[asdwl502]

For me,it's the first time to come here.
And this is my first time to buy aphones.
Here's my problem:

Ety or Stax?
I like almost all kinds of music except heave music.
1)Which one sound better?

2)which one have more soundstage,more amazing midrange?

3)And most important,which one is more comfortble?
Thanks for replies

 

[taipeileviathan]

i personally prefer the 001's in all the aspects u've mentioned, especially with soundstage and comfort. the soundstage issue is simple to address: stax is very open, ety is extremely closed (tho ety research does achieve a very impressively "wide" soundstage for such isolating and deeply inserted canal phones). as for comfort, i'm guessing that the staxes were far more comfortable for me simply because they were made for smaller ears (stax is japanese (small ppl), etymotic research is american (big ppl), i happen to be chinese (medium-small ppl)), but i don't think i've ever heard complaints about the staxes not fitting well on anybody, whereas i've heard more than a couple of ppl talk about how their ety's don't fit. of course, for every 1 person that talks about their ety's fitting and every 1 person that talks back, there're prolly 15 other ppl whose ety's fit perfectly and just don't talk at all...

i do think tho, that u should base ur decision on whether or not u want isolation, simply because one of the phones is extremely isolated and the other is extremely open. consider what u'd be using these phones for... for example, if u travel a lot on a plane or on subways, u'd prolly want the ety's (hearing protection is very important...

). but if u just want to sit in a park, browse a new novel, and hear some birds chirping and children playing in the background of ur debussy or something, the staxes would be perfect...

my 2 cents, hope they helped!

 

[JMT]

Welcome to Head-Fi asdwl502, I'll take the counterpoint side and say that I much prefer my Ety ER-4S's over the Stax. The Stax probably have the most beautiful midrange that I have heard. Acoustic guitar never sounded more real to me, but I also heard a substantial roll off of the high end. To me that meant that I was losing much of the impact of the music, in spite of the luscious mids. Additionally, I found myself constantly fiddling with the earspeakers to position them correctly in my ears. And, to me, they did get physically fatiguing after a period of time. So much so that I never just traveled with the Stax, I always had my Etys with me as well and switched to them after an hour or so.

Just my opinion, take it for what it's worth.

 

[FCJ]

Quote:

Originally posted by JMT Welcome to Head-Fi asdwl502, I'll take the counterpoint side and say that I much prefer my Ety ER-4S's over the Stax. The Stax probably have the most beautiful midrange that I have heard. Acoustic guitar never sounded more real to me, but I also heard a substantial roll off of the high end. To me that meant that I was losing much of the impact of the music, in spite of the luscious mids. Additionally, I found myself constantly fiddling with the earspeakers to position them correctly in my ears. And, to me, they did get physically fatiguing after a period of time. So much so that I never just traveled with the Stax, I always had my Etys with me as well and switched to them after an hour or so. Just my opinion, take it for what it's worth.

As always, JMT is on the mark.

I had both phones--I sold the Stax and kept the Ety's (although I have the 4s's, not the 4p's). While the midrange on the Stax is excellent, I could never get over the rolled-off highs. I, too, found them uncomfortable if I wore them over an extended period. The Ety's are detailed, comfortable, and provide everything the music has to offer, warts and all.

As I always say, you can never go wrong with the Ety's.

 

[joelongwood]

You're all right! I have both, and plan on keeping both. The midrange, as JMT said, is "beautiful." But the highs are rolled off a bit. I'll put up with that for certain music. I also find them very comfortable, more so than the Etys. But the Etys are an incredible sounding pair of 'phones........nothing I have is their equal in overall sound quality. If you want to become one with your music, the Etys are the way to go. But that Stax midrange...........whoa! Sorry to confuse you even further.

 

[taipeileviathan]

obviously, the only solution for u is to buy both.

since ppl are rallying to the ety's side, i shall stand by the stax recommendation even more staunchly! altho the ety's do offer a great sound, i must say that the microphonics gets on my nerves quite a bit when i am anything short of absolutely stationary. hmm... what else...

hehe, i guess that's all i can muster up in my attempt to debunk the ety's

... well asdwl502, keep us posted on ur final purchase decision and how u enjoy whichever phones u choose!

 

[RickG]

I have both the Ety 4-X and the baby Stax phones. I think the Etys are among the most spectacular phones out there sonically. However, I can only use the Etys in short spurts because I'm just not comfortable with things jammed into my ears for a significant amount of time. The "lush" midrange and comfort of the SR-001 keeps me coming back time after time.

But now, there's another glitch...

I like the ATH-EM7 big-time.

They may end up at the top of my list.

 

[williamgoody]

I also have both. And I agree, it's all about the midrange with the Stax, although I use an additional amp along with the stax amp,and this for me takes care of "the rolling of the highs".

Sonically though, they don't touch the Ety's. It's really not a fair comparison, as the Ety's are closed and the Stax are open. Based on your criteria, Soundstage is better on the Ety's, Midrange is key on the Stax. Your call as far as which one is more comfortable. I use both actively. When I'm in a noisy environment, I use the Ety's. Not so noisy, I go to the Stax, Both out of the Cosmic.

 

[asdwl502]

I relly want to buy the both,but my poor wallet say "no" to me

I usually use headphones with my sony cdp,without amp

Many reviews said that ety isn't comfortable,so i worry about it.

Thanks for your replies.

But now I feel more diffcult to decide