[Aero Dynamik]

  Just got my upgrade from the ER4PT -> ER4XR.
 
Super happy with them. I did have one question for people, hopefully this is in the correct spot, and hopefully I am not the only one who has trouble with this:
 
I REALLY have to pay attention and struggle to read the R and L on the headphones themselves. The ER4PT had a red dot which was much better. I was trying to figure out if anyone else has had this trouble and tried to rectify the situation?
 
I was thinking about putting a red nail polish dot on the connector where the "R" is, and possibly a blue nail polish dot where the "L" is.
 
I really don't like the idea of doing this too much, but I was just throwing this out there in hopes that other people possibly have had this trouble and come across a better solution?
 
Thank you!
 
Again, this is my first post ever so I hope it is in the correct spot. I have really enjoyed reading this thread!

I agree, if we can't easily tell the difference between L and R it's a problem.
 
Comply Foam have the 100 series ear tips (recommend by CF for many ER4s) which come in various colors. That is, you could use different colors for L and R. However, a big warning here! The T-100 medium size I've tried with the ER4XR didn't work very well at all. They felt much too soft and the isolation was (to my surprise) very substandard.

 

[jeddavid]

  @jeddavid I would do it on the cable itself but i have used electrical tape and other kinds of paints for that purpose. always on the cable or something replaceable though. (just my 2 cents)

 
 

  I agree, if we can't easily tell the difference between L and R it's a problem.
 
Comply Foam have the 100 series ear tips (recommend by CF for many ER4s) which come in various colors. That is, you could use different colors for L and R. However, a big warning here! The T-100 medium size I've tried with the ER4XR didn't work very well at all. They felt much too soft and the isolation was (to my surprise) very substandard.

Thank you! These are two good ideas, naturally, I would not mark up the actual metal body of the headphones themselves, I would just mark OVER where the R/L are on the end of the cable at the connector.
 
Another thought is that since I have some of the older off-white/grey tri-flange ear tips, I could possibly just use the new clear one on one side and a grey one on the other side to differentiate R/L.
 
Hopefully when they start to have replacement cords available, they will at least make the color coded cable an option. I never had the first generation of the ER4 with the RED/BLUE connectors, but really like that idea as you don't need to fumble around or try to rub your finger/fingernail on the back of the cable to feel for the texture of the lettering.

 

[Dougr33]

  Just got my upgrade from the ER4PT -> ER4XR.
 
Super happy with them. I did have one question for people, hopefully this is in the correct spot, and hopefully I am not the only one who has trouble with this:
 
I REALLY have to pay attention and struggle to read the R and L on the headphones themselves. The ER4PT had a red dot which was much better. I was trying to figure out if anyone else has had this trouble and tried to rectify the situation?
 
I was thinking about putting a red nail polish dot on the connector where the "R" is, and possibly a blue nail polish dot where the "L" is.
 
I really don't like the idea of doing this too much, but I was just throwing this out there in hopes that other people possibly have had this trouble and come across a better solution?
 
Thank you!
 
Again, this is my first post ever so I hope it is in the correct spot. I have really enjoyed reading this thread!

I settled on using some red heat shrink on the elbow of the right one.  Visible, and also tactile in the dark. Next time i'd wrap something around the capsule before applying the lighter, as it dulled the finish very slightly.  But I'm happy with it.   A few years ago I thought I was being clever getting red and black Comply tips.  But not only are they not as red as pictured, but they quickly (over a week or so) lost their color and turned a dull orange-ish. And switched to olives anyway.  Was hoping this was an issue Ety would have address with new models! 
 
EDIT>  your mentioning of using the flanges reminded me of the first thing I did, which again, I thought clever (I was working on my self esteem!!)...  I forgot as I didn't like the feel of them.   Using the clear flanges, fold down the largest flange, and color the back of it with a red Sharpie (I did the other side blue).  Since it's on the back of the flange and doesn't get touched, can still be seen, and the color never faded.

 

[vapman]

FYI I agree it is harder to see now. I doubt this made it into my (early & excited) impressions from the expo but the Ety rep had to look close to find out which side was which and noted it wasn't quite as easy to tell as o the old ones...

 

[episiarch]

For telling L and R apart, I'm thinking of these small elastic bands I got for a different earphone-related purpose.  They stretch enough to go around an ER-4S driver (I don't have the new Etys yet).  They're mostly transparent, so they're pretty discreet, but easy to see if you're looking for them. And of course it's easy to feel which side has one, so you can put your Etys in without looking.

 

[castleofargh]

I just looked at the serial number to tell the side. but now with my fake mod for cable noise, the cable just don't bend the same way so I can tell just by touching.

