Mami Imai & Yumi Hara appear at the Autumn Headphone Festival 2015!

Voice actors and 5pb.Records artists Asami Imai and Yumi Hara appeared in a talk session at the Autumn Headphone Festival 2015. Moderated by audio writer Kenji Nomura, they talked about their impressions of the products they use and their future activities. In this issue, we will post the talk session as well as an interview conducted after the event was recorded! (Click here for the interview!)

Mami Imai & Yumi Hara, passionately and happily discussing their ear monitors experience

The "Autumn Headphone Festival 2015" was held at Nakano Sunplaza over two days on October 24 and 25, 2015. Portable audio fans flocked to the booths of various manufacturers, where they were able to experience a variety of products firsthand.

Westone's official distributor, Techwind, hosted a talk event at their booth on the 25th, with Westone custom IEM (in-ear monitor) users Mami Imai and Yumi Hara taking the stage. They talked about their own in-ear monitors that they use for recording and live performances. Audio writer Kenji Nomura moderated the session. Tomoyuki Hamada, producer of 5pb.Records, also took the stage and followed up on the two women's comments.

The two women appeared at the venue and greeted the audience, then took out their personal earphones from their cases and showed off the Westone "ES60" model, a limited edition model with a metal gold body for Ms. Imai and a metal bronze body for Mr. Hara, each with the artist's logo engraved on it. The two were asked how they felt when they used them at the concert.

The two were asked how they felt after using them at the concert,

Hara: "The sealed feeling is amazing. When I put them in my ears while they are warmed up and softened, the sealed feeling increases and I can immerse myself in the sound.

Imai: "The sound is mellow. Delicate sounds sound mellow.

Each of them honestly expressed their feelings.

According to Nomura, the flex canal, which softens with body heat, is a selling point of Westone's IEMs.

Imai: "They don't hurt even if you wear them in your ears for a long time.

The two also seem to like the design and colors a lot,

Hara: "There were so many variations of the product that I had a hard time deciding, but I chose this one (ES60) because I thought it was an unusual shape.

Imai "I used to use blue ear monitors, but the nice thing about these is that you can choose any outfit.

Hara "The design is gorgeous and elegant at the same time. And I can have my logo on it.

Imai "I like things to be subtle, so I asked them to use a silverish gray logo (on a gold body) so that it wouldn't stand out as much as possible.

Hara "I like my logo, which is designed like a flower, so I wanted it to stand out, so I asked them to make it easy to see in white on bronze.

Another feature of ES60 is its high sound insulation.

Imai: "When I made these, I was told that I wouldn't have to turn up the volume as much. I have a tendency to make a lot of noise (laughs), but for the first time, I turned down the volume of my audio equipment to a very low level.

Hara: "When I went to Asami's house, the TV was loud (laughs).

(Laughter)" This comment often led to a digression into a lively conversation about the volume of the TV at the two's homes.

Mr. Nomura explained that the most important thing for professional ear monitors is "easy ringing. Even in a low-power playback environment, they must be able to be heard clearly.

Imai: "I listen with my iPhone, but to be honest, I was a bit intimidated. （I was scared by the difference (from the earphones I normally use).

Westone's features include the adherence of being flex-canal, sound insulation, and a royal sound balance that reproduces the sound as it is.

Mr. Imai asked, "Well, I'm going to go out on a limb here, but what are some of the points you would like to see improved?" Imai asked,

Mr. Nomura replied, "There may be a request to increase the resolution of the low-frequency range and to support high-resolution audio.

There were times when the audio specialist answered Ms. Imai's direct question with sincerity, as only a user can.

While looking forward to future developments, the two love the "ES60" they have now and confidently recommend it to the audience.

Hara: "Girls might want to save up and buy one with their boyfriends.

Imai: "It's custom, so we can't share it between the two of us. I'll take an ear mold.

The audience laughed as the conversation continued on to the unexpected comfort of taking ear molds and ear cleaning. The talk session was a lively one, with straightforward comments and cute banter that could only come from a live event.