Company:Westone
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| Headquarters | Colorado Springs, Colorado , USA |
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Westone is an American manufacturer of custom earpieces for the hearing healthcare market, hearing protection products, custom communications earpieces, clinical and audiological supplies, musicians hearing protection and in-ear monitors for professional musicians and audiophiles.
History
Westone Laboratories, Inc. was established in 1959 by Ron Morgan, Sr. outside of Divide, Colorado, USA. The company was later headed by Ron Morgan's son, Randy Morgan. It is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado and currently led by Jason Lockwood, President and CEO.
Westone Music Products invented the first in-ear musicians' monitor. The company originally designed and manufactured the E1 and E5 for Shure, another manufacturer of audio equipment. Westone also co-developed and manufactured the early Ultimate Ears brand by Jerry Harvey, and custom-fitted in-ear musicians’ monitors.
Westone was purchased by HealthEdge Investment Partners in 2017. In 2020, Westone's music division, Westone Audio was purchased by Lucid Audio.[1]
Products
The company's earpieces are used for hearing healthcare, recreation, industrial and military applications. Its core business is custom earpieces for hearing healthcare (i.e., used in conjunction with hearing aids), but it also caters to the professional musician and audiophile market.
Earphones and in-ear musicians' monitors
Westone Audio manufactures both custom-fit and universal-fit products for personal listening for consumers, in-ear musicians’ monitors for professional musicians and audiophiles, as well as hearing protection for musicians and concert goers.
Westone Audio currently has five different product families of in-ear musicians’ monitors and earphones: the Universal Series (UM Pro 10, UM Pro 20, UM Pro 30, UM Pro 50) in-ear musicians’ monitors, the W Series (W10, W10, W30, W40, W50, W60) earphones for personal listening, the custom Elite Series (ES10, ES20, ES30, ES50, ES60), the custom Consumer Recreational (CR10), custom Musician's monitors (AC10 and AC20) and custom earpieces (Style #7 and UM56) for adapting to universal-fit earbuds and earphones.
The single driver UM Pro 10, dual driver UM Pro 20, triple driver UM Pro 30, and 5 driver UM Pro 50 are designed to provide frequency efficiencies using a universal-fit for on-stage monitoring. While the W10, W20, W30, W40, W50, and W60 also provide a universal-fit, they are specifically designed for the personal listener.
The Elite Series, namely the ES10, ES20, ES30, ES50, and ES60 are custom fit earphones and in-ear musicians’ monitors. This line was originally targeted to provide custom-fit in-ear musicians’ monitors for professional musicians for on-stage monitoring.
Custom fit is an upgrade in personal listening and in-ear musicians’ monitors. Custom-fit designs fit the shape of the ear and ear canal. Headphones typically are noise cancellation products, providing background noise in addition to the music/sound the headphone drivers deliver. Custom-fit products isolate external noise and sound by creating a seal, which aims to enhance the sound quality delivered, and to provide a better sound performance level than headphones and ear buds.
| W Series | Driver |
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| All W series monitors feature removable cables, and include 1 braided cable, and 1 Apple Certified Microphone Cable | - |
| W10 | Balanced armature, full range, single driver. |
| W20 | Dual balanced armatures, 1 low & 1 mid/high frequency. |
| W30 | Three balanced armature drivers with a passive three-way crossover. |
| W40 | Four balanced armature drivers with a passive three-way crossover (2 low, 1 mid, 1 high) |
| W50 | Five balanced armature drivers with a passive three-way crossover (1 low, 2 mid, 2 high) |
| W60 | Six balanced armature drivers with a passive three-way crossover (2 low, 2 mid, 2 high) |
| W80 | Eight balanced armature drivers with a passive three-way crossover (2 low, 2 mid, 4 high) |
| Universal In-Ear Musicians’ Monitors | Driver |
|---|---|
| All UM Pro series monitors feature removable cables | |
| UM Pro 10 | Balanced armature, full range, single driver |
| UM Pro 20 | Dual balanced armatures with a passive crossover; |
| UM Pro 30 | Three balanced armature drivers with a passive three-way crossover |
| UM Pro 50 | Five balanced armature drivers with a passive three-way crossover (1 low, 2 mid, 2 high) |
| Custom Monitors/Earphones | Driver |
|---|---|
| CR10 | Balanced armature, full range, single driver |
| AC10 | Balanced armature, full range, single driver |
| AC20 | Dual balanced armatures with a passive crossover |
| ES10 | Balanced armature, full range, single driver |
| ES20 | Dual balanced armatures with a passive crossover |
| ES30 | Three balanced armature drivers with a passive three-way crossover |
| ES50 | Five balanced armature drivers with a passive three-way crossover (1 low, 2 mid, 2 high) |
| ES60 | Six balanced armature drivers with a passive three-way crossover (2 low, 2 mid, 2 high) |
| ES80 | Eight balanced armature drivers with a passive three-way crossover (2 low, 2 mid, 4 high) |
| Earpieces | Descriptions |
|---|---|
| Style 49 | Typically considered hearing protection, this product is designed for the wearer to hear accurately, but at a safer volume. The design fits into the ear canal with a 9, 15, or 25 dB filter. |
| Style #7 | Also known as Westone iCustoms[TM]. This product is designed for a custom-fit with standard earbuds. |
| UM 56 | This product allows UM product line users to upgrade their universal-fit to a custom-fit. These earpieces are canal-style similar to the size of a universal tip. |
References
External links
- Westone Main Web Site
- Westone Music Products
- Westone Hearing Health Care Products
- Westone DefendEar Hearing Protection Device Products
- Westone Military Products
- Westone Music Blog
- Interview with Randy Morgan, former President of Westone Laboratories Inc.
- Westone ES2 Review
- Bill Palmer for iProng reviewing earphones industry, iProng / Beatweek Magazine.
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