[dougbrad81]

hi,
i'm planning to buy either a ety er4p or er4s for plane trips, but can't decide between the two. i read the review/comparision but it did not shed enough light. fyi i'm going to use it out of my mz-n1 sony md. what i understand is that the er4p is good for portable, which is why i'm leaning towards it. but the er-4s also supposedly has better sound quality. from the review it says you can get an adapter that makes the 4p into pretty much the 4s. now this adapter, is it a simple jack that you plug the phones into and then another jack to the source? or is it something more complicated like a wire change? recommendations on which one would suit me better would be appreciated. the music i listen to is mostly the beatles, doors, springsteen and the like. one last question, how far does the ety's go into your ear? thanks for any help.

 

[Peddler]

Go with the P model - the adaptor cable is a simple affair which basically comprises of a wire with a specific resistance.

The Sony model should drive the 4P to fairly high levels - I strongly suspect that the 4S would not go loud enough (it certainly didn't with my Sony MD-R900)

I hope this helps.

 

[Duncan]

I don't know if this changes from person to person, but I insert mine so that the blue and red bushes sit flush against the boney part of my ear (about 3cm in)

There is so far as I know two ways of converting the 4Ps to the 4Ss... one is to buy an adapter extension cable (73ohm load) else the other way so far as I know is to buy a full replacement cable

As to music types, I think all variants of ETYs are pretty much great for all kinds of music

 

[dougbrad81]

going to go for the p's. just went to ety's website and saw all that's needed for the conversion is just a cable. be a little more, but probaly the best route. one more question: with the ety's, do you use choose between the rubber tips and foam tips, or is it connected as one?(hope that makes sense). cause i don't want to have to keep replacing foam tips every other day.

 

[Duncan]

You can pick and choose, that changes from person to person... some people prefer the rubber tips, others find them uncomfortable, others find the foamies are better, others find that they muddy the sound...

They are perfectly interchangeable... and its up to your own ears to decide what sounds best

 

[dougbrad81]

alright that's all i wanted to know. thanks for your help guys.

 

[dougbrad81]

hi,
just one last question. how durable are these phones? build quality any good?. since i can't seem to find this info on the site, can someone tell me what kind of warranty it comes with? thanks.

 

[AdamK]

DougBrad,

For what it's worth, these headphones are beyond belief. I've had my Ety 4S's (powered by a TotalAirhead) for just over a month and I still can't get over how incredible they sound.

I'm hearing all kinds of things in my cd's I've never heard before.

You're going to be incredibly happy with your purchase.

Adam

 

[dougbrad81]

with the 4p and the adapter, does it sound identical to real 4s? because i heard, not sure if it true, when the 4p in put through an amp the bass become to 'punchy'. is this true? i would use it mainly for portable use, which is why i want 4p, but i would still like to plug in to amp sometime. thanks for any help.

 

[duetta]

My experience is that my ER-4Ss sound fine running out of a Panasonic SL-S360 CD player (something I've done a lot of since my original Airhead has some kind of an intermittent short). I'm not sure if the Panasonic if unusual in its ability to adequately drive these phone, since they sounded much worse when used driven from the phone output of my Sony Walkman Pro (WM D6C).

Matt C

 

[dougbrad81]

do people here who have the ety's use the foam pads or the rubber ones?

 

[balcar]

I've had Ety ER-4S for about 3 years. Nothing else I've used compares to them in any way. Only problem was getting enough power to drive them to a reasonable level. Recent purchase and use of headphone amp has enabled me to use them with portable sources. (Learned about this after becoming Head-Fi'er

)

I use the rubber tips exclusively--I've tried the foamies, but can't get them to stay in my ear. Same problem with Koss Plugs. It took a bit of getting used to pushing the tips into my ear canals and seating them without discomfort. You get several pair of rubber tips (6, I believe) with the original kit, and you can purchase additional tips in quantities of 10 from Etymotic on their web site. So, change them when they no longer seem to seal properly.

You also get, in the kit, a filter removal wrench and a few replacement filters. This is to enable you to replace the filters when they get full of ear wax

, which you can tell by looking or by sound degredation.

The only consideration for portable use (on the street) is that the seal so effectively shuts out external noise that it can be dangerous since you cannot hear street sounds (subway messages, etc).

 

[dougbrad81]

balcar,
have you considered a custom earmold, or are you satisfied with the rubber tips? do you notice and diffrence in sound quality with the rubber tips and foamies?

 

[BDA_ABAT]

dougbrad81

Try them both! Some folks do well with the standard silicone/rubber/whatever tips, others prefer the foamies. If you go via HeadRoom, you can; a.) support a worthwhile company that is dedicated to providing products and services for headphone enthusiasts {including support for this site}; b.) they have a 30 day return policy.

FYI: There are two sizes of foamies (the smaller foamies come standard). If the smaller foamies don't work well for you, you can always order a set of larger foam tips to give them a try. Have to go to the Etymotic website to get them though.

Durability: this question has been asked numerous times. Someone (I believe Don Wilson from Etymotic) responded once that someone had mistakenly left them in a pocket and put them in the wash! Once they dried out, they worked fine. No, I'm not suggesting anyone try this. Just mentioning it because everyone who looks at these headphones has similar first reactions...

e.g., This little thing is gonna sound good? Why did I spend 300 on these little things??? It looks like it could fall apart at any moment!

BTW: I've had my Etys for ~ 8 months. Best money I'd ever spent on audio gear: period.

Good lcuk!
Bruce

 

[dougbrad81]

thanks for the info bruce. i placed my order for ety er-4p and the conversion cable at headroom. hope don't have to wait to long as the website says the cable is not currently in stock and i have to go on a long plane trip next week. by the way, do you use ety's through an amp? if you do, mind sharing with me what type of amp you use?