[Zanth]

Earlier today I received some new white tips from a fellow Head-fier. I have owned my Ety's for just over two years now and have just recently felt the dire need to get some new tips. I never use the foamies and so the trade was a good one, his whites for my foamies. My last pair of whites were really hurting. The Silicon was really really soft by now and if I pulled the ety's out too quickly, the tips would actually stay in my ear. Needless to say, it was time for some new ones.

So they arrived today and I was eager to have a listen. It had been a good week since I had last used them, sitting nicely on my night stand. So I swapped the tips, chucked the old ones and went to listen to some Rachmaninov - Vespers, before bed.

I have a little pcdp with a JMT built CHA47 connected via a Kimber mini-mini and finally I use the Fix-up P-S adapter connector. When I plugged in I was hearing nothing out of the right channel and barely anything from the left.

I listen at very very low volumes on this system and I knew that this particular disc was recorded at a very low gain so I cranked up the volume and...nothing. Hmmm, loose connection? So I start fiddling with every little connection. No change.

Getting a bit frustrated, I start unplugging things and trying each part individually. First went the P-S connector, then I disconnected the amp and used the headphone out on the pcdp. Still nothing. I thought perhaps it was the disc? I just bought this one and just to be sure, I swapped in a really high level disc, one that I can only usually listen at say...7 o'clock, 6 being 0.

Nothing again.

At this point I'm starting to get a bit nervous. Was it the player? It is a bit old, perhaps my wife had dropped it and thought it was okay adn just neatly placed everything back (say from making the bed and when she flapped the sheets, knocked the system, sending it flying...only to damage something). I should have more trust in the wife...this was not it as my next idea was to try the Ety's on my minidisc player which I had used earlier that day and had been the second last player I used with the Ety's.

Nope, nothing again. Even at max volume. Frustration was now turning to a calm panic. Oxymoronic I know...but I was not going insane...just feeling a sick sensation in my stomach and thinking the worst.

At this point logic had gone out the window and I decided that perhaps it was the white tips? Rationally this is just dumb...but heh, I was willing to try anything. So off these new ones went and out came a really old pair I still had and they were in the same condition as the ones I had just thrown out. Well of course you all guessed it, still the same deal...no sound.

By this time I had begun to recall all the great service reviews of Don at Etymotic and I figured I would be sending out my poor broken babies tomorrow morning. That is, until I thought of one last thing, the filters....

Perhaps sitting on my night table uncovered for a week, dust settling nicely on the tips, and perchance migrating inward...somehow clogged the filters? A quick swap and minutes later...blissful music. I cranked it up just to be sure and yep! It was all there. The filters...I should have thought of this earlier.

The irony is that after owning the phones for 2 years, I had never changed the filters, yet after reading a post from grinch stating it was recommended after a certain time...I decided to do so. Now, they were perfectly green and in fact there was no difference in sound whatsoever. Seeing as how this was but 3 months ago, never would I have thought that I would need to change the filters now, NOR that the sound would be so muffled on one side and completely absent on the other.

Just goes to show what I know.

Moral of the story? Check the filters first, freak out second.

I love my Ety's.

Happy listening! I'm off to bed, but first, a few spins of the aluminum disc...

 

[Aydn]

That's pretty scary

.

G'night.

 

[Norbert]

with my modded koss plugs I shove those things so far into my ear its dangerous. I clean em out once a month, soak em in alchohol and rinse. I never worry about filters.

 

[Welly Wu]

Zanth:

Those green filters must be changed every quarter. Etymotic gives all owners a one year supply of them. At least change them twice per year.

I got tired of all of these ongoing expenses associated with the ER-4P/S series. I had to try something totally different.

 

[AnimeEd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Welly Wu Zanth: Those green filters must be changed every quarter. Etymotic gives all owners a one year supply of them. At least change them twice per year. I got tired of all of these ongoing expenses associated with the ER-4P/S series. I had to try something totally different.

of course it would be cheaper to just buy 10+ yrs of filters

 

[Thaddy]

Heh, for a second there I though I shipped you defective tri-flange tips! Imagine that...

