[Joe Bloggs]

I bought the ER4SR back in february, I like it, but I have issues with the fit. They sound ok right after I put them in, but a few seconds later, the sound decrease and sounds a bit muffled. I actually remember having this issue with the Brainwavz B2, so I bought Sure Foam Olives, and those were much better on the B2, and on the Etys they work better than the stock tips, but still I found that the sound is not that full. I don't know if this is an issue with the sealed IEMs and my ear canal. I don't recall having this issue with dynamic IEMs and even some BA like the Sony XBA-4/3/1 or Nuforce HEM-6 doesn't present this issue.

Has anyone here had similar issues with the Etys?

Hmmm, for me it's usually the other way round--sound muffled / distorted on insertion and clearing up in a few moments. Try inserting them less deeply?

 

[sinquito]

Hmmm, for me it's usually the other way round--sound muffled / distorted on insertion and clearing up in a few moments. Try inserting them less deeply?

Thanks for the advice, I tried with the small triple flange tip (the blueish) and the sound is kinda better than with the Shure Olive foam, but I think that the highs are somewhat piercing and splashy, maybe it is my dac/amp (LG G5 HiFi friend) I have not used that amp/dac with IEMs, but my VSonic GR07BE do not sound that splashy even if those have the fame for being silbant and harsh on the highs.

Actually, hearing today the Etys remember me about the DT880 that I had for a few weeks last year, good sounding but very splashy and harsh.

 

[chinmie]

I bought the ER4SR back in february, I like it, but I have issues with the fit. They sound ok right after I put them in, but a few seconds later, the sound decrease and sounds a bit muffled. I actually remember having this issue with the Brainwavz B2, so I bought Sure Foam Olives, and those were much better on the B2, and on the Etys they work better than the stock tips, but still I found that the sound is not that full. I don't know if this is an issue with the sealed IEMs and my ear canal. I don't recall having this issue with dynamic IEMs and even some BA like the Sony XBA-4/3/1 or Nuforce HEM-6 doesn't present this issue.

Has anyone here had similar issues with the Etys?

maybe try releasing air pressure inside the ear canals (can be done by tugging the ears slightly).

 

[Raketen]

I bought the ER4SR back in february, I like it, but I have issues with the fit. They sound ok right after I put them in, but a few seconds later, the sound decrease and sounds a bit muffled. I actually remember having this issue with the Brainwavz B2, so I bought Sure Foam Olives, and those were much better on the B2, and on the Etys they work better than the stock tips, but still I found that the sound is not that full. I don't know if this is an issue with the sealed IEMs and my ear canal. I don't recall having this issue with dynamic IEMs and even some BA like the Sony XBA-4/3/1 or Nuforce HEM-6 doesn't present this issue.
im
Has anyone here had similar issues with the Etys?

You seem like a pretty experienced IEM user so apologies if this is stuff you already know, but just in case not:

Spoiler

I haven't had this problem with Etys but I get this effect sometimes with a few IEMs, I think it has to do with either the tip being pinched/blocked off inside the canal, inserted too deeply and/or some kind of effect of the seal being too strong and the canal getting pressurized during insertion like @chinmie mentioned (opening mouth and pulling on top of ear helps for me too). IIRC the XBAs and the HEM series are all shallow insertion IEMs while the B2 are quite small land can be inserted too deeply but a foam tip like the shure might be preventing that from happening.

If you haven't seen the (highly meme-able) official Etymotic insertion video it's worth a look, Notable is that even though these IEMs are recommended to have a deep seal (insertion depth often has an effect on treble 'splash', and on Ety in particular can cause a thinning of the sound as illustrated here http://rinchoi.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-deep-do-you-insert-you-er4.html ), the people in the video aren't necessarily jamming them as deep as possible either, indiividual anatomy might mean certain types of tips collapse after insertion. You might try using the larger tip and inserting less deeply?. Personally I prefer the old grey style tips over the new tips, after a few itchy days they conform to the canal really nicely almost like custom tips.

I haven't used the Olive foams with my ETys but my q-jays which are similar to the B2 I slightly modify them by trimming out the plastic wax guard which allows me to get the nozzle of the earphone closer to the end of the tip to compensate for the shallower fit. Might be worthwhile to experiment with other tips too... for instance the Etymotic foams or differnt Comply variations. idk if anyone uses Spin-Fits w/ ER4 but they come in a lot of shapes/sizes and re supposedly designed to bend in the canal without collapsing which might help.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Thanks for the advice, I tried with the small triple flange tip (the blueish) and the sound is kinda better than with the Shure Olive foam, but I think that the highs are somewhat piercing and splashy, maybe it is my dac/amp (LG G5 HiFi friend) I have not used that amp/dac with IEMs, but my VSonic GR07BE do not sound that splashy even if those have the fame for being silbant and harsh on the highs.

