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[REVIEW] 18 IEM reviewed and compared!!! (Final update NOV 2, 08) - Page 7

post #91 of 335
8/13/08 at 2:10am
thanks for such a nice and comprehensive review...

perhaps not comprehensive enough. i am really surprised that no one has inquired as to where the Ety Er-4S and/or P stack up relative to the the top 3-4 in the SQ category.

would appreciate comments from those with direct A/B experience, particularly those with a SQ bias that leans toward the audiophile side of things (ie, as natural and most musical a presentation as possible [in tonal balance, dynamics, soundstage and delineation (depite the obvious limitations) and without glare/edge/fatique].

TIA & regards.
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post #92 of 335
8/13/08 at 2:58am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ctm View Post
perhaps not comprehensive enough. i am really surprised that no one has inquired as to where the Ety Er-4S and/or P stack up relative to the the top 3-4 in the SQ category.
Though I love to review ER4 (plus UM2 mentioned above, and perhaps the new SF5), I can only review what I own and spent time to familiar with (a rule I set myself). I don't usually sell my headphone to fund future purchase (for various reasons), so I have to make sure my money are well spent and thus I can only get what my heart's desire once at a time (this is still just a hobby after all).

I am planing to write a more an in-depth A/Bing between TF10 and SE530. Hopefully that will get going so enough.
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post #93 of 335
8/13/08 at 3:02am
Nice!! I vote this one as a sticky on the IEM/Portable page. Comprehensively describes each model and a detailed review.
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post #94 of 335
8/13/08 at 3:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ClieOS View Post
Though I love to review ER4 (plus UM2 mentioned above, and perhaps the new SF5), I can only review what I own and spent time to familiar with...
Thanks for the rapid reply, which is fair enough. Just curious...

Have you ruled out or deprioritized the Ety Er-4S and/or P? If so, please detail why?

Anyone near you who can part with an ER4, UM2 and/or SF5 so that you can simply add to your already great list of comparisons?

Best regards.
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post #95 of 335
8/13/08 at 5:26am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ctm View Post
Have you ruled out or deprioritized the Ety Er-4S and/or P? If so, please detail why?

Anyone near you who can part with an ER4, UM2 and/or SF5 so that you can simply add to your already great list of comparisons?
ER4 is still top of my list of must get 'phone, but since I have both er6i and iM716, I thought I will try out other brand before I move back to the Ety land. It just so happened that I got a great SE530 offer from a local Shure dealer as they were having an in store sale event, which is why SE530 makes more sense. Also, I can get a good ER4P deal from another store that I visit frequently, but they are out of stock for now.

As for the second question, I am 99.99% sure that I am the only Head-fi'er in my hometown. The nearest Head-fi'ers I know of is about 100km away in another country. Yes, I live in the audiophiles' desert.

On extra note, the right side of my newly purchased SE530 has developed connection problem. It seems that the wire on the Y splitter is faulty (I should have noticed it yesterday but the problem wasn't very obvious then so I thought the problem lied on my DAP's headphone socket). I already make a call to the dealer and he has agreed for a replacement after inspection. The IEM are less than a week old. Even with the burn-in and serious audition, the totally hours are still under 100hrs. It could be that I got myself a lemon, but I would expect something better. For that, half a star will be taken away from SE530's build quality rating.
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post #96 of 335
8/13/08 at 5:50am
I agree that the shures don't deserve a high rating for build quality. However, you should find a place to rate them up for their customer service, which is exceptional. I've never dealt with a company this good at customer service.
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post #97 of 335
8/13/08 at 6:00am
Thread Starter 
I think with all the prising threads in the forum, there is no doubt that some companies has exceptional customer service. Personally, I prefer when there is no need to deal with CS at all
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post #98 of 335
8/13/08 at 6:02am
Thanks for rev!
But one things. Using SA6 more than 2 month. MAy be i'm first man in Russia who get it
Want to say - SA6 - even for 250 usd best choice! Main differrent between UE Shure and another - and nobody say it - it's realism for natural musik instruments.
No one - not UE triple, Etymotic and especially Shure can't play so real as SA6 for string and drums. Only SA6 can play "after sound". I think all of you know what natural instruments have not only "attack sound" - they mainly have sound from body. The guitar, flute, cello, triangle and etc. - they all have a "after sound" or "body sound". And i try a lot IEM and can say with sure - no one brand can't play "body sound" as well as SA6. If you listening only sound and attack - so UE maybe better. But if you listening MUSIK - SA6 the best! I can prove it. You can walt to shops and try to compare all what you want and you'll see it.

