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Originally Posted by dmt1
First, the headscratcher: I read were a single driver is better balanced than a multi driver; it gives a better representation of balance--specifically the ety 4S. This is way, way off. The multi drivers don't change the balance, the tuning of the driver does that.
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The primary complaint about multi-driver IEMs seems to be the crossovers needed to make them work, and the problems introduced by them, not that they necessarily lack balance.
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| What the multi drivers allow for is extension higher and lower, whereas a single driver has to chop off somewhere. The ety's chop a little off the highs, and a bunch off the lows, and are heavily weighted toward the highs--to say the ety's are better balanced than the multi drivers is just out there. That's a sound signature preference and has nothing to do with the balance--the ety's, as much as I love them, are a poor example of a well balanced phone. |
The ER4s go all the way out to 16kz in the treble, all the way down to 20hz in the bass. The UE-10s, or the Sensas, or any other armature based IEMs do not any higher higher treble-wise. It is a physical limitation of a balanced armature driver which has yet to be overcome. They just don't produce much output beyond around 16khz. Some manufacturers claim 18khz, but I have my doubts about that. As for lower extension, that is all subjective. I prefer a flat bass response because it represents accurately what exists in the recording, rather than inflating it artificially.
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| Next, an observation: The UE 10's are not more bass heavy than Grado SR 60's, as Piccolo insinutated from a frequency response curve. I own both, and I really like the grado's by the way. The UE 10's are just a smidge lighter on the bass. Frequence response curves are a poor guide to how a phone will sound except when there are significant extremes; sometimes these ill be obvious. |
If you say so, I will have to concede.
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| Finally, a mild admonishment: Just because you can find an anecdotal person or two that likes the ety's more than the UE10 or Sensa's doesn't automatically make it superior--if two people prefer the ety's, and a hundred prefer the UE's, I'd be hard pressed to state the etys are as good or better. If you took a thousand people, I'd be willing to bet a substantial amount of money that the ety's would fair very, very poorly. And I am an ety fan. It's almost like you're trying to convince yourself the ety's are the best. |
A mild admonishment: If one hundred people preferred the UE-10s, and two preferred the ER4s, that still wouldn't make the UE-10's better on an absolute scale. Regarding, "best" they are the best for me, because of their extremely flat frequency response. Most people prefer a more musical sound, which is why the UE-10 would win, not because it is better on an objective, absolute scale. My soon-to-be ER4Bs are truly diffuse field equalized; it doesn't get any more accurate—or balanced—than that. To me, this is "best".
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| It's as simple as this: the ety's are compromised, the UE's are not. |
Compromised how? In bass response? Didn't you ever stop to think that they were
designed that way, on purpose. They were designed
specifically to have the response that they do.
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| If you're already treble boosting the ety's, I honestly don't see how you could like any other phone. You're taking an already treble weighted phone and weighting it even further. There is no known cure for this; there is a twelve step program run through trebleoholics anyonomous, but the results have been dissapointing. |
Treble weighted.
It sounds natural to me. I suspect that Etymotic's compensation for the lack of ear interaction simply doesn't work for everyone. D. Wilson himself said:
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Some notes to consider:
1.) We have also done real ear probe microphone measurements which show some variability in each persons ear.
2.) There have been many studies of the diffuse field response of the ear, most of which are pretty close to one another.
3.) As printed in our literature you can get about a 10dB difference at 10kHz depending on the insertion depth of the eartip.
4.) You may also see a fair amout of frequency response shaping as the green filter slowly gets clogged. |
Everyone's ears and brains are different, after all. Luckily, it works for me.
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| Don't waste your money on UE's or Sensa's, you'll hate them. |
Even if I loved them, I would still be arguing, because I still wouldn't believe that they were objectively,
absolutely better, except, perhaps, for the custom molding itself. (And even that may be subjective; many people find universals to be perfectly comfortable.) Nor would I have the gall to believe that because I found them subjectively better, they are automatically absolutely better, period. Tell me, what is
objectively,
absolutely better about them. Don't tell me anything like "they have more bass" or "they sound more natural" or "the highs are less harsh" because that has already entered the realm of the subjective. Name something objective. Are they more rugged? Do the drivers have higher mechanical tolerances? Will they last longer? If things of this nature, things that can be objectively verified can be shown to be true, then I would indeed agree that they are better. But because most people find the sound signature more pleasureable?
No way.
"Best" will always be in the ear of the beholder, and even if the majority of people believe that a certain sound signature is "best" that does not, nor will it ever, make it absolutely true. That is what this argument is really about, not about the ER4 versus the UE-10 or any other headphone versus another. It's about people stating their own subjective preferences as if they were God's own truth.
). Bass response is accurate and slightly impactful when amped (I use mSEED LABS Faith AMP). The mid range is where the UM1 shines. Presentation is very sweet and involved and vocals sound real. Treble is recessed like most IEMs, the good thing is that all the harshness associated with the higher frequency is "filtered" away. In terms of detail, the UM1 is not able to compete with full size headphones. However, it makes up with its warm, endearing sound, great comfort, superb isolation, and reasonable price (~100). Highly recommended!