[SoundTown]

@castleofargh I appreciate your feedback. I’ve heard plenty of BA IEMs that do bass to my satisfaction however, the CK10 being the best. Steelseries Flux Pro is also really nice in that regard and it too is a single BA. Perhaps I should look elsewhere, but that leaves me with the midrange/treble unevenness of so many IEMs. Ah, decisions..

Hmm, I have more 2 cents to throw in...
Have you tried the Audio-Technica E70? Great bass extension, speed, and thickness, though it seemingly (to my ears) has a tiny bit of sibilance in the 's' and 'ch' notes, and treble presence is severely rolled off. Not as detailed or clean-sounding in the upper-range as the ER4SR / ER4XR, but the bass on the E70 is simply amazing.
I've heard the CK10, and I think it's an interesting earphone but not my preference, with a bit too much unevenness in the vocals based on memory. Have not tried the Flux Pro, but a single-BA that is good sounds interesting.
I think if you're looking for something to present a more overall package, sit on the idea of the Etymotics, but also think about hybrids like the Sony N3 or iBasso IT03 / IT04. Also coming up are some Sony BA IEMs, so hold on to your horses if you have the patience.
All the best in finding the IEM for you!

 

[Snowball0906]

Hmm, I have more 2 cents to throw in...
Have you tried the Audio-Technica E70? Great bass extension, speed, and thickness, though it seemingly (to my ears) has a tiny bit of sibilance in the 's' and 'ch' notes, and treble presence is severely rolled off. Not as detailed or clean-sounding in the upper-range as the ER4SR / ER4XR, but the bass on the E70 is simply amazing.
I've heard the CK10, and I think it's an interesting earphone but not my preference, with a bit too much unevenness in the vocals based on memory. Have not tried the Flux Pro, but a single-BA that is good sounds interesting.
I think if you're looking for something to present a more overall package, sit on the idea of the Etymotics, but also think about hybrids like the Sony N3 or iBasso IT03 / IT04. Also coming up are some Sony BA IEMs, so hold on to your horses if you have the patience.
All the best in finding the IEM for you!

By any chance, have u been to Zeppelin to try the Advanced GT3?

 

[Jmop]

@SoundTown I’ve considered the E70/E50 but was turned off by the size of the housing. The Flux Pro is incredibly smooth, just check out the measurements on InnerFidelity. My only issues (aside from the cable) are that the sound has a fast attack but slow decay and that it has similar lower treble energy as the upper mids, leading it to be a bit “hot” before the descent of the upper frequencies. Still, it shows great texture and detail especially for the price. CK10 is kind of sharp up top but seemingly less with it’s laser fast decay. I’ll keep my eyes open for any new IEMs for sure!

 

[SoundTown]

By any chance, have u been to Zeppelin to try the Advanced GT3?

Nope, unfortunately I haven't tried any products from Advanced, though I'm pretty eager to give any one of their products a spin.

 

[SoundTown]

@Jmop Alrightie, it's good that you know what you're looking for. Patience is a virtue, especially when you're spending big money on IEMs.
One more piece of advice, if you're looking for a leaner sound, also consider Final Audio. Their products aren't always the best value, but they have some interesting dynamic driver options that are heavier on bass for once, while their BA models tend to sound more similar to the Etymotic ER4 series. You can find the Final Audio hype train thread here (but do be careful not to get too swept up haha):
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/final-audio-design-impressions-and-discussion-thread.613641/

Good luck! And thanks for the recommendation on the Flux Pro, I'll look out for opportunities to demo it if I get the chance.

 

[Jmop]

@SoundTown I’ve tried the E5000 briefly (had to return it due to channel intermittence). I ultimately decided against it as the bass bloomed over the lower mids and presence region. Its bass also has too “round” of a character for me due to a boost then roll off and still had a touch of lower treble interfering with vocals. I may get crap for my complaints of this new highly regarded earphone especially since I didn’t burn it in for much more than an hour but it still can’t complete with an Ety in terms of midrange balance, at least from impressions based on measurements/feedback about the Etys.

 

[Colors]

I’ve heard the E5000 and if I had to choose between the two, I’d pick the ER4SR any day. The sound is much cleaner, leaner, faster and more precise.

The E5000 is still very good though. I like it more than the ER4XR. Then again, the E5000 is warm and sweet whereas the ER4SR is neutral and analytical. Very different sound signatures.

