Westone Audio Launches AM PRO X Series of In-Ear Monitors with Passive Ambience Port

A leading brand and pioneer in the original in-ear monitor category, Westone Audio unveiled the new AM PRO X series of universal IEMs, designed for stage use but not providing full isolation. The new models feature the company's patented StageSense technology, a passive port filter that allows ambience sound to be channeled with the driver's response. The series includes the AM PRO X 10 (single driver), AM PRO X 20 (dual driver), and AM PRO X 30 (triple driver) models.
 
In-Ear Monitors are a product class that expanded beyond its intended original application for performing artists and remain a dynamic category in wired headphones. Around four decades ago, Westone Audio began manufacturing custom earpieces and perfecting designs for the very first stage monitors. Throughout the 1980s, the company developed custom earpieces for musicians and the early "Walkman" style earbuds using balanced armature drivers, paving the way for the first custom in-ear monitors used by artists such as Rush or Def Leppard. 

Evolving the range of products from custom and premium in-ear solutions to universal models for musicians, Westone Audio has a rich history of uniquely focused innovations and decades of knowledge shared with its former hearing healthcare business. The company continues to strengthen its brand and core capabilities, now as a Lucid Audio, which acquired Westone Audio in 2020, and had already acquired Etymotic Research in 2018.

Available in three different configurations, the new Westone AM PRO X series uses advanced balanced armature technology combined with the company's StageSense filter system. This patented Westone technology combines passive ambient sound with the monitor mix, intended to give musicians and performers more control of their environment. The intention is to correctly channel the ambience sound from a port on the IEM's shell/housings directly in phase with the BA drivers, allowing the result to maintain a reasonable level of attenuation and noise reduction (which is after all the core reason why musicians have IEMs on stage). According to Westone, the StageSense filter provides linear attenuation, reducing external ambient noise by 10dB (instead of the 20/30dB passive isolation achieved in tightly closed IEMs) and providing the user with a better sense of their environment. This "passive ambience" approach, according to Westone, still allows performers to enjoy the full-range frequency response from their in-ear monitor signal, while being able to hear and feel their surroundings, and better engage with fellow performers and audience. That is, assuming everyone else on the stage will be also wearing IEMs and that there aren't any stage monitors blasting above the acoustic levels of the drummer.

With a familiar design on the outside and a unique driver combination inside the shells, the AM PRO X series is said to deliver accurate and detailed sound, while improving overall comfort and fatigue-free long-term use. Westone also claims the precise tuning of the earpieces, with a +/- 3dB tolerance, creating a balanced listening experience. These will be arguments that will appeal to different potential buyers who will never necessarily perform on stage, but will appreciate the open-ear approach in the IEM format.

Westone expects the AM PRO X range will appeal to sound engineers, artists and musical performers working within a range of environments from small clubs, large venues, rehearsal rooms, church and worship settings. Yet, Westone understands that the passive ambience concept will appeal also to music enthusiasts in general and that was the reason to anticipate availability with a presentation at the Hong Kong High-End AV (August 11-13), where the show attendees were the first to be able to try out the new range.
 
All IEMs in the new AM PRO X series ship with Westone's proprietary professional quality twisted tensile copper cable with T2 micro and 3.5mm mini-jack connectors. Inside the impressive box, Westone includes a wax loop, cleaning cloth, Mini Monitor Vault II case, five pairs of foam tips and five pairs of silicone tips.

The entire range is available to buy from August 15, 2023 from WestoneAudio.com (US), and WestoneAudio.eu (EU) as well as selected retailers worldwide, with prices starting at $249.99/€279.99 for the AM PRO X 10 model, $399.99/€429.99 for the AM PRO X 20, and $479.99/€514.99 for the triple BA driver AM PRO X 30. Visitors beware, the Westone Audio website is one of those annoying "IP tracking" properties that insists on diverting you elsewhere, when all you want is to visit the company's website, and not go to a regional online store. A nice way to annoy visitors before they buy anything.
www.westoneaudio.com