[dano1122]

recieved the um2's today. a bit dissapointed. where is the treble? this thing has no treble, zip, zero, nada. all i hear is mids and bass. this thing sounds very dark also, bass and mid is not very clean either. these make my sennheiser 650 seem bright. i'm gona have to order the er4p's to compare these to. imo, not worth the $300 and change i paid. on this note, sampling other cans just makes me realize how nice my 650's are, like an aged bottle of wine, so smooth and sweet.

 

[dano1122]

as an additional side review, the indigo SMOKES (emphasis added) the ac97 onboard sound which sounds like the cheapest crap you have ever heard.

 

[Kirosia]

If this is your first canalphone, I suggest you give it a few days to adjust to them. If not, do it anyway.

 

[Jmmmmm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirosia If this is your first canalphone, I suggest you give it a few days to adjust to them. If not, do it anyway.

also get the ety triflanges. completely changes the sound

edit: but, they aren't goign to be your 650s, and they probably wont have enough treble without eq'ing, imo.

 

[gsferrari]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dano1122 these make my sennheiser 650 seem bright

Ok that doesnt sound very good at all

HD-650s are fantastic...perfectly balanced with enough treble to NOT sound rolled off and yet not enough treble to make you wince when those sharp notes hit..

Maybe burn-in will do the trick?

 

[catscratch]

Ety triflanges will bring out the treble, but not as much as a pair of Ety's

As far as burn-in goes, I don't think armature drivers benefit much from it, if at all. The cables might change their sound, but not the drivers themselves; differences will be subtle. What may change the sound is "mental burn-in," i.e. taking some time out to get used to their sound. If after a few days you still don't like them, then probably they're not your thing.

 

[dano1122]

well, they just sound very dark and undetailed. dont get me wrong, they sound good, but the clarity/detail isnt there. the 650s really sound great the more and more i compare them to other phones (sa5000's en route). i must ask, compared to the er4p's, do the er4p's sound thin or do they sound clearer and less loose in the bass?

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsferrari Ok that doesnt sound very good at all HD-650s are fantastic...perfectly balanced with enough treble to NOT sound rolled off and yet not enough treble to make you wince when those sharp notes hit.. Maybe burn-in will do the trick?

 

[dano1122]

i also heard the er4's "stick out", is this true? um2's lay flat on the inner ear. very low profile, kinda short cable though (only 4 feet i think)

 

[blessingx]

The Etys stick out.

 

[catscratch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dano1122 i also heard the er4's "stick out", is this true? um2's lay flat on the inner ear. very low profile, kinda short cable though (only 4 feet i think)

They stick out. It's a problem if you want to lay on your side, head on a pillow or something similar, and listen to music. If you wear a beanie or a hat that goes down around your ears, it'll also be a problem. But, that's the only case in which it'll be an issue. They stick out a whole lot less than, let's say, clip-ons.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dano1122 i must ask, compared to the er4p's, do the er4p's sound thin or do they sound clearer and less loose in the bass?

Ummm...

 

[bg4533]

I find the HD650 to be excellent in terms of treble.

I found the UM2 to have more treble than the 650 and I thought the treble had sort of a piercing sound to it. I got rid of the UM2 due to this. The UM2 also seemed much less dark than the 650.

I hear tons of varying reports on the UM2. They seem to be more varied than with normal headphones. I wonder if they are inconsistent between headphones. Or maybe they are just very source/amp dependent. I was using mine with an Ipod Mini.

 

[dano1122]

again, i must say, the um2's lack ability to seperate sounds, things kind of mush together a bit which makes it sound a bit muddy. also, the treble is very poor.

i must ask again, how do the er4p's sound? i may order a pair and do a comparison if no one can help out.

 

[RockCity]

If you're not satisfied with um2, then i doubt you'll be better off with ER4. I recently upgraded from ER4 to um2, and I can say that most of the detail is still there, but less audible. Um2 isn't dark, rather it is warm sounding. ER4 is cold, damn cold. Sure, you'll get all more treble and extension, but it sacrifices visceral bass, which makes it sound thin. To me the bass isn't even realistic because it is too controlled, confined, and analytical. Please try using the the long foam tips or other tips that might give you a better seal because a better seal will give you more treble. If you're using the short tips, they might be the culprit because I found them to muddle the music. The long tips are much better.

 

[catscratch]

OK, in a nutshell:

The ER-4P have a very sharp and well-defined sound, so sharp and defined in fact that it may seem a bit unnatural. They have a very small, compressed soundstage, but within that soundstage, they image and resolve exceptionally well. Instrument separation is excellent, and at times, it's almost too much - as if you're listening to multiple parallel recordings rather than one thing.

They're not smooth. There is a lower treble/upper midrange glare and a very sharp upper treble, made even sharper with a bad seal. They will sound smooth with very smooth, laid-back recordings, but play anything with sharpness or sibilance (i.e. electronically amplified/distorted guitar), and you'll tire your ears out pretty fast. With acoustic music, that's not a problem, and the treble has the added benefit of giving extra life and sparkle to your recordings. With most ambient music, the treble really brings out hidden detail, but sharp high-pitched sounds will sound grating.

The bass is definitely there, but it's not there in excess quantity. Depending on your definition of excess, you might find it lacking. If you want to hear all the detail and nuance in your bass, this will do nicely. If you want a solid, palpable backbone to groove along to, there won't be enough of it. But, if you use EQ correctly (drop mids/highs and raise volume), you can boost the bass quite a bit. The Ety's are capable of fairly big bass - they're just not equalized that way.

If I were to make an analogy, I'd say that the ER-4P is like a scalpel for dissecting the music. They break everything down into it's constituent components, and serve it to you so that each and every individual component is readily apparent. I guess you could call them "analytical"

I do not use this, however, in a negative sense. Some music, like electronica, sounds really amazing on them. They really do not sound thin - they're just unnaturally accurate.

The only really smooth, full, coherent portable - outside of custom-molded IEM's - that retains detail and clarity is the Stax SR-001. It also has a rolled-off treble, but it doesn't lose much detail because of it.

 

[dano1122]

im going to have to order them and do a direct comparison, thats the only way to silence my doubts. thanks again head-fi