[Voyageur]

Got Aurisonics 2.5 for bass and beyerdynamic T1.2 for "normal" Sound, are SR in the same Street as T1?

 
I have both XR and SR and have used the T1 for a year (not my property). To my ears the SR is closer to the T1 than the XR. 
 
The ER4XR is bassier than the T1 by a good margin, from what I've been experiencing, at least. The SR have less bass (and subbass) than the T1, but not by much imo.
 
Also the SR has a better sense of transparency and transient, which brings it a tiny bit closer to full sized cans like the Beyer.
 
Either is a good choice and would be a good complement to your rig, but the SR wins this comparison I believe.

 

[qsk78]

Have tried 2-3 different custom cables with the ER4SR.
The best performance I got with a Silver Dragon so far – very clean and detailed! Love this combination.
Unfortunately, the Dragon is on standard straight mmcx connectors. Should think about a re-termination. 
 

 

[cyclops214]

I have had my ER4SR for about two weeks now and I think it is great I love neutral sound so they're right up there with my HD600 but those were asking about the microphonic's that is the only terrible thing about ER4SR you either have to wrap them around your ears are use the shirt clip both options annoy me sometimes wish they would come up with a better cable other than that I love them.

 

[siruspan]

I have XR’s for a week now and have been using er4pt (with p to s adapter so I will call them s for the rest of this post) for a year. They easily outperformed phonak’s audeo (which I still own and very much like but they are in completely different league), Triple fi 10, westone’s 4 and Sony’s EX1000. If anyone is interested  here are my impressions.
 
As for build they look much nicer however for some reason they feel more fragile. Probably due to mmcx connector and one of the earphones has a bit of play between metal housing and the connector. I’ve received answer from customer service that some of them do have that and none has come apart because of it. Well, seems that I will have to get used to it. Cable is much softer and because of that it tangles much easier, microphonics are still there just reduced a bit. Mini jack is way better and now fits even if you have thick case for phone or player. Didn’t have problem with shirt clip but it does feel much cheaper and more fragile. I’m also not a fan of a new eartips. They are a little smaller which is still ok but they are stiffer then the old grey ones. They are not horrible but I prefer the old ones. Maybe they will soften after more use, will see. Metal housing looks and feels nice but will be a pain in winter when inserting in to the ear canals. It’s not pleasant right now and it’s middle of summer where I live.
 
Some hits and missed with ergonomics but there are only pro’s when we get to the sound.
 
Er4 with p to s adapter had adequate bass quanity for most of the music but you could only hear and not feel it. In XR you can not only hear it but also feel it and there’s enough quantity even for metal and electronic music. Bass is very tight and punchy, never bloated or anything like that. I also never feel there’s too much of it, the amount is just perfect for my taste and you can at last say er4 are a good allrounder for all types of music.
 
Treble goes higher and it’s still crystal clear and never harsh. Love it, only electrostatics have better treble.  In comparison er4s treble feels rounded around the edges.
 
Probably due to more linear response er4s feel a little mid centric (maybe it’s just me or my source, Colorfly c10) and female vocals were more forward and in XR’s they blend in more with the rest of the music. They are still perfectly clear though and XR are far from being V shaped which I was afraid of. In contrary as I said now er4's feel mid centric and XR feel flat to me with both ends expanded.
 
Believe it or not the resolution is better and er4s already challenged my Stax 4170 and Beyerdymic T1’s in that regard so you can say resolution is as good as you can get even from TOTL stationary over the ear headphones. As for soundstage er4s had only mediocre soundstage,  maybe not tiny but not big by any means, and it went only from left to right with poor depth. XR have both larger soundstage and has also depth. They are still not a benchmark in that regard but it’s not their weak spot anymore. Overall sound is more forward and er4s feel a little bit recessed and rounded. Er4s are still great headphones but new model raises the bar in every category in my opinion. Is it worthy upgrade? In my opinion yes and I even consider buying SR’s but I’m on the fence as I do know they will be better for let’s call it audiophile music but I also know they will be way worse as a allrounder.

 

[mdiogofs]

Well, I returned XR for SR. Was thinking SR has no bass before knowing it but when I got it, it just shows the bass on the track. If track has plenty of bass, it will be there on SR.

 

[ETYHeadRick]

   
Send a PM to etyheadRick (he's a member here) with your contact info and he'll send you one when they are ready.
 
I don't have a solid time frame on implementation yet.  Once we finalize the design change, we need to modify the tool and verify the changes.  It's not going to be ready in a week or two, but we are working on it.

You can also email me at r_carlson@etymotic.com if that's easier for you. FWIW I'm more likely to see an email first. 

 

[luisdent]

I would almost say for people familiar with the hd600, the xr is sort of close to the hd600. Or at least the hd600 is between the sr and xr in terms of overall response. The hd600 has extra midbass just like the xr. In both cases i find eq helps.

