I bought blind, based on gnarlsagan liking it, and i trust his opinion on all things er4. And simply a new er4 was intriguing to me. Any improvement seemed like an incredible feat. So i had to try them. I've had them since they came out. I had to be one of the first people to order them, and they arrived two days or so later.
I currently use the ety grey foam, as i get them very deep and they seal the best. I switch to other tips sometimes and last time i was actually trying comply foam again to see if i could identify and differences again...
Thanks again -
Yes, my geographical location means I have to buy almost all of my Audio Equipment blind (or deaf).....I have to read a lot of reviews and ask a lot of questions.....so thanks for that.
Would you use the word "bright" to help describe / define the ER4SR at all??
I know others in the past have used it to describe the Ety sound on the ER4-PT
This is difficult to say. If I had to generalize the sound I would say it is neutral, but due to the bass presentation most people would say it leans towards being bright.
But there are so many factors to consider. Assuming you get a perfect depth and seal, I would say the treble is phenomenally smooth and flat compared to most earphones. So, while the overal sound might be on the bright side of things, it isn't harsh or piercing brightness.
Most headphones have a lot more bass added and also uneven treble peaks and dips. So while the er4s might have less bass weight, and thus seem "lighter" or "thinner", it doesn't sound "peaky".
Take for instance a small bookshelf speaker. You can have an excellent infinity speaker with only one mid driver and one tweeter. The sound can be incredibly impressive and revealing and relaxing, even though there is no bass below say 100hz being put out of the speaker. Take a similar sized speaker from a generic brand that has a horrible response, and it might be harsh to the ears because of peaks in the treble making things sibilant and cutting in tone.
Both of these are not producing any real bass weight, but one sounds great and the other awful. Now there are some people that would call the sound of both "thin" or say it lacks all bass and sounds terrible. They might even call it things like bright. I would personally rather have that small infinity bookshelf speaker with an excellent response than the generic speaker with a subwoofer hooked up to add bass. Not everyone would agree. And the er4s does not lack all bass, it's just that the bass below around 50-60hz isn't "as" loud as the other frequencies, so it can sound less "meaty" and more "tight" or "fast" as some people call it.
So I guess it depend on the user and their views on the overall sound. I would say they are neutral with a sense of less "weighty" bass. I would even go as far as to say the er4sr isn't as bright overall as the er4s, but that is my opinion of the "overall" tone and sound.
The er4s has more 2-3khz frequencies and perhaps a little less upper treble somewhere above say 8khz. But the entire "1khz-10khz' range on the er4s takes on a sort of silky smooth "brightness". The er4sr on the other hand has less 2-3khz which is the presence range of a lot of instruments, so it sounds more relaxed in comparison. Nothing drastic, but the sound from 1khz-10khz is almost more laid back and thus less "bright" in a way. However, the er4sr has a bit more upper treble to my ears which gives it a sort of crispness the er4s lacks. Whether this is more accurate or not is hard for me to say, but I prefer it. It is not more harsh or sibilant to my ears, just revealing and "crisp" in the airy sense. So it is a weird combination of being more dark but airy at the same time.
Anyway, if you are ultra concerned about thinking it might be too "bright", the er4xr is practically identical in sound, but has more bass "body" to it a bit, so it can make the whole entire earphone sound a touch more relaxed even still, without really sacrificing much in overall resolution of details or anything.
Not sure if that helps, but if you stuck the er4 of any form in a random person's ears after being used to most earphones I'm sure they'd all call them "bright". But it is part adjusting to a neutral earphone, part a good fit and seal, and part recognizing that the response is smoother and less offensive despite having less bass boost...
