Etymotic Research EVO impressions and discussion thread
Feb 24, 2021 at 8:04 PM Post #76 of 1,201
Of all the IEMs I've had, the Etys have been the most useful. They are a great companion to my Utopia - for their combined sonic performance, portability, and isolation. Sold all my other IEMs and told myself it was the only one I needed... until I saw that these were being released!

They respond excellently to spatial audio DSP (my favourite for the ER4SR being Waves NX on iOS) which makes sense given the ER4B was initially tuned for binaural.

It sounds like they've addressed the issues with the previous-gen - the wires were two flimsy near the connector, proprietary MMCX notch and fit can take a bit of experience.
My same exact experience, LOVE my ER4PT’s and ER4XR’s and can’t wait to hear these!
 
Feb 24, 2021 at 9:14 PM Post #77 of 1,201
Of all the IEMs I've had, the Etys have been the most useful. They are a great companion to my Utopia - for their combined sonic performance, portability, and isolation. Sold all my other IEMs and told myself it was the only one I needed... until I saw that these were being released!

They respond excellently to spatial audio DSP (my favourite for the ER4SR being Waves NX on iOS) which makes sense given the ER4B was initially tuned for binaural.

It sounds like they've addressed the issues with the previous-gen - the wires were two flimsy near the connector, proprietary MMCX notch and fit can take a bit of experience.
I definitely agree on the issues you listened, and am hopeful they will be resolved in the Evo. Even with the ER4XR having been my go to reference IEM for a while, I'm still quite hesitant about the Evo especially with the price being rumored to be $500+. Thats getting really close to to IER-M9 money... Then again, I really adore the Etymotic sound signature so shall see what they deliver!
 
Mar 5, 2021 at 4:59 PM Post #78 of 1,201
I have a question, will the drivers be individually matched? as in, including the bass driver?
currently, the Etymotic ER4 series only match down to 100hz ... and I am particularly sensitive to bass imbalance


if the driver responsible for the sub-100hz region is also matched, then this will be a definite buy for me
 
Mar 5, 2021 at 8:03 PM Post #79 of 1,201
I have a question, will the drivers be individually matched? as in, including the bass driver?
currently, the Etymotic ER4 series only match down to 100hz ... and I am particularly sensitive to bass imbalance


if the driver responsible for the sub-100hz region is also matched, then this will be a definite buy for me
Have you experienced any balance issues with any of the ER4 series?
 
Mar 5, 2021 at 9:09 PM Post #81 of 1,201
Have you experienced any balance issues with any of the ER4 series?
ER4 lacks sub bass, so when a sub bass oriented song is played ER4 simply sounds so out of shape for that case. I guess for hearing aid, subbass was not a primary concern.

Hope EVO solves that subbass performance and extended sound stage, then I’m in.
 
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Mar 5, 2021 at 10:37 PM Post #82 of 1,201
ER4 lacks sub bass, so when a sub bass oriented song is played ER4 simply sounds so out of shape for that case. I guess for hearing aid, subbass was not a primary concern.

Hope EVO solves that subbass performance and extended sound stage, then I’m in.
I feel enough bass even from er4sr. This is all subjective, no? What you feel little may well be enough for someone else.
 
Mar 5, 2021 at 10:54 PM Post #83 of 1,201
I feel enough bass even from er4sr. This is all subjective, no? What you feel little may well be enough for someone else.
Yea it's the personal perception I guess. ER4S series got a fan base from this pure flat FR, so let's see how EVO would land on 4SR or 4XR lines.
 
Mar 6, 2021 at 6:39 AM Post #84 of 1,201
Have you experienced any balance issues with any of the ER4 series?
ER-4XR in 2016 with one side crackling, got it replaced but the shipping to America was almost as expensive as a new pair... my current ER4-SR has a loose connection in one of the drivers but its not so serious
but other than that, the usual bass tolerance that I can hear but apparently is acceptable to everyone else (and also technically within spec of the ER4 series since the matching only goes down to 100hz), the most egregious being the ER3-XR I had in 2019, the bass was so off-center that it was borderline nauseating to me... I had to make a passive filter circuit board to electronically control the sub-100hz region to each driver manually https://www.head-fi.org/threads/passive-headphone-attenuator-with-bass-bypass.945585/post-15941391 , and I am using it with my current pair of ER4-XR's because the side with the loose connection also has too much bass, as well as a much higher sensitivity to AC hum
 
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Mar 6, 2021 at 6:48 AM Post #85 of 1,201
ER4 lacks sub bass, so when a sub bass oriented song is played ER4 simply sounds so out of shape for that case. I guess for hearing aid, subbass was not a primary concern.

