I am a long-time (over 30 years) etymotic fan. I had the OG ER4P, and at different times, had the ER-6i, the HF5, and currently, the ER3SE. I've also had a long-time friendly correspondences with one of their engineers, who more-or-less told me that the largest source of their customer service...

[Moving this to more appropriate forum] I have a nice 35mm jack microphone that I use for video conferencing, Zoom, etc. It requires a few volts of "plugin power". The mic-in jack on my computer, as well as my ~$5 USB interface, aren't cutting it. Both are very noisy, and I get an occasional...

[removed]

I have an old pair of ER-4Ps, with the older two pin (one fatter, one thin) connectors. They are great, but have one nit. 135 degree angle from the barrel to the top of the OEM cable is too wide, causing the cable to stick out too much. I would prefer something more like a 90 degree, so that...

In this article, I describe the default SBC codec common in all Bluetooth audio (A2DP), and how it could easily be made to improve fidelity: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YPTwFhvo99suyrwkT4Z97so9_xwoOGkpSqgveLpYvYc/edit?usp=sharing One of the important conclusions is that, if the source...

At first, I was really mad about this. But then I realized, customers have a huge variance in expectation on sound, and the cost and size of adding decent on-phone DAC and amp is non-trivial. Many customers will be plenty happy with low-to-medium quality BT (SBC, ACC). Others will want high...

Hi all. Am a very happy ES100 user, but seem to have found a bug and wish to see if anyone else has experienced the same thing. Through various trials, it seems that when my ES100 is connected to my phone (Galaxy Note 8) and audio is playing, the ES100 will send extra pause/play signals to the...

Good point! Over the years, I have "fixed" many electronics with USB chargers by simply by shining a flash light into the USB port and carefully removing whatever gunk has accumulated. Often a strong puff of air will remove said gunk. Please keep us posted, and cheers!

And you have tried multiple USB cables? It is much more likely that the usb connector broke on the cable than inside the ES100.

Is the issue with the source file? Perhaps what you are hearing is supposed to be there.

Sorry, when you say you change sources, have you tried a direct wired connection, i.e. headphones connected directly to laptop with no bluetooth in the loop? When you are using bluetooth, have you tried changing the codec in the developer settings of an Android phone?

[deleted]

So, I just got this ES100 and really like it. However, I am having wonky behavior when using it in car mode (Auto Off when USB disconnects). In almost all cases, when I turn off the power to the USB cable by turning off the car, the ES100 turns off. However, it is very quirky whether the...

I've had a very similar experience. Note 8, latest 2.02 FW on ES100.

Just wondering, how deep do your customs go? I have had both deep (originally for swimming) and not-deep (shallow) custom silicone eartips before. Unless you need them to go deep, e.g. you will be singing with them in, the shallower tend to be more comfortable, much easier to put in and out...

I think the main argument for me on customs is the comfort of a good seal. If you want to do a cheap experiment, buy some DIY custom earplugs (where you mix the two compounds, push it in your ear, let it set, and then take them in and out). Try those against a foam earplug for an hour. That...

I have a nice pair of silicone custom earmolds for which the original headphones have failed. I seek to find a way to find another pair (from another brand, I was not in love with the original headphones) that will properly fit my earmolds. My impression at first is that all of the stems are...

I do a lot of business travel.  For a couple of years, I've been using a pair of UE Mini's (with and without wires) to bring some decent sounding music to my hotel room.  However, the total lack of bottom end leaves me wanting more.  I'm shopping for a new solution.   These speakers are going...

You wrote that your phone might be  "doing some sort of cross encoding" and that "the bit rate of a channel is determined by that channels S/N ratio".  Regarding the second statement, no, the SNR provides a theoretical upper bound in capacity (measured in th b/s).     I was responding to these...

I have done a lot of testing on a lot of different headsets, as well as talked to designers at etymotic.  You take a huge SNR penalty for not having the mic close to the mouth.  In quiet environments, putting the mic near your ear, or on one of the wires that hang down on earbuds can work.  But...

  I do not think the bitrate of the bluetooth codec varies in real time with the SNR (which determines the maximum theoretical bitrate).  I understand your observation, but I don't think it is correct.  If you think A2DP codecs dynamically change their bitrate based on RF conditions, please...

There are a lot of moving parts here, so it would be hard to answer with any certainty.     The fact that some of your 128 kbps files sound better on the speaker (over the bluetooth hop) than the 256 kbps is probably not due to SNR.  I assume that you can put your phone essentially on the...

Firstly, this isn't really an introduction.  I've been around since 2005.   I work as an electrical engineer, but I have had stints as a semi-professional musician and sound engineer.  I also consider myself a recovering audiophile.  I take pride in owning solid, but not overpriced, gear.  My...

[I tried this in another forum, but got no interest.  If this belongs elsewhere, please let me know.]     I apologize if this is a FAQ; honestly I did search for a while....   I would like to learn more about basic acoustics of earmolds, and the effects of adding dampers and ports.  I...

I apologize if this is a FAQ; honestly I did search for a while....   I would like to learn more about basic acoustics of earmolds, and the effects of adding dampers and ports.  I have tried some basic experiments with knowles dampers and drilling ports, but I really don't know what I'm...