[grinch]

("look pa, i used capital letters for the title!")

okay ipod users, i am in need of your guidance. i am in the market for an ipod and really really want to buy one. i plan on not using the stock headphones (of course

) and i'm wondering if any ipod/ety users can tell me if the er-4s sounds okay coming straight from the headphone out. that is, without an external amplifier. i have an er-4s -- not an er-4p with the s upgrade cable -- and i'm wondering if i can use it with the ipod.

your input is much appreciated. if i get enough bad reviews, i think i may have to pull out the funds for the er-4p or er-6 as well..

 

[Peddler]

I don't own the Ipod but from what I have read it does have a more powerful headphone output than most portables so I don't think you should have any real problems.

I hope this helps.

 

[leon]

Allow me the luxury of using a really corny analogy:

If the amp is, by audiophile standards, not strong enough to drive the 4S, it will sound all right. As in,it's not going to turn into an EX70 and lose a chunk of the frequency response graph. But it will be like certain kinds of water (I first tasted Aquafina back in '99 and they had sodium in there back then!), tasting really weird and "flat".

The iPod may not drive the 4S enough to showcase all that it's capable of, but you'll still have most of the 4S' goodness, and that really is a lot.

 

[grinch]

thanks for the reply leon. you're pretty much telling me exactly what i've been suspecting.. it'll sound okay, but not as good as it would with its own amplifier. i certainly have enough spare amps to go around, but that would kill the portability of it.

i have this great fantasy of keeping my ipod/etys on my like i do with my wallet. any moment gets slightly dull, i'll have two hundred albums to choose from.. ahh.. such a sweet fantasy.

 

[leon]

Yeah the iPod really is a fantasy come true.. no more hassle of trying to compute the time so that you can fit more tracks onto one MD

Sorry, I missed a paragraph when I was writing that... I really meant to say that the 4S shows like 70, 80% of its full potential, when you drive it from an iPod. So in case it didn't sound right, here you go.

I had a big analogy of really good tasting water, the "salty" Aquafina, and the in-between going on

 

[lextek]

I have an iPod and use the 4P's. Great results. As far as the 4S. I would get the conversion cable from Fix-up.

 

[HighwayStar]

Quote:

Originally posted by grinch thanks for the reply leon. you're pretty much telling me exactly what i've been suspecting.. it'll sound okay, but not as good as it would with its own amplifier. i certainly have enough spare amps to go around, but that would kill the portability of it. i have this great fantasy of keeping my ipod/etys on my like i do with my wallet. any moment gets slightly dull, i'll have two hundred albums to choose from.. ahh.. such a sweet fantasy.

Hey grinch,

I just got my Pod and have the 4P's. (which sound great, plenty of volume) I stuck my 4P>4S adapter cable in the mix and I don't think you'd get by. With some of the louder MP3's it was alright (but at maximum volume) and with others it just wasn't loud enough. (And I'm not talk'n crank it up loud either). Removed the cable and it's a perfect match. I'll be leaving the adapter cable and my meta42 at home...

 

[aeberbach]

I just did a couple of 3 hour train trips with a new fixed-scroll-wheel iPod and ER4S. Sounded great to me.

 

[grinch]

eek.. now i have reports going each way. although, i am wearing aeberbach's old hd580's right now so i might be more inclined to listen to him.

highwaystar: do you listen to your music very loudly? what mp3s were you listening to (studio masters or live recordings)? thank you for your input, your reply was exactly the type of answer i was looking for (4p users with the 4s cable).

lextek: i was thinking about getting the fixup 4p cable, but not sure if i want to take the plunge and change cables. maybe i'll just go for the 4p.. oh well. any other opinions?

 

[thsu02]

Grinch,

First of all, my first post here. I've been a member a few days and already bought Ety ER4P because of these cursed forums - very pleased....

I have the 20 GB iPod and the ER4P and S conversion adapter.

Using the S in the ipod is adequate. Obviously the volume must be cranked up to the max and the listening volume is OK. There are times you want it a little louder, but can't get it there. By the way this is using the Sound Check option in iTunes so all songs are supposed to be the same volume. You could actually manually boost the volume of all your songs via the "get info" option in iTunes.

Using the ER4P, volume is obviously boosted, but the music (IMO) feels slightly less smooth - dare I say more hollow. However, the volume on the ipod can rest at about 80% giving more than adequate room to "crank it up" when you need to. Using the ER4P, turning up the volume on the iPod all the way is too loud - you don't have that luxury with the S.

Of course it still sounds good even with the S. I think the iPod and Etys are a phenomenal portable combo!
No matter what you do, you can't lose.

 

[HighwayStar]

Grinch,

I was listening to some MP3's I had ripped quite some time ago. (Some Joe Satriani, studio not live) Some were louder than others and were alright with the 4S at max volume. And no, I don't listen loudly, there's no need with the Ety's. Matter of fact, during my A/B, I removed the adapter cable and forgot to lower the iPod volume. Ouch, that was loud. I'm a PC user and am not using iTunes so I can't control the MP3 volume. Any of this help ?


edit: LOL, I posted before reading thsu02's post. Yup, he got it right.

And reading aeberbach's I'm guessing it's a YMMV type thing, depending on your source MP3's.

 

[grinch]

thanks for the info guys. sounds like i'll be getting an er-4s if i ever take that plunge..