Unamped Ety 4P or 4S?

[dshea_32665]

I have loved my Etys which I purchased about a month ago. I am waiting for funds to get an amp but until then should I listen to them with or without the P-S cable?

I have to set the output pretty high with the cable but they are loud enough. There is a difference and I think I prefer the 4S. I know with an amp the 4S is superior, but is an unamped 4S superior to the 4P? If I can get an adequate volume with the 4S unamped, will this sound be similar to the 4S with an amp? or do you lose quality of signal by listening with the output levels set to near maximum?

Hope this makes sense.

Cheers, dshea

 

[john_jcb]

Common wisdom is to use the 4p without an amp and the 4S with one. I have never liked using devices turned up almost all the way. This is not based on any facts just a notion that designers worry more about normal volumes and that clipping and other bad things seem to happen at the extreme.

 

[nanahachi]

hey there

I think you will get the best answers by doing a SEARCH, there have been tons of threads on this, so I think you will find a ton of info

Not owning or having heard the 4P, I often use my 4S unamped out of my iPod, and it sounds great. Only once have I experienced any sort of clipping or problems with the sound. So personally I would recommend you just keep using the 4S unamped until you can afford a nice amp. However, if you have the extra $50 or however much it costs, the P-S cable will probably make your Ety's sound a bit better in the meantime. But again, if I were you I would just save the cash since you plan on getting an amp in the future, and you could just use the money you would have spent on the cable to get a better amp.

Just my 2 cents. I am sure there are many out there who can help you better than I have. good luck

 

[ampgalore]

I had an ER4P with the adapter cable. Always hated that extra piece of cable dangling at the end.

Finally switched over to ER4S. I have been very happy with the sound I am hearing unamped.

 

[Spankypoo]

Uhh, hope this doesn't come across wrong, but what about listening to both and seeing which you like better?

Hmm.

Mort

 

[tiberian]

get the 4S. 4P is a pair of muddy sounding headphones.

 

[nichifanlema]

is there any difference between 4P with P-S cable and 4S??

 

[Kirosia]

There shouldn't be. The only difference between them is the resistor value (I think), and maybe the cable. I think you should go for the er-4S, I've used the er-4P and it lacked clarity (unamped).

 

[PodMan]

Does the 4S use the braided cable as well or is it just the 4P?

 

[Kirosia]

I think it's just 4P.

 

[md01]

Your ear should be the judge of that. Listen to both and decide which version you like more. I use 4p when unamped, but that's just me, sounds like you prefer 4s already.

 

[dshea_32665]

Thanks for the information. I guess I was interested in whether or not an unamped 4S with the volume cranked up was similar to it with an amp at a lower output level. It appears it is not. The unamped 4S is a little warmer sounding and perhaps has more presence, but seems to be lacking something in space and depth compared to the the 4P unamped.

For the next few weeks, I am financially challenged and want an amp, oh the agony

!!

Cheers,
dshea

 

[episiarch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dshea_32665 Thanks for the information. I guess I was interested in whether or not an unamped 4S with the volume cranked up was similar to it with an amp at a lower output level.

It's similar, but the amp will improve the sound quality quite a lot.

But as I understood your original question, it seemed that you really wanted to know whether an unamped 4S would sound better than an unamped 4P. In my opinion the answer is an unequivocal YES. Even out of an unamped G2 iPod, I enjoy the 4S sound more than the 4P sound, by a good margin.

With an amp, the 4S gets better, but IMO it is an improvement on the 4P even without an amp. There are others who do prefer the 4P's sound signature, though.

 

[redshifter]

i prefer the er4s unamped from the d-ne300, and the er4p from a cha47 amp and r50 md recorder. this goes against common use, but i can't deny the synergy.