You should send it back to Etymotic. If it is unbalanced, they will repair/replace. I believe they consider something like 0.1 or 1 db mismatch unbalanced.

Ok. I got the Yu9 ER-4b and was finally able to do a fair comparison with the Ety ER-4b. *Disclaimer: My setup is pretty particular - I run through an HRTF/speaker/room simulator - I don't listen to the ER-4b straight up except for binaural materials. More details here...

Thank you. Ordered the 4b clone to compare with the ER4B I've had forever. Been looking for a replacement since it's been discontinued.

This is not a detailed comparison, but I'll give some comments. I have the ER4B forever (thousands of listening hours) and tried the ER4SR - was looking for an update/replacement. The ER4SR should be more modern and technically advance (e.g., more sensitive, probably less distortion, probably...

Well said. I have been using the software for a few years now. I trust it completely for mixes that I don't even need to check with speakers. I've heard more on a mix with it and the sound field is very large with everything positioned at the right places (and audible). If you are only using...

Isone is for stereo feed only. It won't downmix surround sound.

I was talking about comparing OOYH/DH with Isone. Cross-feed is also "out of your head," nobody will group that with all of these.

  This upmixes to surround, so totally different beast...not saying there is anything wrong with doing that...

I recommend TB Isone. The clarity of OOYH doesn't compare with Isone for critical listening. But the "room" of Isone is much smaller than OOYH.   Isone doesn't do surround sound though.

Windows. I've tried the demo Windows.   I've tried the demo, they all sound right (the surround positioning is dead on, even when I am lying down; I had used Dolby Headphone before and the rear channels left and right are swapped for me). But I don't think any of the rooms beat Isone in...

  I'm listening through the Ety ER-4B. I actually found the Quad to have the best deep bass (sounds like a good club or concert system). But the mids and the highs especially lack clarify (perhaps due to the high reverb of the room), as compared to Isone. In fact, none of the speakers can...

Agreed.   To me this sounds like the classic lowpass + overcompression. It sounded good at a first listen (and without direct comparison to foobar), especially with the more pronounced bass.   However, a further listen reveals that the dynamics of music is gone (everything sounds at the same...

What I'm looking for is a hardware VST device that can load and process Isone. Any hints?

I use virtual audio cable and vst host.

What I'm trying to do is simulating the reference room as defined by 1116-1. I don't know if anybody else has try to do that here.

I'm trying to create the room as defined by ITU 1116-1 (http://www.spsc.tugraz.at/sites/default/files/PA_Sereinig_A_Standardized_Listening_Room.pdf) .   So far I have figured out the following values:   distance: 2m size: 100% (what is this in room volume?) ER: 63% (=10db attenuation?)...

The thing is, the so-called "headphone out" is suppose to be lineout plus your amp. Any reasonable loads should play with no significant hit in SQ. The reason I've switched from the iPod is because its headphone out is not amped (current buffered). In that sense, the headphone out is the same as...

psyscott, I'm interested in your rmaa tests on loads (with er-4p and er-4s); the links are down. Please also mention how the tests were done. Thanks!

Ok, so I've done some RMAA testing on the X5 to check on the "line out" issue from the previous thread: http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=132688 The test result is here: http://mkeroppi.com/iaudio/Comparison.htm These tests are done by recording thru a Behringer mixer (which...

READ: Line out is for amp loads, Headphone out is for headphones... That being said, iPod's Headphone out is crippled. Headphone out means the output stage provides a current amplifier so that there's enough for ANY reasonable loads (this means all low impedence phones, and low impedence...

The sound is sort of weird. You can definitely "hear" that sound is coming from angled driver (or at an angle). It's fine for music if you like that, but definitely not for any critical or monitoring purpose.

Quote: Originally Posted by rmx Isnt the ipod shuffle supposed to have the best sound output of any player? Under load, it still produces a square wave or something? No, that's out of all iPods. Ipod's headphone output had been "defective" until the shuffle. Most other players are...

My opinion is to take HeadRoom's measurements with caution except for the very simple measurements such as impedence. The link shows an impossibly high harmonic distortion for the ER4. I mean a distortion like that (and very clean distortion at that) would be very easily audible in a simple tone...

Quote: Originally Posted by sumguy_ That kinda leads me to this question: why don't manufacturers use EQ to compensate for their small capacitors? A little boost would mean that the device would measure flat; and sound less "anemic" as the iPod has oft been described. You can't...

Quote: Originally Posted by JaZZ What's your question? I've not done the measurements myself, just interpreted the «Stereoplay» curves. If you want to know how to calculate the drop-off values from the 20-Hz ones, I don't have a simple formula to offer, but since it's capacitance...