[Chadwide]

Nice Review! Thought I'd share my impressions after just picking up a set. I've been looking for IEMs for a while. Started with the Shure SE215 and didn't love it. (peaky high end drove me nuts) Then moved to TripleFi 10. Liked the TripleFi and sent them out to be reshelled into customs; they never sounded the same again. Bought a second pair and liked the sound again, but remembered why I sent the first set out to be reshelled.... Couldn't get them to stay in my ears.... Tried the new HiFiMan RE-400 and liked it, great headphone, but not enough texture and detail in the high end. (Great buy at $100 though) ER4S finally did it for me. They seem to have no sound of there own, I just hear the music in all it's detail. Now I have to find an appropriate amp, which is turning into it's own saga. 
 
Quick question: I've noticed quite a lot of difference between tips. Right now I'm really liking the Shure foam ones I had lying around. My question is regarding the custom tips that Etymotic offers. Does anyone have an impression of the sound? Did it change much? I'd hate for drop another $100-$150 and not like the sound.   

 

[JACONE]

Hey Chadwide!
 
I got the ER custom tips you mentioned (ACS I think is the vendor) and it makes a significant difference with respect to comfort and getting a good seal. As you know, a good seal is required in order to get adequate bass. I'm really happy with custom tips.
 
The sound changed slighty for me in a good way since I was able to hear the lows a little bit better.
 
I hope this helps!

 

[Chadwide]

Thanks Jacone. I learned about how important the seal is with these phones. In addition to the base, I noticed that the foam tips don't exhibit nearly the harshness that the flange tips have. The flange tips seem to have a big peak in the "ssss" of people's words. The foam tips flattened these out nicely. Do you notice any silibence with the custom tips?

 

[Smugsie]

I just got the ER4S and I'm absolutely loving them, they're like a portable Q701.
@ClieOS helped me pull the trigger and I have no regrets.

Anyhow, I noticed that the ER4S has 92% accuracy to the original performance... Does that mean these IEM's were made for mixing?

When sound engineers use the ER4S, what purpose were they made for? How much would they rely on the ER4S?
 
I'm curious because the ER4S doesn't seem like the average joe when it comes to the music industry.

By the way, the bass is quite thin, is it accurate? Or just revealing?

 

[Mormonsloot]

.

 

[Fidelity King]

Do the sony hybrid ear tips fit on the etymotics?

 

[ClieOS]

Do the sony hybrid ear tips fit on the etymotics?

 
Sony Hybrid is a bit too large, and not long enough.

 

[Fidelity King]

one last thing, are the cables on the er 4 detectable?

 

[Ivabign]

  one last thing, are the cables on the er 4 detectable?

Yes, you will be able to find them.....

 
 
They are detachable as well. 

 

[ClieOS]

  Yes, you will be able to find them.....

 
 
They are detachable as well. 

 
To be more specific, you will only be able to find aftermarket cable as Etymotic does not sell the cable by itself. If you want the stock cable, you will need to send in the whole IEM for them to replace the cable for you.

 

[Head-Case]

 
 

 

[greenkomodo1]

I'm not sure if anyone can advise but I have the ER4S and they do seem to sound nice. I have to turn down some of the high frequencies alll the way down on my mobile because i get horrible harshness and sibilance. I'm going to try buying a high end audio mp3 to resolve this but...
 
One thing that is driving me nuts about this is how thick and heavy the cable is. Any sort of knock on the wire and it's really bad. I have tried using the clip but it still doesn't reall work. If I'm wearing a jacket for example the thin part of the cable where the headphones are still knocks against the collar of my jacket. I use the headphones to commute everyday so I'm not sitting at home listening. Perhaps I bought the wrong headphones for this?

 

[Artist2]

My portable kit: Etymotic HF5, JDS Labs C5D, iPad2 cck.
The sound of this IEM with this DAC is so clean and detailed, no hiss. Superb, and compact. I am now interested to hear how much more detail there would be with the ER4p-T [and S], and my C5D. ER4p-T is next on the toy list.

 

[wolfz]

Hi
I try to find out if there is any difference in SQ between the ER4S and the ER4P with the converter cable.
The accuracy of the ER4S is 92% and the ER4P 86%.  Does the converter increase the accuracy of the ER4P to 92%?
Here a quote from somebody who made a comment on Amazon user reviews. It says that the S version is
efficient enough even for simple mobile players:
 
"The "S" version was specifically voiced to have the balance of the average pair of full range audiophile speakers, while the "P" version is skewed to be more mid-fi. The P will get louder and has boosted bass, but the S does not have less bass on a portable player than it does with a separate good amp. A separate amp can produce higher quality sound overall and get louder, but 100ohms is a breeze. In fact, I can show you electrically how 100ohms is actually easier for many portable players to produce flat bass at normal volumes with the ER4S. I have a review of portable players on AudioReview.com's forums where I test two different ones and show that 100ohms is easier and more consistent a load to drive. Very few people (outside of maybe the EU where portable devices now have output limits) would need the P's sensitivity. The main benefit, then, is for people who prefer more bass in general, not due to portable versus home useage. ER calling it the "portable" version is really a marketing strategy to target the segment that enjoys bass boost on headphones that the audiophile crowd would call flat".
 
