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A Question to the Etymotic Experts

post #1 of 24
7/20/07 at 5:57pm
Thread Starter 
True or false:

Both the ER4P and ER4S going through a headphone amplifier will have the identical sound quality, with the P version requiring less gain to get to the same volume level as the S.
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post #2 of 24
7/20/07 at 6:20pm
False
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post #3 of 24
7/20/07 at 7:07pm
... but etymotic would tell you "yes"
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post #4 of 24
7/20/07 at 7:50pm
False
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post #5 of 24
7/20/07 at 7:51pm
F...f...f...fffffffffff...dangit!
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post #6 of 24
7/20/07 at 7:56pm
False. It took me over a year, though, to be able to say with certainty that I hear a consistent, definable difference, and that's after cycling though a few amps and trying out various tips. The only real difference that I can speak about (others may hear more or different ones...or none at all) is in the lower mids. It's a bit more palpable with the S cable and amped, if that makes sense. I don't always know how to express in words what I hear. It's subtle, though, and doesn't change the sound sig of the Etys in either strengths or weaknesses in any remarkable way. Truth is, if I'm going to use iems, other than seated on a plane, I'm taking them out unamped for portability reasons. The ER4P are great for that. I rarely use my S cable now.
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post #7 of 24
7/20/07 at 8:02pm
Thread Starter 
I don't get it.

If the 4S has 100 ohm resisters and the 4P has 27 ohm resisters, with the drivers being identical, shouldn't that just change the speaker's ability to increase in volume with amount of gain and not affect the sound coming out of the speakers, themselves?

I got the resistence figures from Dr. Xin's site and I'm going to Ratshack later to get the supply to make what's going to be a 68 ohm resistive wire (they didn't have 75 ohms and I doubt I'd be able to hear the difference of 7 ohms).

But I still don't get it.
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post #8 of 24
7/20/07 at 8:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AudioDwebe View Post
I don't get it.

If the 4S has 100 ohm resisters and the 4P has 27 ohm resisters, with the drivers being identical, shouldn't that just change the speaker's ability to increase in volume with amount of gain and not affect the sound coming out of the speakers, themselves?

Neither of them have resistors in them.

The coil around the armature in the e4s is made from thinner wire and has more loops than the coil around the armature in the e4p, and thus exhibits higher AC impedance. Which isn't the same thing as ohmic resistance.
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post #9 of 24
7/20/07 at 8:08pm
There are resistors in the pod on the cable. In the 4B, the pod also contains a capacitor.
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post #10 of 24
7/20/07 at 8:11pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by boomana View Post
False. It took me over a year, though, to be able to say with certainty that I hear a consistent, definable difference, and that's after cycling though a few amps and trying out various tips. The only real difference that I can speak about (others may hear more or different ones...or none at all) is in the lower mids. It's a bit more palpable with the S cable and amped, if that makes sense. I don't always know how to express in words what I hear. It's subtle, though, and doesn't change the sound sig of the Etys in either strengths or weaknesses in any remarkable way. Truth is, if I'm going to use iems, other than seated on a plane, I'm taking them out unamped for portability reasons. The ER4P are great for that. I rarely use my S cable now.
I've only compared the 4P with the 4B, which I also have for home use, and played through a tubed home headamp, I much preferred the clarity of the B's over the P's. The P's sound rather muddied compared to the B's. And from what I understand, the B's are a completely different IEM as opposed to the S/P models (I could be wrong on this) which share identical parts, minus the different resistence placed in the wiring.

I'm going to make my own P to S cable sometime this weekend and hopefully, it'll bring the sound closer to the 4B.

We'll see.
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post #11 of 24
7/20/07 at 8:14pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ericj View Post
Neither of them have resistors in them.

The coil around the armature in the e4s is made from thinner wire and has more loops than the coil around the armature in the e4p, and thus exhibits higher AC impedance. Which isn't the same thing as ohmic resistance.
I'm no expert in this stuff by any means; however, the information I gathered was from Dr. Xin's webpage, where he describes pretty much in detail the difference between the 4P and the 4S, and also provides instructions on how to make a DIY P to S adapter.
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post #12 of 24
7/20/07 at 8:18pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek View Post
There are resistors in the pod on the cable. In the 4B, the pod also contains a capacitor.
So it's got a 100 ohm resistor plus a capacitor? So then it would be possible to make a 4P to 4B cable, in addition to a 4P to 4S cable?

That would be kind of cool. You could just get the 4P and have cables to change them to either a S or B, to fit either your mood or equipment.

Do you happend to have the exact figures for the resistors and capacitor?
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post #13 of 24
7/20/07 at 8:30pm
Perhaps this will be of some help:

http://patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?docid=...526RS=Etymotic
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post #14 of 24
7/20/07 at 8:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek View Post
I should have paid more attention when my dad used to show me stuff about electronics in many schematics. I'm guessing there's resistor and capacitors on there, but the numbers throw me because they're off by one on each side. Are you able to explain that in layman's terms?
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post #15 of 24
7/20/07 at 9:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek View Post
*shrug* ok, weird
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