[Luis Mad]

Does the relative lack of bass of the SR versus the ER pose a problem? I own a pair of SE425s, which have very little bass, and found that it's a problem even with classical. Not that I want anything boosted or exaggerated, but Brandenburg Concerti just don't sound right if one can't hear cellos play lower notes, or feel organs dig in. That's something that I feel HD600s, for example, get right. Just enough, such that the extra thickening provided by the HD650 sounds, to my ears, unwelcome.

I feel the same way that you do. I love classical and I need some bass. For example the Sony wh1000xm3 is too much bass without eq. Denon ahd7200 have the right amount of bass with classical for me. With the Eys I settled withe ER4xr which are by far my favourite iems and work wonders with classical. The other day I was listening to Saint-Säens Organ symphony and the bass notes of the organ sounded fantastic on the Er4xr.

 

[rasmushorn]

I feel the same way that you do. I love classical and I need some bass. For example the Sony wh1000xm3 is too much bass without eq. Denon ahd7200 have the right amount of bass with classical for me. With the Eys I settled withe ER4xr which are by far my favourite iems and work wonders with classical. The other day I was listening to Saint-Säens Organ symphony and the bass notes of the organ sounded fantastic on the Er4xr.

ER4XR is amazing with classical. It is fun because I always use Saint-Säens Organ symphony to see if speakers/headphones can actually play deep bass. It was good on ER4XR but if you can get a chance to try the new EVO, they take that organ symphony to even higher levels of seperation and depth.

 

[Zachik]

I always use Saint-Säens Organ symphony to see if speakers/headphones can actually play deep bass.

I will have to look for this one... Not a classical music listener myself, but always fun listening to specific recommended pieces even if not my typical genre!

if you can get a chance to try the new EVO

EVO is my personal favorite, but since I love bass - this is not surprising. Mind you, EVO is definitely not bass-head IEM. The bass with the EVO has amazing quality / texture. Quantity is definitely there, but not exaggerated!

 

[DCofficehack]

I don't think you're going to "feel" bass with any IEM. I think most IEMs try to compensate for this by exaggerating the bass. I had an issue with the bass on the ER4SR at first, but I realized I had a fitment issue. With the right tips, the bass is everything I want it to be. But a lot of people want boosted low frequencies, so maybe we have different tastes.

There has to be just enough bass for classical...too little and I can't hear the beat the cellos and double basses are laying, or I can't really savor the big organ when the time is right, like in that Saint-Saens symphony. There's a moment toward the very end of that symphony when the organist stomps on the pedals and it's awesome. Too much bass, and it's just wrong. It gets in the way. In fact, I got into this audiophile thing in the first place when I decided that the $30 Sony headphones I bought at Radio Shack were pushing bass where it shouldn't be and it was getting on my nerves. Then I went and got me some $100 Sennheisers and the rest is history.

 

[Luis Mad]

EVO is my personal favorite, but since I love bass - this is not surprising. Mind you, EVO is definitely not bass-head IEM. The bass with the EVO has amazing quality / texture. Quantity is definitely there, but not exaggerated!

That sounds wonderful! There are too many headphones and iems with exaggerated bass. I will have to save for the EVO.

 

[Zachik]

That sounds wonderful! There are too many headphones and iems with exaggerated bass. I will have to save for the EVO.

If you buy from Etymotic directly - you will also get 3 months Qobuz streaming for free. See details:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/qobuz-x-etymotic.959490/

 

[backdrifter]

There has to be just enough bass for classical...too little and I can't hear the beat the cellos and double basses are laying, or I can't really savor the big organ when the time is right, like in that Saint-Saens symphony. There's a moment toward the very end of that symphony when the organist stomps on the pedals and it's awesome. Too much bass, and it's just wrong. It gets in the way. In fact, I got into this audiophile thing in the first place when I decided that the $30 Sony headphones I bought at Radio Shack were pushing bass where it shouldn't be and it was getting on my nerves. Then I went and got me some $100 Sennheisers and the rest is history.

Of course, there must be enough! But I think the ER4SR has it. But not everyone hears things the same way, so other products are offered. But bear in mind there is always a trade-off to be made. I wouldn't want to have less resolution and clarity than what the ER4SR offers.

 

[rasmushorn]

I will have to look for this one... Not a classical music listener myself, but always fun listening to specific recommended pieces even if not my typical genre!

These are three very different recordings of the same piece of music. That deep organ note that goes through the piece is difficult for many speakers to portray. For headphones it is easier but there is a big difference in how ER4XR and EVO plays that and you can really tell the difference and superior way EVO will let that deep organ pipe vibrate with lots of air around it. With ER4XR it sounds good and I could easily live with them (and have done so for years) and it handles it well but everything is so much more balanced and open sounding with EVO. The deep organ note floats in the air on EVO and it is hard to go back to the ER4XR again after I have been using the EVO for a while now.

EVO is my personal favorite, but since I love bass - this is not surprising. Mind you, EVO is definitely not bass-head IEM. The bass with the EVO has amazing quality / texture. Quantity is definitely there, but not exaggerated!

Yes, that is important to mention. The bass on EVO is by no means exaggerated in any way. Just very balanced and with lots of air and space.

