Pros: Wire, Accessories, Mids, highs, comfort, isolation
Cons: Price, Bass

Packaging & Accessories: 9/10
Build Quality: 10/10
Design & Look: 9/10
Microphonics (higher ratings means lower cable noise): 10/10
Isolation: 9/10
Comfort: 9/10
Audio Quality: 9/10
Value: 6.5/10
My final Rating: 9/10

Purchase Date: May 2010
Purchase Price: £200

I bought the Westone 2’s (W2’s) for £200 from HHA in the UK.
These were by far the most expensive earphones I had bought, and they still hold that title.
These put shortly aren’t worth £200, I would say the £100-150 is where they are more suited to be.
Its “main competition” is the Audéo PFE 112’s (even though they have a single BA driver) they compete really good with the dual BA’s of the W2’s

Here is my unboxing video:

Packaging, accessories, box content, overall first impressions (look wise)

The packaging for the Westone’s is very good.
Its a simple, yet small package that contains a lot of “goodies”
No over-the-top packaging, with a lack of things inside.

The contents inside the package is vast. you have an array of ear tips, a plane adapter, a 1/4 jack adapter, a cleaning tool, and a rock hard case (even though it looks soft)
I was very impressed when I got the package, and opened it up to find a sleuth of things inside. Good job Westone.

In terms of the overall look – they look nice, discrete and are in fact very light to wear.
What caught my eye (apart from the contents of the box) was the braided cable.
A very cool looking cable, that is built to last.

Build Quality

Now the build quality. Well what is there more to say. it has a braided cable for starters, has a nice hard plastic housing for the earphones.
The build quality is really top notch. Possibly one of the few earphones that made me say: “this is really built to last”
I was impressed, and still am (even though I no longer have them) of the overall build quality of the Westone 2’s
This build quality is also reflected throughout the Westone range.
I find this very professional and more so, that the company cares bout their customers, be it in their high-end models, or their lower-end models.

Now the overall look, comfort and isolation

The look of the W2’s is very elegant.
I like to think of it as an egg shaped housing, that is ready to be eaten.
The look isn’t striking, nor is is it ugly. The Westone’s also sit well in your ear (tip dependant) and thus don’t stick out by a large margin.

The comfort:
Now the comfort was very good. I actually chose these over the UM2’s originally due to the comfortable, light-weight design. You can sit for hours listening to them, and not even realise they were in your ears. So comfort wise, they were very much good.

In terms of isolation – now it all depends on the tips used.
I used the Comply P-Series, and boy did they isolate well.
I found this to be one of the best isolating earphones I had tried, and even to this day, hold the title of one of the best isolating earphones I would recommend.

Sound Quality

This is the focal point of the W2’s – it really depends what you are into.
Personally if you ask me, would I buy the W2’s, it would be a yes/no answer.
They have excellent sound separation, mids, highs & great comfort, isolation and build quality – however their bass really lacks a punch.
My Dynamic Driver Sony MDR-EX500’s had a much better punch.
So if you are looking for bass, immediately I can tell you, look elsewhere. these were in my opinion the 2nd/3rd worst bass producing earphones I had heard.

Lows:
As mentioned above. they lack a punch and are more cantered around a refined, clean bass. Mainly at the sub-bass, rather than mid-bass. but honestly, these are one of the few earphones that I found, which didn’t have enough bass for my liking. Then again that list extends quite a lot, but these were by far the “worst” for bass.
I took a huge loss selling them, but never regretted it as they weren’t giving me that bass impact. Felt like something was missing.

Mids/highs:
The mids and highs are very good. With the dual BA driver, you really have a sense of separation between instruments. On top of that, unlike the lows, the mids and highs are very well pronounced. Not too in your face, unlike the se535’s but very much present and one of the talking points of the W2’s.

Sound stage:
The soundstage, is also very good – again with the 2 BA drivers it allows a nice sense of feeling. it doesn’t have a closed soundstage, unlike the MG7’s, but nor does it have a WIDE soundstage, like the IE8’s (which I dislike) – so overall the soundstage is nice!

Sound Quality Ratings:
Lows: 6/10
Mids: 8/10
Highs: 8.5/10
Soundstage: 9/10

Overall, the W2’s were VERY expensive for what they offered. I found myself paying/losing a lot of money on these, and more so having a lack of bass made me wonder why I had paid that price.
In other words, I couldn’t justify my purchase – they simply weren’t worth it for me.
That said, for someone who isn’t really looking for any sort of bass impact, these are one of the best earphones to buy – alongside with the PFE 112’s

Here is my Video Review of them:

I hope you enjoyed this!
–TotallydubbedHD