Richard Berg
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2002
- Posts
- 18
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I owned a pair of ER-4S from about 1999-2002 but sold them when I stopped traveling as much. Well, circumstances change, and I'm back in the market -- and boy are there more options nowadays! Guess the much-reviled iPod Generation was a good thing for audiophiles after all
Once upon a time I was pretty familiar with the whole market. But there's no way I could demo all the new models available today; gotta rely on recommendations. (If I truly dislike the result, it's not the end of the world -- I simply don't have endless free time to play the buy/sell/trade game like I did when I was younger.) Luckily, I do have a pretty good memory of the various cans I've owned over the years, plus old reviews from 'phone trade shows. Summary time:
Quote:
Hope that helps.
It seems that many top flight IEMs (that is, comparable to the best I've ever heard) are in the $150 range these days. That's great news; I've started reading about Phonak, HF5, W1 & UM1, IE6, etc. But I'm willing to make the leap to multi-driver designs if you think it would aid someone with my listening preferences. Of course, the more $$ we're talking about, the more sure I have to be about picking the right one
Final notes:
- source will be high bitrate AAC files on an iPhone 3G, no amp
- isolation *must* be at least as good as Etys; subways are loud!
- must have PTT microphone option, or be compatible with 3rd party ones
- despite expending lots of text here on sound quality, comfort & overall ergonomics matter just as much. not worth the $$ unless I can wear for long periods, exercise, or whatever without being encumbered.
Once upon a time I was pretty familiar with the whole market. But there's no way I could demo all the new models available today; gotta rely on recommendations. (If I truly dislike the result, it's not the end of the world -- I simply don't have endless free time to play the buy/sell/trade game like I did when I was younger.) Luckily, I do have a pretty good memory of the various cans I've owned over the years, plus old reviews from 'phone trade shows. Summary time:
Quote:
| Sennheiser HD600 - owned these for over a decade now. Near perfect, as far as I'm concerned. (I've since heard the 650, though not the 800). Only complaint is the slightly veiled treatment compared with electrostatic cans or Etys. Regardless, I imagine I'll be buying replacement pads & wires for these babies for decades to come. HD580 - degraded dynamics & clarity more than I anticipated, makes the aforementioned "veiled" tendencies too noticeable AKG 501 - liked overall character a lot; a little too thin for my tastes, but definitely preferable to cans that highlight the extremes (like Grados) Grado SR-225 - owned these for a month & promptly sold. Whole SR series were great values in their day but just not my thing. Highs & lows jump out at you with considerable detail, but Senns get you just as much if not more without the bombastic ear treatment. Yes, I tried listening to rock/metal/techno on them too -- same opinion, sorry. Grado RS-1 - definitely more refined than the SR series, which I appreciated, but still not the cans for me. Tried pairing with tube amps, result was actually worse. Beyer DT 770 Pro - liked, but preferred Sennheiser Sony V6 - not at all accurate to my ears Sennheiser Orpheus - delightful new take on music I'd heard many times before. Loved the transparency, detail, soundstage, and richness. Yet I could never buy one because of the coloration: when testing a CD I'd produced myself, it sounded like alien (if pleasant) clones of my longtime friends & bandmates. Stax Omega - had the "air" I liked in the other electrostatics, but none of the magic Etymotic ER-4S w/ white rubber flanged tips - owned for about 3 years, along with a Headroom Airhead amp. Loved the incredible detail and the isolation. Could have used a little more midrange warmth for my tastes, as well as considerably more bass (I used EQ and still wanted more on occasion). Very unforgiving of source material -- my Sennheisers are as detailed (or nearly so), but don't go out of their way to make bad recordings sound bad like ER-4's seem to. Comfort was bearable but not what I'd call pleasant. Well known issues with microphonics. |
Hope that helps.
It seems that many top flight IEMs (that is, comparable to the best I've ever heard) are in the $150 range these days. That's great news; I've started reading about Phonak, HF5, W1 & UM1, IE6, etc. But I'm willing to make the leap to multi-driver designs if you think it would aid someone with my listening preferences. Of course, the more $$ we're talking about, the more sure I have to be about picking the right one
Final notes:
- source will be high bitrate AAC files on an iPhone 3G, no amp
- isolation *must* be at least as good as Etys; subways are loud!
- must have PTT microphone option, or be compatible with 3rd party ones
- despite expending lots of text here on sound quality, comfort & overall ergonomics matter just as much. not worth the $$ unless I can wear for long periods, exercise, or whatever without being encumbered.
