If you still love Etymotic ER4, this is the thread for you...
Jun 17, 2020 at 9:27 AM Post #15,228 of 19,241
Alright, I just bought a pair of the er3se. I should have it in a few days.
I hope you love the sound. Make sure you have a good seal in your ear, this is essential. Notice the detail in the sound when you are listening. Enjoy the sense of space around each singer and the resonance of a guitar as it is played. I find myself understanding the musical arrangement and the way a song progresses emotionally much more with the er3se's than I do with other earphones, When listening to music that I have heard hundreds of times, I often become aware of rhythms and little chord progressions that I was never aware of before and suddenly there is an 'Ah ha 'moment, and I think: " I get it, I see where the musician is going here, it is making sense". It draws me into the music and makes me want to tap my feet. The etymotics will not slam you over the head with BOOM BOOM BOOM, but you will hear not only the bass drum and bass guitar notes but you will hear the pedal hitting the drum head, and the fingers on the bass strings. If you can appreciate these types of musical insights, you will find a Lot to like in the etymotics. The British would call this PRaT.
Pace,Rhythm and Timing.
 
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Jun 17, 2020 at 11:28 AM Post #15,230 of 19,241
Not that prat but this one:
https://www.tnt-audio.com/edcorner/prat_e.html

Music is a magical thing. When musicians are listening and playing with each other you'll know it. When they're not in sync, you'll know it. It's unmistakable. To me, the ability for musicians to gel and play tightly together is PRaT. If a player is constantly early or late, the performance starts falling apart. In music reproduction there are obviously more variables. The musicians first have to get it right before any reproduction system can reproduce it. But great performances are great performances because they get everything right. When it's reproduced in a music system, everything has to be just as spot on at least in terms of rhythm. When it's not, it doesn't feel as "right" and you'll invariably be moved less.
 
Jun 17, 2020 at 1:47 PM Post #15,231 of 19,241
I hope you love the sound. Make sure you have a good seal in your ear, this is essential. Notice the detail in the sound when you are listening. Enjoy the sense of space around each singer and the resonance of a guitar as it is played. I find myself understanding the musical arrangement and the way a song progresses emotionally much more with the er3se's than I do with other earphones, When listening to music that I have heard hundreds of times, I often become aware of rhythms and little chord progressions that I was never aware of before and suddenly there is an 'Ah ha 'moment, and I think: " I get it, I see where the musician is going here, it is making sense". It draws me into the music and makes me want to tap my feet. The etymotics will not slam you over the head with BOOM BOOM BOOM, but you will hear not only the bass drum and bass guitar notes but you will hear the pedal hitting the drum head, and the fingers on the bass strings. If you can appreciate these types of musical insights, you will find a Lot to like in the etymotics. The British would call this PRaT.
Pace,Rhythm and Timing.

Balanced armatures demand a proper fit for realistic sound & bass, Which can't be done by shallow fit common on multi BA IEMs.

ADSR would be a better fit. The ER3/ER4 don't sound "bass crushing" because the BA driver can keep with sudden stop start common with death metal & electronic. If anything when EQ'd to have +5db boost under 125Hz it sounds more realistic, The sub & mid bass only hit when the song calls for it.

With dynamic drivers it feels like they blow there load way too soon or take longer to move next note. It becomes worse when the bass passes 5db under 150Hz, When i had the ER4XR vs W40/N1/N40. It felt like as if i was in a room that was full of hot smoke, Ruined most music that was tame on bass imo.

Werid how the ER4's speed is rarely compared to Planar/Estat?.
 
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Jun 18, 2020 at 6:30 PM Post #15,233 of 19,241
My er3se should show up tomorrow. I will post up impressions after I get it. I should not have any issues with seal, as I purchased the limited edition version. I am not sure if people here are aware, but the er2se and er3se are now offered in a limited edition version which contain many more sizes of tips than the standard version.

https://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Res...s=er3se+limited+edition&qid=1592519236&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Res...s=er2se+limited+edition&qid=1592519190&sr=8-1
 
Jun 20, 2020 at 6:47 AM Post #15,235 of 19,241
Werid how the ER4's speed is rarely compared to Planar/Estat?.

I feel the speed is slightly above average. I have heard much slower, relaxed headphones. Probably not as fast as stellia :). But speed is good. It has a lively sound, the speed is just where it should be. Very euphonic. Slightly faster than what youd would expect, so it has a sense of speed, drive, but it is not too fast. You will like it a lot. ER4XR
 
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Jun 20, 2020 at 7:36 AM Post #15,236 of 19,241
I feel the speed is slightly above average. I have heard much slower, relaxed headphones. Probably not as fast as stellia :). But speed is good. It has a lively sound, the speed is just where it should be. Very euphonic. Slightly faster than what youd would expect, so it has a sense of speed, drive, but it is not too fast. You will like it a lot. ER4XR

I was meaning the ER4SR/ER3SE, The XR being bit faster could be it's high distortion/bassier tuning?. The ER4SR sounding cleaner than the ER4XR when tried both.
 
Jun 20, 2020 at 8:08 AM Post #15,237 of 19,241
I read ER4xr is really fast (in attack of drums and in its tight bass) after I made that statement that it is only slightly faster, so it is fast. I only wanted to point out , that the (higher) speed is not disruptive. For sr, google it up :), but I guess it will be the same. I think the notes attack speed should be due to the single driver architecture the same for whole frequency spectrum, right?
 
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Jun 20, 2020 at 1:37 PM Post #15,238 of 19,241
Had a 4XR initially but sold and got a 4SR. The bass was too much. It shouldn’t be in front and overpowering the vocals.

Tried the 2XR too. Had nice texture because of the dynamic but slower and less extension I felt compared to 4SR. Returned.
 
Jun 20, 2020 at 8:57 PM Post #15,240 of 19,241
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Best etymotic is here
 

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