And last about soundstage. If you remove bass ports ... use SA6 w/o bass ports at all - soudstage will be more great even in Shure. Sound start to came not from SA6 - it's look like sound start to came to you ear like from outside acoustics. Not exactly but different is great - try it pls I don't use bass port at all. Isolation off course some less but not much. But sound is rise a lot! And this function - tunnable it's very great. So - even for 250usd Sleek the best - better for MUSIK than all another
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post #99 of 335
8/13/08 at 11:05am
I understand your situation, but I would eventually like to see the klipsch images and custom 3's, UM2's, and ETY ER4's up there!
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post #100 of 335
8/13/08 at 12:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ClieOS View Post
On extra note, the right side of my newly purchased SE530 has developed connection problem. It seems that the wire on the Y splitter is faulty (I should have noticed it yesterday but the problem wasn't very obvious then so I thought the problem lied on my DAP's headphone socket). I already make a call to the dealer and he has agreed for a replacement after inspection. The IEM are less than a week old. Even with the burn-in and serious audition, the totally hours are still under 100hrs. It could be that I got myself a lemon, but I would expect something better. For that, half a star will be taken away from SE530's build quality rating.

The connection problem was at the Y-splitter connector area (not the IEM housing)? This could be a first. That's an odd place for the cable to be bad. Were they demo's? Perhaps abused/damaged?
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post #101 of 335
8/13/08 at 12:35pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spyro View Post
The connection problem was at the Y-splitter connector area (not the IEM housing)? This could be a first. That's an odd place for the cable to be bad. Were they demo's? Perhaps abused/damaged?
They were straight from an official dealer in sealed package. I didn't even open it up till I went home. After they were opened, they sat on my table for an initial 50 hrs burn-in before I started to use them in the house, than follow up a few days of serious audition and A/Bing by only me. When not in use, they usually stayed in the included case or on my computer table in my room. No one in the house would touch them because they know how I don't like people playing with my stuff before asking me first.

As I mentioned above, I start noticing the problem yesterday but the condition wasn't as bad. I would only hear a little static like noise (in the right channel) when I turn my hear to the far right. However, the situation worsen this afternoon as the right channel sudden went dead after about one hour into a listening section, when I was walking from the front of my house to the back. Needless to say the cable wasn't tangled with any thing at the time. It just went silence suddenly. My first thought was to check the earpiece, but later I confirmed it is indeed a loose connection on the Y-splitter. That's my first lemon after 4 years of using IEM, and hopefully last.


[edit] well, the exchange has to wait till Friday cause something else is up for tomorrow. I'll stick to my TF10 and SA6 for now.

[edit again] Got it on Friday, I am happy again
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post #102 of 335
8/13/08 at 1:32pm
That's amazing. I've had 7-8 pairs of Shure IEM's over the years and have never had a single cable issue.

Sounds like a reject that got past final inspection.
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post #103 of 335
8/13/08 at 2:20pm
Thread Starter 
My first pair of IEM is Shure E3c. I bought it directly from Shure when it was first released and it never gives me any cable problem (nor is any IEM I own, actually).
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post #104 of 335
8/13/08 at 2:41pm
I've owned 3 pairs of Shure IEMs, and 2 of them, both E2c's, gave me tons of cable issues. The third, the SE530, I sold before it had the chance to develop any cable issues. However, I've heard the same story from others with the SE530, that the cable eventually started either fraying, or just losing connection in one driver.
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post #105 of 335
8/13/08 at 10:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by robojack View Post
I've owned 3 pairs of Shure IEMs, and 2 of them, both E2c's, gave me tons of cable issues. The third, the SE530, I sold before it had the chance to develop any cable issues. However, I've heard the same story from others with the SE530, that the cable eventually started either fraying, or just losing connection in one driver.
Only with the older models. The newer one's have a different more flexible memory cabling.
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