When using the ER4P with the adapter, is it giving you the same performance as the straight up ER4S?

My brother has a pair of the P's that I use frequently but I want my own pair, of course, and I can't decide which route to take. In theory it seems like the P with the adapter will be the most versatile, but I'm willing to give that up for sound quality.

Sources are iPod classic, Cowon D2+, and laptop, with everything from MP3 to FLAC, but 99 percent of the music is rock. An amp is in the near future, but I'm still looking into those as well so I am not worried about driving the S series.

It might be more of a matter of which can you find cheaper new or used.

I'm not certain about which route is better in the end. Starting with the P lets you have the option of running the ER4 off low power hardware. However, I'm not certain what is actually different between the P and S models hardware wise, so I can't say if the adapter only partially gets you to the S model or if they end up identical afterwards. I mean are the drivers the same, electronics, etc. I'm sure it can't simply be an impedence thing. You might want to shoot Etymotic an e-mail for the answer. Maybe someone on this forum has used both the S and P models and can comment on the P with the adapter versus the S directly.

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Hardware is the same, it's a cable thingy. Buy the "P" and add a "S" cable later if you want to try a different impedance and evaluate SQ . Either way, you'll want a decent amp.

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I would be going new either way. Just a "thing" of mine with purchases like this.

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Good points about the drivers. I didn't really think about that...only the impedance.

I will probably hit up Ety next week, but I would still like some "real world" input.

According to the Etymotic website the P and S models have different accuracy, how this is affected by the P to S adapter remains to be seen.

Etymotic Research, Inc. - Earphone Comparision

ER•4S (Stereo)
ER•4P (Portable)

ER4P has 10dB gain over the ER4S. If you plan on using them as dedicated portable earbuds, then get the 4P, else get the 4S.

Etymotic Research, Inc. - ER-4 - Which ER•4 is Right for You

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Yes. The ER4P and ER4S both have one resistor in series per channel. The only difference is that the ER4P is 27 ohm while the ER4S is 100 ohm. There is no other difference.

So you can turn an ER4P into an ER4S by wiring an additional 73-ohm resistor in series per channel. It's harder to turn an ER4S into an ER4P -- you'd have to cut open the barrel and wire additional resistance in parallel to lower it to 27 ohms.

It may seem counterintuitive that adding resistance changes the frequency response, but it does. This is because the impedance of the driver varies with the frequency. So the effect of an additional 73 ohms also varies with the frequency. It's Ohm's law at work. P=V^2/R. So at a given volume (V=voltage), the loudness (P=power) is inversely proportional to resistance (R). But R changes at different frequencies, so adding a constant value to R will totally change the frequency response graph.

In conclusion, buy the ER4P and an adapter off ebay.

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That's what I was/am leaning towards but wanted some reinforcing opinions.

Thanks!

Yea. I'll sell you the adapter if you want it lol; I bought it but don't have ER4P/Ss..... :/
PM me.

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Uh, what he said...

I got the ER4P and an adapter on eBay and I couldn't be happier.

Surprisingly enough too, the iPod has enough juice for my listening levels even with the adapter plugged in.