[mark88888]

   
 
That you don't have them attached or inserted correctly, because of course this is not accurate.

 "Then".

 

[episiarch]

  Need some advice about a pair of ER4PTs I just got.
 
The channel matching diagram shows nearly matched response, but one of the phones is about 5db louder at 16KHz. Should I replace or is that normal?
 
BTW they sound pretty good. Quite an airy and accurate sound, really wasn't expecting the sounstage to be this large either. But whatever you do, do not use the foam tips. In my ears they kill the sound completely, like the SQ goes from amazing to $10 tier.

This difference could be due to a clogged filter.  Have you changed the filter on the softer-sounding side? 

 

[TrantaLocked]

   
 
That you don't have them attached or inserted correctly, because of course this is not accurate.

 
Yeah, seems like insertion was off at first. 
 
I doubt the filters would have much problem since the set is brand new. Also, I misread the graph. The difference at 16 KHz is more like 3db. Still testing to hear for a difference but if there is one it shouldn't be large.
 
These sound amazing though. They're pretty close to what I expected, but fuller and wider in soundstage. Separation is way better than the two Heaven pairs I've tried (II and IV). They really do sound like loudspeakers in terms of clarity. The main advantages I'm hearing over the Heaven II is it's clearer/airy, more detailed, less congested, and less sibilant.
 
They don't oversparkle like V shaped phones..it's more like a darker but still sparkly and detailed treble, hard to explain. They could use a bit more rumble but honestly they don't need it. They remind me of why I like my HD 201s, which focus on mid range and treble textures rather than bass rumble. Though these are more balanced than the HD 201, which nevertheless actually share a similar upper-mid/treble signature as the Etymotics according to frequency graphs and my ears. 
 
The more I listen to the ER4PT, the more I fall in love with the sound and the more congested and unbalanced other IEMs sound. They sound nearly perfect besides a slight lack of bass impact. There's no veil and balance is very good. Treble is not fatiguing for extended sessions. I've always believed good detail came with the disadvantage of sibilance and brightness, but these sound lush in detail yet aren't sibilant.
 
I'm sure some of you have experienced the feeling, where your breathing trembles due to your excitement. It's a feeling I got with the HD 280s (I actually cried listening to CatchThirtyThree with the HD 280s). I'm getting it here now too. The Ety ER4PT is just so alive and detailed, and it's quite moving to hear, especially with well mixed, high bit rate music. Guitars are present and exciting, not too crunchy and not too smooth. Again, it's like loudspeakers in IEM form, playing music the way studio mixers intended. 
 
Right now I'm thinking about future IEMs. These come very close to "that" exact sound I want, but now I see the ER4XR with a slightly bumped sub bass, thinking that might be something I'll eventually want to upgrade to. Unfortunately it's outside of my budget at the moment, and I already pushed it with the ER4PTs. 
 
edit: the more I A/B these with the Heaven II the difference just gets more apparent. They destroy the Heavens. The mids and treble are sooo perfect with a small small touch of darkness, just enough to promote comfort and prevent any chance of fatigue. I was considering going with the Heaven's since they're cheaper but holy shyte the Etymotics are god like. I legit feel like people who are looking for balanced/detailed IEMs need to at least try these. If there's a list of required considerations for neutral IEMs, these have to be in the top five. I'm getting giddier and giddier listening to these WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. I think my mind is adjusting and realizing these are literally perfect IEMs. my heart is stopping, metal sounds so perfect, dynamics are just perfect. AAAHHHHHHHHH!

 

[Figuto]

I'm thinking about future IEM's too. I like SR, but I had Campfire Audio Jupiter for a couple of days and theirs detail is phenomenal, I can't get it out of my head, but highs are exaggerated and there's a bad fit too. Any ideas? Customs maybe?

 

[bms44974]

  Need some advice about a pair of ER4PTs I just got.
 
The channel matching diagram shows nearly matched response, but one of the phones is about 3 - 5 db louder at 16KHz. Should I replace or is that normal?

Have you replace the filters lately?...

