The cable in the link you posted *should* work with an ER4SR (I haven't tested it) but it will not work with an ER4S as the connector is different and the ER4S needs resistors in the cable or the driver may get damaged.
About 2 years ago my 10+ year old ER4P got dropped, run over and crushed. I've tried many other IEMs and found 2 that I love with a super dynamic sound (Campfire Dorado and Ikko OH10), but there are many times I've missed the super-clarity of the ER4. In the past 2 days I've bought a used ER-4P and registered for the Ety ER2/3/4XR package on Facebook -- Maybe I'll hit the jackpot!!
I'm a very humble person, as French people are wont to be, so you can write mine extra small. In fact, to make my name look even smaller, you can use an extra large piece of paper.
My ER4Ps bit the dust recently, after 20 years of use (and much abuse).
Actually, they were a second pair after Etymotic replaced the entire set in 2011 (for $50) after I sent them off for a replacement cable. Turned-out that the drivers had cracked tips where I’d buggered-up inserting the filters the wrong way round. So they replaced them - 8 years after I bought them!!
It seems that Ety don’t do such replacements any longer, so I bit the bullet and bought a pre-owned set of SRs for £145 from CEX and I’m absolutely blown away.
Firstly, they are immaculate and all of the original accessories were present and seemed unused.
Secondly, these are so much of an improvement over my 4Ps. I don’t know if that’s because the old ones were a bit worn-out or if the new model are just better.
Anyway, that’s my first contribution to this forum, even though I’ve used it for a good while for research.
Maybe it's placebo but somehow plastic green filters paired with ER4 result in different sound vs Knowles acoustic dampers.
Does anyone know where genuine Knowles dampers can be purchased?
Maybe it's placebo but somehow plastic green filters paired with ER4 result in different sound vs Knowles acoustic dampers.
Does anyone know where genuine Knowles dampers can be purchased?
Do you have the newer or older ER4s? If it's the new metal body shells, I'd be careful as metal on metal allows for no tolerance in either direction. Either they are too loose and could fall out, or they are too tight and can't be removed.
If it's the older plastic bodies, the Knowles should work just fine as we used to ship with them. Just be careful not to force them if they are too tight. We used to screen them as the more oversized versions could crack the stems from too much hoop stress.
But they shouldn't sound different if they have the same resistance. They could sound slightly different if they are on opposite sides of the resistance tolerance, however.
Do you have the newer or older ER4s? If it's the new metal body shells, I'd be careful as metal on metal allows for no tolerance in either direction. Either they are too loose and could fall out, or they are too tight and can't be removed.
If it's the older plastic bodies, the Knowles should work just fine as we used to ship with them. Just be careful not to force them if they are too tight. We used to screen them as the more oversized versions could crack the stems from too much hoop stress.
But they shouldn't sound different if they have the same resistance. They could sound slightly different if they are on opposite sides of the resistance tolerance, however.
Sure, I'd be happy to. All damper manufacturers buy bolts of acoustic mesh and use it to make dampers. As with any manufacturing process, there are tolerances and acoustic mesh is no different. There are variations in the weave of the acoustic mesh and there are variations in processing of the mesh. All of the dampers I've ever seen have a manufacturing tolerance of +/- 25%. So, on the ER4 damper, which is nominally 1500 ohms, it could be as low as 1,125 ohms or as high as 1,875 ohms. Like with most well-controlled manufacturing tolerances, it's unusual to see too many at the edges, but you can certainly see batches that trend lower or higher.
There's really no way around it and, unfortunately, measuring them in the field isn't easy. We have specialized equipment for measuring dampers (that we had to design it in house). IIRC correct, the founder of Etymotic actually helped design the tooling for the Knowles dampers many years ago, but it's possible that I am mistaken about that. He worked there for many years before leaving to start Etymotic.
As far as I know, none of the damper manufacturers actually make their own cloth, so it's entirely possible that the various damper manufacturers are sourcing their mesh from the same source, but that's conjecture on my part, so don't quote me on that.
So, this is a long-winded way of saying that I'd be outright shocked if the Knowles version sounded different for any reason other than the damper was of a different value. If the Knowles version sounded smoother, it's also possible that it had some level of contamination before you swapped dampers.
@EtyDave I suppose, acoustic dampers are matched in Etymotic iems as well?
It seems Knowles dampers come in different sizes. Do you know the size for ER4?
@EtyDave I suppose, acoustic dampers are matched in Etymotic iems as well?
It seems Knowles dampers come in different sizes. Do you know the size for ER4?
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