[DBMcElroy]

I had er3se and I can say er4xr is clearly an improvement from er3se.

Great to hear...I look forward to comparing the 3se to the 4sr. I use the Radsone es100 with a balanced cable. I normally find enough bass with no eq flat. Occasionally I will turn it on and put a 2.5db bump at 30 Hz and a 1.5 at 60Hz.

 

[DBMcElroy]

I have both 3SE and 4SR and I would agree that there is no mistaking the 3 for the 4. The 4 is just cleaner and more precise. Have at times tried the 3SE again just to compare for the fun of comparison but it's immediately clear to me that the 4SR are superior in every way.
The 3SE are really good. It blew my mind for more than a year. But the 4SR is that last mile you think you don't need... till you try it.
I have at times spent days auditing headphones because I want something on/over ear that compares with the 4SR. But same thing over and over again: At the end of the day when I plug my trusty 4SR back in I'm just floored like the first time I heard them. So far, nothing compares.

The thing I like the most in the ER4SR is the bass. It's so fast and clean. It's insane to listen to fast electronic music like psytrance. The sheer technical ability of the singel BA driver is unbelievable.
Lacking in bass they are definitely not.

I'm a little tempted to try the 4XR but when I think a song sounds thin in the bass department I EQ bass by +0.4dB and it's perfect. If I go up 1-2dB it's too much.
I don't think XR is for me but you guys know how it is... Just have to scratch that itch so one day maybe.

Thank you Smorgar,
It was our conversation a month or so ago that prompted me to scratch my itch for the 4sr!

 

[491838]

I should get the ER4SR myself in the near future. In many ways it's the best headphone I've ever owned and I already spent thousands. I have the 4XR but the SR version is probably the better one for maximum clarity.

It's by no means perfect but I keep coming back to them for a reason. I recently bought the HD800 and I'm using them with EQ. They kinda sound like a brighter ER4 that way but they still have a few annoying peaks. The clarity they provide is insane but believe it or not, there are things that the ER4 still does better somehow. There are recordings where I can hear exactly where the treble is notched out (relative to the Etymotic target) on the ER4 because the HD800 has flatter more extended treble with EQ, but I'm getting a whole different kind of clarity on the ER4. The really spooky thing is that despite some missing treble on the Etymotic, it seems that it does a better job of portraying small sounds, cymbals, even the way it renders reverb seems more natural. So I believe there is more detail lurking under that slightly veiled sound than I was led to believe. The ER4 seems to render instruments in a more precise and clear manner in many instances whereas most over-ears (including the very detailed HD800) render them in a way that's less clear or more diffuse.

So if Etymotic manages to fix the response of their IEMs even further to 100% their target we might get some really interesting results. It seems that with this kind of in-ear (or any in-ear really) I'm not getting any annoying peaks in the treble if the tuning closely follows this target. This results in an enhanced perception of detail it seems.


Edit: The specific track that I used for testing the treble recently is this one. The voices and echoes in the intro sound clearer on the ER4 (more focused) even though there's some missing treble there compared to my EQ-ed HD800.

 

[DBMcElroy]

I should get the ER4SR myself in the near future. In many ways it's the best headphone I've ever owned and I already spent thousands. I have the 4XR but the SR version is probably the better one for maximum clarity.

It's by no means perfect but I keep coming back to them for a reason. I recently bought the HD800 and I'm using them with EQ. They kinda sound like a brighter ER4 that way but they still have a few annoying peaks. The clarity they provide is insane but believe it or not, there are things that the ER4 still does better somehow. There are recordings where I can hear exactly where the treble is notched out (relative to the Etymotic target) on the ER4 because the HD800 has flatter more extended treble with EQ, but I'm getting a whole different kind of clarity on the ER4. The really spooky thing is that despite some missing treble on the Etymotic, it seems that it does a better job of portraying small sounds, cymbals, even the way it renders reverb seems more natural. So I believe there is more detail lurking under that slightly veiled sound than I was led to believe. The ER4 seems to render instruments in a more precise and clear manner in many instances whereas most over-ears (including the very detailed HD800) render them in a way that's less clear or more diffuse.

So if Etymotic manages to fix the response of their IEMs even further to 100% their target we might get some really interesting results. It seems that with this kind of in-ear (or any in-ear really) I'm not getting any annoying peaks in the treble if the tuning closely follows this target. This results in an enhanced perception of detail it seems.


Edit: The specific track that I used for testing the treble recently is this one. The voices and echoes in the intro sound clearer on the ER4 (more focused) even though there's some missing treble there compared to my EQ-ed HD800.

Thank you for your insightful comments and the shared audio file.

 

[491838]

Actually, oratory just gave me his HD800 profile and wouldn't you know, it sounds almost exactly like an ER4 with extended treble: https://www.dropbox.com/s/nqnpv0cub6vl12q/Sennheiser HD800 (Optimum HiFi Curve).pdf?dl=0&fbclid=IwAR2fejTEzsA7xN6pnIp-9X1unc86F3voKcKXM08ewV9VEGF9zuwpsaefU8E

 

[Blackwoof]

I should get the ER4SR myself in the near future. In many ways it's the best headphone I've ever owned and I already spent thousands. I have the 4XR but the SR version is probably the better one for maximum clarity.

It's by no means perfect but I keep coming back to them for a reason. I recently bought the HD800 and I'm using them with EQ. They kinda sound like a brighter ER4 that way but they still have a few annoying peaks. The clarity they provide is insane but believe it or not, there are things that the ER4 still does better somehow. There are recordings where I can hear exactly where the treble is notched out (relative to the Etymotic target) on the ER4 because the HD800 has flatter more extended treble with EQ, but I'm getting a whole different kind of clarity on the ER4. The really spooky thing is that despite some missing treble on the Etymotic, it seems that it does a better job of portraying small sounds, cymbals, even the way it renders reverb seems more natural. So I believe there is more detail lurking under that slightly veiled sound than I was led to believe. The ER4 seems to render instruments in a more precise and clear manner in many instances whereas most over-ears (including the very detailed HD800) render them in a way that's less clear or more diffuse.

