[DivineCurrent]

Owners of the ER4S/ SR/ XR, can you do me a favor and test your earphones for distortion in the midrange from about 1-2 kHz listening to sine waves? I own the Klipsch X10, and I have been hearing a strange distortion around those frequencies while doing sine wave sweeps. Although I can't really hear this distortion with normal music, it is very noticeable at normal listening levels when playing a sine wave at 1 kHz. I want to make sure this is not a problem with all BA driver IEMs, and I hope it's just my Klipsch that's the problem. 

 

[Francisk]

Here's the measurement charts for Klipsch X10, ER4SR and ER4XR linked to Innerfidelity's website for your comparison needs:
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/KlipschX10.pdf
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/EtymoticER4SR.pdf
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/EtymoticER4XR.pdf
 
Hope this helps.

 

[AnyDave]

  @EtyDave  I had been looking at the new Sony / Kimber balanced cable which has mmcx connectors, however would I be right in thinking I might have difficulty using it with the new ER4 IEMs without some sort of modification?
 
https://jaben.com.my/products/muc-m12sb1?variant=31462742086

 
Yeah, that doesn't look like it will fit.  In order to avoid some of the wobbly MMCX issues we've seen, we countersunk and keyed the connection on the ER4SR/XR.  It's possible you could modify it to make it fit, but I'm not sure if it would work.

 

[CraftyClown]

   
Yeah, that doesn't look like it will fit.  In order to avoid some of the wobbly MMCX issues we've seen, we countersunk and keyed the connection on the ER4SR/XR.  It's possible you could modify it to make it fit, but I'm not sure if it would work.

 
Yeah, didn't think so. In theory I suppose I could get a spare Ety cable, surgically remove the MMCX connectors and have them attached to the Kimber cable. I say I, but this would definitely be a case of finding someone far more skilled in DIY than myself.
 
What do you reckon Dave? Sound like a plan or more like a fools errand?  

 

[AnyDave]

   
Yeah, didn't think so. In theory I suppose I could get a spare Ety cable, surgically remove the MMCX connectors and have them attached to the Kimber cable. I say I, but this would definitely be a case of finding someone far more skilled in DIY than myself.
 
What do you reckon Dave? Sound like a plan or more like a fools errand?  

I have no experience with the Kimber/Sony cable, but I suspect it would be very difficult to work with the cable on the MMCX connector side as you'll have to destroy the overmold to get to the male MMCX connector.  I think it might almost be easier to buy a raw MMCX plug from somewhere, solder the Kimber/Sony cable to that and then come up with a way to protect the solder connection.  All in all, not the easiest DIY job.
 
It'd be easier to cut the stock cable just below the strain relief and then solder that to the Kimber/Sony cable.  It'd probably look pretty goofy, though.
 
The easiest thing would be to cut off the 3.5mm connector on the stock ER4 cable and solder on the correct plug.

 

[CraftyClown]

 
I have no experience with the Kimber/Sony cable, but I suspect it would be very difficult to work with the cable on the MMCX connector side as you'll have to destroy the overmold to get to the male MMCX connector.  I think it might almost be easier to buy a raw MMCX plug from somewhere, solder the Kimber/Sony cable to that and then come up with a way to protect the solder connection.  All in all, not the easiest DIY job.
 
It'd be easier to cut the stock cable just below the strain relief and then solder that to the Kimber/Sony cable.  It'd probably look pretty goofy, though.
 
The easiest thing would be to cut off the 3.5mm connector on the stock ER4 cable and solder on the correct plug.

 
I thought as much. I probably will just swap the plugs on the stock cable. It certainly seems like the path of least resistance 

 

[AnyDave]

   
I thought as much. I probably will just swap the plugs on the stock cable. It certainly seems like the path of least resistance 

 
Yes, if your soldering is good, there should be no resistance added by changing the plug. 

 

[CraftyClown]

   
Yes, if your soldering is good, there should be no resistance added by changing the plug. 

 
Ha ha, I like what you did there 

 

[CraftyClown]

So I'm hoping someone can help me out here. Perhaps @EtyDave ?
 
I'm trying to do the sensible thing and control the levels I am listening to music at. I have an SPL meter and I want to check the levels coming out of my ER4xr, however the readings obviously vary wildly depending on how close I hold the meter to the tip of the Ety.
 
I'm thinking that I need to emulate the distance of tip insertion into the ear canal and it's distance from the ear drum, but I have no idea how close that might be. 5mm? less? more? Would it also help to use some kind of coupler between the two when measuring?
 
I'm sure there is a sensible way to do this, if someone could give me a nod in the right direction
 
Cheers  

 

[AnyDave]

  So I'm hoping someone can help me out here. Perhaps @EtyDave ?
 
I'm trying to do the sensible thing and control the levels I am listening to music at. I have an SPL meter and I want to check the levels coming out of my ER4xr, however the readings obviously vary wildly depending on how close I hold the meter to the tip of the Ety.
 
