[Degru]

That is a custom, shortly cable that forum member ClieOS made for me. He does great work!

Sound-wise, no difference I can hear. But I wasn't expecting any difference to be honest, as I have never been able to tell "any" difference when changing cables over the last 10-15 years. Not once.

Etymotic BA iems are a special case because they rely on resistors built into the cable to tune the sound. I think ER4S is 100 ohms. I think they might've shifted those into the IEM body itself on the SR/XR, but I'm not sure. If the resistance on them is off or mismatched between the two sides, it will affect the sound of ER4S/P. Probably the only justifiable use of a nonstandard cable connector on headphones in this case.

 

[ClieOS]

ER4S, fully transparent.

 

[PhoenixClaw]

ER4S, fully transparent.

Beautiful! Was it built ground up or a "reshell" of an existing Ety?

 

[ClieOS]

Beautiful! Was it built ground up or a "reshell" of an existing Ety?

It was built from the ground up (not by me btw) with new parts and the resistors have been integrated into the housing.

 

[RobinFood]

Do they sound the same? Was it an exact replica molded from another one? Beautiful, but with all that work I wonder if transplanting in a custom shell might be a better alternative to get the ety sound with better comfort.

 

[ClieOS]

Do they sound the same? Was it an exact replica molded from another one? Beautiful, but with all that work I wonder if transplanting in a custom shell might be a better alternative to get the ety sound with better comfort.

I haven't measured it but it does sound close to identical to my ER4S. One of the secret source in Ety sound signature is the width and length of the sound bore as well as the placement of the filter. If you factor those in, then the actual sensible choice of housing isn't really that many.

 

[toranku]

The ER2SE just landed today. A year+ back I actually owned the ER4SR. Decided that the 4SR was not for me due to the harshness/shrillness of the uppermids. Seeing that Etymotics came out with the ER2 that are equipped with a DD, I decided to give them another chance.

The ER2SE deviates from the ER4SR from what I can still remember. There is lesser uppermids as well as a tad more bass. Midbass is very tight and clean with a fantastic, snappy thump. Mids have that "DF" tone to them and are quite the star of the show. The DF curve has never sounded natural to me, it sounds more like an Instagram filter where it forces the sound to be flat sounding....if that makes any sense. Highs are a little dark and are uninstrusive, which is something I look for since I listen to music for extended periods of time.

Classic type of Ety staging where it does not congest but the distance between instruments has room for improvement. Nice, detailed and tight sound is what I would describe as my first impressions. I do personally want a bit more subbass out of this (looking at 2XR right now..!) but I guess the ER2SE can have such a sound due to its tuning.

Perhaps I'll purchase the ER2XR as well to compare and see which one I'll keep. But for now, it's time to listen more

 

[WhatToChoose]

Listened to Two Steps From Hell - Skulls and Trombones on both the Vmoda M100 and the ER4XRs (volume cranked of course).

I know the M100s aren't the best over ears for detail and imaging, but the ability of the ER4XRs to almost match the staging and surpass the holographic presentation of the M100s is absolutely ludicrous (this is IEM vs Over Ear).

I don't see these ER4XRs going anywhere anytime soon....wow.

 

[betula]

Listened to Two Steps From Hell - Skulls and Trombones on both the Vmoda M100 and the ER4XRs (volume cranked of course).

I know the M100s aren't the best over ears for detail and imaging, but the ability of the ER4XRs to almost match the staging and surpass the holographic presentation of the M100s is absolutely ludicrous (this is IEM vs Over Ear).

I don't see these ER4XRs going anywhere anytime soon....wow.

It is always a bit unfair to compare IEMs to full sized cans, but I can tell you that the ER3XR(+20Ω resistor) which is effectively an ER4XR has a much more accurate sound presentation than the M100.
Source matters a lot of course, but IMO if you are after accuracy the ER4XR will beat the crap out of the M100 even from an averagely good portable gear like the Chord Mojo.
The M100 is a great bass can for fun but very far from an accurate sound presentation where the Ety's excell; at least for the price.

