Quote:
Originally posted by Tim D
About tinnitus and turning up Ety's. It is pretty simple to know if they are working or not in their job of isolating and wheter you are listening too loud. Just unplug them and if a roar of environmental noise floods in, then hooray everything is probably good and you can or know how to get a good seal.
Also in regards to tinnitus...some people are just prone to listening too loud period...they could probably make themselves deaf in a quiet room with SennHD600 or Ety's as far as I'm concerned. Ety's isolate and have great detail retrieval making them one of the least tinnitus risk phones out there. Also if you aren't one to appreciate Ety's at low to moderate volumes, there typically isn't much extra that I'd think Ety's would deliver at higher volumes. |
First, as an owner of both Ety earphones, I never lumped the ER-4's sound in with that of the ER-6. In fact, I avoided doing so carefully.
Second, you're missing my main point, which has nothing to do with my assessment of how the ER-6 sounds:
Good hearing is priceless; ultimately it is more important than any set of audiophile headphones. I question whether *any* headphones should be used in transit in an urban setting, because hearing loss is likely to be the result. It isn't that the balance between high and low elements improves when the volume is raised in a setting in which there's a body-shaking rumble (that of a bus, train or airplane, for example). It's that all elements become more audible when the volume is increased. It isn't that the sound improves. It's that the lower range begins to drown out external sounds with which it is in conflict.
In the case of headphones that reveal more highs and are lacking in what, traditionally, headphone listeners consider to be bass, I am twice as concerned about the hearing of people who listen in transit. Listening is to some extent grounded on lower frequencies, which in my opinion is a psycho-acoustic phenomenon based on the overtone series, in which a series of partials occur over the fundamental tone (which is lowest, of course). I'd wager that bass-heads are scanning for the fundamental in literal acoustic terms. They're not fools, they're just people who want psycho-acoustic cues. Does that make them audiophiles? Of course not. But it does make them people who need to be especially aware of a low frequency-canceling phenomenon in certain settings -- one that can make ER-6s especially risky, given problems with getting a correct seal and so forth.
Another factor that I worry about is the proximity of the ER series to the eardrum in a situation in which they're turned up too loud. Don't shout me down, because I'm not bullying anyone here. I'm only asking the question because it has to do with hearing loss and is therefore worth considering. Undamaged ears are the best stereo equipment any of us will ever own.
Styles of music can be an issue as well. Music I never listen to with the volume set too high: old skool jungle, Squarepusher, IDM, clicks and cuts stuff, middle period Autechre, Xenakis or Stockahusen's Gesang der Junglinge. IMO, inhumanly piercing highs should be listened to at a lower volume.
I agree with Jeff's explanation of tinitus, isolating headphones and dangerous listening conditions; in my view, he articulated the case far better than I. But about that graph: since I don't experience any lack of bass with the ER-4, the ER-4 graph has no relevance to what I've said about the ER-6. This thread addresses issues with the ER-6. I imagine it would be a simple matter to pick up a graph of the ER-6's freq. response from the Etymotic website, so this should be an easy matter to address.
However:
No matter how much table-banging might occur with regard to the bass response of the ER-6, a graph doesn't address the experience of the individual, which can also involve the other factors, such as shape of the ear, the fit and the "correct seal" (which many here refer to as an holy grail but which even Don of Etymotics is unable to achieve with ER-6 silicone tips). Even taste can factor into the hearing risk. Just as people with indulgent eating habits can increase their risk of heart failure, so a headphones person with an appetite for low frequencies runs the risk of damage in a noisy environment.
When it comes to taste and listening habits, individuals are exactly the people who must be addressed. And if someone isn't hearing the bass, I'm sorry, I don't think anyone here has the right to say "You're insane, musically illiterate, have no taste, haven't been indoctrinated into the mysteries of the ER-6, etc." That's another case of ad hominem and stir.
There are a number of people on Head-fi who seem not to get a good listening experience from the ER-6 (not the ER-4). They don't post as often or as loudly because many Head-fi denizens are not tolerant of that view. This is why the problem should be acknowledged with a degree of tolerance and understanding. In the first place, it's their money, not yours; it's also the money of people who might share their taste. In the second place, no graph or consensus can restore someone else's hearing. Does anyone here really want to take responsibility for someone else's loss?