Peddler
1000+ Head-Fier
I’ve been the proud owner of the Etymotics ER4P for about six months or more now and every time I listen to them I just get chills – these things are just so damm good!
Ever since first owning them though I wondered what it would be like to get a set of custom ear moulds for them. I kept thinking to myself “well I’ve spent this much on bloody headphones – another £50 isn’t gonna make that much difference – is it??”
Well in the end I couldn’t resist – I went to my local hearing clinic and spoke to the bloke who does the business. Although he had not heard of the ER4P – he had heard of Etymotics and made some enquiries about what sort of ear moulds would be suitable. After a couple of weeks I got back in touch with him and had impressions made.
One thing which was not clear to me when reading the various posts regarding ear moulds is the countersink that’s required in them to prevent potential damage to the headphones. This set had them in so no problems.
Getting the ear moulds in the first few times was quite an experience – I really felt bunged up with them (I had always tried to avoid this phenomenon when using the standard rubber tips as this nearly always indicated to me that I’d put them in too far!). After the first few days though I started to get used to them.
Sound Quality.
One thing which I noticed immediately was the difference in bass response. The bass didn’t seem to go down quite so deep. This bothered me for a while until I realised that the bass was still there, it was just more accurate. Tighter and easier to follow than before.
When wearing these phones now I’m totally deaf to outside sounds – especially when there’s music playing (virtually at any volume!). One neat advantage though is that virtually no sound leaks out now so you can easily wear them in bed without disturbing your partner (still not as good as a prolonged sha**ing session but definitely less energetic!).
Even though these ear moulds have improved the noise reduction capabilities of these remarkable headphones, I still don’t generally wear them outside when walking around – I simply feel that headphones that are this expensive should be listened to when sitting down and you’re able to enjoy the music.
Final Conclusions
Well I have to be honest. I got on fairly well with the silicone tips no problem. The differences in sound between them and the custom moulds isn’t all that great but I have noticed that it’s a lot easier to get a consistent sound with the custom ear moulds – you certainly spend a lot less time fiddling around with them to get the sound just right. Are they worth the money? I think for me personally the answer is yes.
Ever since first owning them though I wondered what it would be like to get a set of custom ear moulds for them. I kept thinking to myself “well I’ve spent this much on bloody headphones – another £50 isn’t gonna make that much difference – is it??”
Well in the end I couldn’t resist – I went to my local hearing clinic and spoke to the bloke who does the business. Although he had not heard of the ER4P – he had heard of Etymotics and made some enquiries about what sort of ear moulds would be suitable. After a couple of weeks I got back in touch with him and had impressions made.
One thing which was not clear to me when reading the various posts regarding ear moulds is the countersink that’s required in them to prevent potential damage to the headphones. This set had them in so no problems.
Getting the ear moulds in the first few times was quite an experience – I really felt bunged up with them (I had always tried to avoid this phenomenon when using the standard rubber tips as this nearly always indicated to me that I’d put them in too far!). After the first few days though I started to get used to them.
Sound Quality.
One thing which I noticed immediately was the difference in bass response. The bass didn’t seem to go down quite so deep. This bothered me for a while until I realised that the bass was still there, it was just more accurate. Tighter and easier to follow than before.
When wearing these phones now I’m totally deaf to outside sounds – especially when there’s music playing (virtually at any volume!). One neat advantage though is that virtually no sound leaks out now so you can easily wear them in bed without disturbing your partner (still not as good as a prolonged sha**ing session but definitely less energetic!).
Even though these ear moulds have improved the noise reduction capabilities of these remarkable headphones, I still don’t generally wear them outside when walking around – I simply feel that headphones that are this expensive should be listened to when sitting down and you’re able to enjoy the music.
Final Conclusions
Well I have to be honest. I got on fairly well with the silicone tips no problem. The differences in sound between them and the custom moulds isn’t all that great but I have noticed that it’s a lot easier to get a consistent sound with the custom ear moulds – you certainly spend a lot less time fiddling around with them to get the sound just right. Are they worth the money? I think for me personally the answer is yes.
