[williamgoody]

Hi, I'm new, but I've been reading these boards for a couple months now in making my first foray into REAL headphones. And thanks to all your opinions and conversations, I'm the new owner of a pair of Ety 4P's. I really never knew music could sound so great, and really take you away to your own thoughts and dreams. These phones are absolutely the greatest (microphonics and all). So again I want to thank you all for your selfless offerings of your opinions and views and indirectly helping this newbie get off to a good start. One quick question, I intend to pick up the 4s adapter and a portable amp relatively soon (for the mzr900 MD player primarily). Is there a better choice for an amp out there that would give the most versatility and really work the best for this setup? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Go Team ETY

 

[Duncan]

Hiya WilliamGoody, Welcome To Head-Fi, Sorry about your wallet!

First off, congrats on getting the ER4Ps

Well... It goes without saying that a pair of great quality, relatively cheap (portable) amps would be either a CHA47 or a META42... there is loads of information about both of these amps on the boards, and - if push came to shove, i'd personally head you towards the META42... it seems to be less source dependant than (at least my configuration) the CHA47

Both will blow you away though

as to whether the fixup adapter would be better, very doubtful, but not completely out of the realms of the impossible... the beauty with these DIY amps that I mentioned.. you can taylor (or... have taylored) the outputs to be suitable to either / both ETY configurations

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

I think the cha-47 has become obsolete. I know I will be upgrading to meta 42

Biggie.

 

[lucien]

i use the er4p with mzr900 and no amp. given the quality of the sound, i'm surprised you're willing to spend the extra money, and more importantly, compromise the portability of the setup.

is it because you find the sound lacking, or is portability not such a big factor for you?

luce

 

[Vitalstatistix]

Quote:

Originally posted by Duncan Welcome To Head-Fi, Sorry about your wallet!

That's standard greetings to all newbies!

I agree with Duncan. META42 and cmoy have both received great acclaim from users for both sound quality and value.

 

[LTUCCI1924]

lucien
HI: I know that you are happy with your sound unamped. I use a mini disc the sony mz-700 and at 5 m/w out put the er-4p sounds ok. But when I use the total airhead with it the er-4p opens up and I get awsome sound with the portable amp and er-4p and a portable amp is not that big or heavey. I think I go from 5 m/w to 300 m/w with the amp. But like you say it ant nessary.

 

[williamgoody]

Luce, You're right, it's a great sound absolutely. But I'm just getting started with this "hobbie" and I still want to experiment a little. I plan on getting the 4P to 4s adapter cable from headroom as well, and as I understand it's a little better to drive this setup with an amp. Portability is a key as well, but I' ve got to try.

Vital, I hope you're right, I'm buying a Porta and a Cmoy to compare. I'm figuring I can always give one to my sister for her to get started in this area.

LTUCCI, I hope to bring this to another level as well as you have. Have you tried the 4S cable, or considered it? BTW, whereabouts in Philly are you, I used to live on South St. as recently as last year.

 

[LTUCCI1924]

williamgoody
HI: I live in south phila about 15 blocks from south st and broad st. We are neibhors. I sometimes walk on south st at nite and buy cds at tower records on south st and get a cheese steak at jims steaks there. Yes I tried the adapter and on the mini disc unamped forget it, and with the portable airhead with the adapter from fixup.net the total airhead had a hard time getting much volume from it. So i use the er-4p plus adapter on my main setup and had planty of power and a better source but liked the er-4p with out the adapter much better. Keep in mind that the er-4p has bass inhancement and you loose that when you use the adapter to make the er-4p to er4s. Good luck with your new hobbie and maby we will bump into each other some day and we can have a coffee and talk about high-fi stuff. I carry my portable rig with me where ever I go. So you would be able to hear the mini disc with the total airhead and the er-4p. I always carry the three sets of silacon tips with me in case I let somebody hear the er-4p then can wash then when I get home.
PS
I see that you moved to NY but if ever in phila give a call.

 

[lucien]

interesting. the reason i'm so curious is that i didn't get a HUGE improvement going from unamped to a headroom supreme with the er4p. the hd600s made the amp worth it, but my ears just aren't registering any great change witht he etys one way or the other.

maybe i'm just not hearing something. hmm.

 

[LTUCCI1924]

lucien
HI: How strange that the supreme made a difference with the 300 ohm senn.600 but didnot with the 27 ohm ety er-4p that is way more efishent that the 600. Maby you had a bad seal.

 

[williamgoody]

Yeah, I agree. Although based on what i'm reading there's a lot more love for other amps than the headroom amps. LTUCCI, I miss Phily and do come back to visit sometimes. On my next trip I'll let you know when I'm going if you want to get together. I still wonder if the headroom adapter, as opposed to the fixup.net adapter, with the porta or cmoy might yield a different result from the headroom amp. Plus does your 700 have a line out option or are you running it from the headphone output?

Duncan, you're absolutely right about the meta 42. I haven't really heard an "Amped" sound before so I'm gonna try these and then probably move up from there.

Lucien, in my uneducated opinion, I thing LTUCCI may be right about the seal. Would the amp make a bigger difference with an ety 4s as opposed to a 4p?

 

[Nick Dangerous]

We love Headroom! Who told you that?

*slap*

Kidding, of course. The Cosmic is still the best portable... and the Blockhead is unquestionably the best solid state unit I've ever heard.

I don't talk about Headroom amps that often because I'm infatuated with tubes, and they currently don't make tube amps.

 

[LTUCCI1924]

williamgoody
HI: my mz-700 only has a headphone jack out but with my mini disc and my koss-35s and the total airhead I get gread portable sound. Now if I use my koss-35 on my main rig it is awsome but my 580s do sound better on my main rig. I have never had sound like I get from my 580s on my main rig as I never had sound like I get on my portable rig with my koss-35.

 

[lucien]

i'm pretty confident in the seal i'm getting... i have used the etys every day for about six months, and the sound is great.

it's not thin, or lacking bass, or anything like that when it's plugged into the supreme. it's just not that much better than directly from the source. sopmehow i don't think this is an issue with the etys.

i'd be more inclined to blame the amp / phone combination, or my ears...

 

[williamgoody]

Well, I'm gonna see what this adapter cable/amp combo does for me. Maybe I'll hear something with the cable as opposed to the amped ety 4p's.

LTUCCI, just for kicks, did you ever try the MD with the total airhead and the 580's? I'm looking for another pair for my home stereo which if I choose I can also use portably. I was considering the famous 250-80'2 from Beyer. Might the 580's be a better choice?