A bit more on the DBA-02 vs. ER4p. Please note that I was listening unamped out of my portable players, so out of better sources the situation may change completely as one IEM may scale better than the other. I was ABing them last night for six hours and my ears are so sore! lol I couldn't stop listening to them - they are both so amazing, so engaging, so accurate that it's just pure heaven. I haven't had so many eargasms in ages lol So anyway:
Bass: ER4p wins here. DBA-02 has tight, detailed, full and fairly punchy bass that suits all types of music well. I would say the low end on DBA-02 is about on par or better than the best IEMs I've heard, except for the Etys. But the ER4p has absolutely phenomenal bass - it is super tight, super deep and laser sharp. It is the best quality bass I've ever heard in a headphone. It is also adequately punchy and full, but not quite as full as the DBA-02. I listened to some trance and electronic music last night and ER4p was a real pleasure to listen to with these tracks - the bass is jaw dropping. DBA-02 also sounded good with this music, but clearly less defined and boomier. On the other hand, with pop and jazz, the DBA-02 fares much better and it's richer, fuller bass gives it an edge over the ER4p in musicality. However, from a purely technical standpoint, the ER4p is the clear winner in the low end department.
Midrange: It's basically a tie here - in some tracks, I felt that the ER4 sounded better, while in others I preferred the DBA. ER4p mids are simply fantastic with a good fit - full, detailed and accurate. They are clearly dry, but this is not a flaw but a part of the Ety sound signature and makes the sound very clean and to the point so to speak. The mids here remind me a bit of Sennheiser HD25-1s mids although the Etys sound smoother, and more neutral. The timbre is also outstanding on the ER4p and all real instruments and vocals sound very natural and have a great sense of presence and realism.
The mids on DBA-02 are smoother, wetter, more laid back and fuller sounding than on the ER4p. They are still superbly detailed, but the detail doesn't quite jump out at you like it does with the ER4p. Timbre is also extremely accurate here and maybe even more accurate than on the Etys. With some instrumental tracks last night, the DBA-02 sounded astonishingly natural - real instruments have a very realistic weight to them and are portrayed with pristine clarity and definition. The clarity in the midrange is better on the DBA-02 than on ER4p and this often allows some instruments to have an even greater sense of presence than on the ER4p. The mids on DBA-02 also have a very unique quality that I haven't experienced in any other headphone yet - air within instruments. Typically airy sound is understood as a good sense of space between instruments, but with the DBA-02, there is also air withing each individual sound within instruments. It's as though the midrange is soaked in air, if that makes any sense. This creates a very refreshing sound - like taking a deep breath of fresh air on a cool spring morning in the countryside. lol It also makes the sound very light and effortless.
Treble: DBA-02 wins here. The Etys are of course famous for their excellent upper range and for a good reason. The highs are indeed very well extended, refined and detailed in comparison to most other headphone out there in that price range, or even more expensive ones. However, compared to DBA-02, they clearly lack detial and clarity. DBA-02 sounds bright (but not overly so), extremely detialed and lively up here. Really, the detail that the DBAs put out in the highs is unbelievable. This is easily the best treble I've heard in an IEM - every single cymbal crash is clear and distinct from the rest of the music while the upper end of instruments and vocals sound effortlessly natural and beautiful. Listening to nice female vocals through the DBA-02 is pure eargasm - the voices sound so light and airy, it's almost heavenly. The ER4p sounds dim, a bit dull and muddy in the highs by comparison. Switching from DBA-02 to ER4p makes it sound suffocantingly airless by comparison, although after a few minutes my ears adjust and they sound just fine again. On the other hand, switching from ER4p to DBA, can make the latter sound a little too bright at first, but after a few minutes my ears adjust once again. It's interesting that extension in the treble is actually better on the ER4, but the quality is clearly superior on the DBA-02 and thus DBAs end up sounding more open and natural as a result.
Soundstage: DBA-02 does this better in my opinion, although it may be a matter of preference. Many people consider Etys to have a narrow, in the head soundstage, but I disagree. I think they image and space out instruments extremely well. In fact, soundstage width/stereo separation is amazing on the ER4p, especially for a single driver BA based IEM - better than on pretty puch any other IEM I've heard and easily rivals that of many full sized cans! Depth, on the other hand, is a bit lacking on the ER4p. With amping, this may change though. Vertical staging is also surpirisingly good on the Etys and overall I would describe the soundstage of the ER4p as very large for an IEM and fairly dimensional, but with some lack of depth.
DBA-02 has a narrower soundstage, but significantly better depth and dimensionality. The height of the sound image is really impressive here. Combined with the full sounding bass and mids, I get an impression of listening to really good full sized headphones with the DBA-02, something that ER4p can't quite provide. ER4p also has a great soundstage, but it is different from that of full sized headphones. I think ER4p has a more realistic stereo separation, showing what is there on the recording and source, while DBA-02 sounds a bit more artificial, but not in a bad way, providing a better sense of dimensionality in exchange for a bit of accuracy.
