Recording - March 2014 - 35

Westone UM Pro 30
$479.99; www.westoneaudio.com/index.php/products/um-series/um-pro-30.html

long line of descendants of the legendary MDR-V6 and
MDR-7506. But Sony's also released an in-ear design,
the MDR-7550, that's well worth a look and listen.
Primarily designed for live stage use, the MDR-7550
can be pressed into service for professional recording
needs as can any other good-quality in-ear monitor. It
offers a single 16 mm dynamic driver with a neodymium magnet for the widest possible dynamic range and
accuracy; this is a larger driver than is common on
most in-ears, and should translate to impressive performance. This also results in the monitors protruding a
bit more from the ears than other designs, but once
you hear them you're not going to be overly concerned about whether they cut a clean profile or not.
The MDR-7550 boasts a claimed frequency
response (no tolerances given) of 3 Hz to 28 kHz.
That's a huge range, much wider than the other in-ears
we tested. Its 16 ohm impedance lets it get good and
loud even from anemic headphone amps, and it has a
108 dB/mW sensitivity.
The drivers are connected to over-the-ear wire hangers, and the 5.25-foot cable is terminated in a goldplated right-angle TRS miniplug; no 1/4" adapter is provided. The MDR-7550 comes with single-flange silicone eartips in three different sizes and is packaged in
a soft zipper case. The cables are user-replaceable.
The listening experience for the MDR-7550 is, at
least to this reviewer's ears, much more like what you'd
expect from headphones than in-ear monitors. Quick
listening comparisons with the Sony MDR-7510 and
MDR-7520, while very inexact, gave the impression
that the in-ears were voiced similarly to the headphones, so if you're a fan of the "Sony sound" you'll
likely find something familiar in the MDR-7550.
Starting at the low end, the MDR-7550 at first comes
across as being a bit bass-heavy, but what you're hearing comes from the excellent bass extension rather
than a big bump down below... there's detail and definition aplenty, and that combines with the strength of
the lower mids to give an impression of big bad bass.
Those lower mids are indeed a bit forward in the
mix, enough to bring out fine detail in the harmonics
of bass guitar and the lower strings on guitars, and
give a marvelous presence to vocals. Rock and dance
music sound phenomenal on the MDR-7550, rich with
detail and with a reassuring weight to them that doesn't detract from being able to "hear into" fine details
of timbre. The upper mids and "mudrange" are anything but muddy, and the highs offer clarity with no
trace of shrillness, except when the original source
material is shrill.
I was left with the feeling that if in-ears are a new
experience for the engineer who's used to relying
upon headphones, if not monitors, for every task, the
MDR-7550 would be a good first model to choose...
and that such a first choice might end up being the
only choice needed for many years to come.

Westone is based in Colorado Springs and has been making hearing
products since the 1950s, everything from industrial hearing protection to
audio systems used in fighter jets. The company's in-ear monitors, custom-fitted with personalized earmolds, have been a brand to beat among gigging
musicians for decades. The new UM Series represents an interesting step into
a wider market through the introduction of a "universal fit" system; no longer
needing earmolds, anyone can use them right out of the package.
The top of the UM line is the UM Pro 30, a 3-driver in-ear squarely
aimed at the touring and recording professional. The three balanced
armature drivers with passive crossover are intended to give a solid and
smooth frequency response from the deep bass to the upper reaches of
the treble. The enclosure is ergonomically designed to fit close in the ear
without protruding uncomfortably.
The UM Pro 30 has a sensitivity of 124 dB / 1 mW, and a frequency
response rated at 20 Hz to 18 Hz (no tolerances given). With a 56 ohm
impedance, it requires a bit more juice to get to a good listening level
than you might expect from consumer earphones, and benefits from a
hefty headphone amplifier. Passive noise attenuation (the amount of isolation provided simply by putting the phones in your ears) is given as 25
dB, a very impressive figure that was borne out by my listening sessions.
These phones make sure you're hearing what
they're giving you, not what's going on in
the venue or studio around you.
The earpieces are connected to
their 128 cm (50") braided cable
by a pair of stiffened over-the-ear
braces to hold them in place comfortably; the cable is easily

replaceable and ends in a gold-plated TRS right-angle miniplug, with no 1/4" adapter provided. The UM Pro
30 comes with ten sets of eartips, five each of single-flange silicone and
compressible closed-cell foam in a wide variety of sizes... and I do mean
wide! There are tips that look like they'd work well for a small child, and
tips that, well, I wouldn't want to meet someone who needed that size in
a dark alley. A cleaning wire/brush tool is included, and everything fits
nicely in a transparent-orange waterproof plastic hard case.
The UM Pro 30 is startling if you've never heard a multiple-driver in-ear
before; it's voiced to bring out particular ranges of frequencies and to
showcase critical sources like guitars, vocals, percussion, and bass. This
isn't a consumer-centric listening experience, smooth and pleasant and
nice; this is everything as it truly sounds, right there with all its detail and
scuffs and scratches intact, the sort of unforgiving reality that a serious
tracking engineer needs.
I had a blast listening to these in-ears; they were exquisite on wellrecorded acoustic music, and hit hard when playing back rock and
dance music, but it was almost painful to listen to bad recordings on
them. Original CD re-releases of famous LPs, from the dark days of inexperienced engineers making digital transfers; brutally crushed CDs from
the even darker days of the Loudness Wars; and, of course, some of my
early home-studio recordings from the 1980s that I keep on file as critical listening material for just this reason-if they were recorded or mastered badly, they sounded bad on the Westones. These in-ears make sure
you hear every overcompressed 2-mix, flat lifeless soundstage, and tiny
background hiss or hum.
The UM Pro 30 is for the engineer or recording musician who wants
nothing more nor less than what audio actually sounds like, who needs to
make critical decisions in the field and rely implicitly on what he's hearing.
Built to last and delivering the goods, this in-ear means business.
RECORDING March 2014

http://www.westoneaudio.com/index.php/products/um-series/um-pro-30.html

Recording - March 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - March 2014