So if Etymotic manages to fix the response of their IEMs even further to 100% their target we might get some really interesting results. It seems that with this kind of in-ear (or any in-ear really) I'm not getting any annoying peaks in the treble if the tuning closely follows this target. This results in an enhanced perception of detail it seems.


Edit: The specific track that I used for testing the treble recently is this one. The voices and echoes in the intro sound clearer on the ER4 (more focused) even though there's some missing treble there compared to my EQ-ed HD800.

The ER4SR has better treble since there less masking from the XR's bass boost which is 3db more than the SR. There albums i tried where the SR's clarity beats the ER4XR no problem like the bass not hiding micro detailng. Also the slight chance the distortion may help since the SR = <0.5% vs the 1% of the ER4XR.

 

[smorgar]

Thank you Smorgar,
It was our conversation a month or so ago that prompted me to scratch my itch for the 4sr!

Haha i thaught this was familiar when i typed it yesterday

 

[emba4]

Crap, crap crap!!!!!!!!!

after 5 long years of service my stupid ass lost my ER4s, while replacing the drivers and making new cables (i was just about to do that anyway) isnt too big of a deal the much bigger loss was my ACS custom tips, possibly the best audio investment i ever made, these cant really be replaced as ACS stopped making them.

the only other alternative is Snugs which are more than twice the cost of my ACS ones and when a friend got a pair a few years back they didnt seem quite as nice as my ACS, anyone know if there are any decent alternatives in the UK?

 

[Billyak]

Crap, crap crap!!!!!!!!!

after 5 long years of service my stupid ass lost my ER4s, while replacing the drivers and making new cables (i was just about to do that anyway) isnt too big of a deal the much bigger loss was my ACS custom tips, possibly the best audio investment i ever made, these cant really be replaced as ACS stopped making them.

the only other alternative is Snugs which are more than twice the cost of my ACS ones and when a friend got a pair a few years back they didnt seem quite as nice as my ACS, anyone know if there are any decent alternatives in the UK?

Are the customs worth it over the tri-tips? Heard people mention customs ruin the SQ of Etys.

 

[emba4]

Are the customs worth it over the tri-tips? Heard people mention customs ruin the SQ of Etys.

oh dear sweet lord yes, theyre the single best thing you can buy for your ears on top of etys, well worth the investment. after a bit of searching ive found a company called ultimateear who do custom for the ER4 at £120 and ADV in the US who charge $150 and do ship globally but im unsure on shipping rates. also apparently specsavers will custom fit any IEMs starting at £90 so it seems my options arent as limited as i initially thought.

another worthy upgrade is the cable, i cant speak so much for the newer XR/SR models but for the old school ER4s an upgraded cable makes a lot of difference, you can either make your own or get one from the likes of null audio, either way it can very much bring out the best in your buds

 

[Max Choiral]

oh dear sweet lord yes, theyre the single best thing you can buy for your ears on top of etys, well worth the investment. after a bit of searching ive found a company called ultimateear who do custom for the ER4 at £120 and ADV in the US who charge $150 and do ship globally but im unsure on shipping rates. also apparently specsavers will custom fit any IEMs starting at £90 so it seems my options arent as limited as i initially thought.

another worthy upgrade is the cable, i cant speak so much for the newer XR/SR models but for the old school ER4s an upgraded cable makes a lot of difference, you can either make your own or get one from the likes of null audio, either way it can very much bring out the best in your buds

It depends on individual's ears structure. I know a few Etyheads who tried custom tips, even custom in-ears based on ER4's driver and in the end returned to stock with tri-flange tips.

 

[emba4]

It depends on individual's ears structure. I know a few Etyheads who tried custom tips, even custom in-ears based on ER4's driver and in the end returned to stock with tri-flange tips.

as is always true of audio gear really, its always subjective and i can only speak for myself and a friend who had snugs on his ER4XRs, to my ear it was wonderful but maybe thats because my canals sort of point downwards pretty quickly. but sadly this is something you can only find out by getting some yourself really

 

[Blackwoof]

oh dear sweet lord yes, theyre the single best thing you can buy for your ears on top of etys, well worth the investment. after a bit of searching ive found a company called ultimateear who do custom for the ER4 at £120 and ADV in the US who charge $150 and do ship globally but im unsure on shipping rates. also apparently specsavers will custom fit any IEMs starting at £90 so it seems my options arent as limited as i initially thought.

another worthy upgrade is the cable, i cant speak so much for the newer XR/SR models but for the old school ER4s an upgraded cable makes a lot of difference, you can either make your own or get one from the likes of null audio, either way it can very much bring out the best in your buds

Wait?, Specsavers do custom tips. Might try that if i get a ER4SR or another ER3SE, Since I'm struggling with fit. I'd say checking your amp a best bet, If the output ohm is high they'll sound coloured but not as bad with multi ba's.

 

[emba4]

Currently I'm using an LG v30 as my portable, at home I'm currently between headphone amps, I'm building a new one but still need to finish it off yet

 

[Billyak]

Wait?, Specsavers do custom tips. Might try that if i get a ER4SR or another ER3SE, Since I'm struggling with fit. I'd say checking your amp a best bet, If the output ohm is high they'll sound coloured but not as bad with multi ba's.

I am also interested to see if Specsavers do custom fits. I could only see custom fitting for custom BA IEMs on their website.