 

[AnyDave]

  Need some advice about a pair of ER4PTs I just got.
 
The channel matching diagram shows nearly matched response, but one of the phones is about 3 - 5 db louder at 16KHz. Should I replace or is that normal?
 
BTW they sound pretty good. Quite an airy and accurate sound, really wasn't expecting the sounstage to be this large either. But whatever you do, do not use the foam tips. In my ears they kill the sound completely, like the SQ goes from amazing to $10 tier.

 
The ER4PT earphones are actually matched from 100 Hz to 10 kHz within 1dB.  It's definitely possible that you can have a few dB difference between L-R in the upper frequencies.  That's usually not something that's very easy for people to detect.  16kHz is quite high in frequency.
 
Just for fun, I would recommend picking a piece of music (mono recording if possible) and then have a friend hand you the earphones while randomly switching the left and right channels.  Listen carefully and write down which channel sounds like it has more output.  Have your friend keep track of the channel orientation for each trial.
 
I'm not dismissing your impressions at all; I've just found that the only downside of the channel compliance graph is that is causes people to listen with their eyes.  Sometimes, once people see a slight difference, they are biased towards hearing it.  FWIW, I even have to be careful not to do this when designing an earphone; it's human nature.

 

[CraftyClown]

   
The ER4PT earphones are actually matched from 100 Hz to 10 kHz within 1dB.  It's definitely possible that you can have a few dB difference between L-R in the upper frequencies.  That's usually not something that's very easy for people to detect.  16kHz is quite high in frequency.
 
Just for fun, I would recommend picking a piece of music (mono recording if possible) and then have a friend hand you the earphones while randomly switching the left and right channels.  Listen carefully and write down which channel sounds like it has more output.  Have your friend keep track of the channel orientation for each trial.
 
I'm not dismissing your impressions at all; I've just found that the only downside of the channel compliance graph is that is causes people to listen with their eyes.  Sometimes, once people see a slight difference, they are biased towards hearing it.  FWIW, I even have to be careful not to do this when designing an earphone; it's human nature.

 
Or better still, do a hearing test and see if you can even hear frequencies that high, as the difference may be a moot point 

 
I for one have hearing that stops out at around 13k

 

[needmoretoys]

   
Or better still, do a hearing test and see if you can even hear frequencies that high, as the difference may be a moot point 

 
I for one have hearing that stops out at around 13k

A high frequency difference might also be caused by different amounts of high frequency hearing loss between the left and right ear. I know that I have more loss in my right ear. It doesn't matter what earphones or headphones I use when testing with sine tones, the balance shifts left above 10 kHz. Back before air conditioning, it was common for people who had to drive a lot to have much more hearing loss in the left ear because of window down wind noise.

 

[castleofargh]

even if the measurements were precise enough (repeated several times, switch tips, and get results close enough to conclude that the variations really come from the IEMs), I for one don't have the same hearing at 16khz in both sides. I called my mother to complain but she has a no return policy on babies(I hate it when manufacturers do that). still she assured me that if I get 10 more years of burn in, the 16khz problem will solve itself.

 

[Happytalk]

A voice of reason. The oft forgotten variable.
Can even be different from day to day due to sinus congestion, humidity, flying, etc.

 

[TrantaLocked]

Using a FLAC frequency sweep file it was hard to hear a difference but there might be the tiniest shift towards the left channel when approaching 15 KHz. I'm replacing just because I might as well try to get a more perfectly matched set at this expensive price point, but if the replacement is no better it's fine. I can hear frequencies up to 15-16 KHz by the way.
 
Small side note: the HiFi Man RE-400s just came in. Probably the best sounding dynamic I've heard (out of mainly Sennheisers), and I really want to keep them along with the ER4 but I'm trying to minimize expenses. I'm just surprised after hearing the ER4 how good the RE-400s sound.

 

[AnyDave]

  even if the measurements were precise enough (repeated several times, switch tips, and get results close enough to conclude that the variations really come from the IEMs), I for one don't have the same hearing at 16khz in both sides. I called my mother to complain but she has a no return policy on babies(I hate it when manufacturers do that). still she assured me that if I get 10 more years of burn in, the 16khz problem will solve itself.

