[d_wilson]

aos,
Don't you just love this free trade stuff. We ship many international orders by mail, but not as many as we used to. It is often more important to have insurance and tracking which the post office doesn't offer.

Thanks for the Fedex information. I wiill try to find out if that is true all of the time.



Fixup,
I guess I need to work on the special edition version. If I have the wish list correct it should be:
24 ohms
105dB for 1mw
ER-4S response
Anodized aluminum transducer housings
Noise free cable. (I am not convinced the right angle at the transducer case is practical for most people, although I do prefer the right angle going around the ear version for running.)
Brazilian rosewood case (Just Kidding)

Did I miss anything?

Don Wilson
Etymotic Research

 

[rajan]

What may be the disadvantage, if any, if this special edition phone is plugged in to a headphone amplifier?

 

[Tim D]

Is that even higher sensitivity and lower impedance than a 4P? One disadvantage I can think of is that it'll reveal the deficiencies in many amps in terms of hiss and noise.

On the otherhand it'll probably do even better with Grado-type amps like a CHA47.

Hmmm another to add to the wish list...let me have a "test" unit to compare with the 4S! Hey it is a wish list after all!

 

[eric343]

Yeah, I have three different Cmoy variants at home, a McIntosh integrated amp [probably equivalent to the "average" medium/high end speakerphile's setup], and my dad and I both want to get a Wheatfield HA-2. As for headphones we've got Graedo SR-80s and Ety 4S... (and I'll hopefully get some HD580s later this year)

Send me a pair of the Special Editions and I'll post a review

(if you include a self-addressed stamped box I'll return whichever ones I like less

)

And I'll second the motion for the right-angle cables, just make sure to add a little pic in the instruction booklet telling the end user to put them over the ear to get rid of noise. (I find that there's *very* little cable noise if they're over the ear.)

Fixup: IMHO the *real* nice guy/techie of Apple was the Woz. Steve Jobs nearly killed off the hobbyist market by making it difficult to add peripherals, etc. Besides, it was Woz who hired John Draper (a notorious phone phreak) to design the Apple IIe Modem Card...

 

[flashbak]

Don,
I believe a number of us also requested a longer cable length way back when.

 

[d_wilson]

My current feeling is that it would be about the same sensitivity as the ER-4P, with the ER-4S response.

I need more information from everyone as to the output amps of their favorite (and/or weakest) players. I need xxmV (ormW) at x Ohms.

Don Wilson
Etymotic Research

 

[tim bailey]

I live in Aus and have a traveller pack with Supreme and ER4s.

the cord is noisy.

doe Fixup actually sell a replacement cable that is roughly the sme length, this is all I want.

6ft is too long

Tim b

 

[dgs]

Man, where did this post come from? Somebody actually did a search and read some info before asking a question? Lordie Lordie!!!

Tim,

We need a bit more information. Which cable is noisy? The one from the amp to the source or the one to the headphones? What do you mean by noisy? (ie. It makes a scratching noise when you touch it, it crackles, it cuts in and out, it...) Also, do you intend to replace the cable yourself? Or send it in to Etymotic? Give us a little more info and someone will be able to help you more.

 

[tim bailey]

Hi yeah,

well I'm not keen in sending it back to you at present.

the headphone cable sort of crackles and rumbles (at the same time) when I move. microphonics.

I can live with the borbarithmus when I eat, but this is a minus.

The cable from the Supreme to source sometimes drops out or crackles in one channel. but as this is mostly on the walkman It may be that its socket is a bit dicky. It is def. a fix here problem.

What about custom molds ie who and where in Oz.


Timbo

 

[bass man]

i have the rio 800 with 128 MB. my mp3s are at 160 CBR using LAME. cuz 160 kbps provide good sound and good file size.

but upgrading to a etymotic.. do you that 160kps mp3 is GOOD ENOUGH? meaning not too revealing for it?

 

[bass man]

don,

i have the rio 800 with 128 MB. my mp3s are at 160 CBR using LAME. 160 kbps provide good sound and good file size cause to my ear 160 is as good as CD quality

but upgrading to a etymotic er-6.. do you that 160kps mp3 is GOOD ENOUGH? meaning not too revealing for it?

 

[j-curve]

Wow, didn't this thread open up a can of worms! I bet there are a few people out there with both the 4P's and the 4S's who are wondering why they didn't spend a few dollars on resistors and connectors instead of doubling up on their Ety investment.

All this hocus pocus with resistors makes me think that these headphones, the 4S in particular, are not being driven properly. I'm assuming the 4P is a compromise and that the 4S design with the higher line resistance better approximates the ideal situation, which would be to have no inline resistors at all and to use a dedicated amplifier with a current source output stage instead of the normal voltage source design. Say goodbye to low efficiency and say hello to improved driver damping. True, this would add extra expense, although not nearly as much as it does in the case of electrostatic designs. Naturally, the amp would have the 4B equalisation curve built in (switchable).

Of the 2% buyers of 4B's, I wonder how many did NOT already own the 4P or 4S. Then again, we probably don't want to dig too deeply into the exact details of the capacitor equalisation circuit or else we might offend "Team Anti-EQ" >>ahem<< phase-shift >>cough<<. Oh, that's right, if the manufacturer puts it there then it doesn't count...

 

[JaZZ]

Good ideas, j-curve!

I'd like to add the switchability between SS and tube sound.

JaZZ

 

[Knocturnal]

Wow I did a search and found this thread it is incredibly interesting. They talk abou an ER-4S response on a 27 OHM cable. I wish I had more time to read but I have finals next week, maybe tonight I will read the whole thing, its fasciating. Thats whats great about this sie you ask a question and the designer of ETYMOTIC answers your question, thats incredible. ENJOY

 

[Peterlovemusic]

what about er4s's mids?