[royhendo]

I have inherited another set of ER-4Ps from my nephew (which I bought for him for recording work a few years ago). They've got distortion, presumably from the earpieces/transducers themselves - there doesn't seem to be any issue with the cable (which is enormously frustrating as I just sold a set cheap because of cable issues. 
 
If there's distortion, could it be related to the filters? Excuse my ignorance folks.  

 

[royhendo]

Well, I guess it's best to just try. I changed the filters. Hey presto they work perfectly!! WOOHOO!!!!! 

 

[_js_]

Even if you don't hear any obvious deficits, it's best to change the filters every now and then, depending on how much listening you do.  About 6 months into owning my ER-4S's, I felt that they weren't as clear and airy and dynamic as I remembered them being, so just as a first step, I changed the filters even though I didn't see any ear wax in them, etc.  And, yep, that made up the difference.  Always best to keep spare filters on hand and to change them from time to time.

 

[Jazic]

Dude, you are indeed a Lazy Ass.
http://www.etymotic.com/consumer/earphones/er4.html

You can pay more and ask AWWAN to send them Express Courier, rather than HK registered letter if you don't want to wait that long.

I'm on mobile and I don't see any difference. Are the different resistors or something?

You would have to put them in series on the signal side which is the thin post and the ground is the thicker post.  Use 25 Ohms for a ER4PT sound or a 100 Ohms for the ER4S sound.  The tip of the jack is the left channel, middle is the right channel and the outside is ground.

Look at my post on http://www.head-fi.org/t/538615/if-you-still-love-etymotic-er4-this-is-the-thread-for-you/5610#post_11411686  about where I got the resistors and what cable I used.

I really love that cable.  It is thin, soft and tangle free.  I usually wear it behind my ears.

The S and P differences with resistors are just reduced mid bass? I haven't sat down d critically listened to the differences yet.

 

[gixxerwimp]

For the sake of me being a lazy ass:
P=27ohm
S=100ohm
B=???

http://www.etymotic.com/consumer/earphones/er4.html

I'm on mobile and I don't see any difference. Are the different resistors or something?

I'm also on mobile. If you click on Technical Specs you'll see this.

Impedance (@1kHz) 4B (100 Ohms) 4S (100 Ohms) 4PT (27 Ohms)

What they don't say is that the 4B also has capacitors that act as a high pass filter. But you would know this if you had read the links I previously gave you.

What is the ohm rating of the B? Wondering what the difference is.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/506087/review-etymotic-er4p-er4s-the-living-legends

http://rinchoi.blogspot.com/2012/08/p2b-adapter-for-etymotic-research-er-4p.html?m=1

 

[uzi2]

On reflection the S and P versions must have crossfeed introduced deliberately by Etymotic as otherwise there would be no need for a B(inaural) version.

 

[leontief]

I have been away from the audiophile scene for some time now. Are the Etymotic ER•4 series still king within the purely analytical IEM category?

 

[Jazic]

I'm tempted to grab the S Shure adapter over the P adapter. I think I prefer the sound of the S. It sounds cleaner and clearer from my phone.

Altho once I have my sound set up using Viper4android it'd the best sound I have ever heard period. I'm assuming that JH13 and K10 might beat it without modification but I'm sure they'd need something because no two sources are the same and I like my sound a specific way. I like very deep, slightly recessed mid bass, smooth mids with a slight drop in the upper mids and sparkle up around 14-16khz. The LCD XC is the closest to that sound I like without modification.

I don't think other custom IEM's can even touch the ER4 with isolation. I do have a pair of UM Mage CIEM'S being remolded so we'll see how those sound soon. My other CIEM has been the UE11's. Great CIEM but too muddy. Lots of mid bass bump. I can eq it back down how I like but its still not quite there compared to the ER4.

 

[Jazic]

I have been away from the audiophile scene for some time now. Are the Etymotic ER•4 series still king within the purely analytical IEM category?

To my gear, Lyr 2, Magni 2U, FiiO E18 and my Samsung s4, the ER4P-T tend to be warm. With the S adapter they clean up quite a bit. A lot of the mid bass hump is gone and they sparkle a little more.

As for analytical, you'd need abut more clarity I'd say. If you can eq some upper table and mids you'll be rocking with detail. Once EQed they are the most detailed IEM, headphone, speaker I own by far. I hear background sounds, instruments, and details I've never heard before. Like extra guitars, clarinets, breathing, face scratching and such that I never knew was there.

For no eq monitoring I'd say these are dead in.

Even with the fee flaws above they are an absolute steal at the price they cost now.

If there are changeable filters that allow more sparkle then I'd say these are the best you can get.

Regardless of the warmth it's a very good bang for yourr buck.

 

[ph0ngt3p]

To my gear, Lyr 2, Magni 2U, FiiO E18 and my Samsung s4, the ER4P-T tend to be warm. With the S adapter they clean up quite a bit. A lot of the mid bass hump is gone and they sparkle a little more.

As for analytical, you'd need abut more clarity I'd say. If you can eq some upper table and mids you'll be rocking with detail. Once EQed they are the most detailed IEM, headphone, speaker I own by far. I hear background sounds, instruments, and details I've never heard before. Like extra guitars, clarinets, breathing, face scratching and such that I never knew was there.

For no eq monitoring I'd say these are dead in.

Even with the fee flaws above they are an absolute steal at the price they cost now.

If there are changeable filters that allow more sparkle then I'd say these are the best you can get.

Regardless of the warmth it's a very good bang for yourr buck.

Face scratching ?? LOL that's creepy, what song are you talking about ?

 

[Jazic]

Face scratching ?? LOL that's creepy, what song are you talking about ?

I was listening to some Tom Waits the other night and at the end of the song as the instruments were finishing up the song you could hear him gently breathing and then he scratched his cheek stubble.

The song was "'Take it with me' by Tom Waits on Mule Variations" at the very end you can hear him quickly scratch his stumbled cheek. I was like holy cheek batman!

 

[luisdent]

I have been away from the audiophile scene for some time now. Are the Etymotic ER•4 series still king within the purely analytical IEM category?

If you're not using eq and you install red filters I think they are probably king in most regards. Very neutral and impressive.

 

[ruihu908]

If you're not using eq and you install red filters I think they are probably king in most regards. Very neutral and impressive.

 
I know this has been asked millions of times, but where do you order the red filter these days?

 

[ER4S]

   
I know this has been asked millions of times, but where do you order the red filter these days?

 
http://www.etymotic.com/er38-50bn.html

 

[royhendo]

That's interesting - so the different coloured filters lead to different effects sound wise?