Review: Apuresound-recabled Etymotic ER4P (revised) - Page 7

Are there any benefits that the Switchcraft connector has over the Neutrik?

Hello all, new guy here. I wanted to post about my own Etymotic cable journey. I love my er-4 phones, but there were always a few issues for me. I could never afford a cable from apuresound, so I build my own!

I'm an EE, so i dug around in my toolbox and found the perfect tool for removing Ety cables...

no muss, no fuss, perfectly shaped for pulling off the connectors with no damage.

then, I hopped on ebay and saw these:

A bit bulky, I asked for mine to be sent unassembled. Basically I wanted the pins and the little pcb, and then I tossed the plastic dome housings, and the cable side connector.

I soldered in a 20R 1206 SMT resistor on either side, then soldered in a westone cable:

I cut off the connectors and memory wire on the cable, and soldered the wires to my modified pin connectors. There were enough holes on the tiny pcb(a 2x4 grid of perfboard would work too) to thread the cable through one side to strain relieve it.

A little bit of heatshrink later and voila:

Sorry, my only camera is not great, but you get the idea. Now the whole setup is super small and comfy, no pod anywhere. Easy to wear over the ears, and microphonics are non-existant. About $80 total outlay for the setup. Now my Etys are getting WAY more listening time. And I didn't have to spend more for a cable than the earpieces.

Is Apuresound still in business? I would like to recable my ER4P  but 6 emails to them have gone unanswered. Such a shame. 

And an iPhone variant would be trumps.

I have the same question actually - no response in about a month.  What a bummer if they're no longer in business.  Anybody know of any head-fiers who would happen to be able to create this cable?? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone!

I have been reading Head Fi for 4 years now, and want to thank you all for providing accurate informations.

I own a ER4P for 4 years and would like to upgrade them soundwise. What would you suggest first between:

- apuresound recable (don't know how to connect them though)

- buying a portable amp (but I would lose portability)

- custom ear mold through the ety custom fit program (seems to improve the comfort more than the sound)

All these are discussed extensively in this forum separately but not compared to each other.

Budget: <200$ 

Gear: iphone, mp3 320 VBR, no amp

Thank you for your contribution!

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatjab 

Hi everyone!

I have been reading Head Fi for 4 years now, and want to thank you all for providing accurate informations.

I own a ER4P for 4 years and would like to upgrade them soundwise. What would you suggest first between:

- apuresound recable (don't know how to connect them though)

- buying a portable amp (but I would lose portability)

- custom ear mold through the ety custom fit program (seems to improve the comfort more than the sound)

 

All these are discussed extensively in this forum separately but not compared to each other.

 

Budget: <200$ 

Gear: iphone, mp3 320 VBR, no amp

 

Thank you for your contribution!

You're likely to get a variety of opinion and the relevance for you will, IMHO, depend on the context of the advisor.

My context is that I have kept my Apuresound ER4Ps as my preferred generic IEM.  I rarely use them, though, having held them for friends or family members to share the IEM experience with me.  My current IEM (for some time now) is a JH13Pro and I have a set of Livewires T1s as a back up.  I am a FLAC user, finding I hear sufficient difference from mp3 320 CBR to relegate my mp3 files to only background music at parties or in the car (Sorry if that makes me a bit snobbish with my portable audio ).

I have a variety of portable amps and am still working on improving my portable set-up/sound.  ATM I use a qusp modified iBasso D10 portably but also own a couple of maxxed D1s, an SR-71 (original)(which I use transportably), a Supermicro IV (which both Nickyboyo and I find to have a good synergy with the Apuresound Etys) and an SR71B (that I am currently trying out and seeking an iBasso DB2 to try out with in balanced mode).

So I can comment on a range of amps, custom molds and the apuresound cable.

My suggestion, based on the existing iphone/mp3 320 VBR combo is that you're likely to notice the most immediate difference via an amp that matches well with your ER4Ps and your preferred music and sound preferences (e.g. some of us are far more into bass, or soundstage, or some other soundf aspect, than others, etc).

The Apuresound cable does raise the standard of the sound you get but I don't think you'd notice as much difference as an amp could give you (I've always wanted to get an adapter made for my Piccolino to see what that did for the ER4P - maybe one day...).

I once considered getting a custom mold for my ER4Ps but I saw little point considering I already had a couple of custom mould IEMs to play with.  Yes, I agree it'd improve comfort more than sound though I do believe if implemented well (i.e. to the best possible distance for the driver to be in the ear cannal) it would also be more likely to consistently provide the best sound for you (particularly when combined with the Apuresound cable and a matching amp ).

So if you could get your hands on a good amp to suit your preferences (I'd recommend the Supermicro IV) that would be my first suggestion.

Second would be the Apuresound cable (though that is no slouch for improvement either).

Good luck in trying out what works best for you.

My portable system is:

ETY ER4P with aPuresound cables and Shure Olives

Arrow amp (has cross feed and bass boost)

Result, the detail and transparency and the mids that ETYs are famous for but without a harsh top end and lots of tight solid bass!

I have tried several amps with the ER4Ps and the Arrow by far is the best match for my tastes.

I would also suggest contacting WHiplash to see if they can recable.  I had Ety4p with Apuresound cable and sold them awhile back.  Then repurchased the newer Etys and these new ones don't have replalceable cables.  So whether you choose Whiplash or Apuresound --assuming they're still around--it would be good to send the Etys to the builders to do the recabling

Also a year or so ago Antonyfirst suggested cutting the stems off a tripleflange Ety earpiece and using about 1/8" of it as a "washer" to fit onto the Ety ear nozzle.  Said it would improve soundstage.  THought he was nuts until I tried it and it really DID enlarge the soundstage.  Apparently it puts the earpiece just far enough away from the Ety speakers to enlarge the soundstage.  Neat little trick, I thought