The sr however, is very transparent with excellent transient "attack", because the midbass doesn't soften anything like on the xr. I've actually been considering selling my xr. I like the sr that much.

 

[siruspan]

Knowing HD600 I would say none of the etymotics even remotely resembles them. They have more bass, laid back, dark and veiled sound.

 

[luisdent]

Knowing HD600 I would say none of the etymotics even remotely resembles them. They have more bass, laid back, dark and veiled sound.

You're right, the er4sr is better! haha

I think this is where the difference in form factor is huge. Over ears have more bass air movement and a sense of power. So the hd600 sound bassier in a sense. But when you are familiar with the way in ear monitors portray sound, the differences aren't always as big in terms of revealing details.

For instance, the bass may not have the same sense of power, but the ability to hear the bass notes, and mid notes, and treble notes, and hugh treble notes, is similar in both. Not identical, but similar. If you have an over ear or in ear with a huge dip in the upper treble they would sound different, but the masking of details would be similar compared to the rest of the spectrum.

The er4 sounds more lean and smooth than the hd600 but less powerful. But in terms of over ear headphones the hd600 is closest to hhe neutrality of the er4, and therefore in that sense they are very similar. It is my opinion that the er4sr (not even the xr) is more neutral and transparent sounding than the hd600.

But i was just saying, in that regard, most people might find the xr closer to the hd600 because of the added bass/midbass.

 

[thefitz]

I'm enjoying the Shure yellow foams on the ER4-XR, however they're a real pain to remove. You have to slide the tip up a bit with your fingernail and remove it regularly from there.

 

[AnyDave]

I’m also not a fan of a new eartips. They are a little smaller which is still ok but they are stiffer then the old grey ones. They are not horrible but I prefer the old ones. Maybe they will soften after more use, will see. Metal housing looks and feels nice but will be a pain in winter when inserting in to the ear canals. It’s not pleasant right now and it’s middle of summer where I live.  

Thanks for putting together a really thorough review.  This type of feedback is very helpful to us.
 
A quick clarification on the eartips.  The new clear 3-flange tips are actually the same size as the previous grey 3-flange tips.  I have found that they do break in a bit with use, so hopefully you find them more comfortable as you use them a bit.  If, after using them a bit, you find you do still prefer the grey 3-flange, those are still available as accessories.

 

[luisdent]

I’m also not a fan of a new eartips. They are a little smaller which is still ok but they are stiffer then the old grey ones. They are not horrible but I prefer the old ones. Maybe they will soften after more use, will see. Metal housing looks and feels nice but will be a pain in winter when inserting in to the ear canals. It’s not pleasant right now and it’s middle of summer where I live.

Thanks for putting together a really thorough review.  This type of feedback is very helpful to us.

A quick clarification on the eartips.  The new clear 3-flange tips are actually the same size as the previous grey 3-flange tips.  I have found that they do break in a bit with use, so hopefully you find them more comfortable as you use them a bit.  If, after using them a bit, you find you do still prefer the grey 3-flange, those are still available as accessories.

Strange. The new ones are softer on my pairs. The greys break in of course but out of the box the clears were softer... I thought they might be a different material because I've always felt the greys were a bit stiff at first... Maybe mine were really old or something...

 

[AnyDave]

Strange. The new ones are softer on my pairs. The greys break in of course but out of the box the clears were softer... I thought they might be a different material because I've always felt the greys were a bit stiff at first... Maybe mine were really old or something...

 
I just changed the pair of greys on the set of HFs that I work out with.  They were significantly stiffer than the old set of grays I had on before.
 
All of them soften up a bit with use.  You really need to use brand new eartips to get a meaningful comparison.

 

[bioyuki]

  I have had my ER4SR for about two weeks now and I think it is great I love neutral sound so they're right up there with my HD600 but those were asking about the microphonic's that is the only terrible thing about ER4SR you either have to wrap them around your ears are use the shirt clip both options annoy me sometimes wish they would come up with a better cable other than that I love them.

 
Sigh...that was my only complaint about the ER4P, sucks that it wasn't addressed in the refresh. I guess with Ety's psuedo-MMCX implementation, this time there's at least some hope for a good aftermarket solution. My XRs are in a Fedex truck somewhere so I'll see in person soon enough I guess. 

 

[Matte82]

You're right, the er4sr is better! haha

(Snip) The er4 sounds more lean and smooth than the hd600 but less powerful. (Snip)

Don't get me wrong I love my er4's, but that last part reminds me of an old football coach I had. We would be outside in full pads waiting for practice to start. It would be just afternoon with temps over 100*F and our lovely Oklahoma humidity. And I've been over 200 lbs since I was 14. So I was already sweating profusely. He would come out and say, "it may be hot, but at least the wind ain't blowing" then blow the whistle to start practice. One of my favorite coaches. Although I never cared for that one line. Haha.