[oak3x]

Admittingly, I am one of the minority...

Over the past two years I have spent alot of $$$ on this IEM hobby, owning many of the most popular models from: Shure, Westone, Ultimate Ears, Denon, Sennheiser, Etymotic, Livewires, Sony etc...

One of my top three IEM's has been the Etymotic ER-4P. The "Etys" produce an amazingly detailed sound, with neutral presentation. Yes, I know the bass is lacking a bit...but a little boost on my iAudio 7 does the trick.

In reading all the excitement about the Phonak Audios, I sold my beloved "Etys" to fund the Phonak Audio purchase...

Well, after a week of using the Phonaks, I wasn't as blown away as I had expected. Yes, they have a very detailed sound... Yes, they were extremely comfortable... But for me, something was missing.

With the Grey Filters: the sound spectrum is enhanced in the mid range. For me, this diminished the Imaging and Seperation

With the Black Filters: the low and upper frequency is boosted, but I found the mid's and vocals to be veiled a bit.

So...yesterday I made a decision...I sold the Phonak Audeos, and purchased another pair of Etymotic ER-4P.

In owning a number of the most popular IEMS, my personal favorites are:

1. Livewires
2. Klipsch X5
3. Etymotic ER-4P
4. Sennheiser IE8
5. Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro

 

[FlyPenFly]

can you elaborate further?

 

[GreatDane]

Thanks for your experience. I would have never sold the ER4P in the first place

...well, I'm keeping my ER4P despite my continued excitement for the Phonak. For me the ER4P/S is still my detail king but that fact has and will always limit the selection of music that I can enjoy with them. Not true with the Phonak for me. Detail is very close on the heels of ER4 and it excels at every other factor, again for my ears.

I've always reserved the ER4P(S) for my "reference" recordings(which are many)...this would be for at home listening with Pico or Woo Audio 3. Aside from the ER4 I use my HD 650 tweaked with Aphex 204 processor.

Away from home my biggest use for ER4P was at the gym with i7. I used quite a bit of EQ & other sound enhancements and the sound is great, but not the true ER4P. I decided to give up the gym to cut costs, not a big deal, I'm back to home workouts...so with that loss of use and new love for Phonak, my ER4P will see even less head time.

 

[communic]

With both filters separation is there just not definition in the upper mids and treble. Not sure if it is possible to increase definition without boosting those frequencies and in which case could become fatiguing on some tracks taking away its biggest strength of proficiency in most if not all genres.

 

[tstarn06]

Sold off my Etys a long time ago. Guess you have to do what you have to do. To me, the Etys sounded thin, detailed yes. But I grew bored with their overall signature. One PFE owner recently sold his X5s after getting the PFEs, another sold his SE530s. Shows you how personal all this stuff really is.

 

[oarnura]

Audio is meant for personal enjoyment and is a very personal choice. Is it any surprise that there are so many companies producing audio products, with more starting up every day?

Just like food and gourmet fine dining. A restaurant can get rave reviews from foodies, michelin stars etc. but some will not come away with the same opinion.

 

[synaesthetic]

I kind of did this same thing, except I didn't just buy one earphone between Etys... I bought many.

Started with ER-6i. Went through ER-4P, Atrio M5, super-fi 5 LS, Denon C551, SCL4, SE530, UM2, Image X10.

I was going to just say screw it and go back to ER-6i again, but then I had a listen to a friend's Ety HF2 that she got for her iPhone. I was impressed. Everything I loved about the ER-6i, only better. Immediately purchased HF5 (since I didn't need the phone capabilities).

Since then I haven't really thought about changing earphones.

 

[EFN]

For some niche group of people, the Ety bug bit hard and deep. I totally understood your journey and there's that something special about ER-4 that is very hard to describe - perhaps that electrostatic like speed or something.

But I am set about owning a Phonak PFE as well - this for easy listening when I am doing something else - the ER-4 would not allow me to focus on multitasking as they intercede too much taking away my attention to things at hand

 

[nc8000]

I have also done that journey from an ER4-P bought about 7-8 years ago via a number of others and ended with the HF2 headset.
And then there is what makes me probably one of the hard nut cases namely my APureSound balanced ER4-P. This monster has made me sell my balanced GS-1000 and even my balanced L3000 are for the moment left on the back seat as going back to them after nearly 1½ months of ER4 was a shock, they seemed bloated and vulgar with way too much bottom end. I'm not yet ready to actually sell the L3000 as I want to make absolutely sure this is not just new toy feeling since it would be very unlikely that I would ever get another pair of L3000 if I let these go.

