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I have limited experience with IEMs, only having owned the Shure E4Pro, ER6,ER4P & Phonak.
So lets compare ER4 & Phonak.
As for "clarity, singularity and distinctness of instruments and vocals, speed, high end and mid accuracy", I will give the slight edge to ER4 but this is assuming that you really want to dissect the music. Much fun is lost here when I have just switched from the Phonak or my beloved HD 650.
Your terms for qualities that I quoted are where the ER4 shine. I've described the ER4 before as having a certain razor sharp quality for detail. This is what puts them ahead re that "singularity and distinctness of instruments and vocals".
I have 29 Yo-Yo Ma tracks in my "all time favorites"...which is just over 10,000 tracks on my iPod. lol
I have some of his Bach stuff but one of my favorite fun tracks is "American Collection" Theme from the Classic Yo-Yo CD. iTunes tells me the track is encoded at 222 kbps mp3, I used LAME VBR from my CD. 3:32 time.
This is what I used for a quick comparison. I've listened to the track 3 times with Phonak (which had been in my ears for 4 hours!).
I'm using my 6G iPod, line out with ALO Bling dock into HeadAmp Pico in low gain for Phonak and ER4P( high gain for ER4S).
Listened once as ER4P, 3 times as ER4S using the Ety P to S cable, then again as ER4P, then back and forth with a certain 20 second segment. With this I prefer the ER4 as "P" because it gives the cello more weight...I then continued and listened to "1B" & "Prelude No. 1" a few times.
The first thing that hit me when first switching to ER4P from Phonak was the prominent upper mids and lack of bass, even with this music.
When you say "I want to hear the intricacies and fine details" , you will surely get that with the ER4. For this type of listening preference, midrange detail is where it's at for me and the ER4 give me that.
Every time I come to one of my reference tracks on my iPod, I end up comparing these two IEMs. I'll say that 80% of the time I prefer the Phonak. It simply has a more balanced sound while not sacrificing very little, if any detail. Unless this "peaky" upper midrange is over shadowing the upper treble, I truly hear a higher treble extension with the Phonak. Again, I describe the treble as being effortless,open and delicate...very surprising for me. I never expected an IEM to sound like this...using my HD 650 as my reference. These 2 IEMs have very different sound signatures. At this point in my comparisons I will recommend the Phonak to someone who wants just one IEM that "does it all". I will be keeping my ER4 because there are certain acoustic selections where I will prefer them.
...yeah, big thumbs up for the Phonak.
| Originally Posted by FlyPenFly /img/forum/go_quote.gif Essentially, I'd like to know if the Phonak beats the ER-4P at what the ER-4P does best: clarity, singularity and distinctness of instruments and vocals, speed, high end and mid accuracy... Does Phonak out Etymotic, Etymotic? Source is a iPhone 3G playing 256kbps AAC+ and some Amazon 256kbps MP3 VBR. Music is mixed with some alternative, lots of YoYoMa and violin, some rock. For bass, I don't really care that much as I have NE-7M if I want to hear some thumping bass. I derive more musical pleasure from clarity and the "feeling that I'm there in the room" than from the bass movement feeling. On both strings and vocals, I want to hear the intricacies and fine details. |
I have limited experience with IEMs, only having owned the Shure E4Pro, ER6,ER4P & Phonak.
So lets compare ER4 & Phonak.
As for "clarity, singularity and distinctness of instruments and vocals, speed, high end and mid accuracy", I will give the slight edge to ER4 but this is assuming that you really want to dissect the music. Much fun is lost here when I have just switched from the Phonak or my beloved HD 650.
Your terms for qualities that I quoted are where the ER4 shine. I've described the ER4 before as having a certain razor sharp quality for detail. This is what puts them ahead re that "singularity and distinctness of instruments and vocals".
I have 29 Yo-Yo Ma tracks in my "all time favorites"...which is just over 10,000 tracks on my iPod. lol
I have some of his Bach stuff but one of my favorite fun tracks is "American Collection" Theme from the Classic Yo-Yo CD. iTunes tells me the track is encoded at 222 kbps mp3, I used LAME VBR from my CD. 3:32 time.
This is what I used for a quick comparison. I've listened to the track 3 times with Phonak (which had been in my ears for 4 hours!).
I'm using my 6G iPod, line out with ALO Bling dock into HeadAmp Pico in low gain for Phonak and ER4P( high gain for ER4S).
Listened once as ER4P, 3 times as ER4S using the Ety P to S cable, then again as ER4P, then back and forth with a certain 20 second segment. With this I prefer the ER4 as "P" because it gives the cello more weight...I then continued and listened to "1B" & "Prelude No. 1" a few times.
The first thing that hit me when first switching to ER4P from Phonak was the prominent upper mids and lack of bass, even with this music.
When you say "I want to hear the intricacies and fine details" , you will surely get that with the ER4. For this type of listening preference, midrange detail is where it's at for me and the ER4 give me that.
Every time I come to one of my reference tracks on my iPod, I end up comparing these two IEMs. I'll say that 80% of the time I prefer the Phonak. It simply has a more balanced sound while not sacrificing very little, if any detail. Unless this "peaky" upper midrange is over shadowing the upper treble, I truly hear a higher treble extension with the Phonak. Again, I describe the treble as being effortless,open and delicate...very surprising for me. I never expected an IEM to sound like this...using my HD 650 as my reference. These 2 IEMs have very different sound signatures. At this point in my comparisons I will recommend the Phonak to someone who wants just one IEM that "does it all". I will be keeping my ER4 because there are certain acoustic selections where I will prefer them.
...yeah, big thumbs up for the Phonak.
