[luisdent]

Them some might strong words! let's see the jh graphs and a tour

 

[Voyageur]

I'm still reviewing my new Angies but it's looking like the ER-4S might no longer be wearing the crown for much longer. One thing still going for the Etys though is the size. Multi-driver IEMs certainly do take up a lot of real estate... !
 

 
Imho the ER-4 despite being a 20 year old, single driver design still manages to put to shame many (and I mean many) other more recent, more sophisticated and expensive IEM, and I think it still holds the crown in its price range and even above it. I've come to try earphones that cost $1000+ (W60; SE846; J&H Roxanne), and although they all sound great in their own way, they just don't have the stellar price/sq ratio of the ER-4.
 
 

 
Quote:

  ...the ER4 is perhaps one of the most underrated, if not the most underrated IEM on the market. The main complaints are usually that it lacks bass and/or sounds too clean. Personally, I completely disagree with both of these views. I don't think ER4 lacks bass at all and I also don't think that sound can be too clean. ... I haven't heard a high end custom like JH13, but in my humble opinion, the ER4 blows away pretty much every IEM I've heard, including Westone ES3X in timbre accuracy and overall sound quality. I am starting to doubt the need for multi driver IEMs.

 
Definitely agree! To me, the driver count thing, to the point where it is today, is more of a marketing case than a concept used to actually improve sound quality. Furthermore I doubt there is a point in using 12 drivers to fill up our tiny eardrums with music. 
 
Ps. not implying that multi-drivers sound bad. I do like the sound of my UM Pro 30. Just being very skeptical about the actual advantages of such designs over well tuned single driver ones (other than the possibility it gives the manufacturer to charge an additional $100 "but hey, we've added another driver!").

 

[seanwee]

More drivers to compensate for their lack of skill in tuning ?

 

[luisdent]

In the case of the shure 846, shure utilized multiple drivers to achieve a fairly smooth response that is fairly linear and low distortion. But most multi driver units I've heard have been inferior to the er4s.

I'm not being a fanboy, just purely honest. In an effort to get the best studio quality, neutral sound in an in-ear monitor I've tried a lot of earphones (and headphones). So far the er4s is it. The uerm was pretty good and very smooth but not as linear from top to bottom as the er4s. The hd600 is very good but not as smooth and linear in the bass and lacks any isolation. The shure sr940 are great (my current over ears) but a bit more v shaped or at least slightly uneven in the mid-treble region. I could go on...

These are the closest I've heard personally (as well as the not perfect but very good pfe112). They range from $150 to $1000+ and none of them are er4s level of reference.

If something comes out that sounds more like a studio monitor in my ears, with a more linear, more refence sound... I'm all for it, no matter who makes it. But for now the er4 takes the reign. And at a few hundred dollars it's a relative steal. Add to that amazing isolation and durability, and there's not too much to complain about.

 

[Traveller]

Them some might strong words! let's see the jh graphs and a tour

You are quite right. I should have limited that to mean for my personal taste / needs. But again, I haven't committed either way - still testing
 

   
..., and I think it still holds the crown in its price range and even above it. ..

I agree 110%. Amazing IEM, even more amazing when price is factored in! 

 

[audio123]

Ety delivers it with a single BA

 

[gnarlsagan]

...the ER4 is perhaps one of the most underrated, if not the most underrated IEM on the market. The main complaints are usually that it lacks bass and/or sounds too clean. Personally, I completely disagree with both of these views. I don't think ER4 lacks bass at all and I also don't think that sound can be too clean. ... I haven't heard a high end custom like JH13, but in my humble opinion, the ER4 blows away pretty much every IEM I've heard, including Westone ES3X in timbre accuracy and overall sound quality. I am starting to doubt the need for multi driver IEMs.

I've been enjoying my ER-4S over many years, for the same reasons you mentioned in your OP.  But at 100ohms, I needed to use an additional portable amp. Somewhere down the line I tired of schlepping it all and long-story-short, stowed them. Despite not using them on a daily basis, I still consider my Etys as reference IEMs - uncolored and neutral character. Now I'm no longer sure.
 
A friend of mine recently brought me back into the fray and I decided to go "all in" with A&K / JHAudio's Angie (Angie II).  I'm still reviewing my new Angies but it's looking like the ER-4S might no longer be wearing the crown for much longer. One thing still going for the Etys though is the size. Multi-driver IEMs certainly do take up a lot of real estate... !
 

 
p.s. Yeah, I still prefer to go with an external DAC / Amp, but this time around it really is portable... !

