[hkpm]

I never listen to Etymotic products before, so I have a question: does the foam tips boost the bass and thicken the overall note (and decay too)?

Both of large 3 flange and foam tips seal well, but the foamies make the sound quite musical compared to the 3 flange tips.

 
I tried ER4P long time ago and the triple flange was the deal breaker, it just hurt my ears.
And normally foam tip, kind of, "absorb" the high, boost the bass, making the sound less transparent. 
Can the ety foam really keep the trait of silicon tip plus the trait of ER4 while providing comfort and seal?

 

[Xacxac]

I tried ER4P long time ago and the triple flange was the deal breaker, it just hurt my ears.
And normally foam tip, kind of, "absorb" the high, boost the bass, making the sound less transparent. 
Can the ety foam really keep the trait of silicon tip plus the trait of ER4 while providing comfort and seal?

Ety's foamies are comfortable enough, but they tame the highs (and transparency) compared to Ety's flanges.

 

[thecrow]

Ety's foamies are comfortable enough, but they tame the highs (and transparency) compared to Ety's flanges.

The foamies are the only reason i still have and love my er4s

No problem with sound here

 

[qsk78]

Ety's foamies are comfortable enough, but they tame the highs (and transparency) compared to Ety's flanges.

It should be individualy I guess, I don't experience any issue with them either.

 

[siruspan]

My er4xr's came in yesterday and I have a question. Left earphone housing has a bit of play. Not much but it's noticible. It's not between cable and earphone but between metal housing and the round connector at the back of it. The right one one the other hand is rock solid. Should it be this way or should I ask for a replacement?

 

[uzi2]

  Thank you, gents - learning quite a lot on this & the Mojo thread

 
Regarding crossfeed...  my old Headroom DACs had the ability to add some amount of crossfeed at a flip of a switch which while not always evident, was a really nice feature. I understand Chord also built in a cross-feed option into their Hugo but opted not to include it in any other of their DACs... .
 
Is there a consensus of the benefit (or lack thereof) of cross-feed with modern-recorded media and typical IEMs? Is it only useful for the sub-bass range? I honestly cannot think of one song (that I listen to on a roughly regular basis) that features (hard) bass on only one channel... :-/

It is only the Mojo that does not have it - Hugo, Hugo TT and Dave have crossfeed. It only affects the bass as it is only the bass that sounds unnatural when given direction (see my previous post).
Any piece of music that is mastered for speakers may exhibit the problem as it will not be an issue when heard through speakers.

 

[castleofargh]

I never listen to Etymotic products before, so I have a question: does the foam tips boost the bass and thicken the overall note (and decay too)?

Both of large 3 flange and foam tips seal well, but the foamies make the sound quite musical compared to the 3 flange tips.

can't really say, because I can't go as deep with different tips, so the impact for me goes past the tip itself.
in my case most foams actually make me lose a little of the subs. variations in the trebles depend on the kind of foam tip.
 

Thank you, gents - learning quite a lot on this & the Mojo thread

 
Regarding crossfeed...  my old Headroom DACs had the ability to add some amount of crossfeed at a flip of a switch which while not always evident, was a really nice feature. I understand Chord also built in a cross-feed option into their Hugo but opted not to include it in any other of their DACs... .
 
Is there a consensus of the benefit (or lack thereof) of cross-feed with modern-recorded media and typical IEMs? Is it only useful for the sub-bass range? I honestly cannot think of one song (that I listen to on a roughly regular basis) that features (hard) bass on only one channel... :-/

crossfeed is an attempt at giving our brain a music that makes more sense compared to hard left/right panning. it's sending some of the left into the right with a given delay and a given attenuation in certain frequencies, like a real sound would do. if the sound comes from your left, your right ear will get something too. a little later and with your head blocking mostly high frequencies. a very natural thing.
so yeah in principle crossfeed is an improvement for albums that were mixed on speakers(for binaural albums you shouldn't use crossfeed). now the joke comes with the fact that we don't all have the same skull, so the actual delay between left and right ear set in the crossfeed may not be the real delay sounds take to go reach your ears(ITD), and same thing for the attenuation(ILD at given frequencies).  that's why some crossfeeds may feel real nice to you and not to the next guys. because they don't use the same settings.
 
I "need" crossfeed for some albums more than others, modern musics tend to be softer on panning(probably because they know headphones might be used?). but I tend to use stuff where I can use my head measurements, or at least fool around with the settings, so that I can try and find something that's best for me, not for the average ear(which isn't me with my big head)

 

[siruspan]

Will the new clear tips soften a bit after some use? At this point I think they are worse than the original grey ones. New one's are a little smaller and stiffer. I loose proper seal quite easily,

 

[thecrow]

For those who use comply tips would the medium size comply tips equate tontge regular size of the etymotic compression/foam ear plugs?

I was looking at the comply tips purely to try them to compare - i dont particularly have an issue with the etymotic ones

I was looking at the "isolation 100" comply tips

I dont feel any issues when using the standard etymotic size so i'm guessing that size works for me

 

[qsk78]

I was looking at the "isolation 100" comply tips

I did not like the sound so far. I was thinking of cutting off the "head" of the comply tip to make it cylinder type like the original grey foam tips to see if there is any difference. And the internal diameter of the comply foam is bigger than the original one which may change the sound as well. 

