[Bonsai Monkey]

Hello everyone,

I was using ER-4P's for a while, and while they sounded nice, I could never get the bass sound that I wanted (Even with the bass boost on my mp3 player almost all of the way up the bass was still not very loud). I purchased a pair of Westone ES2's and they arrived last week.

These headphones sound a little muted in the high end. This has gone away a bit in the last week so I suspect that the drivers needed to loosen up a bit. They sound much better than last week, but still leave a little to be desired in the high end. I can use EQ to fix this, so it is not a problem.

I do have one problem with them, however: They are loud! The hiss that is present from my mp3 player was barely audible using my ER-4P's, and I would listen to music at a volume of 6-9 out of 40. With the Westones, the hiss is loud, and I am listening at a volume of 3-4 out of 40.

Does anyone know of a cable or adaptor I can use that has some sort of volume pad built in? It does not have to be adjustable. If I could turn down the signal coming into the headphones and turn up the volume on the MP3 player I could reduce or eliminate the hiss, which would be great. I am looking for something portable. I already have a CMOY amp, and that works fine, but I need something small for when I am on the go (and yes, the CMOY is too big for my purposes) and I need something that doesn't use a battery. I am not too bad with a soldering iron, so if I could just solder 2 resisters into a plug I may be able to do that if someone could point me to a source that describes how to do this.

I would also be interested in hearing from anyone who has these IEM's and hearing about their experience with them.

Does this board have a search function? Is it right in front of my face and I just can't see it?

 

[joelongwood]

There's a DIY cable/adapter that uses two 75 0hm resistors and a RS volume adjusting cable that should do the trick eliminating the hiss. It's here, about half way down the page:
http://www.fixup.net/tips/ety/ety.htm

 

[gords]

Strange because the ES2s are meant to have the same sensitivity as the UE-10s. What's your source?

 

[Bonsai Monkey]

Well, the ES2's are being driven from an iriver ihp40, which is an older model. When I was using the ER4P's I would hear a little hiss, but not nearly as much. They also had to be turned up more to get the same volume.

I have ordered a 75 ohm adaptor from the site listed above and I will see if that helps.

In response to a private message I got, the headphones have a good amount of bass. Not as much of the really deep bass as I would like, but they are not lacking in bass at all, and I can EQ that in without a problem (I just like a lot of deep bass some times). I will need to get them refitted. They sound and feel fine when my mouth is closed, but as soon as I open it I lose the seal, and since I also plan on using these as performance monitors, I will need that fixed.

From talking to one of the guys at westone he told me that the ES2's use the same drivers as the UM2's, but rather than having the sound travel down one tube, there are two sound tubes, one for each driver, so the sound should be slightly better than the UM2's. I haven't heard the UM2's, but so far I do like the sound of these IEM's.