 

[WhatToChoose]

It is always a bit unfair to compare IEMs to full sized cans, but I can tell you that the ER3XR(+20Ω resistor) which is effectively an ER4XR has a much more accurate sound presentation than the M100.
Source matters a lot of course, but IMO if you are after accuracy the ER4XR will beat the **** out of the M100 even from an averagely good portable gear like the Chord Mojo.
The M100 is a great bass can for fun but very far from an accurate sound presentation where the Ety's excell; at least for the price.

Definitely agree, IEMs vs. Over Ears is a foolish comparison (and m100s are not ecen close to detail fiends), but I wanted to emphasize the insane staging ability of the ER4XRs, after the cable change and pressure normalization they are absurdly good.

Also interesting note about the er3xr and the 20 ohm resistor, I'll have to test that sometime in the future. I assume that mod adjusts the frequency response, but does it also improve real detail?

 

[betula]

Definitely agree, IEMs vs. Over Ears is a foolish comparison (and m100s are not ecen close to detail fiends), but I wanted to emphasize the insane staging ability of the ER4XRs, after the cable change and pressure normalization they are absurdly good.

Also interesting note about the er3xr and the 20 ohm resistor, I'll have to test that sometime in the future. I assume that mod adjusts the frequency response, but does it also improve real detail?

I have never heard the ER4XR but my ER3XR with a 20Ω resistor sounds much cleaner and tighter offering more details, like a 'veil was lifted'.
That said it is only true out my Chord Mojo.
When I tried the ER3XR+20Ω resistor straight from my Samsung tablet I heard some awful hiss. Not when using my Mojo though, then the improvement is clean and undeniable.

 

[WhatToChoose]

I have never heard the ER4XR but my ER3XR with a 20Ω resistor sounds much cleaner and tighter offering more details, like a 'veil was lifted'.
That said it is only true out my Chord Mojo.
When I tried the ER3XR+20Ω resistor straight from my Samsung tablet I heard some awful hiss. Not when using my Mojo though, then the improvement is clean and undeniable.

I have heard good things about the Mojo as a clean nautical source, paired with Ety iEMs it may be a terrific combo

Thanks for the rec

 

[hiflofi]

The ER2SE just landed today. A year+ back I actually owned the ER4SR. Decided that the 4SR was not for me due to the harshness/shrillness of the uppermids. Seeing that Etymotics came out with the ER2 that are equipped with a DD, I decided to give them another chance.

The ER2SE deviates from the ER4SR from what I can still remember. There is lesser uppermids as well as a tad more bass. Midbass is very tight and clean with a fantastic, snappy thump. Mids have that "DF" tone to them and are quite the star of the show. The DF curve has never sounded natural to me, it sounds more like an Instagram filter where it forces the sound to be flat sounding....if that makes any sense. Highs are a little dark and are uninstrusive, which is something I look for since I listen to music for extended periods of time.

Classic type of Ety staging where it does not congest but the distance between instruments has room for improvement. Nice, detailed and tight sound is what I would describe as my first impressions. I do personally want a bit more subbass out of this (looking at 2XR right now..!) but I guess the ER2SE can have such a sound due to its tuning.

Perhaps I'll purchase the ER2XR as well to compare and see which one I'll keep. But for now, it's time to listen more

Wow very cool. The ER2XR seems like a good fun IEM for one's daily commute given the Ety clarity, isolation, and slight bass lift to make up for transit noise etc. I wouldn't mind more highs though, but I see you're using foams. I personally use the tri-flange so I might get more highs out of it. Fair is fair.

 

[Larethio]

Has anyone been able to compare the er2se with the hifiman re600 (single-ended output)? I always found the songbirds to have a beautiful and natural sound much more so than the 2017 gr07s if a bit quiet at the highest frequencies. They were a perfect DD compliment to my er4s and i regret letting them go to this day.

 

[wquiles]

toranku:

Based on my own amateur eval so far, I feel your review/comparison is very similar to what I hear. Thanks for the review!

I have been listening to them every day, but using the "already" soft tri-flanges from the ER4XR, and they sound a little better, tighter than on day one wit the new tri-flanges. But I can't help but wonder about comparing them to the ER2XR. Man this "hobby" always ends up being more expensive than the original "budget"