I'm thinking that I need to emulate the distance of tip insertion into the ear canal and it's distance from the ear drum, but I have no idea how close that might be. 5mm? less? more? Would it also help to use some kind of coupler between the two when measuring?
 
I'm sure there is a sensible way to do this, if someone could give me a nod in the right direction
 
Cheers  

You definitely will need to couple the earphones to an SPL meter.  Just holding it in space close to the SPL meter won't give you any sort of reasonable measurement.
 
What SPL meter do you have?

 

[CraftyClown]

 
You definitely will need to couple the earphones to an SPL meter.  Just holding it in space close to the SPL meter won't give you any sort of reasonable measurement.
 
What SPL meter do you have?

 
It's a fairly basic one, but a dedicated meter nonetheless.
 
I also have a vibro veritas as well that I use for measuring frequency response, however I'm not quite sure what software I could use it with to measure sound pressure with.
 
Any suggestions?
 

 

[Larethio]

So i have a question from the difference in synergy between the er-4s and the er-4sr when it comes to a common consumer device such as my htc one m9. Now assuming that the sound pf tue two iems are practically the same, does the lower impedance and higher sensitivity produce any sonic difference on a similar volume level beyween the two? Im just asking since the er-4sr is easier to drive and carrying a dap and a phone are pain to me.

Care

You definitely will need to couple the earphones to an SPL meter.  Just holding it in space close to the SPL meter won't give you any sort of reasonable measurement.

What SPL meter do you have?

So i have a question about the difference in synergy between the er-4s and the er-4sr when it comes to a common consumer device such as my htc one m9. Now assuming that the sound of the two iems are practically the same, does the lower impedance and higher sensitivity produce any sonic difference on a similar volume level between the two? Im just asking since the er-4sr is easier to drive. Im asking sonic difference purely when it comes to the impedance and sensitivity variables. Not the slightly different driver tunings that you stated earlier.

Care to share your input dave?

 

[castleofargh]

 

You definitely will need to couple the earphones to an SPL meter.  Just holding it in space close to the SPL meter won't give you any sort of reasonable measurement.

What SPL meter do you have?

So i have a question about the difference in synergy between the er-4s and the er-4sr when it comes to a common consumer device such as my htc one m9. Now assuming that the sound of the two iems are practically the same, does the lower impedance and higher sensitivity produce any sonic difference on a similar volume level between the two? Im just asking since the er-4sr is easier to drive. Im asking sonic difference purely when it comes to the impedance and sensitivity variables. Not the slightly different driver tunings that you stated earlier.

Care to share your input dave?

find measurements for a given source into different loads(failed to find some for the M9 but maybe I just suck at google? ) and look if something goes real bad at some impedances. in general as long as the er4s can go loud enough for you, chances are that the source will behave slightly better. now will that negate or reenforce the variations between the qualities of the er4s vs er4sr? it will be hard to tell objectively without measuring both combos, and to tell subjectively, you can only try yourself.
 
I know it's meaningless but I prefer the cable on the SR. ^_^

 

[Larethio]

find measurements for a given source into different loads(failed to find some for the M9 but maybe I just suck at google? ) and look if something goes real bad at some impedances. in general as long as the er4s can go loud enough for you, chances are that the source will behave slightly better. now will that negate or reenforce the variations between the qualities of the er4s vs er4sr? it will be hard to tell objectively without measuring both combos, and to tell subjectively, you can only try yourself.

I know it's meaningless but I prefer the cable on the SR. ^_^

Thanks you very much castle. I should ask you this though. In your opinion, which one of the new er 4 iems has a more neutral sound signature? Etymotic states that the er-4sr is more neutral, but i saw Tyll's video on youtube and he states that the increased bass on the er4xr makes it the most neutral of the two since he considers the er4sr to be bass light. I know that this is quite subjective, but since youre an adept on sonics, i thought id ask your opinion on the matter. I will buy one of the two later and i need help finding out which of the two creates a more realistic sound signature.

Many thanks.

 

[CraftyClown]

Thanks you very much castle. I should ask you this though. In your opinion, which one of the new er 4 iems has a more neutral sound signature? Etymotic states that the er-4sr is more neutral, but i saw Tyll's video on youtube and he states that the increased bass on the er4xr makes it the most neutral of the two since he considers the er4sr to be bass light. I know that this is quite subjective, but since youre an adept on sonics, i thought id ask your opinion on the matter. I will buy one of the two later and i need help finding out which of the two creates a more realistic sound signature.

Many thanks.

 
Just to chime in on this as I have owned both, I would say you are correct in thinking it is quite subjective.
 
In a nutshell Etymotic have a curve which they consider neutral, this is what the ER4-SR is based upon, however they recognise many of their customers like a tiny bit more bass like the Harman Kardan curve suggests is neutral, therefore rather than saying 'No, we measure it differently' they released the ER4-XR which adds a tiny bit of bass to their existing curve.
 
They both sound wonderful and after a lot of tooing and froing, I settled on a little bit of extra bass with the XR
 
Honestly though, you can't really go wrong with either