[luisdent]

I 'll say I am falling in love again with ER4S, especially with the new cable I made myself (just for much better ergonomics) and driven by either FiiO X7 or Mojo. I listen to ER4S a lot more than any IEM I have these days.

Me too. I always come back to the er4s after using other iems. I've now been using the er4s for months exclusively. I am incredibly pleased with them since i actually got used to the small pink ety foam tips. Yes the pink ones. I get a perfect depth and sral every time.

I complement the er4s with my newish shure srh 940 when i want more comfort and spaciousness to he sound. Soooo good. A touch less upper mid presence (2-3khz) than the er4s, but otherwise they are one of the most neutral over ears I've ever heard. They're like listening to a slightly more relaxed er4s with perfect bass and more spacial imaging.

But even still, i sometimes listen to them and can't believe how the er4s is so smooth and isolated. Mmmmm

 

[luisdent]

 

Yeah, I know there are only so many BA drivers used out there, but Westone seemed to have really tuned the treble driver down in the UM2 -- I had to EQ the treble up a good bit to hear some details.

Coincidentally, I owned the original RE0 several years ago, and remember being stunned by the details, but they wore out and broke after only about 1 year.

I'll look into the Zero Audio.  ClieOS, if you were forced into only having either the MK5 or Carbo Tenore, which would you chose? 

While Carbo Tenore is the more exciting of the two to listen, I think I'll settle with MK5 in the long run.

I have amazing tenore, but i would add that the bass quantity absolutely varies based on the pair you get, sonetimes by a noticeable amount. They are still very smooth and neutral, but one might sound very tilted to be more warm and bassy and one might ut just shy of bass neutrality. My best set has the general sound of a red filtered er4s with a bit more full bodied bass.

My worst set had about 5db more bass from 20hz to about 500hz tapering back to normal as it gets higher in frequency. And i did extensive testing with tips and a convenient a/b switch i made. So swapping was very quick.

Just a fair warning. You may think "these are nothing like what i expected" but you might have more or less bass than the next guy. But when the bass is level they are perhaps at least as neutral as the ety with a bit more of a flat response, but still sounding slightly less smooth somehow than the er4s. Just slightly.

But then they don't need to be (and shouldn't be) inserted as deeply. Which is a nice bonus.

 

[Happytalk]

My question is, given so many good earphones available now, WHAT earphone (preferably in the $100-150 USD range), has BOTH the accuracy and treble of the ER4 and the organic bass response of a dynamic driver that the ER4 natively does not have??  I need something that might tempt me to sell my ER4!

You and many others. I have yet to hear of one, but the mk5 is now on my radar. Thanks guys.

 

[Barndoor]

Here is how it looks with a ER4



Red is ER4P, Blue is ER4P with 75ohm adapter (= ER4S), and grey is ER4S + 75ohm (or in this case, ER4P with two 75ohm adapter).



Here is how they look when re-centered on 1kHz - you can see that the curve on ER4S and ER4S + 75ohm are almost identical. In fact, I have also measured ER4S + 175ohm and the result is more or less similar to to ER4S as well. That means there is little reason why you want to use more than one 75ohm adapter as the change in FR curve is minimum at best.

Sorry for revisiting a discussion from a month or two ago about the 75 ohm adapter. Was revisiting my thought that i'd concluded that two adapters sounded better than one.

The science proved that the change by the addition of the second adapter was probably not audible.

Was wondering if the headphone 1/4 inch output of my C4 was designed for higher ohm headphones and therefore the synergy between the devices improves with a second adapter and hence the overall sound.

Is this possible or am I in dreamland again!

 

[robm321]

Seems like there might be something to your theory.

 

[Berkovajazz]

Funny stuff, that 25 years old model still killing to much newer ones, who even have 5-6 and more drivers inside, 3-5 times more expensive...
Just applause
 

 

[Smugsie]

Today was a good day, I got the right fit and this is the first time I could truly say I finally own something in my possession that is euphonic.
 
Now to find the headphones that sound like the ER4S... oh boy.

 

[nk126]

Now to find the headphones that sound like the ER4S... oh boy.

Amen. Would love to hear what others think. I've been using and really liking B&O H6 (closed) and Hifiman HE-400i (open), but I don't know if either really sounds like the Etys.

 

[HiFiChris]

 

Now to find the headphones that sound like the ER4S... oh boy.

Amen. Would love to hear what others think. I've been using and really liking B&O H6 (closed) and Hifiman HE-400i (open), but I don't know if either really sounds like the Etys.

Yeah, that really is a challenge to find another IEM that sound neutral according to the diffuse-field compensation target as the ER-4S does. UERM? Technically superior, that's unquestionable, but the UE is simply not as neutral/"flat" as the Ety, which is a bit sad (I really really like my UERM, but it is somewhat more off the diffuse-field target).

 

[james444]

  OK, ER4 fans, I have a question that I hope some of you can answer.  Background:
 
I have had the ER4P for about 10 years now, which I prize for its detail and accuracy. 
 
I recently have been listening to a Westone UM2 (dual BA drivers), and was surprised at how completely different they are from the ER4 -- low treble energy, dullish sounding, IMO.
 
My question is, given so many good earphones available now, WHAT earphone (preferably in the $100-150 USD range), has BOTH the accuracy and treble of the ER4 and the organic bass response of a dynamic driver that the ER4 natively does not have??  I need something that might tempt me to sell my ER4!
 
BTW, I've seen the reviews of the Ety MK5 dynamic driver, and would be willing to try them if they don't sacrifice too much the detail level of the ER4.  I have small ear canals and am used to the Ety tri-tip deeper insertion.

