[raptor18]

I'm confused and disappointed. I bought the ETY ER-4P and sold them after two months because of the bass. Then i bought the Shure E5 and after having them for over a week, i'm still not happy with them. I have no problems with the seal, and i've tried all the different sleeves many times with many different songs and different sources. I find cut ETY tri-flange (cut the first flange) and the yellow fomies to sound the best and i'm still not satesfied with the E5. If ER-4P won't do it (LOVED the detail, mids and highs and hated the bass plus it sounded a bit "thin") and if E5 won't do it, which could i get? The ultimate Ears are to expensive and so are the Sensaphonics. I don't even think i could use the E5 to mix music. The high's are to low (you call that rolled off?) and there is a peak in the midrange that for example makes lots of vocals to sound decent. When a part of a tune plays with a lot of midrange involved (like before a big breakdown or something), it sounds muddled (or maybe it's called muffled or even muddy?). I had no problems with that with the ER-4P, it extracted each instrument (frequency.) very well! I also think the detail of the E5 could be better. I've A/B'd the E5 with my burned in SR60, and i find the SR60 to play most of my tunes better then the E5.

Another really instresting thing is when i A/B'd the E5 with my Alesis M1 Active MK II monitors. I managed to notice that the pitch of a snare drum in a song to be noticably lower than on my Alesis. I suspect that it makes the whole song tuned down a few cents in my E5.

. To my ears, my Alesis sounds almost perfect.

I clearly hear that these headphones are dependent of production quality so i mostly test these IEM with songs i suspect was recorded in a very "expensive" and top of the line studio. Examples are Celine Dion, Eros Ramazotti, Laura Pausini etc and these songs sounds actually pretty good in my E5. Ofcours i test with all different genres like Trance, classical, pop, rock etc.

I really hope my E5 is broken because this is not how i want them to sound.

How do you people feel about the E5 in the manner of what i just wrote about them?


Regards
Raptor

 

[450]

Westone UM-2's priced similar to E5's. (I think...)

 

[cosmopragma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by raptor18 I'm confused and disappointed. I bought the ETY ER-4P and sold them after two months because of the bass. Then i bought the Shure E5 and after having them for over a week, i'm still not happy with them. I have no problems with the seal, and i've tried all the different sleeves many times with many different songs and different sources. I find cut ETY tri-flange (cut the first flange) and the yellow fomies to sound the best and i'm still not satesfied with the E5. If ER-4P won't do it (LOVED the detail, mids and highs and hated the bass plus it sounded a bit "thin") and if E5 won't do it, which could i get? The ultimate Ears are to expensive and so are the Sensaphonics. I don't even think i could use the E5 to mix music. The high's are to low (you call that rolled off?) and there is a peak in the midrange that for example makes lots of vocals to sound decent. When a part of a tune plays with a lot of midrange involved (like before a big breakdown or something), it sounds muddled (or maybe it's called muffled or even muddy?). I had no problems with that with the ER-4P, it extracted each instrument (frequency.) very well! I also think the detail of the E5 could be better. I've A/B'd the E5 with my burned in SR60, and i find the SR60 to play most of my tunes better then the E5. Another really instresting thing is when i A/B'd the E5 with my Alesis M1 Active MK II monitors. I managed to notice that the pitch of a snare drum in a song to be noticably lower than on my Alesis. I suspect that it makes the whole song tuned down a few cents in my E5. . To my ears, my Alesis sounds almost perfect. I clearly hear that these headphones are dependent of production quality so i mostly test these IEM with songs i suspect was recorded in a very "expensive" and top of the line studio. Examples are Celine Dion, Eros Ramazotti, Laura Pausini etc and these songs sounds actually pretty good in my E5. Ofcours i test with all different genres like Trance, classical, pop, rock etc. I really hope my E5 is broken because this is not how i want them to sound. How do you people feel about the E5 in the manner of what i just wrote about them? Regards Raptor

I own both, Ety 4P/S and Shure E5.
Honestly, I don't know why these thingies are praised by many members.
Both need equalization in order to sound partly decent plus I can't stand the microphonic effect of the crappy Ety cable.
Unfortunately I have no EQ on the go.
None of them can compete to good fullsize cans anyway.

 

[raptor18]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 450 Westone UM-2's priced similar to E5's. (I think...)

From what i have read, the E5 should be more suited for me. Not sure though since i've never heard them!

Thanks

Regards
Raptor

 

[450]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmopragma I own both, Ety 4P/S and Shure E5. Honestly, I don't know why these thingies are praised by many members. Both need equalization in order to sound partly decent plus I can't stand the microphonic effect of the crappy Ety cable. Unfortunately I have no EQ on the go. None of them can compete to good fullsize cans anyway.

From reading on this board I thought ER4's had the best detail of all 'phones (except Qualia's and such).

Koss makes a 3 band eq. Would that help?

 

[random person]

Well if it were me I'd go for the UE5c. They are not that much more expensive and you will love the bass as well as the highs. The bass is lean and tight; the highs are not rolled off at all. Great detail too. Plus you won't believe the comfort of custom molded IEMs!

Take the plunge -- you won't regret it!

 

[cosmopragma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 450 From reading on this board I thought ER4's had the best detail of all 'phones (except Qualia's and such). Koss makes a 3 band eq. Would that help?

Yes, the Etys have lots of detail, nearly as much as my Staxes.Unfortunately the sound is lacking body.
Detail shmetail.
None of the built-in EQs of portable players I've listened to are audiophile grade.