Actually, hearing today the Etys remember me about the DT880 that I had for a few weeks last year, good sounding but very splashy and harsh.

is it piercing or just harsh. If it's piercing, that must be something wrong. There are two possibilities. First is you are not used to boosted 2-3k. Which is where etmyotic is good. It's reproducing according to our ear response in natural sound sources. Second is etymotic has great high frequency extension that you are not used to.

There is another chance tho, you are just not inserting deep enough. Or resonance is not matching with your ear canal. Try use sine sweep to test out 7khz - 13khz. Do you find peaks. https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/

 

[Joe Bloggs]

is it piercing or just harsh. If it's piercing, that must be something wrong. There are two possibilities. First is you are not used to boosted 2-3k. Which is where etmyotic is good. It's reproducing according to our ear response in natural sound sources. Second is etymotic has great high frequency extension that you are not used to.

There is another chance tho, you are just not inserting deep enough. Or resonance is not matching with your ear canal. Try use sine sweep to test out 7khz - 13khz. Do you find peaks. https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/

By gosh do I find a peak and only barely at 7000kHz. But I'd be damned if I'm supposed to shove the Etys another halfway towards the eardrum to shift / eliminate the peak to 14kHz. Parametric EQ of the peak would do for me, thank you :eek:

 

[sikki-six]

Here's my initial views on ER2XR from an other forum, enjoy!

_______________________________________________________________________


Etymotic ER2XR early views


My journey to find a fulfilling, isolating and easy to use IEM has led to ER2XR - basically a dynamic Ety with some real bass and a competitive price (150€ new from Ebay). I've avoided many years delving into the sea of chi-fi, custom, BA, DD etc. IEM models around and concentrated on headbanded models for at-home and on-the-go. For reference, here's some of my previous IEM experiences:

• CA Andromeda - good fit, awesome SS, detail, mids etc. Pretty as hell. Way too thin and lacking body in noisy environments though. Cable was pretty noisy for the price. The OI causes real problems, does it really have to be that low? These were pretty good for home-use, but still lacked heft. And I don't use IEMs indoors. Might have worked ok'ish with Ety levels of isolation.
• UE TripleFi 10 - kind of thin too with terrible fit caused by very thick nozzle, ok detail-wise
• Sennheiser IE8 - easy fit and great cable. Agreeable tuning therefore these have gotten lots of use. SQ though is very grainy, midbassy with some annoying peaks up top. Sound-wise competes with some under 50€ models, maybe.
• Shozy Zero - cheapo chi-fi with a basically agreeable warm tuning, good bass extension. Loads of grain/distortion masking details. Terribly noisy non-removable cable though is the reason these get "Zero" use.

My initial thoughts of this DD Etymotic:

Insertion
Knowing these need to sit DEEP in the ear, insertion with stock (smaller) silicones was a breeze, nice! Well, that didn't last long - using these on a walk the seal broke repeatedly on my left ear. I needed to man up and start shoving them huge & long foams deep into my head, sigh. Once that was done with some force & trickery they were stuck in and going nowhere, nice! Would have been cool to get there with the "easier" tips though. (Only tried to insert the large silicones once, a painful experience 'twas.)

Isolation
Crazy good isolation, not even my earplugs kill the speakers playing in the same room like this. Biggest surprise is how much they cut lows, very much like my QC35 ANCs. (I guess you need that third flange / that much deeper insertion to get here. Tyll described this well in his ER4XR review.) This is what makes inserting these worth it. I bet this goes for all Etys. I thought previously that low rumbles could really only be killed with ANC, you live & learn I guess.

Amping etc.
these do sound better out of ADI-2 DAC's IEM out than iPhone 6s+, with which the volume needs to be pushed to about 3/4 to get nice & loud, but I have no problem getting along with this downgrade when out-and-about. Cable is very pliable and of good quality, but it does make some noise when walking. The provided clip comes handy.

First SQ impressions

Highs
It has no readily audible peaks and are kind of mellow esp at first. Detail is pretty good but not TOTL great like the Andros. Very pleasing in amount and colour. Having no annoying characteristics here is a big plus in my book.

Mids
...Are just lovely, vocals sound nicely upfront and very life-like. In my experience with IEMs these and Andros are the only ones that get the timbre really right - a believable vocal tone just hooks me. I'm pretty easy to please, but there's lot to love here. This kind of pleasant and correct vocal timbre reminds me of the HD600-series. Yeah, for vocals this thing shines. There's some nice emphasis on the vocal range for sure, but nothing honky etc. happening here.

