[aristotlesaxolotl]

Re: thinness in Etymotics (ER4P in particular).

At a certain point, once you get the bass seal shoving it in deeper is not going to affect the bass. This is something I didn't realize for a long time when I was a noob. I kept shoving my Tin T2s in my ear to try and get more bass out of them. Really dumb.

Point is, the thinness is partly a tuning thing not necessarily a BA driver thing. Ety bass is clean and tight if lacking in the deep end. The deep end is there, it's just bellow preferrable levels.

 

[Eruditeswine]

Even the ER4SR and ER4XR use different drivers. Someone on a Chinese forum once opened both to see what kind of driver was used. So it is very possible that the ER3SE and ER4SR have different drivers even though they may have the same performance. Differences in the frequency of response can occur even though the impedance has been equalized.

If you intend to use an impedance adapter, avoid Dunu, their impedance adapter response is strange when used on the ER3SE.

In my opinion ER3SE is not shouty, it lacks upper mid (2.7kHz). Inserting it deeper might help.

Roger that. Regarding the lack of upper mid, is this in general or when comparing within Etymotic? I understand the ER3 series are warm neutral.

Don't sweat it, I recognize we can hear different and use different vocabularies. Your mentioned of "hard" and "sharp" do resonate.

They should be inserted deep enough. Ear-tips not showing and start of cable resting on the intertragic notch.

Thank you and have a good weekend.

 

[Ashimaru]

Roger that. Regarding the lack of upper mid, is this in general or when comparing within Etymotic? I understand the ER3 series are warm neutral.

Don't sweat it, I recognize we can hear different and use different vocabularies. Your mentioned of "hard" and "sharp" do resonate.

They should be inserted deep enough. Ear-tips not showing and start of cable resting on the intertragic notch.

Thank you and have a good weekend.

It's lack upper mid compared to ER2SE and ER4SR

 

[Blackwoof]

Point is, the thinness is partly a tuning thing not necessarily a BA driver thing. Ety bass is clean and tight if lacking in the deep end. The deep end is there, it's just bellow preferrable levels.

Yeah with 6db bass boost(125Hz Low shelf) the BA Ety's can legit rumble like the ER2XR can but with much better detail/decay(resting actually).

 

[InvisibleInk]

I'm afraid it's hard to get a lot of bass from one BA driver

The AudioSense DT100 manages to do it just fine.

 

[Surf Monkey]

I'm afraid it's hard to get a lot of bass from one BA driver

it’s subjective I guess. The ER4XR produces a decent amount of bass. You just have to get a perfect seal to hear it.

 

[shoui catemoji]

Hey folks! What is the best way to macgyver an ER3SE to ER4SR if EQ isn't available?

20 Ohms Penon/30 Ohms DUNU impedance adapter or Etymotic filter tuning kit?

Will inserting an impedance adapter straight into a headphone amp cause any issue? Should I use an Ifi iEMatch+?

You can match the frequency response but it won't sound the same. ER3 will still sound less bright and more "dynamic". I haven't been able to figure out why the ER3SE sounds like this given how it measures.
I use an adjustable resistor cable with mine.
3SE is hard sounding without around 50+ ohms of resistance but it's still super worth it for me because it has separation and resolution I could only dream of before.

Also re: about etymotic shoutiness.
It's real. Etymotic's (all of em) sound better when you dip the high mid (2.7k) around -4dB with EQ. Something like matching the IEF neutral levels of high-mid make them sound right.

 

[shoui catemoji]

Hey folks, I'm taking a hard look at the ER4XR as an upgrade over my ER2XR. Right now my chief complaint about the ER2XR is that it sounds thin, with no soundstage depth. I was hoping the ER4XR would remedy that but I've read in a number of places that it too sounds "thin." Can anyone comment?

Hi, I had the same issues with the ER2SE and the ER3SE was a huge improvement in this area. I would try the ER3SE or ER3XR because they're 59 dollars on Adorama with these links:
https://www.adorama.com/etyer3se.html?emailPrice=t
https://www.adorama.com/etyer3xr.html?emailPrice=t (69 dollars)

 

[Starbound]

Hi, I had the same issues with the ER2SE and the ER3SE was a huge improvement in this area. I would try the ER3SE or ER3XR because they're 59 dollars on Adorama with these links:
https://www.adorama.com/etyer3se.html?emailPrice=t
https://www.adorama.com/etyer3xr.html?emailPrice=t (69 dollars)

I honestly don't feel the ER2SE lacks soundstage, it just doesn't add anything which isn't there. Does the ER3SE have additional definition in the high frequencies to give the illusion of a wider soundstage? Because in the bass it definitely doesn't have any more presence than the ER2SE, whose bass I find very adequate myself (except maybe for some electronic music). With the ER2SE, I feel if there is a sense of space in the recording, I am getting it without any changes.