The same thing happened to my E2's one time. I couldn't get any sound out of the left channel and finally discovered the stick on filter was inside the tube, blocking all sound

 

[Zanth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnimeEd of course it would be cheaper to just buy 10+ yrs of filters

More like 100 yrs

So I slept well after listening to some good tunes. I am pleased. You know Welly, I would consider the PS-2X's or the UE-10's if I could have a listen first but all the hype without listening is bad mojo for me. At $1k USD that is hefty for something that I may find not so much better if at all, than my Ety's. And their resale has gotta be VERY low, personalized molds and all...

So for now, Ety 4 series does me well. I can't imagine more detail, and frankly I don't want any more, what is left? The sound of the laser hitting the pits?

 

[KYTGuy]

Hi - Like you, I freaked the first time that the filters clogged, suffered depression from ETY withdrawal, then stumbled on the solution. Then after the next time, I began to suspect, and when it happened a third time, I was convinced.....that every time that I left the ETYs in the sun, the next time that I needed to use them, they were plugged - seems that the micro flakes of earwax "wick" into the filter and plug it completely, by capillary action.

I have been scrupulous about keeping them from sitting in the sun, and have never had the problem again. I replace the filters about once a year now, and make a sincere effort to blow out any flakes of wax that I see in the tri (now duo, with custom filters, thanks to JaZZ) flange tips. I clean my ears more often also.

 

[Welly Wu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zanth More like 100 yrs So I slept well after listening to some good tunes. I am pleased. You know Welly, I would consider the PS-2X's or the UE-10's if I could have a listen first but all the hype without listening is bad mojo for me. At $1k USD that is hefty for something that I may find not so much better if at all, than my Ety's. And their resale has gotta be VERY low, personalized molds and all... So for now, Ety 4 series does me well. I can't imagine more detail, and frankly I don't want any more, what is left? The sound of the laser hitting the pits?

Zanth:

I hear you. No need to pressure you into custom IEMs. You know what Zanth? I'm thinking about the Grado Professional Series 1 cans are in my future for the middle of 2005...that is if they aren't totally sold out worldwide!

PS: the Grado PS-1 is hand made in Brooklyn, NYC, right? So, they are American made but intended for the German market, no?

 

[Zanth]

Well, they will never be sold out as long as there is a demand, and I'm quite certain that in 1 year they will still be going strong. As for the built where...heh...see this is the secret, many claim they are in parts until they hit Germany then they are assembled then shipped back to the US so Todd can sell. If this is the way it works, I think it is the most ___ backwards thing ever.

Darn good phones though

 

[Welly Wu]

Coming from a self-confessed Grado fan, I will begin budgeting to acquire them sometime in 2005.

 

[Tim D]

Replaceable parts actually make a product cheaper, not more expensive. I.e. Replacable battery vs non-replacable battery.

I think having in-ear monitors with a lack of replaceability is a much bigger cost in service and repair than vice versa in the long run (i.e. hafta spend time to remake molds too). In fact with larger headphones you also can have some replaceable parts that are certainly not always as easy/cheap to get and replace compared to Ety's. You can't get away with selling any old pair of Senns or Beyers or what have you with grimy pads, and I certainly wouldn't accept a pair like that.

I've gotten filters clogged by water before from having wet tips without completely drying the inner tube and was really surprised how it absolutely demolishes sound level output. It isn't like a 50 or 75% volume reduction but makes the thing seem dead. I've never waxed up the filters ever though. Used to change them anyways, but am going to just wait and see now.

 

[Edwood]

The maintainance cost of the Ety's are nothing.

The cost to replace R10 earpads cost as much as buying the Ety's.

Strange that there would be zero sound coming from the Ety's. Must have really been clogged up. Usually the bass is muffled and distorted sounding.

-Ed

 

[remilard]

Zanth, I read on Sensaphonics website they they are developing a one size fits all type version of the 2X, this should open up the possibility for audition. Of course for those of us who are just using lack of auditionability as an excuse not to be tempted, this may be a bad thing.

 

[Zanth]

Hmmm, this is a bad thing...because this is my main point of contention with these canal phones, no audiotioning possibility and pretty well zero resale. Now with something like this...one could have a sweet time listening and then have the custom molds made. Ah...I can hear my wallet's heart beat slowly pittering down to 0.