[dr13zehn]

First of, hello.
I'm new here and also new to the whole Audiophile scene. I was looking for some decent IEMs when I came across this site and after researching this forum a bit, I decided to up my budget for the IEMs from my planned $50 to whatever I had to spend to get the IEMs I now wanted (thanks for not helping my wallet guys

).
Now I'm hooked... I hear things I never heard before and everything sounds so blissful... I digress...

I ended up buying a pair of Ety ER-4Ps. My reasoning behind buying the P instead of S model was that I wanted the lower impedance model for just hooking it straight up to my Cowon D2 and when/if I get a portable amp, I can just use an P->S adapter (like the one from APS), or I could use the impedance adjustment on some amps like the Practical Devices XM5.

My question is this: Is there a SQ loss when using a P->S adapter or the amps impedance adjust compared to just using ER-4S Etys?


Thanks for your help in advance and I apologize for what probably is a noobish question, but I am still a noob at this, heh.


13

 

[dr13zehn]

Nobody?

 

[monolith]

There should be no difference. A P to S adapter just adds impedance to the signal path after whatever components amplify the signal. Addind a resistor before or after the jack won't make a difference.

There is no difference between an ER-4P with a PtoS cable and an ER-4S. There'll be an extra connection in the line, but that won't make a difference, and certainly not an audible one.

 

[webzeb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by monolith /img/forum/go_quote.gif There should be no difference. A P to S adapter just adds impedance to the signal path after whatever components amplify the signal. Addind a resistor before or after the jack won't make a difference. There is no difference between an ER-4P with a PtoS cable and an ER-4S. There'll be an extra connection in the line, but that won't make a difference, and certainly not an audible one.

I disagree.

Assuming impedance adapter is just a resistor, and global (resistor and earphone) impedance increase would not modify output circuit frequency response, there still be a difference.

In fact, resistor and earphone (and output capacitor if it exists, etc.) constitute a voltage divider (I don't know the English term, sorry) :
V[size=xx-small]earphone[/size] = V[size=xx-small]output[/size] * Z[size=xx-small]earphone[/size] / (Z[size=xx-small]earphone[/size] + Z[size=xx-small]resistor[/size]) (all are complexs)
where Z[size=xx-small]earphone[/size] is NOT a constant (see there : Products - HeadRoom - Right Between Your Ears[0]=471&graphID[1]=&graphID[2]=&graphID[3]=&graphType=3&buttonSelection=Compare+Headphones )

Actually, it would put forward a bit extreme highs (about 6dB @20kHz, considering headroom graph, with the previous assumptions).

lele

Edit : You'd probably got exactly the same result between low impedance version + adapter and high impedance version (I agree), BUT there would be a difference (in terms of frequency response) between low impedance version with and without adapter.

 

[monolith]

I'm afraid you'll have to clarify that a bit. I'm not even clear on what part you're disagreeing with.

 

[webzeb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by monolith /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm afraid you'll have to clarify that a bit. I'm not even clear on what part you're disagreeing with.

Sorry, it my poor "French-glish ".
It drawn-out for me to write in English...

Quote:

There is no difference between an ER-4P with a PtoS cable and an ER-4S.

I agree.

Quote:

Addind a resistor before or after the jack won't make a difference

I disagree (or misunderstand what you want to say).
Adding a resistor would modify frequency response, assuming that earphone impedance is not a real constant (it's not a pure resistor => constitutes a filter with adapter resistor)

 

[dr13zehn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by webzeb /img/forum/go_quote.gif I disagree (or misunderstand what you want to say). Adding a resistor would modify frequency response, assuming that earphone impedance is not a real constant (it's not a pure resistor => constitutes a filter with adapter resistor)

What you are describing is exactly why people add an impedance increasing adapter to the ER-4P.
I know that there will be a difference in how the IEMs will sound. However, my question was basically, will an adapter add distortion, a hiss or things of the like that lower SQ. I guess I should have been a bit more clear with my question.

Thanks for the answers guys.

 

[LostPhil]

To be honest, you might as well use the adapter with the D2 anyway, it should still drive them just as well. Plus any bass roll off is countered which is a nice side effect

 

[nickchen]

I have no experience with IEMs (I hate these things), but I played quite a bit with DIY impedance adaptors for my MS2 and the CD3K. It tamed the highs, smoothened everything a bit, but there was a slight loss of detailing abilities.

 

[dr13zehn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LostPhil /img/forum/go_quote.gif To be honest, you might as well use the adapter with the D2 anyway, it should still drive them just as well. Plus any bass roll off is countered which is a nice side effect

Here comes the noobness again... What's bass roll off? I did read what roll-off means in the glossary, but I am still a bit uncertain.
Is there a good beginners book or site with a comprehensive faq that can help out there?

 

[LostPhil]

Hehe, don't worry about it. With lower impedance 'phones, the deeep bass is lost. With higher impedance ones it sounds like it should. If you haven't lost sleep over the bass performance then it's not likely to be a huge concern!

 

[dr13zehn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LostPhil /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hehe, don't worry about it. With lower impedance 'phones, the deeep bass is lost. With higher impedance ones it sounds like it should. If you haven't lost sleep over the bass performance then it's not likely to be a huge concern!

Man, I have stuff to learn. I figured that the bass performance was increased with the lower impedance.

I'm guessing now that you have (in my very layman's terms) more bass impact with the lower impedance version, but you sacrifice brilliance and the extreme low end. Am I getting it somewhat right?

 

[LostPhil]

I'm only talking about the D2 - I don't know about the generalisations myself (being a noob too!). I'm not sure there's a link between impedance and bass impact/control on headphones plugged into a perfect source - anyone fancy shedding some light?

Low impedance/resistance headphones are difficult to drive for portable players because they require a lot of current, resulting in a loss of the lower frequencies. Some players handle it better than others. It sounds backwards, I know.

The D2 has great overall power for larger/higher resistance headphones but struggles with low resistance IEMs (16-32ohm)- hence probably being better with the resistance added.

Hope that hasn't confused you (didn't mean to sidetrack you in the first place)! Too much time spent reading through the portable audio section I think...

If you are going to get the adapter anyway, you could always try it straight out of the D2 before getting an amp

Anyway, to answer your original question, there should be no difference between the Er4p + adapter and the Er4s as the others have said!