[Mr.Shadow]

Hey, I got my Shure E4c about 2 weeks ago,
At the beggining I had a problem with the sound, after I opened a thread here at head-FI I've been toled that swtiching/replacing the Nozzels it will solve the problem, and Indeed it solved it.
but now after about two weeks of Listening i got to addmit, I am just not satisfied with them, Ironicly i was afraid that the bass on them will be lousy, but apperantly, the bass is thier strongest element, the sound is closed and dark (I am used to Grado SR-80 so it is kind of reasonble it will happen).
since it is my first IEM phone i dont know what to say, but I think that for 200$ it simply dosent deliver the sound I would Expect from a 200$ Phone.
I mostly Listen to metal, and the guitars in the E4c sounds laidback, It lacks the Detail I use from the SR-80, The bass is great, Tight, Punchy and has a pleasureable amount.
Am I living on the moon or am I not alone ?
BTW, My source is Sony DJ-501 MP3 CD-Player. wich soon will be replaced with X5L 30GB by the end of this month.

 

[solvexyz]

Try the tri-flange. I find it bring the vocal to the front. I can not stand with any other sleeves because of that layback vocal with other sleeves.

 

[dvallere]

I found the same thing when I got mine a few weeks ago. But I couldn't get the tri-flange in comfortably. Played with all the different sleeves and different genres of music, but in the end I sent them back because I couldn't really perceive a sound quality difference between them and my HD 280 Pro.

Donna

 

[spinali]

The sound quality of an IEM will always lag behind that of a comparably priced circumaural headphone, so your disappointment isn't unique. I've found that with these tiny phones, you have to be particularly aware of their "sound" -- which isn't helpful if you've already purchased them.

At the same time, I'm sure that at least one fellow Head-Fi'er might want to buy or trade, giving you a second chance.

 

[Mr.Shadow]

Well Saling/Trading is kind of a problem Cuse I live In Israel...
I guess I can Sell them Here in Israel, Cuse I got them from Ebay at nice price.
The thing is I wanted something portable, closed and that has very good Sound qualety.
So I dont know if I can find something that qulefies for that dimandes at the same or lower price...

 

[countach]

For me the yellow foam are the best ones for the E3/E4

But maybe your problem is that you dont like the Shure sound signature, wich is the one you talked about.

Instead, I like it too much, but I want to discover some other, that's why I don't want to upgrade from E3 to E4 after testing the E4. This new shures are the same as E3, but sonically better.

(Maybe I'll go to the UM2...)

I bet you whould be much pleased with the super.fi 5 pro sound signature... I'm pretty sure about this.

 

[warpdriver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Shadow Am I living on the moon or am I not alone ?

No, you are not alone. *Every* single IEM except for the ultra expensive multi-driver custom earmold types leave me wanting compared to my full sized cans. Coming from a Grado, it's completely understandable that you not like the E4's. I found the E3's to be completely unlistenable and the E4's to be barely adequate even compared to my SR60's in terms of treble extension, and fullness of the sound...amped or not amped. In order to approach the enjoyment I get from my SR225's or my older SR60's, I'd have to go all the way up to the UE5's at least.

 

[Mr.Shadow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by countach For me the yellow foam are the best ones for the E3/E4 But maybe your problem is that you dont like the Shure sound signature, wich is the one you talked about. I bet you whould be much pleased with the super.fi 5 pro sound signature... I'm pretty sure about this.

Well Maybe U are right, I dont like the sound Signature that much, I rather a Grado Sound Style wich Is Great for metal Music IMO.

about the Super.Fi 5 Pro I was very happy to hear them before I buy them, it looked like the E4c Were a safe bet, wich is wrong apperantly. I dont want to make the same mistake again. and I doubt that I will have the opertunity to hear the 5 PRo beforce buying them, here In Israel...

 

[countach]

Mr. Sadow: I feel like you, as I cant test any IEM that I whoud like.

I've been intensively researching this days and I get the conclusion that the super.fi5 pro are the opposite as the E4. A lot more soundstage, less detail but more musicality.

My problem is worst:

"BEGIN":
I want detail and detail, so my choose whould be the ER4P, but those are 10 years old and I also want punch and strengh, so my choose chould be the E4, wich I love as I know them, BUT i also want soundstage, so superfi.5pro whoud be my choose, BUT those ones lack detail and I want detail and detail, so goto "BEGIN"...


