just got a pair of ety 4ps for xmas...but so far the sound is unimpressive out of an iriver slimx 550 as well as a power macintosh...with as swell as everyone says these are, i feel it must be a bad seal. so far neither the foamies or the flange tips have worked well, and the volume out of the iriver slimx was deplorable (in case you're wondering, my hearing is fine.) i want these to be great...any tips?

thanks.

This is not an uncommon first impression with Etys. You will read over and over again that it takes weeks to get used to the full sound of the Etys. There is a long learning curve with them, no matter how well you think you're using them in the beginning.

A couple of suggestions:
1. Don't get rid of them!!! Use them for a few weeks and see how the sound continues to improve. Fiddle with position in the ear, experiment with various depths of the tips, equalizing pressure of the ear canal, wetting the silicon tips before insertion, opening mouth during insertion, etc.
2. Add an amp for best sound.
3. Try modding the tips:
http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...threadid=54572

Good luck, and don't give up. For most people the sound really improves after a few weeks.

Definitely stick with the Etymotics . . . I find them to be really excellent.

Best advice I have gleaned from this forum was to use some drops of hand cleanser (Purelle or similar) on the ear tips before inserting, to ensure a good seal. Get a small travel size dispenser for use on the go. This really works.

D

The hand cleaner is probably great for sanitizing it and wetting it, but over time the alcohol in it is not going to be good for your ears. It will probably end up drying them out. Actually the hand cleaner is not even good for your hands if you use it all the time for the same reason.

The foamies should be easier to get a seal at first. Just roll them as tight as possible and then put them in your ears one at a time as fast as possible before they have a change to expand. Also tug the top of your ear when inserting them. The P should sound pretty good without an amp so that shouldn't be the problem.

Ok so hears my Ety story. I was so excited about my Ety4p's (they were my first delve into the hiend headphone market) that I thought I would stay up all night for them, and sense I was out clubbing all night this wasn't a big deal. Any way they come at about 10 am I open and plug them into my NJB3 and blah the sound was about as warm as my date was the night before (Ice Queen), I felt like there was no Bass what so ever, the treble seemed extremly recessed. So any way, I was a little bummed so I thought would burn them in to see if they improved. So about 36-48 hours later I picked them up again and they were just different headphones, bass had decided to show up, and the highs became extremely crisp and foward. Lesson learned never judge a headphone by its unburned in self. Give it some time i think you will find that the sound will dramatically improve with time. Also if you feel that you might be having trouble with the seal this what I do. For placing the right earphone in(For foamies make sure you crumpled them down quite good as this can effect the seal quality, for the Silicon tips make sure they are damp, not drenched just lubricated); take your left hand swing it over your head and grasp the top of your ear; pull up, while doing this insert the earphone with your other hand at downward angle. Yah so I am thinking now that this might be the directions provided with the Ety's if so I am a dork for doing this, but hopfully these aren't. Good luck welcome to the Ety life.

thanks so much for the help...i won't send them packing yet. didn't think that the etys needed to burn in like other phones, but i guess that they do so i'll start the process.

happy holidays...and keep sending tips if you've got them.

When I first got my ER-6s, I was unimpressed. After listening to them for a while, though, they got a LOT better. The seal is key. The way I see if I have a good seal is to put them in, and then rub my fingers together next to my ears. If I can hear the rubbing, the seal isn't good enough. Hope this helps.

Another thing, most people don't realize that the ear canal goes upward at about a 30-40% upward angle and also goes backwards.

I had a problem with pressure when first inserting them. If there's pressure on the eardrum, it can't move to the sound. So I equalized by holding the Ety down with one hand and pulling up on the ear with the other just enough to open it a bit.

yeah, what everyone else said. only you know if you have a good seal or not AND you will know when you get it. some have said that you need them to burn in and some say it doesn't affect it that much...i found that burn in helped. once you really get used to them i don't think you will need to moisten them at all but for now it might not be a bad idea.

i can get the seal rather quick now (probably because i'm usually in a situation where i have to keep taking them out) and the best advice i can give you about the seal issue is to twist them in kinda upward and back even though they feel like they should be put in downward....this is what worked for me at least.

Yes, use the foamies. More comfortable, and you don't have to lick them. Yuk.

Be careful when inserting in your ears. It shouldn't hurt.

I tried a 4P and a 4S at the same time from Headroom b4.

I ended up keeping the 4S, even without an amp, because I found the 4P's to be too fatiguing. The 4S's were clearer and more open. And with an amp, actually had some presense with the bass.

Try getting a 4P to 4S adapter, and you can have the best of both worlds.

-Ed

I am having the similar problem with my ety 4s I just got. It is around 2 yrs old so it should be fully burned in already. The treble is too shrill and the sound is not as full as I expected. The combinnation of shrill high and lean bass is what seems to be a let down for me. I'm pretty sure I have obtained quite a good seal, at least I can hear those microphonic effect from the wire rubbing against my shirt.

Can anyone explain more about "getting used to Ety's sound?" Is it true that you will finally be familiar and like it? I have seen many owners highly praise Ety's sound like no other, including the amount of details it can deliver.

NEO

You have to choose appropriate music. IMO I dont feel the etys are good for all kinds of music.

(btw NEO, the etys were purchased last october )

Quote:




If and only if you like in-ear earphone, sometime you may feel Ety 4p make your ears painful.

I can put up with the little irritation that the silicones give for the sound enjoyment that it gives.

it's NOT (only) about the tight seal - hearing no outside noise and having the microphonics does NOT guarantee full ety sound.

many ety-fiers have the good luck of achieving both at once (isolation + quality), but some (me included, though i was warned before and had almost expected this) have definitely had a good seal but no good music.

there are at least two possible reasons for this: wrong insertion angle (seems to be individual, based on the shape of your ear canal) and pressure between ear drum and etys. in this case you might have a seal but the etys still don't work. this happens more often with the silicones, expecially if they are inserted TOO DEEP.

so my advice wouldn't be the usual "put 'em in deeper", but the contrary: try a more shallow insertion. i'm using the foamies right now because i never had the pressure problem with them - but isolation is nowhere near the level i had with the silicone tips.

the burning question isn't really how to get a good seal, but:
how do you equalize the pressure without losing the seal in the process?