After much anticipation for the upcoming triple driver Shure E500 and the Ultimate Ears Triple X, at long last, it looks like Etymotic is back in the game. Etymotic Research's flagship ER•4S has been around for so long without a successor, but finally it looks like Etymotic has a contender. I got a picture of an early preproduction model that Etymotic allowed me to share.
Meet the Etymotic ER•5000SX
Not to be content with a mere three drivers, the ER•5000SX has five drivers!
The design looks to be a quintuple bore with a filter for each bore. Etymotics says that the center bass driver is a large custom balanced armature, with two midrange drivers and two high frequency drivers. I can't even imagine how complicated the cross-over circuit is. From the looks of it, I think it uses the same green filters that the ER•4's use. Nice to see that the ER•5000SX may be utilizing several parts that already exist, so if you have extra green filters, no need to throw them away. But yikes, you'll have to replace five of them for each ear! But since the opening is larger to accomodate the five bores, the black foamie is different. Don't know what the silicone flange tips are going to be like, but it will be interesting to see.
Etymotic is sending me a preproduction model for me to review in the following week, but I don't think they will let me bring it to the National Meet, but I'll post impressions here when I can.
Happy April Fools!
-Ed
Meet the Etymotic ER•5000SX
Not to be content with a mere three drivers, the ER•5000SX has five drivers!
The design looks to be a quintuple bore with a filter for each bore. Etymotics says that the center bass driver is a large custom balanced armature, with two midrange drivers and two high frequency drivers. I can't even imagine how complicated the cross-over circuit is. From the looks of it, I think it uses the same green filters that the ER•4's use. Nice to see that the ER•5000SX may be utilizing several parts that already exist, so if you have extra green filters, no need to throw them away. But yikes, you'll have to replace five of them for each ear! But since the opening is larger to accomodate the five bores, the black foamie is different. Don't know what the silicone flange tips are going to be like, but it will be interesting to see.
Etymotic is sending me a preproduction model for me to review in the following week, but I don't think they will let me bring it to the National Meet, but I'll post impressions here when I can.
Happy April Fools!
-Ed