 

[Traveller]

It is only the Mojo that does not have it - Hugo, Hugo TT and Dave have crossfeed. It only affects the bass as it is only the bass that sounds unnatural when given direction (see my previous post).
Any piece of music that is mastered for speakers may exhibit the problem as it will not be an issue when heard through speakers.

crossfeed is an attempt at giving our brain a music that makes more sense compared to hard left/right panning. it's sending some of the left into the right with a given delay and a given attenuation in certain frequencies, like a real sound would do. if the sound comes from your left, your right ear will get something too. a little later and with your head blocking mostly high frequencies. a very natural thing. so yeah in principle crossfeed is an improvement for albums that were mixed on speakers(for binaural albums you shouldn't use crossfeed). now the joke comes with the fact that we don't all have the same skull, so the actual delay between left and right ear set in the crossfeed may not be the real delay sounds take to go reach your ears(ITD), and same thing for the attenuation(ILD at given frequencies).  that's why some crossfeeds may feel real nice to you and not to the next guys. because they don't use the same settings.
I "need" crossfeed for some albums more than others, modern musics tend to be softer on panning(probably because they know headphones might be used?). but I tend to use stuff where I can use my head measurements, or at least fool around with the settings, so that I can try and find something that's best for me, not for the average ear(which isn't me with my big head)

 
Thank you, Gents - always quite informative responses

 
Wow... are there really DACs that allow you to enter your head measurements...

Amazing. Talk about perfection. As for (portable*) DACs which allow for crossfeed-adjustment, could I kindly ask for a few examples?
*Although one could argue that the Chord Hugo is "portable", I was thinking of DACs / DAPs along the lines of the Mojo or say an A&K DAP, etc.

 

[castleofargh]

no I meant software plugins for foobar or even more advanced stuff(not always free :'( )  sorry for not being clear. I have 2 crossfeed setting on my UHA760 (portable amp), and I do prefer one of them to nothing at all even though it's not exactly my settings, it's still closer than hard panning and I find it overall less fatiguing than normal headphone listening(but that's very subjective and it affects the signature a little). but I also prefer xnor's crossfeed plugin on the computer when set to my preferences(took me a great deal of trial and error though to get what I consider now good for me). preferring one doesn't mean the other is plain bad, and as I've said, what works for one might not for for the other guy. it's one of those, "only you can decide what is best for you" situation.
 
some DAPs have some kind of effect that is close to crossfeed, like the "studio" surround effect on sony(IMO sometimes ruin voices). or some of the BBE effects on cowon(that do more than just crossfeed but who know, you might like that). you could also simply get some android device and use... I believe neutron had something about crossfeed? I'm not a huge android user for audio so someone might need to confirm that. or add viper4android to some rooted device and it has also something(not tweakable sadly). edit: I forgot rockbox!!!!

on most rockboxable devices you can hope for some version of what I believe to be Meier's original crossfeed. many people love it.
personally, I'm one of those mad men who makes µSD card with songs that have everything I want already included in the file(EQ for a given IEM like a little sub boost and 10khz recess on the er4sr, replaygain when the DAP doesn't have it, crossfeed...). it's way too annoying to do, I don't even do it for all the IEMs I use, but I do at least one card for the 2 or 3 IEMs I use the most. and a living hell for those who want to often change their library or IEMs, but it's the only way I've found to get the actual sound I prefer on the go. new albums tend to stay on the computer because of that .  nothing is perfect.

 

[thefitz]

I never listen to Etymotic products before, so I have a question: does the foam tips boost the bass and thicken the overall note (and decay too)?

Both of large 3 flange and foam tips seal well, but the foamies make the sound quite musical compared to the 3 flange tips.

I do not find the foams to significantly change the sound the same way other foam tips tend to. They have a rubber channel that extends the entire length of the tip, and about 1 cm past the tip of the IEM.

 

[Matte82]

For those who use comply tips would the medium size comply tips equate tontge regular size of the etymotic compression/foam ear plugs?

I was looking at the comply tips purely to try them to compare - i dont particularly have an issue with the etymotic ones

I was looking at the "isolation 100" comply tips

I dont feel any issues when using the standard etymotic size so i'm guessing that size works for me

I much prefer the p-series tips. They're a little longer but have a tube that runs the length of them. Don't seem to attenuate the highs like other tips. I also feel they increase the bass slightly. I like them better than any of the ety tips. I just can't get their 3-flange to agree with my ears. I do like the gliders. But overall still prefer the p-100's.

As far as size I think I have slightly smaller ears than average. I can use the mediums but after an hour or so they start to feel a little "tight" in the ears. The small isolate just as well and are more comfortable. But I would think the mediums would work with most people.

 

[thefitz]

Keep in mind that Comply tips have different diameters per type per size - a Comfort M is a different size than a Sport M, and both are a different size than an Isolation M.