Summary and Conclusion

• The Westone MACH Series of professional in-ear monitors have eight entries ranging from MACH 10 with a single BA driver to MACH 80 with eight BA drivers. Pricing starts at $299.99 and goes up to $1599.99 from the Westone Audio web store and an equivalent £299 to £1599 (inc. VAT) from HifiHeadphones for customers as of the date this is written.
• The Periodic Audio Rhodium dongle DAC/amp costs $49 from Periodic Audio and £49 (inc. VAT) from HifiHeadphones as of the date of this article.

With the various audio reviews here on TechPowerUp, we've covered products from mainstream tech brands (think ASUS, CORSAIR etc) as well as the more niche brands out of Asia. The former set tend to be over-ear headsets and the latter are found in the crowded audiophile earphones space. IEMs and earbuds occupy that highly competitive market which is also being rapidly taken over by TWS solutions, so wired IEMs that are directed more for professional use comes off even more a niche use case and one that a new brand could not even contemplate surviving in. It's not a coincidence then that some of the more recognizable audio names are operating here, and Westone Audio happens to be one such brand.

I have been curious about Westone products for a long time now. I've seen some of my favorite music artists wear monitoring IEMs on stage and many used to endorse Westone products for a long time. The 2010s were not kind on the IEM market with incredibly fast R&D leading to products outclassing those released not even an year ago. New driver technologies were being developed in addition to the use of simulation software and enhanced manufacturing and QA/QC facilities. Shenzhen also rose to the challenge and gave birth to more audio brands than anyone could reasonably estimate. While the consumer IEM market is still stronger in Asia, there is certainly more awareness to IEMs being more than just hearing aids and a tool for work as much as to enjoy music wherever you are. This also resulted in a wider dichotomy between IEMs targeting professionals and those marketed for consumers/audiophiles. Westone had many fans of its CIEM-fit models that wanted to see a universal-fit version of the same, especially since its previous UIEM line was quite dated. Thus the MACH Series was born, and no doubt some of the development here coincided also with that of the Etymotic EVO given both share a parent company and both use the under-utilized Estron T2 connector too.

The MACH Series of IEMs comprises of eight entries named MACH 10/20/30/40/50/60/70/80 and have 1-8 balanced armature drivers inside, respectively. This results in a unique product segmentation where you have the same, extremely comfortable plastic build shells throughout and Westone has further differentiated them by the accessories provided. It explains also some of the bigger jumps between the products here, with the MACH 50 costing $800, the MACH 60 at $1100, and the MACH 70 at $1400 being the biggest such jumps. I can't really tell you whether these prices are worth it since my experience with the pro market is quite limited. This is also why this article is a detailed overview roundup and why I don't have comparisons to other IEMs. For the money I'd probably look elsewhere for my specific needs! Yet we see stage performers, mixing engineers, and others in the professional audio fields purchase IEMs directed at that. So I am sure the MACH Series will continue to sell! As it stands, the various tuning and technical performances make for a few reference-class IEMs (MACH 10, 60, 80 come to mind here) and others that offer more bass (MACH 50 and 70, especially). There's certainly a lot to choose from for those interested, and hopefully this article comes in handy should you be among them.