[momerath]

I've been noticing a subtle noise in the right channel with my Ety's. It sounds somewhat like the muffled rattling sound you get with a blown speaker, but its more subtle. I only noticed it a couple days ago, and it wasnt associated with any event I can think of (forgetting to turn the volume down on my amp, etc). Sometimes its blatently obvious, and I'm sure that its fubar, but right now I can't seem to hear it at all.

Could it be a loose connection or a partly clogged filter? The filter doesnt look clogged and adjusting the wire where it enters the driver unit or amp doesn't seem to affect the problem when I can hear it. I was definitely hearing it yesterday with my transit->dip->dAck->kimber->vibe->ER-4 setup, but not right now with the transit going straight to the vibe. I certainly hope its not the dAck

I'll do some more listening, but I'd love to hear from Ety owners about how long they've had their phones (<1 yr of HEAVY use for me), any similar problems, and experiences getting them fixed/replaced (I bought mine from IdealSound).

 

[JohnRich]

Not had anything like that with mine; my first pair of ER4Ps survived years of daily use (couple of hours a day) and being stuffed into luggage etc before the wire leading to the transducers wore out and the sound stopped completely on one side, but thats easily fixed - a $50 cable replacement by Etymotic and as good as new.

Have you tried inserting the left and right earpieces the other way to make sure its not your ear playing tricks - bit of impacted wax or something?

Could perhaps be that the filter has somehow worked a bit loose so replacing it might be worth a go even if its not clogged

 

[trily84]

I experience this since few days ago till now, but with both channels. I notice it happen after a while listening. let it rest and the next time is ok, but sometimes still happens. I dont know if we just change the filters ???

 

[momerath]

It hasn't happened all day, so I'm hopeful. I did swap ears to check- its not my ear, but good thought

I like the loose filter suggestion- I didn't want to waste a filter when they look perfectly clean (though I haven't changed them even once yet), but I'll definitely try that if or when it happens again.
Also, by HEAVY use, I meant about 8 hours a day on average.

 

[Ken]

remove the filter have a listen then put a new one in . change both sides if you want them to sound exactly the same.

 

[UAndy]

I use Etys (4S and 4P) for more than 10 years. In that time only 2 drivers were broken. Strange enough the oldest set still works and it was heavily used while travelling and at home.
Now to your fault: I had 1 defective driver after 3 years of use. The sound was a lot recessed, lacked volume and was a little scratchy. I sent them to Ety and got a very fast replacment driver (... sent to Germany). You have to send them the serial number to get a matched driver to the existing one.
The other driver behaved a lot like yours: The sound was ringing and a lot less volume.
In both cases I first changed the filters - because once the level of one driver was a lot less and that cured the problem.
So sacrifice one filter and if that doesn´t help contact Etymotic.
Good luck and greetings from Germany

 

[momerath]

It seems to not happen until they've been in use a little while, but its happened more since yesterday with various equipment. Its definitely the Ety's.
Also, there is no volume difference between the channels- and the sound isnt exactly distorted- its like all the sound that should be there is there, but theres this extra sound that might be a resonance since it seems to require a certain amount of midrange to be audible. Its the kind of thing that I, at least, might not notice if I weren't listening for it, but, once heard, is very distracting. I forgot to bring my filters to work, so I'll have to wait till tonight to find out if that fixes it.

Thanks to all for their support in this trying time