Hope EVO solves that subbass performance and extended sound stage, then I’m in.
the ER4 series, including the ER4-SR which is supposed to have less bass, is actually capable of giving quite a lot of bass, but only if you modify the signal with a passive filter circuit like I did, the idea being that it attenuates all the sound except the bass, and you turn up the volume to compensate for the attenuation
with the result being that the bass is at the original amplitude of your volume dial, but all the other frequencies are at a comfortable listening level

there will be a similar filter circuit in all multi-driver setups, from speakers to IEM's , and I've read that the bass filter circuit in the EVO starts working below 100hz which is the same frequency as my handmade circuit
 
Mar 6, 2021 at 11:49 AM Post #86 of 1,201
ER-4XR in 2016 with one side crackling, got it replaced but the shipping to America was almost as expensive as a new pair... my current ER4-SR has a loose connection in one of the drivers but its not so serious
but other than that, the usual bass tolerance that I can hear but apparently is acceptable to everyone else (and also technically within spec of the ER4 series since the matching only goes down to 100hz), the most egregious being the ER3-XR I had in 2019, the bass was so off-center that it was borderline nauseating to me... I had to make a passive filter circuit board to electronically control the sub-100hz region to each driver manually https://www.head-fi.org/threads/passive-headphone-attenuator-with-bass-bypass.945585/post-15941391 , and I am using it with my current pair of ER4-XR's because the side with the loose connection also has too much bass, as well as a much higher sensitivity to AC hum
Thank you, this is very helpful. I have been struggling with channel imbalance with my ER4SR. The vendor here has replaced once for me, but the replacement still doesn't sound right. The difference is subtle, so I have reached out to Etymotic by e-mail. They haven't got back to me and I was thinking whether to give up or not. But knowing that channel imbalance in the ER4s isn't that uncommon perhaps I should follow up on this.
 
Mar 6, 2021 at 1:10 PM Post #87 of 1,201
Thank you, this is very helpful. I have been struggling with channel imbalance with my ER4SR. The vendor here has replaced once for me, but the replacement still doesn't sound right. The difference is subtle, so I have reached out to Etymotic by e-mail. They haven't got back to me and I was thinking whether to give up or not. But knowing that channel imbalance in the ER4s isn't that uncommon perhaps I should follow up on this.
I must stress that everyone else who has responded to my bass imbalance told me that its essentially industry-standard, and I have been told that only the halo-level products costing 4 figures USD are matched to the whole audio spectrum because of the number of rejects coming out of the production line

my thinking was that , by breaking down the problem of matching down to multiple drivers and indvidually matching them, they might be able to achieve the same level of channel matching at a lower price....
 
Mar 8, 2021 at 4:31 AM Post #88 of 1,201
the ER4 series, including the ER4-SR which is supposed to have less bass, is actually capable of giving quite a lot of bass, but only if you modify the signal with a passive filter circuit like I did, the idea being that it attenuates all the sound except the bass, and you turn up the volume to compensate for the attenuation
with the result being that the bass is at the original amplitude of your volume dial, but all the other frequencies are at a comfortable listening level

there will be a similar filter circuit in all multi-driver setups, from speakers to IEM's , and I've read that the bass filter circuit in the EVO starts working below 100hz which is the same frequency as my handmade circuit

That one thing Multi BA's have over single BA ety, They can use BA woofers that can output more bass with less effort. While the ER4XR's vented BA could only manage +2db more low end, You were better off just adding more with Low shelf EQ or in your case use a adaptor on the ER4.

Still wondering if i might get this instead since I already have a ER4PT, Only after reviews/measurements come out.
 
Mar 11, 2021 at 3:43 AM Post #89 of 1,201
I was about to object to being called outdated and then I realized I'm currently taking notes with a fountain pen while surrounded by tube amps.
I have a question EtyDave, are these new EVO’s 100% true Etymotic’s? Were they in development by Etymotic before Lucid bought them? I just found out that Lucid bought part of Westone too. I’m just curious how truly Etymotic these Evo’s are...
 
Mar 11, 2021 at 10:53 PM Post #90 of 1,201
I have a question EtyDave, are these new EVO’s 100% true Etymotic’s? Were they in development by Etymotic before Lucid bought them? I just found out that Lucid bought part of Westone too. I’m just curious how truly Etymotic these Evo’s are...
That's a good question, and I have a somewhat multi-layered response (pun semi-intended).

Multiple driver earphones were never really in the corporate ethos of Etymotic, but not all of us were against them. I played around with them years ago and they never really went anywhere. The EVOs were indeed started in earnest after the Lucid acquisition, but the acoustics were done before Westone Audio was acquired. The sound signature was driven by us, the same Etymotic engineers that have been making our earphones for years. For me, this is an earphone that I've wanted to make for a while, so I consider it a true Etymotic product.

I don't anticipate it will be all things to all people. Earphone form factor is a very personal thing. Some folks will prefer our old barrel style IEM with a cable that hangs down and others will prefer an in-concha style IEM that routes the cable over the ear. Since we now offer both, my hope is that we will have something that appeals to everybody. The sound signature of the EVO is definitely in the Etymotic vein, but is more likely to appeal to a fan of our XR series of earphones vs. somebody that wants truly flat bass. For all of the people that have said over the years that they like our earphones but want something with more sub-bass, I think this has a good chance of scratching that itch.

And I'll be involved on the Westone side as well now. I might have to change my name to EtyWest or EtyTone or something.
 
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