 

[vechung]

The splitter have the Etymotic logo on both sides. So I used a permanent marker and darkened one of the logos. So whenever I put these on, I orient the splitter and the wires and then I should have chosen the correct L R side.

 

[luisdent]

I agree and recommended they change this. I could see the L/R on the red/blue model in extremely low light.

What i did was actually create a cord lock type piece with paper and tape around the left channel cable. It does slide up and down, but i can easily find the left with it and it doesn't damage anything.

I've considered putting a thick dab of glue on one channel on the sr. Some glues could be pulled off with enough force without leaving a mark...

Or heatshrink might work if you do it loose enough or dont care about the cable having a piece on it. There's also sugru putty stuff you could mold onto one earpiece....

 

[AnyDave]

Yeah, it sounds like we are going to have to improve the L/R marking.
 
Originally, the hope was that people could tell it by feel as it is only marked on the inside half of each channel.  Unfortunately, because that overmold material is fairly soft, it doesn't give quite enough tactile response.  Obviously, we're going to have to look into improving that.

 

[djbaneatwebde]

I would use colored heat-shrink tube on one side of the cables.

 

[luisdent]

I would use colored heat-shrink tube on one side of the cables.

That would be ideal and shouldn't be that difficult since the cable is easily removeable and has smaller connectors.

Yeah, it sounds like we are going to have to improve the L/R marking.

Originally, the hope was that people could tell it by feel as it is only marked on the inside half of each channel.  Unfortunately, because that overmold material is fairly soft, it doesn't give quite enough tactile response.  Obviously, we're going to have to look into improving that.

Even just a molded bump on one side would be ideal. You could keep the l/r as they are but add a tactile dot on only one side big enough to easily feel.

It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but as well as a bump i actually really like the original er4 colors. nothing is as quick as seeing blue/red. Or even black/red. But that might require a change to the whole connector...

 

[Matte82]

Not for my Ety's, but for another pair a shrunk a small piece of heatshrink on one body. Should be easily doable on the new Xr's. You could even get red and/or blue heatshink if you wanted.

 

[h1f1add1cted]

  Measured from an original ER4P-cable, from the plug end (Tip Ring Sleeve) to the earpiece connectors (one thin and one thicker pin) on each side:
Tip to Left side thin pin on earpiece connector: 20.7 Ohms
Ring to Right side thin pin on earpiece connector: 19.8 Ohm
Sleeve to thick pin on each earpiece connectors (Common to both sides ): measured 1.6 Ohm.
So if you get this cable, also get a 3.5mm Stereo (TRS) plug and some resistors as close as you can to 20 Ohms, cut the original TRS plug away and solder one resistor in each wire from the thin pin on each side to the Tip/Ring on the new TRS plug, and the common wire from the thick pin on both earpiece connectors are connected straight on to the Sleeve of the TRS-plug.
Do not worry of the cable quality! Wires are wires, and there will be no difference if you waste money on a much more expensive cable!
I believe the sound without any resistors would be softer/maybe more bass/less treble.
If you add 75 Ohms to the 20 here, you will have an ER4S cable, which is brighter, less bass.

 
I have here a little bit more details regarding this topic about changes of the sound with different resistors: http://www.head-fi.org/t/538615/if-you-still-love-etymotic-er4-this-is-the-thread-for-you/5835#post_11541536 and http://www.head-fi.org/t/538615/if-you-still-love-etymotic-er4-this-is-the-thread-for-you/5850#post_11543463

 

[AnyDave]

That would be ideal and shouldn't be that difficult since the cable is easily removeable and has smaller connectors.
Even just a molded bump on one side would be ideal. You could keep the l/r as they are but add a tactile dot on only one side big enough to easily feel.

It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but as well as a bump i actually really like the original er4 colors. nothing is as quick as seeing blue/red. Or even black/red. But that might require a change to the whole connector...

 
Yeah, the red/blue thing is controversial, even with Etymotic.
 
We originally changed it because people complained that the "clown colors" didn't look good.  The fact that the red and blue parts were visible while you wear them probably didn't help.
 
After changing them, some folks complained about the change as they felt the new version traded function for form (at least that is the impression I got).
 
I think putting changing the overmold to red and blue on the new design would probably not look very good with the new design.  We'll have to come up with something that looks good but makes channel identification a bit easier.

 

[alpha421]

A subtle, but small raised dot somewhere on one of the channel housing always works.  I would imagine it's a simple feature to implement just like Grado did with their GR8/10 iems. You kill two birds with one stone (form/function).