 

[tstarn06]

Based on your posts and Antonyfirst's posts, someday it would be fun to own the Ety with the Apuresound cable. Can't affiord it right now. But it seems like something worth investing in, even moreso then some of the more expensive new IEMs hitting the market (IE8, W3, etc.)

 

[nc8000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tstarn06 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Based on your posts and Antonyfirst's posts, someday it would be fun to own the Ety with the Apuresound cable. Can't affiord it right now. But it seems like something worth investing in, even moreso then some of the more expensive new IEMs hitting the market (IE8, W3, etc.)

It is if you are already in love with the ER4 (or maybe borderline) and what you want is more/improve what the ER4 already is, it does not turn it into a whole different animal.

 

[tstarn06]

Thanks for that info. Something to ponder.

 

[Confispect]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oak3x /img/forum/go_quote.gif Admittingly, I am one of the minority... Over the past two years I have spent alot of $$$ on this IEM hobby, owning many of the most popular models from: Shure, Westone, Ultimate Ears, Denon, Sennheiser, Etymotic, Livewires, Sony etc... One of my top three IEM's has been the Etymotic ER-4P. The "Etys" produce an amazingly detailed sound, with neutral presentation. Yes, I know the bass is lacking a bit...but a little boost on my iAudio 7 does the trick. In reading all the excitement about the Phonak Audios, I sold my beloved "Etys" to fund the Phonak Audio purchase... Well, after a week of using the Phonaks, I wasn't as blown away as I had expected. Yes, they have a very detailed sound... Yes, they were extremely comfortable... But for me, something was missing. With the Grey Filters: the sound spectrum is enhanced in the mid range. For me, this diminished the Imaging and Seperation With the Black Filters: the low and upper frequency is boosted, but I found the mid's and vocals to be veiled a bit. So...yesterday I made a decision...I sold the Phonak Audeos, and purchased another pair of Etymotic ER-4P. In owning a number of the most popular IEMS, my personal favorites are: 1. Livewires 2. Klipsch X5 3. Etymotic ER-4P 4. Sennheiser IE8 5. Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro

It's a matter of a personal opinion, it was stated by more then a few that the Phonaks surpassed the ER4. I think you should have tried without the filters music just sounds so..real. Many people use the filters, and claim that without them it's too bright. Without the filters the detail the phone is capable of putting out really shines.

So much that I never use the filters, it hides too much detail. Therefore I use without, bright? To me no just very clear, and detailed. Extremely precise, hi's attack speeds are speedy fast. Mids sound so clear you wonder is it some one talking to you. Lows tight and punchy I think you should have kept them longer and gave them a try.

I experienced the same thing when I put on the Phonaks. I put them on and went 'these are different but I can't tell why, they don't lack any detail but...' First off the greys might offer you more mids but it also veils the overall sound as do the black filters. Take off the filters and boom, clarity shines thru like never before, life-like, concert like on some songs, voices cause you to shiver at there perfection.

Also these phones have no mid-bass hump that was the other thing you probably were missing for you. Seeing as most headphones come with a strong mid bass hump. With the phones songs that have no bass you won't hear it at all. Songs that do it will come thru loud and clear. No illusion at all, you'll be surprised just how many songs in your collection have almost no bass.....

 

[oak3x]

Hey...good point...

Never thought about trying the Phonak without any Filters. Damn. With all the audio equipment I have purchased over the past 5 years, I have come to realize the sound I want. Thus, I ran a handful of familiar songs through the Phonaks, and the sound did nothing for me. Maybe I gave up too soon.

With many people comparing the Phonaks to the ER-4P and IE8...I have had the luxury of owning all three. Between all three, I would rate the Phonak's third.

But...maybe I did not hear them at their best (no filters)

 

[Confispect]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oak3x /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey...good point... Never thought about trying the Phonak without any Filters. Damn. With all the audio equipment I have purchased over the past 5 years, I have come to realize the sound I want. Thus, I ran a handful of familiar songs through the Phonaks, and the sound did nothing for me. Maybe I gave up too soon. With many people comparing the Phonaks to the ER-4P and IE8...I have had the luxury of owning all three. Between all three, I would rate the Phonak's third. But...maybe I did not hear them at their best (no filters)

Don't worry it also might be a personal preference, but without the filters=heaven. For me at least some people say it's to bright must be one of those personal preference things.