[kiteki]

     Quote:

I've been telling myself no more universals, my next iem will be a custom. What did I do this morning? I ordered the ER4S.

Don't worry! check this out:
 
http://www.alienears.com/frictionmolds.htm
 
 
I just impulse bought an ER4 as well! Lol.
 
 

 

[kiteki]

 
Quote:

Just a slight curve in the suggestion from me.  I, too, agree that the ER4 series is probably your best bet.  But, I'm going to suggest you look into the "B" series from Ety.  I suggest this for two reasons:  First, you mention the amount of bass is not that important, and second, the mids and highs of the B will hide absolutely nothing in a recording.   Nada!
 
And once you get used to the B's sound signature, everything else...and I do mean EVERYTHING ELSE will sound slow and bloated.
 
Good luck in in your search.
 

I just read this, and now I wonder if I made the right choice in the ER-4PT, but on Ety's website they say the ER-4B is only intended for pure recordings and human voice science, and not suited for equalized CD albums which have boosted highs to adequate for loudspeakers and projecting the highs to us on a similiar level as the bass and mids, my hunch was the the ER-4B would sound too harsh listening to regular music, but might be perfect for natural sounding vocals and live recordings, overall I'm guessing the apple doesn't fall far from the tree though and the ER-4PT is the best bet (since you can turn it into an ER-4S with the extra impedance cable, but not vice-versa), I hope I made the right choice here, if anyone else would like to chip in on the ER-4B I'd like to hear your thoughts because I can't find much information on it? Just curious, thanks.
 
 

 

[kiteki]

Upon further analysis, it seems like binaural recording junkies are upset with custom mold fits on the ER-4B and can't attain the level of fidelty of being closer to the eardrum with a typical tri-flange, so if ER-4 and custom is what you want, it seems like you're much safer with ER-4PT, and I made the right choice afterall. =)
 
Unhappy ER-4B junkie here: http://rinchoi.blogspot.com/2010/11/customfit-ear-sleeves-for-er-4.html
_
 
Etymotic also says the extra bass, higher sensitivity, and AE signed and certified drivers in the ER-4PT have made it their most popular product.
 
/kiteki

 

[High_Q]

To those that enjoy the sound of ER4P.  I would recommend Audinst HUD-mx1.  It has very precise sound which would go nicely with ER4P.

 

[AudioDwebe]

Quote:

 

I just read this, and now I wonder if I made the right choice in the ER-4PT, but on Ety's website they say the ER-4B is only intended for pure recordings and human voice science, and not suited for equalized CD albums which have boosted highs to adequate for loudspeakers and projecting the highs to us on a similiar level as the bass and mids, my hunch was the the ER-4B would sound too harsh listening to regular music, but might be perfect for natural sounding vocals and live recordings, overall I'm guessing the apple doesn't fall far from the tree though and the ER-4PT is the best bet (since you can turn it into an ER-4S with the extra impedance cable, but not vice-versa), I hope I made the right choice here, if anyone else would like to chip in on the ER-4B I'd like to hear your thoughts because I can't find much information on it? Just curious, thanks.
 
 

Hi kiteki,
 
The the average listener who enjoys more of an analytical/neutral sound from an IEM will probably enjoy both the P and S quite a bit.  They are really fantastic. 
 
But for the criteria listed by the OP, I felt the B's might be more to his/her liking.  I've had the P's and S's several times and, if I recall correctly, I also had the B's at the same time.  To me, the B's took everthing I really like about the Etymotic sound signature to another level.  One caveat, though:  Poor recordings sound atrocious!  I listen mainly to Jazz, which I feel is normally recorded a bit better than other genres (short of Classical). 
 
I never could understand Etymotic's own description of their B IEMs.  I actually called and spoke to their web person once or twice, recommending they change the description.  I think they did change it several months after my second conversation with them.  (Edit:  I just checked their site.  The description has changed again since the last time I looked about a year or so ago.)
 
I'm sure you'll be more than happy with the Ety's you chose.  If you imagine the sound quality of those IEMs with slightly brighter/cleaner treble (if you can even imagine anything possibly bettering them), then you've pretty much got the B's sound.
 
The Ety 4-series are clearly a "classic" IEM that competes with and betters many of today's higher end universal IEMs.  Enjoy.
 
Cheers.
 
'dwebe 
 

 

[FullCircle]

I have the ER4P, when compared to my other custom IEMs, 3 driver, 4 driver, 6 driver, 8 driver and a 10 driver, I am sometimes surprised to how well the ER4P stands up to them.  But at the end of the day, I find them to be boring.
 
