Are there better IEMs than the ER4P for classical? - Page 3

Agreed

They are fast and have articulate detail to a point but when the music gets very busy with a wall of sound with lots going on they start to struggle.

I suspect the endorsement for ER4 with classical is for strings and violin which ER4 can do great but in a huge ensemble of instruments I would think there are better choices.

Yeah, sorry about the price on the UM3X, but I don't listen to them amped. I have really enjoyed them though!

But seriously, I could never enjoy the etymotic because of how deep insertion they are. The Westones are comfy.

I'll chime in as I listen to a wide range of classical music, from symphonies and tone poems to string quartets to Bach cantatas and renaissance polyphony.

My Monster Turbine Pro Copper earphones (which fit in your price range if you look carefully--I got mine for $225 and I think they are available for $250) are pretty fantastic for classical. They are a top-tier iem that have no weak points. They have excellent, deep and accurate bass, very good treble extention, handle complex passages very well, sound great with strings and vocal music. I'm very happy with them. Maybe the only caveat has been with that a few people have been ordering the grey PFE silicon tips and finding that they give the MTPC even better sound than the sets of comply, silicon and silicon-hybrid tips that come with in-box.

I can hear/feel bass response with several of my IEMs (FX500, Atrios, IE8, SE530, ...) to a 20Hz test tone. However, at this depth all of them have severe roll-off in amplitude, meaning that if you'd feed music instead of a single tone this information would be drowned out by other frequencies.

One way to find out about usable low bass information, is playing music while gradually adjusting a low cut filter (e.g. with Rockbox' EQ), starting from 20Hz and going upwards until you notice a difference. This procedure is a lot more time-consuming than just listening to a test tone. I've tried it a few times and typically noticed an audible difference at about 40-50Hz.

@Kunlun, do you have any other top IEMs (preferably in common with me, see my sig) as a reference and would you care to give a short comparison with classical?

Sorry, I'm sorta the opposite of most head-fiers, I was really only looking for one really good high quality iem to own (which, fortunately, I seem to have found for myself).

I would post in the MTPC thread and ask, as quite a number of new MTPC owners have the CK10 or the ortofon or the IE8.

I have the X5s, the RE0s were great for me but I they required amping for the bass to show up on portables.

The Klipsch X5s w/Olives isolate well, have rounded out bass for classical and a very balanced overall presentation.

I listen to Yo Yo Ma, Celtic Ballads, and other intrument-heavy pieces on these. They are rendered well.

The MTPC is indeed a very nice earphone for classical. Mine are well-burned in now and I'm looking forward to hearing them with the PFE grey silicon eartips that others have recommended.

Try Onecall.com
use the "my price option" and suggest $250. Or, even better, call them. Tell them about the folks who got it for $225 and $250 and that you'd buy it for $250. They'll give it to you.

i listen to a lot of classic and chamber orchestra and although i hate using iems when listening to classical,ie8 is a great iem for classical.ck10 is a no-no and fx500 are quite harsh and fatiguing over time.

I've only heard good things about their build quality and outstanding cable, so I'm not sure where you're coming from.

I also listen to a lot of classical and opera music and I would disagree that the IE8 is a good choice. I can just about stand the IE8s for some pop music, but their sound is just too bass heavy for orchestral music.

I was listening to some Rossini last night and I decided to give the IE8s another chance to impress me. During a quieter passage in the overture there was supposed to be some subtle bass notes on the fourth beat of each bar underpinning a more delicate and interesting flute line floating over the top. On the IE8s the bass notes sounded like uncontrolled and exaggerated hippo farts drowning out the detail of the more important treble flourishes. I just couldn't stand listening to them for another minute, and quickly reverted to my preferred UM3x.

I'm beginning to really regret buying the IE8s as an alternative IEM to my UM3x. Once upon a time I considered myself a basshead, but after growing used to the UM3x sound signature I can no longer understand why exaggerated bass is considered "fun". Bass heavy IEMs like the IE8 just make me think of people who drive around in pimped-up cars with ridiculous sub-woofers in the car boot blasting out tuneless fairground music. I can think of very few circumstances where bass provides the most interesting part of a melody so why exaggerate it and drown out more interesting instruments?