[sid311]

So I recently purchased these ancient gems about a month ago and have been in detail heaven ever since. However, as others have noted they are a little thin on the bass side. It is definitely there, just not at the same volume level of the other frequencies. I have a lot of experience with IEMs so I am aware of how to obtain a proper seal to get the lower frequencies to resonate. I use the foamies that came with them which seems to help out the bass a bit. I recently ordered a NuForce Icon Mobile and a P->S converter cable in hopes of improving the bass a some. Do any of you have any other ideas? As I see it my options are as follows:
-upgrade cable to APureSound-I have heard this helps some, but is very expensive.
-have custom ear molds made-read on the forums somewhere that this increased the bass a bunch but the etys still retained their clarity and detail.
-upgrade to a LOD cable from iPhone 3G to amp-I've read that the signal coming from the iPhone's connector port is much cleaner than the headphone out.
Any comments are greatly appreciated!

-sid

 

[yakuzaph]

I'm afraid that the signal from the iPhone is gonna cause a lot of interference.

 

[ZephyrSapphire]

P-S adaptor.
Amp with bass boost.
Enough said.

Either that or get new IEMs.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

I think this is the most sensible route:

1. get an LOD (make sure it's compatible with your iPhone)
2. get the Minibox E+ amp (bass boost, and Head-Fi Member EFN in his review said that it does nothing but good for the ER4S)

 

[sid311]

Thanks for the reply guys. If I had the money I would have bought a better amp, but I have heard good things about the NuForce with its "bang for the buck" factor. So, unfortunately for now, the amp is going to be the Icon Mobile which does not have a bass boost. It does have a hi gain and low gain switch though. The unit is also a DAC so I can always feed it via USB and Foobar and Laptop but I hate messing around with EQing to get the right sound. I'm more of a hardware modder if you know what I mean. Any other suggestions? There have to be some people out there with custom molds using ER4P and the guys using the APureSound Cable too. Thanks for the help!


-sid

 

[mark2410]

an amp is the way to go with them, i used a fiio and made a huge difference to them, much improved

 

[nickyboyo]

You will lose bass going to the S resistance. If you want bass the Apuresound P cable sounds superbm and it makes the other frequencies shine even more so as well, or try and find a xin supermicro, both pricey options, but both make the ety's come alive. If i had a choice, i would go down the Apuresound route. Good luck

 

[sid311]

This is frustrating. Being a EX700 owner I am used to mutilayered, deep bass. Now after owning the ER4Ps for a month I now understand what I have been missing. I wish I could have the best of both worlds. I wonder if it would be possible to match the impedances of both phones via resistors and then somehow mount them so that the ER4P nozzle is pushed into the EX700 nozzle through a small hole that you will drill through it. Solder the two drivers together on each channel and, I think, you should be good to go. I'm not an electrical enigineer and have a little electronics knowledge so this may or may not be correct. It's probably crazy and impossible but the thought of those two together make my heart skip a beat.

-sid

 

[sid311]

nickyboyo-
I purchased the P->S cable because I thought that was needed when using an amp. Am I wrong about that?


sid

 

[EFN]

This has been discussed here:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/s...er-4ps-404557/

 

[mark_h]

You need an amp with a bass boost, nothing else will do it, Xin designs his amps around the er4 so if you can track down a used xin with this featre it will be exactly what you need! I have tried all with the er4 including the apuresound cable and the best I could get was either with the xin bass boost or the voyager contour switch; the other alternatives, that didn't involve some kind of amp eq, didn't help!

 

[tnmike1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sid311 /img/forum/go_quote.gif nickyboyo- I purchased the P->S cable because I thought that was needed when using an amp. Am I wrong about that? sid

first: I've owned my Ety4p for years and years, back when they sold for around $300 +/-. The "p" series was made for using without an amp. The "s" series was made for people using an amp.

Now that said, I recently really upgraded mine first with the Apuresound cabling then with the p/s adapter. I can notice a very real difference with the new cabling; less of a difference with the p/s adapter when amped. Unamped, though, I remove the p/s adapter when it's just my Nano and the Ety.

 

[ZephyrSapphire]

ER4S with Lisa III = Bliss. But of course, the Lisa III isn't really that pocket-friendly

 

[sid311]

Received my NuForce Icon Mobile today and have begun to use it with my Etys.

Wow! I thought these things could shine before but they've hit another level. Vocals seem to be a little more up front too. Bass response has increased in basically all the areas it was lacking in before. But....it still quite isn't there but it does sound great.

With my budget right now it will have to do. Also, as others have mentioned, the DAC/amp portion is better than the amp alone. I'm looking forward to burn in and continuing my journey for bass improvement on these things.


-sid

 

[gp_hebert]

I've tried the ER4P and ER4S with many portable amps and home amps and even had the APureSound ER4S cable a while ago and no matter what you do, these IEMs will never deliver a lot of bass. They do a lot of things very well though and I still use my ER4P straight out of an iPod Touch even though I've heard pretty much all of the best universal IEMs with many portable amps.