 

[Starbound]

It was mainly hyped for It typical DD bass not for detail, I remember when Reddit kept claiming the ER2SE was warmer than ER4XR despite the fact It a ER4SR tuning in DD IEM. The same ones would lash out when you can EQ the ER3/ER4 with 2XR bass.

I plan on getting an ER4SR soon, but I have been enjoying my ER2SE a lot. As far as details go, I feel they are a little more detailed than my HD580 probably. If you are into as many details as possible and don't mind the BA synthetic timbre, I can see why you would prefer the ER3SE to the ER2SE. I am not sure what I will prefer, since the ER4SR will be my first BA driver IEM. But I definitely don't think the ER2SE is a "cheap DD IEM with the Etymotic signature". It is an amazing DD IEM, very neutral and detailed, and with a very natural timbre, and I completely recommend it.

 

[aristotlesaxolotl]

I honestly don't feel the ER2SE lacks soundstage, it just doesn't add anything which isn't there. Does the ER3SE have additional definition in the high frequencies to give the illusion of a wider soundstage? Because in the bass it definitely doesn't have any more presence than the ER2SE, whose bass I find very adequate myself (except maybe for some electronic music). With the ER2SE, I feel if there is a sense of space in the recording, I am getting it without any changes.

ER3SE is dark as hell

 

[Starbound]

ER3SE is dark as hell

Is that why people use the impedance adapters, to shift the tonal balance and make them brighter?

The ER2SE for my taste is very neutral, but a little recessed at the extremes. Though I like to listen my music at very low volumes, and when I listen to them with a more moderate volume the extremes are more prominent.

I don't think I have heard the human voice sound so acurate before as with the ER2SE, all the little nuances in the S, and SH, and T, are just perfect. I used to think they lacked some air, but since I have been listening at more moderate volumes I think I might have been too harsh. For example, all the sparkle of cymbals in audiophile records in complex jazz tracks is there.

I would really like if the people who mentioned lack of detail and smearing of the sound could give examples in specific audio tracks, so i know what to look for when I compare the ER2SE with the ER4SR.

 

[aristotlesaxolotl]

Is that why people use the impedance adapters, to shift the tonal balance and make them brighter?

yes. an impedance adapter can turn er4p/er3se into er4s.

I would really like if the people who mentioned lack of detail and smearing of the sound could give examples in specific audio tracks, so i know what to look for when I compare the ER2SE with the ER4SR.

Sometimes I wonder if when people talk about lack of detail is more just a "lack of many artificial peaks" in the treble etc

 

[Starbound]

Sometimes I wonder if when people talk about lack of detail is more just a "lack of many artificial peaks" in the treble etc

Yes, I have thought about that too. Some people refer to them as "grainy" as well, which might indicate that, as in real life you don't hear that kind of texture as far as I know. In any case, the ER2SE sound perfectly natural to me, as if I am listening to the actual sources of the sound. Maybe it is lacking a little extension at the ends, as I said, though, but it doesn't make the headphone sound unnatural at all.

With the caveat that I rarely listen to electronic, death metal, and stuff with extreme bass. Though songs with deep bass lines (like Bjork's Hunter) sound satisfying to me. To me the bass line in this song sounds very clear and controlled, even if it is a little laid back.

 

[Blackwoof]

Is that why people use the impedance adapters, to shift the tonal balance and make them brighter?

The ER2SE for my taste is very neutral, but a little recessed at the extremes. Though I like to listen my music at very low volumes, and when I listen to them with a more moderate volume the extremes are more prominent.

I don't think I have heard the human voice sound so acurate before as with the ER2SE, all the little nuances in the S, and SH, and T, are just perfect. I used to think they lacked some air, but since I have been listening at more moderate volumes I think I might have been too harsh. For example, all the sparkle of cymbals in audiophile records in complex jazz tracks is there.

I would really like if the people who mentioned lack of detail and smearing of the sound could give examples in specific audio tracks, so i know what to look for when I compare the ER2SE with the ER4SR.

The ER2SE struggles with fast music that reaches -15db from 40 ~ 100Hz in a spectrum chart, Making bass drums & guitars mash into one. In slow metal like in Doom metal you can hear bass notes from 40 ~ 100Hz start to early and linger for while smearing the next note. When I tried It I thought the 2SE had a 4db bass boost like in the ER4XR, ER3SE didn't sound like the stock 2SE untill I did a 3db 155Hz low shelf. The issues in the ER2XR even easier to notice DD issues doing a 7db boost on the ER4SR sounds a lot better with the same thickness but only if they're actually bass.