 
Indeed, making repeatable measurements with eartips does present its share of challenges.  I've got a lot of practice, so I'm fairly decent at it, but for production testing, it's not an ideal way to do it.

 

[castleofargh]

  Using a FLAC frequency sweep file it was hard to hear a difference but there might be the tiniest shift towards the left channel when approaching 15 KHz. I'm replacing just because I might as well try to get a more perfectly matched set at this expensive price point, but if the replacement is no better it's fine. I can hear frequencies up to 15-16 KHz by the way.
 
Small side note: the HiFi Man RE-400s just came in. Probably the best sounding dynamic I've heard (out of mainly Sennheisers), and I really want to keep them along with the ER4 but I'm trying to minimize expenses. I'm just surprised after hearing the ER4 how good the RE-400s sound.

 my personal problem with the RE400 is the lack of isolation and the rubbish cable. I used them for a time to go for a walk in the mountain where isolation isn't needed, but anytime there is a little wind, using the re400 is horrible(IMO). so it's one of those IEMs where I enjoy the sound but don't have a practical use for them.
also if you're obsessing over a 16khz imbalance, my pair of re400 has between 1 and 2db imbalance in the entire upper mids area(which in my experience of IEMs is pretty good in fact, but nothing like er4 good).

 

[TrantaLocked]

Have y

   my personal problem with the RE400 is the lack of isolation and the rubbish cable. I used them for a time to go for a walk in the mountain where isolation isn't needed, but anytime there is a little wind, using the re400 is horrible(IMO). so it's one of those IEMs where I enjoy the sound but don't have a practical use for them.
also if you're obsessing over a 16khz imbalance, my pair of re400 has between 1 and 2db imbalance in the entire upper mids area(which in my experience of IEMs is pretty good in fact, but nothing like er4 good).

Have you tried the larger rubber ear tips? The small/medium clear tips give me a nice seal, and bigger ear canals would benefit from the included large clear tips. As for microphonics; I've always had such problems with in-ear headphone. If the RE-400s have microphonic problems outdoors, it won't be much different than it always has been for me. I do have some signs of OCD which explains my annoyance with the 16KHz imbalance, but yeah you're probably right that the difference is minor and doesn't compare to potential imbalance in other in-ears.
 
I'm still trying to decide if I want to keep the Hifiman RE-400s or if I might even like them equally or more than the Etymotic ER4PTs. The Etys sound like loudspeakers, transparent and detailed, while the hifimans are quite interesting in that along with a punchier bass and great mids, treble detail finds a way to stay forward and sparkly enough for realism. It's great for a dynamic driver at this price. It goes against what I'd expect from the inner fidelity graph, which would point to a recessed treble. I can also say the Hifimans make the Heaven II, which I also auditioned, pretty much obsolete. Same price point, but the Hifiman is better balanced with less sibilance, grander in soundstage, less congested and more detailed. 

 

[castleofargh]

ok I wasn't super clear. my comment was in comparison to the er4. faced with another IEM I wouldn't have been so hard on the practical aspects of the RE400. well the cable is simply beyond fragile. but on the bright side it's not prone to what we wrongly call microphonics. in that respect it's a win against the er4 but I'd rather have something that doesn't break

. I've broken more sony xba-1 and xba-C10 IEM cables than I broke RE400 cables, but the sonys were sold for 30bucks so breaking one is really no big deal. 
and the wind poses problem because the IEM kind of whistles/resonates, IDK how that phenomenon is called, when air blows near the vent. it's worst when you wear the cable over the ear.
isolation isn't nonexistent, and it's not so much about tips or seal(I take it that people can solve this on their own), but again because it's a vented IEM. admittedly I do have high standards for isolation, we're in the er4 topic after all ^_^. I mostly go with shure, ety, and a pair of custom IEM because they all isolate like crazy. if my only need was sound I like, I would never look at BA drivers TBH.