[Pro-Jules]

Well I better get good at that ambient sound button press on the ES100. I do have it set up.

Nerd details:

The default is so loud ("spy mode"?) that I dialed it down. You can hear the processing latency. A finger snap has a 50 milisecond or so delay. I got a pop up message on the iPhone app that seemed to be telling me that ambient listening mode disables LDAC. I hope using it temporarily doesn't switch it off after use!

 

[episiarch]

ER4SR + iPhone X is not bad. Isolation king too for subway commutes.

FWIW I find the Fiio i1 lightning->audio cable a very substantial sonic upgrade over the Apple lightning->audio adaptor. And not only does it drive ER4SR really well, it drives an ER-4S beautifully too if you happen to have one of those. It is however a 1M or so cable, so even with the extra length all coiled up it's somewhat more awkward than the Apple audio dongle.

 

[haoyuan]

FWIW I find the Fiio i1 lightning->audio cable a very substantial sonic upgrade over the Apple lightning->audio adaptor. And not only does it drive ER4SR really well, it drives an ER-4S beautifully too if you happen to have one of those. It is however a 1M or so cable, so even with the extra length all coiled up it's somewhat more awkward than the Apple audio dongle.

They made a short version of the i1 cable (7cm) specifically for full length headphone cables. The original i1 was released with their half length upgrade cables so when used as a combo the remote sits somewhere in front of the chest.

 

[episiarch]

They made a short version of the i1 cable (7cm) specifically for full length headphone cables. The original i1 was released with their half length upgrade cables so when used as a combo the remote sits somewhere in front of the chest.

I had no idea that short one existed. Where have you found it? I don't see it on the website.

 

[Pro-Jules]

OK so I sent back the SR'S and bought XR's

They arrived today and need far less bass boost.

see the comparison.

My eq curve for the SR's (That's a LOT of eq to make music sound as I know it to sound)

Eq curve for XR's (that's more like it!)

To be honest the XR'S sound good flat but I have been spoiled by years in-house & freelancing inrecording studios (including one I owned and ran for 6 years. There I had a pair of $10k ADAM Audio S4C monitors) so I feel I know what I am looking for in bass and sub bass.

I am sure people that can fit these in their ears directly may not need the bass boost but with the customer molds this is what I find works for me.

V happy.

But my feet sure do make a lot of sound in my head when walking! I might look out for some spongier shoes to reduce the sound!

 

[Colors]

OK so I sent back the SR'S and bought XR's

They arrived today and need far less bass boost.

see the comparison.

My eq curve for the SR's (That's a LOT of eq to make music sound as I know it to sound)


Eq curve for XR's (that's more like it!)



To be honest the XR'S sound good flat but I have been spoiled by years in-house & freelancing inrecording studios (including one I owned and ran for 6 years. There I had a pair of $10k ADAM Audio S4C monitors) so I feel I know what I am looking for in bass and sub bass.

I am sure people that can fit these in their ears directly may not need the bass boost but with the customer molds this is what I find works for me.

V happy.

But my feet sure do make a lot of sound in my head when walking! I might look out for some spongier shoes to reduce the sound!

Wrap the cable once around the ear and then insert it. It’ll reduce any microphonics.

As for the XR, I actually found the mid-bass too boosted which lead me to get the SR. It’s great to have two models to choose from anyhow.

 

[Pro-Jules]

Yeah I am doing OK for cable microphonics. It's the pounding vibration via my heavy footsteps to my totally blocked ear canals that is loud. It's kind of spoiling my "switch off from the city" vibe as I walk around.

I cant escape the "boom boom boom" sound. It's louder than the music.

 

[Antihawk]

It's been years since I visited this thread. Apologies if this question has already been asked.

I'm sure people have tried it, so what are peoples' experiences with using the ER4P to ER4S resistor/adapter on other IEMs? I tried this on my InEar SD-2 today and I couldn't believe the difference. It seemed to do to the SD-2 what the ER4S does to the ER4P. The SD-2 with the added impedance seemed to increase in soundstage width and depth. Instrument separation increased and so did my ability to pick out detail. Treble came more to the fore and perceived bass response decreased (I'm not sure if this is because of the treble increase or directly because of a bass decrease). It made the former SD-2 seem muddy and veiled. The new SD-2 seems more clinical and analytical. However, I'm not sure if I like the difference in terms of the bass.

Can anyone shed any light on why there's such a difference in sound (whether good or bad) when you add a resistor to an IEM?

Thanks.

 

[Makahl]

It's been years since I visited this thread. Apologies if this question has already been asked.

I'm sure people have tried it, so what are peoples' experiences with using the ER4P to ER4S resistor/adapter on other IEMs? I tried this on my InEar SD-2 today and I couldn't believe the difference. It seemed to do to the SD-2 what the ER4S does to the ER4P. The SD-2 with the added impedance seemed to increase in soundstage width and depth. Instrument separation increased and so did my ability to pick out detail. Treble came more to the fore and perceived bass response decreased (I'm not sure if this is because of the treble increase or directly because of a bass decrease). It made the former SD-2 seem muddy and veiled. The new SD-2 seems more clinical and analytical. However, I'm not sure if I like the difference in terms of the bass.

