of course, nice. Don’t get me wrong though, if the track calls for it, Volans’ bass can get pretty impactful but they tend to stay gentle for most of the time. On another note, the whole signature never feels digital and manages to stay natural and organic. You do not feel anything left out here.