Bass
This was my biggest fear, but phew these do quite respectably here - with proper insertion there's plenty of lows and "meat on the bone" overall. There's some mid-bass emphasis for sure adding to the overall warm signature, kind of reminds me of HD650 a bit. This kind of warmth isn't my exact favourite coloring, but it's very easy to live with. There's some subs presence too, but it's not really upfront and gets a bit pushed back because of the prominent +100hz. There might be some bloom affecting the mids, but I haven't had enough time to notice or get bothered with it.

Soundstage
This isn't a deal-breaker for me, but these do not sound very wide or spacious. Andromeda did much, much better here. I'm not an expert in describing SS factors anyhow, so I'll leave it at that.


Last thoughts
I'm sure my ears need more hours to truly get to terms with these, but I'm feeling content for the first time with an IEM. CA Andromeda were a real revelation to me of what IEMs can do, even if they didn't get there for me balance-wise. ER2XR is a step in a very good direction, to say the least.

Have you guys tried these, or even better compared to ER3XR or ER4XR?

I'll report back when / if things start to get on my nerves, cheers folks!

 

[Colors]

I haven't listened to the 2XR yet, but I did own the ER4XR for some time and I found the mid-bass too much which overpowered the midrange and rest of the spectrum for me.

I got a ER4SR instead and find the frequency balance to be perfect, where the bass sits behind the vocals as it should be and it's been my reference for a good IEM ever since. It's also my IEM for testing DAPs.

 

[Fuzzy789]

I haven't listened to the 2XR yet, but I did own the ER4XR for some time and I found the mid-bass too much which overpowered the midrange and rest of the spectrum for me.

I got a ER4SR instead and find the frequency balance to be perfect, where the bass sits behind the vocals as it should be and it's been my reference for a good IEM ever since. It's also my IEM for testing DAPs.

That pretty much why i love my ER4SR over the XR/PT version, the bass takes a seat but show's up when needed. The mids clarity and treble extension are the star of the show.

 

[SilverEars]

I haven't listened to the 2XR yet, but I did own the ER4XR for some time and I found the mid-bass too much which overpowered the midrange and rest of the spectrum for me.

I got a ER4SR instead and find the frequency balance to be perfect, where the bass sits behind the vocals as it should be and it's been my reference for a good IEM ever since. It's also my IEM for testing DAPs.

I thought XR was an improvement, but still had the ER4 thin-ness in tonality. I find ER4 family generally thin sounding, and not so engaging for music listening.

 

[sikki-six]

From the get-go 2XR is different from 3 and 4 because it's one dynamic driver. I'm surprised how little this model gets coverage vs. the BA models.

I don't want the mids and highs to be the only things upfront and worth mentioning. I need to have some lows too, maybe even a bit of a boost when on-the-go.

 

[redrol]

Im slowly falling in love with the 2XR. DAMN fine iem.

[edit] what is more it's somehow breaking my ears. My other IEMs sound less good now. I can't decide if this is a disaster or an epiphany.

My instinct is to buy the ER4XR now since that is ety's flagship.

Help! Where do I go from here for an upgrade?

 

[chinmie]

Im slowly falling in love with the 2XR. DAMN fine iem.

[edit] what is more it's somehow breaking my ears. My other IEMs sound less good now. I can't decide if this is a disaster or an epiphany.

My instinct is to buy the ER4XR now since that is ety's flagship.

Help! Where do I go from here for an upgrade?

from ER4XR the only upgrade that i consider is the inear PP8. how's the ER2XR compares to your A8?

 

[Colors]

Honestly, once you try the ER series, you’ll never be the same again.

I really should try the 2XR. They nailed the single BA, I’m curious about single dynamic.

 

[SilverEars]

Honestly, once you try the ER series, you’ll never be the same again.

I really should try the 2XR. They nailed the single BA, I’m curious about single dynamic.

The number makes it seem like a lower grade Ety, but is it really? ER2 are the dynamic driver based iems, but the way they priced it makes it seems like it's lower valued or inferior. I will be getting ER2SE to demo, but I know I prefer the bass of the XR versions. Too bad I don't have a BA Ety to compare with.

I notice that ER3XR is half the price of ER4XR. Is it true the ER4XR is essentially ER3XR with a simple resister added? If this is true, I'm shocked they charged double for something they added only a resistor. Is their pricing merely an illusion to make ER4XR seem the best?