Heard both of the most recent versions of the Roxanne and Layla recently, and both sounded a bit smeared imo. Like the notes seemed to have "extra" sound. For example like on an old piano with odd (but perhaps pleasing to some) reverberations.

I've heard many multi driver iems, and JH always seems to strike me with this quality, although I haven't heard the Angie. I'm not sure whether my experience was an anomaly or this quality is more widely recognized. Do you find the Angie to sound different from the ER4 in a similar way?

Suffice to say, I haven't heard any high priced iems that I feel have fewer sonic drawbacks than the ER4. Along with the aforementioned phenomenon, it seems the task of tweaking the FR into the neutral goldilocks zone is still beyond most iem brands at any price, although there are exceptions, and the list has definitely grown over the last few years.

 

[luisdent]

That was exactly my impression of the uerm. No matter what eq i used it had a sort of smoothed over reverberated quality... Made it sound smooth but never as tight and crisp as a neutral treble should provide

 

[seanwee]

That was exactly my impression of the uerm. No matter what eq i used it had a sort of smoothed over reverberated quality... Made it sound smooth but never as tight and crisp as a neutral treble should provide

Exactly what i heard when i demoed them , they sound muddy and veiled IMO. I was very surprised that IEMs of that price sound so unclean and incoherent. Since then ive been skeptical about the SQ of multi driver IEMs.

 

[Hutnicks]

  Exactly what i heard when i demoed them , they sound muddy and veiled IMO. I was very surprised that IEMs of that price sound so unclean and incoherent. Since then ive been skeptical about the SQ of multi driver IEMs.

You have to look at it from the perspective of people who have never heard an ER4S. Without that comparison baseline they sound very good to most folk.
 
In short Etymotic has ruined us for the megabuck IEM manu's

   After some 20 odd years they are still my goto's, no other piece of audio gear has been with me anywhere near as long.

 

[seanwee]

 
You have to look at it from the perspective of people who have never heard an ER4S. Without that comparison baseline they sound very good to most folk.
 
In short Etymotic has ruined us for the megabuck IEM manu's

   After some 20 odd years they are still my goto's, no other piece of audio gear has been with me anywhere near as long.

So planar / electrostatics are the only way to go if you want an upgrade?

 

[Hutnicks]

  So planar / electrostatics are the only way to go if you want an upgrade?

From what I heard in the IEM world the electrostats are somewhat lacking.
 
In the over ear world. Simply stated the electrostat is King and has been for some decades now. When Slammhammer decided to go all out they created the Orpheus and its new successor. Stax has always been the legend and for good reason. When you want blistering fast response and diabolically accurate sound the 'stat is the only way to achieve it, thus far. I mean the HD800 has the most technically advanced dynamic driver and they still went to a 'stat to better it.
 
 Planars can get you really close and some of the older ones with some slight modding are magnificent.
 
Curious is it not that with all the FOTM phones dropping from the sky at alarming rates, the old standbys (I put the ER4 in this category as well) are still the standards by which others are judged.
 
The only thing I am seeing happening here is that as prices skyrocket, the older phones, HD800, Stax SR009, ER4S, all of a sudden look like bargain basement items pricewise.

 

[seanwee]

 
From what I heard in the IEM world the electrostats are somewhat lacking.
 
In the over ear world. Simply stated the electrostat is King and has been for some decades now. When Slammhammer decided to go all out they created the Orpheus and its new successor. Stax has always been the legend and for good reason. When you want blistering fast response and diabolically accurate sound the 'stat is the only way to achieve it, thus far. I mean the HD800 has the most technically advanced dynamic driver and they still went to a 'stat to better it.
 
 Planars can get you really close and some of the older ones with some slight modding are magnificent.
 
Curious is it not that with all the FOTM phones dropping from the sky at alarming rates, the old standbys (I put the ER4 in this category as well) are still the standards by which others are judged.
 
The only thing I am seeing happening here is that as prices skyrocket, the older phones, HD800, Stax SR009, ER4S, all of a sudden look like bargain basement items pricewise.

But the prices dont go down do they?

 

[robm321]

Inflation.

 

[Hutnicks]

  But the prices dont go down do they?

I paid well over 600 dollars for my ER4's back in the 90's. That was including a pretty nasty exchange rate though but still they have come down in prices. As for the others they do not need to lower prices as the rest of the market has taken it upon themselves to eclipse them in pricing rather than other areas.