Etymotic ER4P Tip/Trick for increasing warmth

[gmiossi]

Hey all,

This certainly may very well just be an oddity solely of my own ear canal, but on a whim, after years of using my ER4P, I put a cheap $5 pair of foam-padded headphones that came with something over my ears (positioned a little to the back, to press my ears down a bit) while I had my etys in and I was shocked that the bass presence of the music *dramatically* increased. Not only that, but it changed the texture of sound to make it much, much warmer and punchier without losing any detail. I now get that "warm hum" popping in during nicely mastered tracks (songs with jazzy elements, etc). It sounds like a new IEM to me.

It's definitely not something I'd suggest doing in public, but hey, if you're sitting around at home then give it a try

[wuwhere]

Interesting. Would ear muffs work too?

[gmiossi]

Originally Posted by wuwhere

Interesting. Would ear muffs work too?

Hmmm, I don't see why not. The point is just to compress your ears against your head. Actually, ear muffs would probably be more comfortable, and there wouldn't be a dangling chord. I'll have to try that. I don't have ear muffs, though. Here in the south it never gets cold enough.

[wuwhere]

Try these. Most gun shops sell 'em.

[3X0]

I used to do this by uncabling my HD25-1 II and wearing them over my iM716.

[Bilavideo]

Very cool!

[Kclone]

or if you want to spend some money, get the Minibox-E+ amp.

[gmiossi]

Originally Posted by Kclone

or if you want to spend some money, get the Minibox-E+ amp.

I'm already using these out of a xonar essence (which has a good headphone amp built in) most of the time. I guess it's weird that I use IEMs at home, but I like the isolation they provide.

I've got some IE8s coming in Monday, though, which are supposed to have a lot of warmth and sound stage (ie, quite opposite to the etymotics) so that should be a nice contrast to have. There's definitely music that just isn't that pleasant with my ER4s, even though there's plenty of music (ambient/trance/vocals/classical) which is superb on it. I guess that's always going to be the case with any headphones.

The etys just have too much microphonics for me to want to use them with my itouch as I wonder around, so hopefully that's where the IE8s will help. I hear they have excellent cables. I'll look into a portable amp at that point if I don't like how the itouch drives the IE8. I do have a 'total bithead' portable amp, but I'm not a fan of the audio out of it. Anyone have any experience with portable amps for the IE8?

[Bilavideo]

The problem of microphonics, at least with respect to the ER4P, is not with its cable. Its with the need to push these drivers so far into the side of your head that any disturbance of the cable gets transmitted all the way to your brain.

[ZoNtO]

I don't get what the difference is then between this "trick" and just getting a set of full-size cans that has the sound signature you want.

[steviebee]

Originally Posted by ZoNtO

I don't get what the difference is then between this "trick" and just getting a set of full-size cans that has the sound signature you want.

The sheer & blissful state of being that is Head Fi Novelty Corp, Inc.



All part of the fun.

[gmiossi]

Originally Posted by steviebee

The sheer & blissful state of being that is Head Fi Novelty Corp, Inc.



All part of the fun.

haha, exactly. I think everyone here has an obsession with trying anything - it's the tinkering mentality. Look at some of those crazy tip modifications people have done - wow. Of course, I shouldn't talk. I've thought about frankensteining some of mine, too