LOL, maybe my choose had to be UM2... but I dont wanna spend too much. I have a baby to feed, as you can see in the power equipment section in my forum profile.

 

[setmenu]

Iem's can be tricky little things, I have both the E4 and the ER4 neither sound
to my tastes without some tweaking, both have benefited from amps and low
end boosting coupled with some selective filtering in other frequency spectra.
Both these phones are now giving me near equal enjoyment to my stax system.

With the E4 I would recommend experimenting with adding some series resistance
inline with the phone.
This does clean up the sound and give some top end elevation.
One can crudely experiment with values by using the supplied volume control
to set a value,it helps to have a meter on hand to read off the resistance
selected. [ I am using 120ohm at the moment, but that is also coupled
with some other filtering]
If the this sounds nicer than stock a little adapter could be made up.
I use cut down ety foamies with my E4.

 

[Jmmmmm]

In general, canalphones aren't as good as full-size headphones, and perhaps you don't like the signature of the e4. However, I think the e4's are up to the level of the sr80's, and closed and dark isn't the signature of the e4. (Well, maybe closed in the sense that canalphones have a narrow soundstage, but I don't think you meant it that way.) Of the things to complain about, saying they sound dark makes me think there is a problem with the canalphone or fit. What tips are you using? If you are using the foamies, could they be occluding the sound tube when you put them in your ear? When you changed the stem, could something have gotten lodged in there or something? It's just very odd to call them dark with a lot of bass.

I'm ABing the e4's and the sr80's (w/ bowls) right now, and I think the sr80's have a bit more treble a more pronounced midbass kick, but the e4's seem to have greater clarity to me. So, I would rate the sr80 a bit brighter than the e4, but the difference is not a great as you seem to be hearing.

I think it's worth checking out before you sell them. Look at the stems, maybe try the different tips again. When I used the comply tips on my um2's, sometimes the foam would get bunched in my ear canal and dampen all the treble. Or perhaps they arent sitting in your ear correctly? If everything seems to be fine, then look elsewhere.

However, if you want a grado-like sound, I'm not aware of many (or any) canalphones that are closer to their signature than the e4's. You could try the 5pro's, but I do think that's moving further from the grado sound. You sound like you would want something brither than the e4c, and the only thing I know of that is brighter is the er4p. I suppose you could look at the um2, but again, it isn't going to be brighter or as detailed in the treble.

 

[sicksugar]

Hey, I'm also from Israel. I'm hoping to get the super.fi pro's and an X5L player next month. i've been reading, planning and saving up for a nice portable rig.
I know exactly how you feel, because i also listen to rock and metal, and i have the etymotics ER-4P and even though they're incredibly detailed, they just don't provide the soundstage, bass and fun that rock and metal require. This is why i chose the super.fi's as my next set of earphones.
You should be aware that many people on head-fi say the e4c's have incredible synergy with X5L, so maybe you should reevaluate them when you get the new player. and if indeed this is what you do, i'll have to invite myself over for a listen...

we seem to have generally about the same taste in music, gadgets and earphones, so maybe we can help each other out.

 

[Mr.Shadow]

Jimmm, from my Point of view (Hearing) the SR-80 are far better then the E4c, wich might adress that there is some kind of problem, I am Using the Foam tips, adn I find them better then the Silicon tips, (the Clear tips and the grey tips) I havet tried the tri-flange tips But I will check them out, Basicly I tried swaping all the Nozels, after the first switches the sound stood quite the same, I checked for a few times, nothing got into the driverm or into the nozzel, wich basicly got me to a thinking again that the Phone might be defective in some way, I just dont know cuse its my first IEM, I might contact the Importer of Shure in Israel, and I will ask them to replace them and hope to get a good ones.
sicksugar-->> good to hear that there are people like you (like me ) in Israel, Please contact me at my ICQ/MSN and I will be happy to talk to you.

Any suggestions will be gladly welcome here..

 

[cheechoz]

No, you are not alone !! I bought my E4c's before my E5c's, and let me tell you, they are just collecting dust. But to get the best out of them, I find the yellow foam the best sounding tips.

And also, stay away from the iPod, because I think there is a bass issue.

 

[Mr.Shadow]

Hell no Ipod, Only X5L !