[ProleArtThreat]

To my ears, the bass on the UM2 definitely has more punch. That's to be expected with a dual driver canalphone. But I also feel it is much less textured and sloppier than the ER-4P. This may be good or bad depending on your personal tastes, and some more aggressive music with thumping kick drums and prevalent bass lines sound much better on the UM2. But for most of the music I tend to listen to (guitar driven indie hipster rock), I prefer the ER-4P's more polite neutral and detailed texture on the low end.

I think the best way to describe it is that on the ER-4P, I can almost visualize the varying levels of sound that compose a low frequency element in the music. While on the Westone UM2, you can almost physically feel it, which in itself is astounding for a canalphone.

 

[RockCity]

Having owned the ER4P/S, I was very impressed with it initially. The amount of detail, clarity, and speed is unmatched by any other $200 canaphones. However, the ER4 has a penchant for analyzing music. This gets to be tiring after a few months. Imagine just hearing your music over and over again without actually feeling it or enjoying it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that ER4 lacks musicallity. This isn't true 100% of the time, for example, I would never listen to classical, jazz, and blues without my ER4 because it is really that good with these genres. Others call the ER4 sound "audiophile". But if being an audiophile means having to listen your music waiting for that hidden detail to give you appreciation of your ER4, then I would kindly walk away from this forum.

 

[dotyman]

I have owned and used all three (ER4P/S, E5, UM2 and others), and I still greatly prefer the clarity and articulation of the Etys. Perhaps this will change over time, but the neutrality and accuracy of the Etys currently sounds the best to me. Again, I don't care for the looseness of the E5 and UM2, along with their lack of highs. The bass is too uncontrolled.

To each, his/her own, eh? I'm glad everyone seems to have found an earphone that they like among the current market offerings.

Happy listening.

dotyman

 

[donaldekelly]

I ordered some ER-4Ps from HeadRoom today. I choose headroom cause they don't charge any return fee if there are no scratches/defects in the returned item.

If they don't have enough bass - I will return them and try the Westone UM2s for more money.

Seemed like the right procedure to follow. Safest way to see what my preferences are.

I went to a store to try them yesterday - but the local authorized dealer didn't have any. "I didn't know they were going to be so popular" he said.

 

[catscratch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donaldekelly I ordered some ER-4Ps from HeadRoom today. I choose headroom cause they don't charge any return fee if there are no scratches/defects in the returned item. If they don't have enough bass - I will return them and try the Westone UM2s for more money. Seemed like the right procedure to follow. Safest way to see what my preferences are. I went to a store to try them yesterday - but the local authorized dealer didn't have any. "I didn't know they were going to be so popular" he said.

Be sure to try both types of tips before you pronounce judgement as to their bass. You may think that you're getting a good seal because you're getting good isolation, but you can still have isolation and have a bad seal. The Ety's should not sound shrill and bassless except with brightly recorded rock/metal - that's a sure sign of a bad seal. With a good seal, they'll still sound bright, but they'll have bass, and the treble won't be overbearing. I couldn't get a good seal with tri-flanges period

 

[donaldekelly]

Thanks catscratch

 

[EdipisReks]

about the bass, i haven't heard the UM2, but i've heard the similar Shure E5. the E5 has much more "present" bass than the ER-4S, but it doesn't have the weight of attack that the ER-4S has. what i mean by "weight of attack" is the ability for a bass note to been full and deep at the exact instance it hits. with the E5's it seemed, to me, that sometimes bass notes took a little while to present themselves in their entirety. the ER-4S just seems to have more energy in the bass attacks. i think that part of this is because the ER-4S are pretty fast phones.