 

[raptor18]

Quote:

Originally Posted by random person Well if it were me I'd go for the UE5c. They are not that much more expensive and you will love the bass as well as the highs. The bass is lean and tight; the highs are not rolled off at all. Great detail too. Plus you won't believe the comfort of custom molded IEMs! Take the plunge -- you won't regret it!

The problem is that i live in Sweden. I think i'd have to travel to the US to get these because of the custom molded sleeves.


Regards
Raptor

 

[ipoddy]

The ER4P does have thin base. Personally, I use equalization to help compensate for this weakness.

Since your comparing against the Grado SR60s, I assuming your upset that the $70 cans don't sound as good as the $400 ear canals.

I don't believe my SR80s sound as good as the Ety ER4Ps. But I have completely different expectations from both because their completely different animals.

I would find it hard to beleive your going to get close to the Grado sound with a canal phone. But the real question should be:
If you Love Grado, how close can you get?

I don't have the Shure E5 but they may be as close as you can get.

Jim

 

[bangraman]

So many edits (sigh) that I started a new reply. Sorry.

 

[ProParadox]

Buy back your er4p's and get a decent equalizer. I have Event TR5's, and they mimic what you hear. The ety's have less bass. Such is life. Thats why god made equalizers

Definitely stay away from the ER4S's though...


I personally thought the E5's sucked when i tried them. probably didnt get a great seal.

 

[rabbitsfoot]

Raptor, I think your take on the E5s is pretty much correct, although if you live with them long enough you'll learn to accept them and your brain kinda compensates and readjusts itself to this sound signature. I went through the same thing initially wondering "how can anyone say these phones are great". Coming from Etys I was seriously "underwhelmed" with the lack of articulation in the highs of the Shure E5. I eventually ended up with Westone UM2s and although they have some of the same attributes as the Shure like, much better bass than the Etys and a reduced upper frequency response (I think the UM2s have a slightly more apparent top end-but it's not earth shattering), they don't have the upper midrange peak or the mid bass bump the Shures have. You really notice the upper frequencies being down when, after listening to these IEMs, you listen to some good speakers. It seems, if you haven't listened to the speakers in a while, like the speakers have too much highs! It really is pretty amazing your brain is able to accept this sound signature of these IEMs as normal and you blissfully go your merry way none the less for wear. For full frequency balance and extension I think you would have to jump up for the Sensphonic 2-xs or UE-10 in IEM models. I don't know about the UE 5s or 7s. I've listened to the Westones for so long now I don't think I could stand the Ety's etched top end and lack of warmth and impact on the lower frequencies. I'm sure I could like them again though, given enough time to re-acclimate myself and myselfs brain. I am blissfully happy with the Westone UM2s though.

 

[ProParadox]

Someone mixing wants a FLAT frequency response. Not too many of the headphones touted around here flat. I say keep to the ety's, and give a bit of bass boost. When the bass is there, its not flabby like the E5's

 

[bangraman]

All the canalphones I've had are a sonic compromise one way or another, and you make this compromise for portability and isolation. They are not engineered to be better than good dynamic phones, compared dollar for dollar. They are designed to be more isolating and more practical to use under most mobile situations.


I own the E5, E3c, E2c, ER-4P/S and ER-6i (although some of them spend most of their time being loaned out) and for me, the E5 is the best compromise. I get utimate portability, excellent isolation that most closed phones can't compete with, high efficiency, decent comfort and a decent sound which is far more balanced than the other cheaper IEM's, especially with a bit of EQ.


I'd suggest starting with an Sennheiser HD25-1 if you want the full headphone sound. For what you pay, you're likely to have less problems with fit, response depending on fit, etc. For much of my portable listening though the E5 rules over any other closed headphone I've had... and that's a very long list. If you find that the open SR60's deliver comparable or superior performance in your listening environment, you don't need IEM's.


Similarly, even if your needs are for some degree of isolation the office drone who needs to drown out the muted chatter of an office will require different response than people who actually travel around. I'm a traveller when I'm going portable and part of the reason I prefer the Shures is that they work sonically better in a high noise environment, despite the comparable (and in the case of the black foamies, superior on the ER-4's) isolation. They're more tractable too. I'm fairly confident that apart from the matter of individual taste, the majority of the people here who has expressed a real hate for the Shure phones spends the vast bulk of their IEM time in an office or auditions in a low-noise environment.


I don't know to what extent you guys go to when you review gear. I consider these IEM's portable phones and I evaluate/d them as such. In comparing the ER-4P to the E3c, I spent a lot of time up in the air, on the train both over and underground, in the back of cars and of course walking around, preceded by minimal time (just for acclimatisation purposes maybe) at home. I have to say that I didn't spend any time sitting down at a PC and comparing these phones, as those results are not as applicable bearing in mind the general intended use of the phone. But perhaps I should next time.

 

[BowerR64]

I think most that use these high end cans use tube amps and tubes have a warm sound naturaly.

IMO these canal phones are designed for live montiring not what we are using them for. When you play live you have a huge PA backing the band and vocals. You wont need a set of in ear monitors that push low sounds because you will hear/feel these from the PA. Everything else will be produced by the IEMs. I think they are doing exactly what they were designed to do.

Most live performers that use IEMs are singers i think its more critical for them to hear themself and to sing in key with the rest of the band. The set i had sounded really good for mids and highs almost as if they were tuned for the vocal frequencies. The E2s seem to be the opposite of that

So far everyone that complains about these IEMs say what? no bass, rolled off highs. So what else is left? nothing but mids.