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I prefer Apuresound ER-4P than ER-4S

post #1 of 54
3/19/08 at 10:05pm
Thread Starter 
Now that I have been using Apuresound cable for few months, I prefer Apuresound ER-4P than S by a lot.

I find that Apuresound in the ER-4P configuration to have a much more organic, fuller and punchier bigger bass especially when being paired to predator. Midrange is super sweet too.

The first time I received the ER-4P Apuresound cable, I found the bass too be loose and flabby. After 100s of burned-in the bass now tightened with authority and very musical.

I thought I would share this experience since many of the threads I read, recommended more towards ER-4S. ER-4S Apuresounds is lacking of midrange for my taste, making it to sound more sterile and analytical.

For those who found Etymotic to be analytical, give ER-4P Apuresound a try.

The following combination is awesome. I could finally live without UE-11.
iMOD 5.5 -> ALO Au/Ag -> Vcap -> CablePro Panorama -> Predator -> ER-4P(Apuresound)
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post #2 of 54
4/12/08 at 5:32pm
No replies for this thread? This interesting news, and I consider Jlingo my most rated reference for portable listening.
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post #3 of 54
4/12/08 at 6:33pm
Very interesting indeed. I might have to ask Alex to replace the resistor in mine as it has been send back for repairs anyway.
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post #4 of 54
4/12/08 at 8:33pm
Totally agree on this being valuable info that appears to have simply slipped by.

It shows how some of the quality SQ improvment info can be lost amongst more general discussion threads.

I mean, 'live without UE11' implies quite a bit
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post #5 of 54
4/12/08 at 8:44pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Anthonyfirst,

ER-4P Apuresound has an exceptional synergy with the predator.
And of course I couldn't stress this awesome combination further:
iMOD 5.5 -> ALO Au/Ag -> Vcap -> CablePro Panorama -> Predator -> ER-4P(Apuresound)

Changing mini to mini Panorma cable to Cardas or EarCandy Lite, making the midrange less open and thinner

Once you get the proper system matching with ER-4P Apuresound, WOW! You won't believe what you are hearing.

Also with ER-4P Apuresound, you could hear a huge difference between iMOD VCAP PANORAMA and the iPOD Classic. With iMOD VCAP, the soundstage is like 2x bigger and more detailed with all the upper surrounding air floating around. I couldn't hear this with UE11. I tried iMOD VCAP and iPOD Classic with Sennheiser HD650 also less impressed.

But UE11 is great during commuting, I think the isolation and the more upfront sound character is great for active lifestyle and in fighting against ambience noise such as on the plane, at the gym. UE11 is also higher resolution sounding, but ER-4P Apuresound is a very fun IEM to listen too. ER-4P Apuresound doesn't sound anything like the regular ER-4P, it's closer to Triple.Fi but with sweeter midrange and better bass. Triple.Fi bass IMO is not deep enough and slight midbass hump especially when compared to UE11

Another thing, has anybody tried ipod classic with vcap? It makes iPOD classic more musical and bigger soundstage, more holographic, more organic, more laid back. But still nothing like the iMOD IMO.

@AnthonyFirst: I haven't tested Apuresound with LISA III again, may be I will try to compare LISA III and the predator But for now I'm very impressed with predator ER-4P. I think predator helps though, as predator has a very punchy deep, strong, articulate bass. It's a really fun bass to listen too. Predator's bass is its strongest strength. LISA III bass is a little bit on a warm side and slower as far as I remember. Because before I own predator, I was listening ER-4P Apuresound with LISA III. Although impressed, I didn't recall, it was as enjoyable as using ER-4P and the predator. Also the size of the predator is so miniscule compared to the giant LISA III. Try predator with ER-4P Apuresound if you have a chance. With the predator, you could hear a big difference between ER-4P Apuresound and ER-4S Apuresound. I prefer the P. Using LISA III, I already forgot whether I prefer the P or the S. But I remember with LISA III Using ER-4P Apuresound making it to sound closer to the Triple.Fi.
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post #6 of 54
4/12/08 at 9:10pm
Did you happen to hear ER4P with stock cable, may be you just like P signature better?
Etymotic known to use high quality cable in ER4, I mean not APS level, but not crap either, it's a silver plated copper, not sure if that leaves a lot of room for improvement.
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post #7 of 54
4/13/08 at 12:13am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT View Post
Did you happen to hear ER4P with stock cable, may be you just like P signature better?
Etymotic known to use high quality cable in ER4, I mean not APS level, but not crap either, it's a silver plated copper, not sure if that leaves a lot of room for improvement.
Yes I do sir. In fact, ER-4P is the first IEM that I have purchased even way before I got to know headfi I like the stock ER-4P but not as much as the stock ER-4S due to a midbass hump, smaller soundstage, less detailed sounding.

I often hear people complain that etymotic sounds tinny, digital, clinical. Well, Apuresound cable actually improves all these weaknesses

Apuresound P series changed stock ER-4P by adding Bigger soundstage, Deeper more defined bass, Fuller rounder sweeter midrange. It improves on all aspects compared with ER-4P stock cable.