 

[Zachik]

Lucid Audio, Etymotic & Westone Audio – a tale of an IEM family

For those who visited CanJam SoCal 10 days ago, and were surprised by the very close proximity of the 2 adjacent Etymotic and Westone tables, and for everyone’s knowledge in general… Etymotic and Westone Audio are actually sister companies!

Lucid Audio is a company focused on hearing protection and hearing aids, with a mission of “Helping People Hear Better”. I am sure most audiophiles never heard of Lucid Audio, and that is because the company is not focused on the audiophile community. At least that used to be the case... until...

In 2018 Lucid Audio acquired Etymotic, keeping it mostly separated and untouched, allowing Etymotic to continue its IEM development. Lucid Audio also kept the Etymotic brand, and even the EVO that was launched 3 years after the acquisition in 2021 was launched under the Etymotic brand.

Things have got very interesting last year, when in June 2020 - Lucid Audio acquired Westone Audio, including their universal and custom multi-BA IEM lines of products. Again, no big splash, and the Westone brand, engineering team, and IEMs are all still here.

So today, the same parent company (Lucid Audio) owns both Etymotic and Westone Audio.
That means that starting today, I will be bringing exciting product news, impressions, launches and specials for both Etymotic and Westone products!!

In fact, here is my first exciting BIG Westone related news:
Starting this morning, Westone's W series of universal IEMs are on sale!!! We are talking BIG savings
This is your opportunity to get a birthday / Halloween / Black Friday / Christmas / Hannukkah present for yourself or someone else who would appreciate good IEMs!
Limited stock, so hurry and grab your W series IEM for 30-50% off.
https://westoneaudio.com/product-category/universal-series/w-series/

Edit: I have changes the title of the thread, adding Westone to reflect the fact that this will be my master thread for both Etymotic AND Westone.

 

[InvisibleInk]

Lucid Audio, Etymotic & Westone Audio – a tale of an IEM family

For those who visited CanJam SoCal 10 days ago, and were surprised by the very close proximity of the 2 adjacent Etymotic and Westone tables, and for everyone’s knowledge in general… Etymotic and Westone Audio are actually sister companies!



Lucid Audio is a company focused on hearing protection and hearing aids, with a mission of “Helping People Hear Better”. I am sure most audiophiles never heard of Lucid Audio, and that is because the company is not focused on the audiophile community. At least that used to be the case... until...

In 2018 Lucid Audio acquired Etymotic, keeping it mostly separated and untouched, allowing Etymotic to continue its IEM development. Lucid Audio also kept the Etymotic brand, and even the EVO that was launched 3 years after the acquisition in 2021 was launched under the Etymotic brand.

Things have got very interesting last year, when in June 2020 - Lucid Audio acquired Westone Audio, including their universal and custom multi-BA IEM lines of products. Again, no big splash, and the Westone brand, engineering team, and IEMs are all still here.

So today, the same parent company (Lucid Audio) owns both Etymotic and Westone Audio.
That means that starting today, I will be bringing exciting product news, impressions, launches and specials for both Etymotic and Westone products!!

In fact, here is my first exciting BIG Westone related news:
Starting this morning, Westone's W series of universal IEMs are on sale!!! We are talking BIG savings
This is your opportunity to get a birthday / Halloween / Black Friday / Christmas / Hannukkah present for yourself or someone else who would appreciate good IEMs!
Limited stock, so hurry and grab your W series IEM for 30-50% off.
https://westoneaudio.com/product-category/universal-series/w-series/

This is huge news! No Lucid need to buy Shure, for a trifecta!

 

[Zachik]

This is huge news! No Lucid need to buy Shure, for a trifecta!

Haha. I will suggest it to my contacts @ Etymotic Lucid Audio

 

[Tiax]

That means that starting today, I will be bringing exciting product news, impressions, launches and specials for both Etymotic and Westone products!!

So, will Westone ever release something new, or will it only be these refreshes like they did the last 5 years?
I mean, W80 was pretty good in 2016, but it's hardly competitive now, especially at the price of $999.

 

[Zachik]

So, will Westone ever release something new, or will it only be these refreshes like they did the last 5 years?
I mean, W80 was pretty good in 2016, but it's hardly competitive now, especially at the price of $999.

I do not have details or timeline, but yes - products ARE in the works.

 

[InvisibleInk]

So, will Westone ever release something new, or will it only be these refreshes like they did the last 5 years?
I mean, W80 was pretty good in 2016, but it's hardly competitive now, especially at the price of $999.

Yeah, I'd like to see Westone kicked in the trousers for some progress, too. They should go through the whole line up and retune them all. For example, my UM Pro 50 sounds incredible when EQed. It sounds overly dark without EQ. So it it capable, just bad out of the box.

 

[Tiax]

They should go through the whole line up and retune them all. For example, my UM Pro 50 sounds incredible when EQed. It sounds overly dark without EQ. So it it capable, just bad out of the box.

Yeah, UM Pro 50 is dark even by Westone standards.
I've read several times that changing damping filters could help as well.

I've been a big fan of this brand for years, had almost every model (except for the AM Pro line), but nowadays i can't recommend any of them, i think their whole tuning approach needs to change.