Well, in all fairness, Vert, you like your audio brighter than most people do, and the 4B are brighter than the 4S.
I know you know the deal, Vert, but for those who don't: the 4S are designed to most accurately represent how the human ear hears music, including some of the interactions with your head/ear/etc. that would naturally occur when listening to things that don't interface directly with your ear canal
So the 4S have an intentional slight roll-off in the highs--because this slight roll-off exists in the real world. The 4B do not have such a roll-off, since binaural recordings are designed to be listened to only through headphones, and you would supposedly never hear such an "environmental" roll-off.
Here is where I (and Etymotic) disagree with Vert -- if you're going to be listening to non-binaural recordings, the 4S are more accurate in that the sound you hear will more closely reflect what you would be hearing in a live environment or from a recording played through speakers. However, if you tend to like your headphones a bit brighter, then you might enjoy the 4B for the different sonic signature they provide.
I know you know the deal, Vert, but for those who don't: the 4S are designed to most accurately represent how the human ear hears music, including some of the interactions with your head/ear/etc. that would naturally occur when listening to things that don't interface directly with your ear canal
So the 4S have an intentional slight roll-off in the highs--because this slight roll-off exists in the real world. The 4B do not have such a roll-off, since binaural recordings are designed to be listened to only through headphones, and you would supposedly never hear such an "environmental" roll-off.Here is where I (and Etymotic) disagree with Vert -- if you're going to be listening to non-binaural recordings, the 4S are more accurate in that the sound you hear will more closely reflect what you would be hearing in a live environment or from a recording played through speakers. However, if you tend to like your headphones a bit brighter, then you might enjoy the 4B for the different sonic signature they provide.