But then again, I'm talking about ER-4P Apuresound with the predator. In my experience, System matching affects the sound greatly.
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post #8 of 54
4/13/08 at 1:47am
id really love to try out the APS cable, but the price is just far to high for cables for my liking. Might try and do some selling off, but its still a huge investment!

maybe ill wait till someone in melb has em and see what they're really like!

btw got some pics?
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post #9 of 54
4/13/08 at 1:51am
Interesting
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post #10 of 54
4/13/08 at 1:13pm
Hi Jeffri,

How do you find the Apuresound P to behave in regards to sibilance? Does it have any peaks in the 5-8 kHz range?
I think ER4P is more forgiving than both ER4S and Apuresound S. Does the Apuresound ER4P improve that?

And yes, I'd be happy about a head to head comparison between Predator and Lisa III. I remember that when you used to listen to your Lisa, the Apuresound ER4 weren't fully burned in, so things might have changed now.
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post #11 of 54
4/13/08 at 1:20pm
What about microphonics? I never read an mention of them from the apuresound cable.
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post #12 of 54
4/13/08 at 1:41pm
The IEM is worn Shure style and there are almost no microphonics.
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post #13 of 54
4/13/08 at 2:16pm
I am trying out my new Apuresound Ety S cable with my Lisa III, and I have found with some tweaking that it sounds very warm and yet still detailed. The midrange and treble are very natural sounding, but I would say the bass is maybe a little slow and thick.(Correction: See the following post) The bass boost on the Lisa does allow a rich filling in of the bass, and it does sound way better with the bass boost turned up. The overall tonal balance is good with the added bass, and it is an easy to listen to and fun feeling to the low end. I just sense it could be a little tighter, but the midrange and treble are sounding so good that I am not really missing my tricked out home setup that included a Yamamoto amp, AT-W1000s and an Echofone (see my review of the Echofone which is a kind of supertweeter for headphones here:http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/ech...paired-278315/

Overall the Apuresound S cable is a definite improvement over the stock P cable. Also on the Lisa, the P is so sensitive that there is not much range to the volume control. The levels are way high even with the volume turned up just 10-15%. So in that respect the S cable is a better match with the Lisa.

Another factor that improves my enjoyment is taking my whole rig out in the backyard which gets me away from all of the energetic influences of the environment indoors, as per the Belt's theories. That is why I am switching over to a more portable rig. You can read more about my motivation on this thread on Audio Asylum: Isolation Ward
and more about the Belts at:
P.W.B. Electronics Home Page

For a little context, here is my setup right now:
Dell laptop with Vista (SP1) and WMP with Burwen Bobcat, All files in WAV format
Trends UD10 (using the built in DAC which sounds amazingly good for the price)
Dakiom stabilizer
Signal Cable Silver Reference IC with Z-Cable Z-Sleeve Extra Heavy
Lisa III
Etys with Apuresound S cable

I mentioned tweaking and I have the EQ in WMP set to approximate the frequency curve mentioned here:
Reference earphones
I say approximate because the sliders in WMP are at 2KHZ and 8Khz instead of 2.5 and 7.5 as suggested on the linkwitz lab page.

I also use the SRS Wow feature in WMP very sparingly to give a little more space and fullness to the sound. This works as long as you do not overdo it.
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post #14 of 54
4/13/08 at 8:51pm
Correction: It was not the Lisa III that was fuzzing up my bass. It was either the bass boost in the SRS feature of Windows Media Player or else the combination of the bass boost in SRS with the Bass boost on the Lisa was overdriving my Etys. This is a completely new setup for me and so I am still learning how to get the most out of it. But without the bass boost on in the SRS and the bass on the Lisa turned down a bit, the bass tightens right up and there is nice detail from top to bottom. As usual with these kinds of signal modifiers, I find I like the change in sound, but then I get tired of the effect usually due to some distortion or as in this case blurring of the sound. I am still using the Wow feature by itself as it does add a nice fullness and 3D effect to the sound. Without it the sound is a little too much in my head.

And overall, I am really loving this combination of Lisa III with the Ety/Apuresound headphones. It is amazing to me how close it comes to the sound I was getting with my Yamamoto and AT-W1000s with the Echofone. And for about half the price. I would say the Yammy setup had a certain tone the Etys can't match, and the Echofone added a truly amazing three dimensional quality to the sound. But as I tweak my new setup, I keep getting closer and closer. And as my memory of the other system fades, it matters less and less. As I mentioned I like having it semi-portable so I can take it outside and listen in the back yard. What a treat to have such great music while watching the clouds and sun and trees swaying in the wind.
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post #15 of 54
4/13/08 at 8:54pm
Hmm, I may consider this with my incoming pair of ER-4P. My biggest problem with the Ety IEMs are their terrible microphonics... stiff cables.
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