The ER4P driver is the Knowles ED 29689   http://th.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Knowles-Acoustics/ED-29689-000/?qs=3unH%2FDqlvl8HwvqJLEd4Rg%3D%3D 
 
The driver is not "custom tuned" as someone previously stated. If it was customed tuned, the driver would have a proprietary Knowles # assigned to it.
The ED 29689, in the balanced armature driver world is an old design, but it is known to "get the job done."
 
That said, ER did tune the sound signature by adding a green damper to the sound port. Theoretically, you could do the same, by adding a different damper to the sound port. 
 
Over all, it is a good sounding product, I would not discourage a person from buying one. (Oh and the fit and isolation is awesome)
 
It is true that the ED 29689 is used in a lot of different IEMs out there, but one can change the sound quality through the use of capacitors, dampers etc etc.

 

[kiteki]

Very informative thanks.
 
Does the ER-4B have the same driver, just a different damper on the sound port?
 
If you could provide a very brief comparison to your JH16 (or similiar multi-BA custom) that would be cool too.

 

[FullCircle]

I dont have a JH 16, I build my own as a CIEMs as a hobbiest. I only know about the ER4P because I have taken apart a number of them. There is a lot of information regarding the internals of the ER4P on the net that will back up what I stated.   The photos are of some of the headsets that I have buit. I am an audiologist so I have all the tools needed to make CIEMs.  Any comparison that I would make of my CIEMs to the ER4P would not be relevant because my CIEMs are not "on the market."  That said, when I put on my CIEMs after listening to the ER4P's I let out a chuckle and I think.... "Wow, my stuff is good....."  Then after days of listening to my CIEMs and I use the ER4P, I think.... "Wow, the ER4P sounds amazing.... for a single driver...."     That said, I am also amazed at the SQ of the Klipsch Image X5...  I do not know the driver used in that particular product, but I suspect it is proprietary.

 

[Inks]

Klipsch BA drivers are proprietary. 

 

[Austin Morrow]

Although not the most analytical IEM's, I have ever heard, I really like the Ortofon e-Q5 and the VSONIC GR07.

 

[Spyro]

Quote:

I have the ER4P, when compared to my other custom IEMs, 3 driver, 4 driver, 6 driver, 8 driver and a 10 driver, I am sometimes surprised to how well the ER4P stands up to them.  But at the end of the day, I find them to be boring.
 

Its pretty simple actually.  Without an amp, the ER4 struggles with busy passages of music.  The single driver cannot keep up.  Plus it generally sounds lean.  There are SO many other better choices.  But a nice warm amp with ER4S can keep up well with other IEM's costing 3X as much.

 

[kiteki]

What's the most analytical desktop amp? under 500 plz.

 

[Haonan]

If anyone else wants to chime in with their own recommendation of analytical IEMs, please feel free to voice them out as I'm all ears for it, but currently as of this moment I'm not interested in phones like ATH-CK10 (has a similar sound sig to my CK9, so don't think I wanna go for something similar again), Fischer Audio DBA-02 (already had them before and sold) or Brainwavz B2.

Thanks.

So couple months ago on this thread I was iterating on the fact that I was on the search for another set of analytical IEM, to switch between my CK100s while also not wanting a similar sound flavour that comes with either the CK10 or DBA-02. I'm happy to say that my search has been concluded for now, as I had managed to acquire the MDR-EX800ST (the japanese ver. of MDR-7550) about a week ago through the help of a japanese friend. These do come with an analytical sound sig and in some ways also bears some similarity with my current CD900ST reference monitor cans, but IMO do show better improvements especially in the bass and soundstage dept. Still hoping to grab either a ER-4S or ER-4P hopefully in the near future considering I pretty liked HF5's sound, and see how much of a sound difference they will make in terms of picking up those micro-details in my fav soundtracks, against the CK100/MDR-EX800ST.

Really no regrets with my EX800ST purchase, probably one of the best 240 dollars investment I had made recently.

 

[kiteki]

I just wanted to say after having heard the ER-4 it's not THE analytical IEM, but it's very good.

 

[i2ehan]

Quote:

I just wanted to say after having heard the ER-4 it's not THE analytical IEM, but it's very good.

 
Comparitively speaking, which one(s) would you personally denote as THE analytical IEM(s), above the ER4? As much as the RE252's have grown on me as of late, I'm keen on giving the Ety's an equal opportunity, sometime in the near future; however, I'd like to keep my options open. The CK10 was a tad too bright for my taste, but it sure is one hell of an IEM, no denying that much!