[HighwayStar]

No soldering required, they plug right in. The gent selling them does recommend sending your Ety's in so he can perform the change though...

 

[redshifter]

so do the er4s have rubber tips or silicon? or both? i've seen about 50% of each in this thread.

the reason i ask is i think the silicon tips that came with my er6 are very comfortable. the rubber tips on my ety musician's earplugs are very irritating. are the tips on the ety musician plugs (er20 i think) the same as the er4s? is there a way to break them in besides wearing them?

 

[HighwayStar]

Quote:

Originally posted by redshifter so do the er4s have rubber tips or silicon? or both? i've seen about 50% of each in this thread. the reason i ask is i think the silicon tips that came with my er6 are very comfortable. the rubber tips on my ety musician's earplugs are very irritating. are the tips on the ety musician plugs (er20 i think) the same as the er4s? is there a way to break them in besides wearing them?

AFAIK they're silicone. Just calling them rubber for short.

I didn't do anything but wear'em. Doesn't take long

 

[erikiksaz]

Aye, i liked the silicone tips for their ease of use, but i had one MAJOOORRR problem. My left ear canal seems to be shaped differently than my right. I could get a good seal with my right, but i noticed that the buds have to fit into my left ear perfectly horizontal to the ground in ordert to seal. My right ear doesn't suffer from this problem though, it could be angled and still have a good seal. So, it's the foamies for me...

 

[d_wilson]

Actually the white eartips on the ER-4 are PVC based. Poly Vinyl Cloride is not silicone or rubber.

The clear eartips for the ER-6 are silicone.

The foam eartips are PVC based.

I won't travel without the ER-4's anymore. I have much fewer problems with the change in cabin pressure when wearing the ER-4's. I wear them as earplugs dring takeoff and landing and for listening to music when in the air. The eartips will slowly leak the pressure in and out preventing the sudden pressure changes when the person in charge of the controls doesn't make slow enough changes to the cabin pressure.

I can't get a seal with the ER-6 silicone eartips or the white ER-4 eartips in one of my ears either.

Don Wilson
Etymotic Research

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

Originally posted by d_wilson Actually the white eartips on the ER-4 are PVC based. Poly Vinyl Cloride is not silicone or rubber. The clear eartips for the ER-6 are silicone. The foam eartips are PVC based. I won't travel without the ER-4's anymore. I have much fewer problems with the change in cabin pressure when wearing the ER-4's. I wear them as earplugs dring takeoff and landing and for listening to music when in the air. The eartips will slowly leak the pressure in and out preventing the sudden pressure changes when the person in charge of the controls doesn't make slow enough changes to the cabin pressure. I can't get a seal with the ER-6 silicone eartips or the white ER-4 eartips in one of my ears either. Don Wilson Etymotic Research

thanks for clearing that up, don. are the pvc tips on the er20 the same as the ones on the er4? if so, do you have any tips on how to soften them up without wearing them? i can see wearing the er4 and listening to music to break them in, but the er20 are just plugs and i only wear them once in a long while.

here's a suggestion: can etymotic offer slightly larger and smaller tips to help people with mismatched ear canals?

 

[scrypt]

I've been using earmolds from Scientific Plastics, which I bought for $30. The bass is light, so I'm having them recast (for free, of course). I'll post the results in a few weeks when I get my new pair.

The molds are really comfortable to wear (and I mean for hours), but removing them in a hurry is not recommended. I feel like I'm giving myself a cranial hysterectomy whenever someone taps me on the shoulder.

 

[acs236]

Is Scientific Plastics in NYC? If so, I'd appreciate more comments. I'm in the NYC area and am considering custom molds, so I don't have to constitantly spend money on foam.

 

[HighwayStar]

Quote:

Originally posted by acs236 Is Scientific Plastics in NYC? If so, I'd appreciate more comments. I'm in the NYC area and am considering custom molds, so I don't have to constitantly spend money on foam.

Scientific Plastics Inc 243 W 30th St, New York, NY 10001-2812 (212) 924-1124

 

[scrypt]

Quote:

Originally posted by acs236 Is Scientific Plastics in NYC? If so, I'd appreciate more comments. I'm in the NYC area and am considering custom molds, so I don't have to constitantly spend money on foam.

Thing is: To get the decent price, you have to buy Etys and the earmolds at the same time.

Word (welcome to the galaxy of 80s hip-hop nostalgia): If you visit SPI on August 20, you can probably get them to cut their price to compensate for tax-free day. (They're not in the right part of town to allow the discount, but they do cut their price with tax to what's advertised online, sans shipping.)

 

[d_wilson]

The ER-20 and ER-4 use the same eartip, except we cut the stem for use on the ER-4.

The company that makes the eartips for us does have a smaller version, but it is too small to mold a hole in it.

I don't know how to make them smaller, but I will think about it.


Don Wilson
Etymotic Research

 

[silence]

Gonna buy a pair of Etymotics soon. Reading this thread I understand that there are differences in the level of the microphonic effect from the cord : er4s > er4p > er6 - the er4s having the most pronounced effect.

Why is it so? Why doesn´t Etymotics use a less "microphonic" plastic for the cable? As far as I has understood the conversion cable er4p -> er4s makes the er4p just as "microphonic" as the er4s ?


Any comments on the sound difference between er6 and er4p/s?

 

[rohorn]

The white tips swell up and get a bit floppy in a month or two of use - for me, at least. At which point, the ER-4S sound awful. I guess my ear chemistry isn't very friendly with that material. No, my blood doesn't eat through the floor and I didn't have a tail surgically removed at birth.

Anyway, the similarly shaped but bright yellow colored EAR plugs don't seem to give me that problem. Are they made of a different plastic?

 

[HighwayStar]

Quote:

Originally posted by rohorn The white tips swell up and get a bit floppy in a month or two of use - for me, at least. At which point, the ER-4S sound awful. I guess my ear chemistry isn't very friendly with that material. No, my blood doesn't eat through the floor and I didn't have a tail surgically removed at birth. Anyway, the similarly shaped but bright yellow colored EAR plugs don't seem to give me that problem. Are they made of a different plastic?

Don states above that the ER20 & ER4's are the same sans stem, PVC. Perhaps the colored ones are a slightly different composition/compound due to the coloring ?

My tail was never removed either

 

[silence]

I found the answer about the questions between er4 and er6 in DGS´s nice review of the er4p, er4s an er6 from january - That review should definitely be in the review section!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still there is one question left - Why doesn´t Etymotics do something with the microphonic effect on the expensive models????