[YngwieJMalmsteen]

I am looking into getting some canalphones for maximum portability with my iPod, and I was wondering how the er-4s would sound unamped. My beyer dt-880's have a pretty good medium-loud sound (with the volume on max) and er-4s's have less than half the impedance. So how efficient are they? How is the sound in comparison to the er-4p's? I'm thinking I dont need to get the er-4p's, and thusly save money by not having to buy the adapter, too.

So I'm guessing there are plenty of head-fiers out there with an ipod (4th gen, preferably) and either the 4s or the 4p and apapter. Do you get enough volume straight out of the jack? Thanks.

 

[labrat]

Deleted.

 

[Oink1]

See the portable setup in my rig - Works fine out of my mini (euro crippling removed) So much so that at full tilt it's too loud for normal listening

 

[gerG]

I use my ER4S with an ipod mini. I rarely set the volume above 60%. I also have the Shure E3c, which are much easier to drive and less obtrusive at the gym, but can not compare to the Etys in sound quality. I also had the E5, which were frightening both for their amazing efficiency and awful sound. I still think those things had problems with the crossover network.


gerG

 

[Naybor]

I use ER4S with various portable devices, realizing what I am losing but finding it OK anyway. If I care, I plug in my MaxAirhead amp. I tried the 4P's when they first came out and didn't like the loss of detail compared to the 4S. It surprised me since I didn't expect to be able to notice, but it was obvious.

 

[vranswer]

The ER4 was obviously designed as a 100 ohm impedance phone. They simply 'swapped' a cable to lower the impedance for portable usage. I still don't see how they, as audio engineers, can do that with a straight face. Let's see, you spend umpteen gonzo dollars designing a high end audio transducer, calculating all the variables (including critical cable impedance among many other things) to the best of current technology. You tweek and twist and finally you have a terrific product. Then you say..."wait, I know!... Let's get into the portable audio market by bumping the volume with a cable swap". Then the ancillary revenue stream of selling an adaptor cable to convert the thing BACK to an 'S' version so that it sounds right. Hmmph.

 

[gerG]

vranswer, I don't know all of the details, but I remember the history. At the time there was the open request for a more efficient (or easier to drive) version of the ER4. There was also the desire for more bass response. Reducing the resistance value basically reduces the high frequency response, giving an apparent increase in bass. It also makes them easier to drive, especially with a low powered portable device. Since you can always add back the resistance, it seems like a good compromise to me. A further example is the Shure E3c. Very similar design with very similar drivers, but no added resistance (or certainly not much). They are even easier to drive, but are severely lacking in HF response. I have to add an in-line resistor to resore treble, even when working out. I am curious what Shure will do with the E4c.

gerG

 

[episiarch]

Plenty of volume straight out of the jack, and the sound quality is very good. With an amp the bass and clarity improve, but you'll do just fine ampless.

 

[YngwieJMalmsteen]

After I posted this, I looked at the etymotics page and sort of answered my own question. Portables in general (aka the ipod) tend to lack low end because they need to use an efficient opamp, lossy encoding compounds the problem. The 4p's are basically designed to counteract that effect, so I assume they somewhat better than the 4s ever could straight out. That said, the 4s don't seem like they are that hard to drive, somewhat easier than the sennheiser 595 line.
Since I find the headphone of the ipod a little bright, I'll probably get the 4p's and adapter. Well, when my wallet recovers from being beaten within an inch of its life.
ipod 60g->pocketdock->cardas mini->headroom coda->beyer 880's

 

[AndyRx7]

I got the ER-4P's and the adapter, and pretty much always use the adapter... I'm very happy with the sound out of my 4G ipod ampless. I'm sure it would sound better amped, and I'll find out when funding permits, but the sound out of the headphone jack is better than anything I've ever heard (which, of course, probably isn't saying much!).

 

[vranswer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by YngwieJMalmsteen After I posted this, I looked at the etymotics page and sort of answered my own question. Portables in general (aka the ipod) tend to lack low end because they need to use an efficient opamp, lossy encoding compounds the problem. The 4p's are basically designed to counteract that effect, so I assume they somewhat better than the 4s ever could straight out. That said, the 4s don't seem like they are that hard to drive, somewhat easier than the sennheiser 595 line. Since I find the headphone of the ipod a little bright, I'll probably get the 4p's and adapter. Well, when my wallet recovers from being beaten within an inch of its life. ipod 60g->cardas mini->headroom coda->beyer 880's

Hope you enjoy them! Report back your impressions.

 

[YngwieJMalmsteen]

Well, thanks everybody for somewhat solving the mystery of 4p's vs 4's, I think we can settle on saying the 4s's work fine with "high-quality" portables. And this is the way it should be, one of canalphones strengths is the portability; it would kinda suck if they were as hard to drive as 650's.

Seeing as how the coda's 1 month b-day is tomorrow (date is written on the PCB) and the beyers are only two weeks older, I'm gonna have to wait a while on the etys and not mind lugging the extra baggage. Still, the prospect of having just the ipod and canalphones is just too cool as far as ultimate portability goes, and at this point the stock earbuds are still in the package. I'll probably give em a try just so I know what everybody is missing, but I wouldn't be caught dead with em in public.

 

[Naybor]

If you live in the US and can order them from www.headphone.com they have a 30 day satisfaction guarantee that allows you to audition the ER-4S. I bought my Ety's from them years ago, then ordered the 4P's from them but could easily return them when I found I didn't like the sound as much.

I have loved my etys so much for travel, especially on airplanes, my only comment would be not to wait, regardless how old the Beyers are. You will have them for years to come and no future owner of the ER-4S should postpone the benefit if eventually you will own them.

 

[ericyy]

I just get my E4s for a week, driven by my 3G ipod, I never get a problem of insufficient volume. Like gerG said, my volume never go higher than 60%.

 

[tbuddha]

I'm deep into the temptation zone about getting an ipod, so today I took myself to the local Apple store for a try-out. They have some Bose headphones out for their demonstrations. They sounded so-so.

So I whipped out my pair of Ety ER-4s and plugged them into a 30Gb ipod photo. Now I know the ER-4p would be a better choice to use directly out of a player, but the 4s is what I own. Honestly, they did not sound all that good. And I had to crank the gain ALL the way up too.

So out came my Headroom Total Airhead amp. With this in play it was a TOTALLY different story. The ipod sounded great. I mean, a huge difference. Unfortunately, I was not really very familiar with any of the music loaded on the ipod, so I didn't have the best material for comparison, but I liked what I heard. After today, if I go ahead with the ipod purchase it will be with the knowledge that I'll have to tote that little Airhead around too.

I asked one of the guys what format the music loaded on their ipods was and he said "Mpeg 4 at 128". By Mpeg 4 I suppose he meant either AAC or Audible, but I don't know. Anyhow, I suppose that a higher bitrate might yield even better sound.

While I’m here I have a question that someone might be able to answer right off. I was under the impression that the only output the ipod has is the headphone jack, but in other threads I have seen references to the ipod "line out". Does anyone know if the ipod in fact has a real line out feature?