Can anybody who has heard BOTH the Savant and the etymotic er-4s comment on how their sound differentiate? Based on what ive heard with the er-4s and from what i read of the savant they both seem to be uber detailed. 
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LouisArmstrong
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K10 vs Savant vs Katana - which one is the best for pop music?
SincerelyAural
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I've only heard the K10, but judging from what I've heard I think it has the best tuning out of the 3 for pop music; Katana's neutrality and more emphasised treble might not play as well with it. K10 has the most bass, and is also quite musical.
Sorensiim
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I have the K10 and the Savant and I'm drooling over the Katana while my credit card is curled up in the corner in the fetal position, muttering "no, no, no" over and over again.
But for pop, the K10 is King. You get a detailed presentation that still tolerates bad mastering or compressed files and when the track has bass, it'll kick like a mule.
Can anybody who has heard BOTH the Savant and the etymotic er-4s comment on how their sound differentiate? Based on what ive heard with the er-4s and from what i read of the savant they both seem to be uber detailed.
I own both the Ety ER-4S and the original plastic shell Savant.
I just listened to them side by side on a PONO player.
Both are about the high end and lots of detail, as you stated.
Next to the Savant, the Ety sounds to me like the high end is really elevated, to the point of being a little strident and sibilant. Yes, you can hear a lot of detail, but I think a lot of that is because the highs are artificially boosted. Maybe also because there's a severe lack of bass and even mid-bass that is making the highs sound to elevated.
The Savant by contrast is much more balanced. Yes, it's also about the highs and tons of detail, but because there are actually mid-bass and a decent amount of bass, it sounds much more full. The highs are still slightly elevated, but nothing like the Ety's. The highs are not strident or sibilant at all. They are not bass head IEM's by any stretch, but at least it has good, tight, detailed bass. The Ety's just don't go anywhere near as low. And what low frequencies the Ety does have, they are at a really low level. (Yes, I inserted the triple flange silicone tips VERY far into the ear canal to hear any bass.)
Overall, if you are looking for the detail like the Ety's are known for, but with smoother highs and a MUCH more balanced sound signature, the Savant wins hands down.
Yep. For me, the K10 stands near-alone at the top of the heap for pop and rock. Few other IEMs are able to challenge the K10 for overall superiority in these genres. What could be better than a long bus ride home, with your K10 playing some awesome 80s rock/pop?
bioyuki
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Have you had a chance to compare the Savant to the new Etymotic ER4XR? Should address some of the concerns, but curious to see if that closes your perceived gap with the Savant.
To be honest, I don't really hear soundstage with any headphones or IEMs. I always use our Out Of Your Head software to get "real" speaker soundstage.
For me, even my HD800's sound like the sound is coming from between my ears.
Yes, if there is a lot of detail and speed in the highs, I hear the ambient audio from the recording environment if it's there in a recording, but to me, that doesn't translate to sound coming from anywhere outside of my head.
When people talk about soundstage with headphones, I don't hear it. I am used to speaker soundstage.
As it's listed as a prize, I assume Katana will be available to listen to in London Saturday?
Yea.. When I talk about soundstage or hear others describe it.. I always just picture a completely different version of the word for headphones. With headphones it is very much an "in your head" image reproduction of the sound. I can tell when a good headphone has a larger "soundstage", but it is still all in between my ears and not in front of me like with speakers.
muziq
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Yes, it's quite relative.
A lot of people talk about "endgame" set-ups, and a lot of the time it seems like the end of the game is either obtaining the most expensive components, newest components, or most aesthetically beautiful rig. For me I'm not sure there's an endgame, but changes to my rig are focused on bridging the gap between the soundstage I hear in my headphone/CIEM rig, and my last speaker rig. I don't actually expect to get *there* but the quest has been pretty fun so far.
It's for this reason I'm interested in auditioning the Katana; based on the impressions, it might be the next step for me.
chef8489
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There are two I would love to audition. I would love to hear the K10 and the Django. I feel one of these would best suit my tastes. Too bad it probably wont be an option to audition before a purchase.
LouisArmstrong
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I just got my Mojo recently, but I haven't tried it with my custom K10 yet. I already feel the big improvement of the Mojo over using my AK380Cu alone, with the JH Audio Layla. I am suspecting that the K10 will reveal the strength of the Mojo even more. Will let you guys know once I hear it.
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