Some Response:
I completely agree with Reticuli's comment. 100 ohms is actually EASIER to drive than 27 ohms. A headphone output amplifier is a voltage source, so the higher the resistance the fewer the complications and the greater the fidelity of the amplified voltage signal to the input voltage signal. And, in point of fact, a dedicated separate amplifier like a Fiio E11 (or whatever) has LOTS of resistance at its input. It's supposed to. It MAKES IT EASY TO DRIVE.
So why then do people think that 250 ohm or 600 ohm headphones are hard to drive? Because most portable players will not output HIGH ENOUGH voltage to drive 600 ohm headphones LOUDLY. But 100 ohms? Not a problem on any iDevice or Sanza or etc. I drive the ER-4S IEMS from my iPhone 5S and they can get so loud that I have a volume limit set in system preference so I don't accidentally hurt my ears. At about 5/8 ths on the slider (with no volume limit set) they are nice and loud. AND THEY SOUND INCREDIBLE, STRAIGHT OUT OF THE 5S. I'm sure a good amp (or amp + dac) could help them sound even a bit better. But I doubt it would be a big difference, and ER-4S owners in discussion threads on HeadFi have said as much.
So, DO NOT get the "p" version of the ER4's unless you want a bass heavy sound, and a reproduction that is therefore, by definition, less faithful to the source material.

 

[whee]

Hi
I try to find out if there is any difference in SQ between the ER4S and the ER4P with the converter cable.
The accuracy of the ER4S is 92% and the ER4P 86%.  Does the converter increase the accuracy of the ER4P to 92%?
Here a quote from somebody who made a comment on Amazon user reviews. It says that the S version is
efficient enough even for simple mobile players:

[COLOR=0000FF]"The "S" version was specifically voiced to have the balance of the average pair of full range audiophile speakers, while the "P" version is skewed to be more mid-fi. The P will get louder and has boosted bass, but the S does not have less bass on a portable player than it does with a separate good amp. A separate amp can produce higher quality sound overall and get louder, but 100ohms is a breeze. In fact, I can show you electrically how 100ohms is actually easier for many portable players to produce flat bass at normal volumes with the ER4S. I have a review of portable players on AudioReview.com's forums where I test two different ones and show that 100ohms is easier and more consistent a load to drive. Very few people (outside of maybe the EU where portable devices now have output limits) would need the P's sensitivity. The main benefit, then, is for people who prefer more bass in general, not due to portable versus home useage. ER calling it the "portable" version is really a marketing strategy to target the segment that enjoys bass boost on headphones that the audiophile crowd would call flat".[/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000FF]Some Response:[/COLOR]
[COLOR=0000FF]I completely agree with Reticuli's comment. 100 ohms is actually EASIER to drive than 27 ohms. A headphone output amplifier is a voltage source, so the higher the resistance the fewer the complications and the greater the fidelity of the amplified voltage signal to the input voltage signal. And, in point of fact, a dedicated separate amplifier like a Fiio E11 (or whatever) has LOTS of resistance at its input. It's supposed to. It MAKES IT EASY TO DRIVE.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=0000FF]So why then do people think that 250 ohm or 600 ohm headphones are hard to drive? Because most portable players will not output HIGH ENOUGH voltage to drive 600 ohm headphones LOUDLY. But 100 ohms? Not a problem on any iDevice or Sanza or etc. I drive the ER-4S IEMS from my iPhone 5S and they can get so loud that I have a volume limit set in system preference so I don't accidentally hurt my ears. At about 5/8 ths on the slider (with no volume limit set) they are nice and loud. AND THEY SOUND INCREDIBLE, STRAIGHT OUT OF THE 5S. I'm sure a good amp (or amp + dac) could help them sound even a bit better. But I doubt it would be a big difference, and ER-4S owners in discussion threads on HeadFi have said as much.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=0000FF]So, DO NOT get the "p" version of the ER4's unless you want a bass heavy sound, and a reproduction that is therefore, by definition, less faithful to the source material.[/COLOR]

while it may be true that the ER4S is not that hard to drive with a portable player at 100 ohms, it is very clear that neither of those 2 commenters have any idea of what they are talking about.

the second commenter is all sorts of wrong; a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.