Can anyone shed any light on why there's such a difference in sound (whether good or bad) when you add a resistor to an IEM?

Thanks.

It depends on the IEM's impedance curve, check out the graphs:
https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/InEarStageDriverSD2.pdf
https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/EtymoticER4PT.pdf

So, of course, you will get a similar "effect". On the other hand, for a DD IEM with flat impedance, it would only affect the volume.

 

[Antihawk]

It depends on the IEM's impedance curve, check out the graphs:
https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/InEarStageDriverSD2.pdf
https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/EtymoticER4PT.pdf

So, of course, you will get a similar "effect". On the other hand, for a DD IEM with flat impedance, it would only affect the volume.

Thank you for the reply. I am quite the noob on these matters, so I am struggling to interpret the impedance curves of both to explain why I perceive the effect I do when I add resistance with the ER4 adaptor. Is there essentially a different frequency response when you change the resistance of the cable?

 

[chinmie]

It's been years since I visited this thread. Apologies if this question has already been asked.

I'm sure people have tried it, so what are peoples' experiences with using the ER4P to ER4S resistor/adapter on other IEMs? I tried this on my InEar SD-2 today and I couldn't believe the difference. It seemed to do to the SD-2 what the ER4S does to the ER4P. The SD-2 with the added impedance seemed to increase in soundstage width and depth. Instrument separation increased and so did my ability to pick out detail. Treble came more to the fore and perceived bass response decreased (I'm not sure if this is because of the treble increase or directly because of a bass decrease). It made the former SD-2 seem muddy and veiled. The new SD-2 seems more clinical and analytical. However, I'm not sure if I like the difference in terms of the bass.

Can anyone shed any light on why there's such a difference in sound (whether good or bad) when you add a resistor to an IEM?

Thanks.

using higher impedance adapter on BA driver will make the bass leaner and make the overall sound thinner and brighter, while using it on dynamic driver will give a slower attack and make the overall sound warmer. i don't like using it on hybrid multi drivers because it usually throws off the overall balance of the sound

 

[castleofargh]

Thank you for the reply. I am quite the noob on these matters, so I am struggling to interpret the impedance curves of both to explain why I perceive the effect I do when I add resistance with the ER4 adaptor. Is there essentially a different frequency response when you change the resistance of the cable?

look for the impedance curve of the IEM, and as a lazy rule of thumb, imagine that it's the shape of the EQ you will apply when you add resistance to your source(extra resistance in the cable or an amplifier/DAP with higher impedance output).
so with the er4 for example, the impedance curve rises in the trebles, so extra resistors in the cable end up giving a signature with more trebles.

you'd need math or even better, some accurate measurements to figure out if the frequency response change is significant or not. and from a pure electrical point of view what is happening is sort of the opposite, you add resistors, so the voltage goes down(and with it loudness). all the frequencies are attenuated, but the frequencies with the lowest impedance get reduced the most. so now you take that, increase the listening level back to your preference, and the subjective result is my rule of thumb: EQ boost where the impedance is highest.
not very important but I thought I'd mention it for those who care to try and understand what is actually happening.

I used that specific situation a while back to whine about erroneous reviews https://www.head-fi.org/threads/feedback-about-gears-stop-doing-it-wrong-impedance.866714/ you don't have to bother reading the all thing, but the graphs might serve as example of my little rule of thumb.

in general you'd have to be quite lucky for something to change both significantly and in a pleasing way. over the years I've owned a few such IEMs, but they were a rare occurrence. most of the time the change wasn't relevant or felt bad subjectively. so I'd count your experience as belonging to the few lucky ones if you happen to like the result.

now a completely different perspective on this, sometimes your amplifier section just struggles with an extremely low impedance IEM(the lower the impedance of the load, the closer it is to a short circuit for the amplifier), and adding a resistor in this particular situation, could improve the signal coming from the amp. but I wouldn't advise to make a rule out of this thinking that extra resistors magically improve everything. they do not(sadly ^_^).

 

[smorgar]

Apparently there are 2sr/xr incoming aswell...

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones...e_knows_whats_going_on_at_etymotic_the_er4sr/
http://i.imgur.com/OIi5M7L.jpg

 

[clayman80]

I wish I knew what was up with the availability of ER4SR/XR in their store. I've been waiting for weeks now for them to restock so I can send in my old ER-4PT with a dying cable and get a nice discount towards my purchase of the SR.

 

[FastAndClean]

no matter what kind of awesome earphone i have i keep coming back to the ER4S, putting them for sell and removing the add shortly after that, it seem like they are like my first real love, back and fourth relationship, but feelings for life