[brunk]

Long live ER-4S! 

 

[JoeDoe]

Long live ER-4S! 

+1

 

[castleofargh]

ety sent me green filters when I asked for red. small and easy blunder for such a small stuff. as usual with the "almost ^_^" perfect customer service, they're sending the red and I get to keep the green. \o/
I'm old fashion and usually mister no-happy, but those are little things that matter to me. so here I am posting some love.

 

[scope1992]

I've just ordered one of the ER4 series, but there are like 3-4 variants (there used to be an ER4-P variant). My question is the difference between these variants? I know on Etymotic's site describes each one, but I don't necessarily know they mean. Can anyone put it in layman's terms? I do know the ER4-PT is an newer version of the older P variant, and it comes with an adapter to convert it to an S variant. But does the adapter work with the B variant as well?
 
I opted for the ER4-PT as I can always convert if I want. And I'm not too fond of the red/blue color scheme on the earphones of the S variant.

 

[Solude]

Differences lie in the treble response.  In order of darkest to brightest...  PT < S < B
 
S and B are also harder to drive and pretty much need a desktop amp.

 

[scope1992]

Thanks for the quick reply. Is it recommended to use an amp, even if it's a portable one for the PT variant?

 

[luisdent]

Thanks for the quick reply. Is it recommended to use an amp, even if it's a portable one for the PT variant?

I don't find an amp is necessary with a decent player like an ipod or sansa, but an amp helps with quieter music if you use eq. Try it first. If it doesn't sound good or loud enough try an amp.

 

[scope1992]

I already have the hf5 for severals years now and sounds amazing even without the amp. Just heard the ER4 is more accurate. Thanks.

 

[robm321]

The HF5 doesn't require an amp. The ER4 does IMO

 

[scope1992]

It seems you have the S variant and someone already stated that an amp is recommended. I however opted for the PT variant.

 

[Solude]

PT is usable without an amp but is more full sized headphone than iem for efficiency.  Putting numbers to it...
 
On the GS-X mk2 the PT sits at 10 o'clock, the LCD-3 at 12 and the S at 2 o'clock on the dial in unity gain.
 
On the Zune the UM3X is 8/20 and the PT 12/20.  The PT also sounds awful out of the Zune on the commute but that's another story.  UM3X isn't much better but for entirely different reasons.

 

[robm321]

  It seems you have the S variant and someone already stated that an amp is recommended. I however opted for the PT variant.

 
My mistake, PT = no amp necessary 

 

[astro]

Do any of you get crosstalk with your ER4?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTvJoYnpeRQ
 
I replaced the minijack on my ER4P to a neutrik plug and I'm getting loads of crosstalk now(about 20% of the opposite channel feeding through).
I want to know if this is normal or I botched my job up somehow.

 

[brunk]

  Do any of you get crosstalk with your ER4?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTvJoYnpeRQ
 
I replaced the minijack on my ER4P to a neutrik plug and I'm getting loads of crosstalk now(about 20% of the opposite channel feeding through).
I want to know if this is normal or I botched my job up somehow.

Did you run a continuity test on your DMM? You didn't do it to the stock cable did you? The resistor section have the grounds tied...

 

[astro]

I used the stock cable. I'm not entirely sure how everything is wired up with the stock cable.
 
There are 4 wires
Red - right
Black - left
white - It doesn't seem like this is connected to anything, testing the resistance between this and the left, right, and shielding shows it's open.
Shielding - common ground
 
The L/R/Ground wires seem properly isolated. I used very little solder to ensure there isn't extra that might create a short. I placed heatshrink over the left and right wire.
 
 
Tip to ring - 58ohms
Sleeve to ring - 34.3ohms
Tip to sleeve - 34.9ohms
 
 
It seems odd that tip to ring isn't the sum of the two channels. I tried desoldering everything and testing the resistances and indeed it was 0 ohms between all the contact points, so no internal shorts on the minijack itself.
I tried soldering everything back together again, and I got the same 3 numbers.
 
I have a very cheap DMM, so perhaps it's not giving me the most accurate readings? When I short the two probe leads of the DMM, I get a reading of 9 ohms, so it doesn't seem very accurate for low readings.