[H20Fidelity]

   
 
Ah that does look like it would offer a seal then. I may have to give them a go at some point. Do they sell easily on headfi? I'd be worried about getting stuck with them if they aren't in demand (just in case).....

Yeah, they move reasonably easy on the boards still.

 

[gnarlsagan]

Also with the ER4 there is less bone conduction than with customs, as there is less of the iem in contact with your ear. So I can go running with my ER4S without that loud thumping of a custom.

 

[lee730]

Why would you go running with an IEM that isolates very well? Doesn't sound very safe to me....

 

[gnarlsagan]

Because HiFi is more important than my safety.

 

[H20Fidelity]

I will say though ER4S isolation really brings you closer to the music as there's no distractions. To add if you're using a good source that already displays dark background both work together to create pitch black space behind your music.

 

[lee730]

Because HiFi is more important than my safety.

 
I bet you wouldn't say that after you get hit by a car .

 

[gnarlsagan]

I bet you wouldn't say that after you get hit by a car .

I use a treadmill.

 

[lee730]

I use a treadmill.

 
That doesn't count. Unless your wire gets tangled up and you huli maka flip.

 

 

[james444]

  The ER4S is something I have wanted to try but at this point I don't want to pay for it.

 
I'm sending my ER4S to Eke tomorrow and he'll be free to pass them around when he's done with his comparisons.
 
I've spent a good part of last month trying to like these, but alas, it was not to be. My main gripes were too foward upper mids (I don't think my personal HRTF complies to DF-reference at all), lack of bass decay / rumble (quantity was fine though) and lack of soundstage as a result of deep fit and both aforementioned points. I also found them highly microphonic and rather uncomfortable to wear.
 
Still, they're very impressive for single driver IEMs, but not the be-all and end-all in my book.

 

[rawrster]

Sounds interesting
 
The ER4S sounds something that's more up my alley than yours although my preferences have changed slightly in last year or two. Maybe if I stopped going on headfi to find new things the UERM would have been my end game iem wise.

 

[gnarlsagan]

I'm sending my ER4S to Eke tomorrow and he'll be free to pass them around when he's done with his comparisons.

I've spent a good part of last month trying to like these, but alas, it was not to be. My main gripes were too foward upper mids (I don't think my personal HRTF complies to DF-reference at all), lack of bass decay / rumble (quantity was fine though) and lack of soundstage as a result of deep fit and both aforementioned points. I also found them highly microphonic and rather uncomfortable to wear.

Still, they're very impressive for single driver IEMs, but not the be-all and end-all in my book.

Sounds like you gave them a pretty fair shake. Imo the ER4S is more sensitive to HRTF differences especially through the mids. Just a little variation around 3k would definitely make the upper mids too forward.

I personally hear them extremely close to Rin's graph around 3k. With the green filters I get a small 1-2dB bump around 3k, but with red filters I get a completely flat response through the mids. This is using tones to make sure the volume is totally even. I do get a small dip at ~7k, which I even out with a 1.5dB boost. I do the same with the sub-bass. With most music I can't hear a difference when switching between the sub-bass eq and without. They are just very flat until some of the lowest bass notes that's aren't represented by most instruments imo.

Do you think your HRTF would be more in line with O-W? I'm very curious to see what eq you might use with the ER4S to make it sound more flat to your ears. Thanks for sending them out on tour. The more people who can get to hear it the better imo. At least they'll learn whether DF tuning is right for them.

 

[kkcc]

Er4s had been my go-to iem for many years and I still re-bought a pair last year. It was also my "reference monitor" to compare amps and daps etc, and was my airplane use iem for its isolation.

Subbass especially outdoor is a weakness, as is comfort - the deep fit with triple flange I use to get adequate bass is not particularly comfortable.

It can be have for as little as below $199 from Japan (Amazon jp), last a long time, and give you a unique hifi sound. I only rebought as I reshelled my first pair (big mistake), and lost my second pair.

Disclaimer: I'm definitely biased as the er4s was my "first love".... lol

 

[lee730]

Disclaimer: I'm definitely biased as the er4s was my "first love".... lol

 
When your ears first lost their virginity. Ear-rape 101 .

 

[james444]

Do you think your HRTF would be more in line with O-W? I'm very curious to see what eq you might use with the ER4S to make it sound more flat to your ears. Thanks for sending them out on tour. The more people who can get to hear it the better imo. At least they'll learn whether DF tuning is right for them.

 
Yup, that's one of the reasons why I'm keeping them, even though they didn't make it among my favorite IEMs, but it's good to have a reference.
 
I'm more into holistic listening / comparing rather than meticulous tuning of response towards a target curve, but from comparisons to other IEMs, I'd say my personal perception of a "neutral" midrange is roughly equal to the K3003's (minus the slight lower mids warmth with reference filters). I hear the 1plus2 as mildly U-shaped and the UERM as mildly mid-forward in comparison. So, by that measure, one only has to compare the graphs to see that the ER4S are tuned too mid-forward for me.
 
What's more, my personal idea of "spatial realism" seems to require a certain minimum perceived distance in vocals, which the Ety's tuning just doesn't provide. I can envision myself sitting in one of the middle rows at a concert with the K3003 and in a front row with the UERM, but vocals on the ER4S appear so unnaturally close to me, that my brain simply seems to fail while trying to translate those spatial cues into any kind of meaningful soundstage.
 
I really have to give due credit here to our old friend music bird, who, during the last weeks, has provided me with countless samples of selected music to convince me of the ER4S' virtues, and I regret that all I could offer him in return was that "Robert Fripp's guitar sounds like a bumblebee trapped inside my head". 

 

 

[vwinter]

I really have to give due credit here to our old friend music bird, who, during the last weeks, has provided me with countless samples of selected music to convince me of the ER4S' virtues, and I regret that all I could offer him in return was that "Robert Fripp's guitar sounds like a bumblebee trapped inside my head".