You and many others. I have yet to hear of one, but the mk5 is now on my radar. Thanks guys.

Yeah, that really is a challenge to find another IEM that sound neutral according to the diffuse-field compensation target as the ER-4S does. UERM? Technically superior, that's unquestionable, but the UE is simply not as neutral/"flat" as the Ety, which is a bit sad (I really really like my UERM, but it is somewhat more off the diffuse-field target).

 
Going by my subjective idea of "neutral / flat", I perceive the UERMs as very slightly mid-bass enhanced and a tad too bright / uneven in treble. The ER4S, on the other hand, lack a bit of bass rumble and are slightly too shouty @3kHz in my book.
 
Thanks to @HiFiChris' excellent review of the Fostex TE-02WP, I came across the TE-02n successors, which (after a slight modification fall in between the UERM and ER4S and fit my idea of neutrality extremely well. I don't really do full reviews any more, but if I would, these would definitely be my top contenders.

 

[HiFiChris]

 
Going by my subjective idea of "neutral / flat", I perceive the UERMs as very slightly mid-bass enhanced and a tad too bright / uneven in treble.

Yep, I second that - very slightly more bass and fundamental warmth than neutral, somewhat "relaxed" (though not by too much) middle treble, peak in the upper highs. Still pretty neutral-ish though.
 
I have to say that ER-4S' frequency response matches very well with my HRTF (at least it seams so, as I have never measured it) and especially my definition of what neutral sound is. Except for the moderate presence area boost which is responsible for the sometimes occurring modest shoutiness/forwardness in the mids, the ER-4S is extremely flat in my ears when doing a sine sweep, with about perfectly flat lows and especially highs. Ety's treble is really commendably flat and realistically sounding and something whereby many of the much more expensive models somewhat fail with unevenness and peaks in the upper range that make instruments appear less natural than the they do with the Ety.
 
If there was just one IEM with ER-4S' cohesion, soundstage, flatness and naturalness but an overall higher resolution and bass speed, I would be satisfied forever. Even though I have technically superior balanced/neutral-ish IEMs for listening at home, I find myself grabbing the Etymotic much more often because of its naturalness, soundstage and extremely flat FR. I'm quite sure that if I had discovered the Etymotic a few years earlier, I would have probably saved a couple of 1000 bucks, because for me, it makes many balanced/neutral-ish headphones obsolete. But who knows, at least this headphone hobby is entertaining.
Oh well, sometimes (or should I better say most of the time?) an "ideal" frequency response that matches one's personal preferences is much more important than technical superiority. 

 
 
Yes, that Fostex is a true gem for little money (I rather hate to say that something "punches clearly above its price" and there are extremely few 'phones (maybe 4, 5 in total of the ones I've got) on which this could be applied, and not many of them are priced sub $50, but imho that could be very well applied to the Fostex which is about the only sub $50 IEM that I consider as easily playing two to three times above its price). If there was a version with three-button remote control for iOS devices, it would be the perfect low budget IEM for me for running and other sports.

That Fostex actually deserves an own thread if it doesn't have one already.
 
By the way, another very interesting and technically strong IEM with a neutral-ish signature and relaxed middle treble is the FLC Technology FLC8S with grey [ULF], clear [LF], gunmetal [MF/HF] filters. There are many things I like about it. A review with some FR plots is about to follow in the next few months.

 

[james444]

  Yes, that Fostex is a true gem for little money (I rather hate to say that something "punches clearly above its price" and there are extremely few 'phones (maybe 4, 5 in total of the ones I've got) on which this could be applied, and not many of them are priced sub $50, but imho that could be very well applied to the Fostex which is about the only sub $50 IEM that I consider as easily playing two to three times above its price). If there was a version with three-button remote control for iOS devices, it would be the perfect low budget IEM for me for running and other sports.

That Fostex actually deserves an own thread if it doesn't have one already.

 
Just to avoid potential confusion, the Fostex TE-02WP and TE-02n are two technically different IEMs (16 ohm / 93 dB vs. 40 ohm / 111.5 dB) and have slightly different sound signatures.
 

  By the way, another very interesting and technically strong IEM with a neutral-ish signature and relaxed middle treble is the FLC Technology FLC8S with grey [ULF], clear [LF], gunmetal [MF/HF] filters. There are many things I like about it. A review with some FR plots is about to follow in the next few months.

 
That one gets mentioned quite often. Can't say I'm a big fan of the TWFK (best I've heard is still the proprietary one in the K3003). But still, looking forward to your review!

 

[Smugsie]

Yeah, that really is a challenge to find another IEM that sound neutral according to the diffuse-field compensation target as the ER-4S does. UERM? Technically superior, that's unquestionable, but the UE is simply not as neutral/"flat" as the Ety, which is a bit sad (I really really like my UERM, but it is somewhat more off the diffuse-field target).

 
Although we're trying to find headphones that sound like the ER4S. Many people are, and unfortunately it seems not many headphones have a graph as smooth as this

Edit: Nevermind, found it: Shure 1840's

 

[Barndoor]

The AKG K702 has a similar curve, but to me doesn't sound natural like the ER4.

 

[Smugsie]

The AKG K702 has a similar curve, but to me doesn't sound natural like the ER4.

I'm fairly proud of my search, people are saying it's neutral. People like me are buying the Shure SRH-1840 when I get the funds and when a reasonable sale goes on head-fi. This guy is selling it. Though I'm sure someone will sell theirs used for <$400 sometime in the near future.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/798037/shure-srh-1840

Edit: Nevermind, apparently there's a bass distortion issue with the 1840... so close.