This is one of the tragedies of consumer audio, where uninformed masses with very skewed preference for heavily colored audio reproduction have managed to influence the companies who design and manufacture audio reproduction devices. In general, the W3's bass is very bloated and muddy, completely overwhelming the entire sonic spectrum. In pro audio, audio reproduction has to be as transparent as possible, and the Westone 3 is anything but transparent. This is not a subjective statement-it is totally objective, because I'm judging from the perspective of pro audio neutrality, where intentional coloring of the sound is considered a sin when it comes to audio reproduction devices. The problem with trusting online opinions is that often the people who write really good prose don't necessarily have good taste in audio-many of them use flowery prose to describe what is essentially a severely flawed sonic signature.
The Westone 3 is one such case where I had to rely on internet reviews, and I regret the purchase. I don't like to buy headphones solely based on people's recommendations without auditioning them first, but the reality is, you often have to because you just don't have the opportunity to audition exactly the models you are interested in due to where you live.