 

[Jmop]

@Colors The E5000 indeed has the spaciousness for the warm sound to work. Since Etys aren’t known for being very spacious, I can see how the XR might come off a bit congested as mentioned by @SoundTown.

 

[brofeelgood]

Just took delivery of my fourth pair for Etys (yeah, I know). It's a brand new set of ER4S from Amazon, and it came with everything EXCEPT the channel matching graph. Does anyone know if they've stopped issuing it, or am I missing an item here? Not that I needed it to know the goods are authentic, but I just don't like things to be... incomplete. Has anyone tried requesting a copy from the company using the serial numbers on the IEMs? I'm sure they keep records, right?

Anyway, swapped out the green filters for the red ones, replaced the small buds with triple flanged ones, took a deep breath, hit the play button and it was pure magic like it's always been. In the last few months, I've been struggling to come fully to terms with the ER4XR. And that was after my ER4PT, which I absolutely adored, decided the right channel would sound better by going markedly softer. Even though I like the sound of the XR, something just felt 'off', and that's what's led me to come full circle. It's not often I (re)assert my love for something inanimate, but I'm making an exception for the ER4S. 100Ω is great and I'm loving it. Life is whole again, thank you.

 

[castleofargh]

Just took delivery of my fourth pair for Etys (yeah, I know). It's a brand new set of ER4S from Amazon, and it came with everything EXCEPT the channel matching graph. Does anyone know if they've stopped issuing it, or am I missing an item here? Not that I needed it to know the goods are authentic, but I just don't like things to be... incomplete. Has anyone tried requesting a copy from the company using the serial numbers on the IEMs? I'm sure they keep records, right?

Anyway, swapped out the green filters for the red ones, replaced the small buds with triple flanged ones, took a deep breath, hit the play button and it was pure magic like it's always been. In the last few months, I've been struggling to come fully to terms with the ER4XR. And that was after my ER4PT, which I absolutely adored, decided the right channel would sound better by going markedly softer. Even though I like the sound of the XR, something just felt 'off', and that's what's led me to come full circle. It's not often I (re)assert my love for something inanimate, but I'm making an exception for the ER4S. 100Ω is great and I'm loving it. Life is whole again, thank you.

if I remember correctly having a FR graph came late with the "PT" denomination for the old series, and now with the SR/XR ones. but the careful matching is in effect on all the er4, graph or not.

 

[Colors]

Just took delivery of my fourth pair for Etys (yeah, I know). It's a brand new set of ER4S from Amazon, and it came with everything EXCEPT the channel matching graph. Does anyone know if they've stopped issuing it, or am I missing an item here? Not that I needed it to know the goods are authentic, but I just don't like things to be... incomplete. Has anyone tried requesting a copy from the company using the serial numbers on the IEMs? I'm sure they keep records, right?

Anyway, swapped out the green filters for the red ones, replaced the small buds with triple flanged ones, took a deep breath, hit the play button and it was pure magic like it's always been. In the last few months, I've been struggling to come fully to terms with the ER4XR. And that was after my ER4PT, which I absolutely adored, decided the right channel would sound better by going markedly softer. Even though I like the sound of the XR, something just felt 'off', and that's what's led me to come full circle. It's not often I (re)assert my love for something inanimate, but I'm making an exception for the ER4S. 100Ω is great and I'm loving it. Life is whole again, thank you.

The mid-bass boost on the XR was just too much. Overpowered the vocals sometimes. SR is perfect.

 

[FastAndClean]

With sony xba c10 medium silicon tips, those are the best tips ever produced, they are extremely soft and they take the shape of your ear canal like nothing else, the sound is very similar to the triple flange tips but with better bass and unbelievable comfort.

 

[carmatic]

I am wondering how many other people can perceive the difference in the sound response below 100hz, where the matching between drivers does not apply

I can try to compensate for it by shifting the eartips in my ears to reduce the bass I hear from the side which is too strong, but in the end it's just unsatisfactory...

 

[toranku]

By any chance, have u been to Zeppelin to try the Advanced GT3?

Not the person you're replying to, but GT3 suffers from the typical 1DD iem "metallic timbre". It sounds hollow and overproduced. The bass filter reduces it but it's still very much prominent. The treble filter was a joke.

 

[artnoi]

Just got ER4SR and accidentally pushed it through MacBook Air’s full volume (1Vrms). I have been told that this wouldn’t damage the BA drivers, but will the response matching be compromised?