Etymotic ER4SR & ER4XR

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by yaluen, Apr 21, 2016.

  1. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    Yes, I do not like included foam tips either. It is rough and shape is not really comfortable. I think that original foam tips maintain sound sig as silicon tips.

    Great to know XR suits you better. I demoed both before purchasing and I personally prefer SR with comply foam tips but I guess that it is just for me. :)
     
  2. kittenuwu

    kittenuwu Acquaintance

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    does anyone who's used either have any experience with the RE-O/RE-0/RE-00/RE-400?

    Those are really the only IEMs I've used for the last few years, but my last pair finally broke and these look promising for isolation alone.

    I think I tried a pair of etys (HF5 maybe?) quite a few years ago and didn't have any issues with the whole aural penetration dealio, so the change shouldn't be too surprising
     
  3. friedrice83

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    Sorry that this is a bit late, but I wanted to share my thoughts on the ER4 series and the RE-00.

    I own the RE-00 and have heard both the ER4SR and ER4XR briefly. I also own the ER4S.

    For comfort, it seems you don't mind the deep insertion of Etymotics, so you should be fine. However, I will say that I can wear my RE-00 for hours while I can't do the same for my ER4S (and the new ER4 series is the same in this regard).

    Isolation - there's no comparison. Any of the ER4s have extremely good isolation that the RE-00 cannot even hope to match. I think the RE-00 is actually an IEM that isolates less than usual, but I don't have that much experience with IEMs so I may be wrong here.

    The soundstage presentation between the RE-00 and the ER4s (I find the older ER4S and the ER4SR and XR to be very similar here) is more similar than not, especially compared to other IEMs. Common to the RE-00 and the ER4s are that their soundstages have some depth (but not a lot of it), and a decently wide soundstage with pretty good separation. Though I still think the Etymotics have even better separation than the RE-00.

    Mids and treble. For some reason, my RE-00 has this emphasis somewhere in its frequency response where sounds like hiss in the music are slightly accentuated, while the any of the ER4s are more laid back in this aspect. Though I think any of the ER4s have more upper treble than the RE-00.

    Bass - the RE-00 is really lacking here, at least for my tastes. I mean, I think even the ER4S and the ER4SR (which many people regard as cold, clinical, and lacking bass) have more bass than my RE-00 especially if you use the right tips. The ER4XR has even more than the ER4S and the ER4SR, though it isn't that big of a difference.

    Hopefully that didn't sound too much like rambling. If there's anything else you would like to know, just let me know (though I have much more experience with the older ER4S than the newer ER4 models).
     
  4. Panohm

    Panohm Friend

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    Has anyone tried the damper mod on the ER4SR?; I was thinking of changing the dampers for reds, i'd like a touch "moar base". Will the new impedance characteristics of the SR have major implications on this mod?.
     
  5. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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  6. LSW

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    Hope this doesn't qualify as a necro-post.

    Anyway, I've had my ER-4XR for about a month now. I tried to A/B test it with my ER-4P with the S convertor cable for about half an hour last night.....I honestly could not tell a huge diffrence between the two. I tried to test them with some really bass heavy tracks; the 4S might seem slightly brighter in the treble and there might be a barely noticeable increase in bass from the XR. It's almost like the difference between the HD800 (ER4S) and HD800S (ER4XR) if that makes sense? There is a sublte difference there, but not something I'd notice or miss if I wasn't thinking about it. Anyway, the things I did notice are the new aluminum housings for the XR and the cables coming out of the housings seems a good bit lighter on the XR. I was driving them out of a Headroom Micro Amp/DAC stack.

    The thing I do like about the XR is the slightly higher impedance over the old ER-4P, since my smartphone, the Pixel XL allegedly has a 5 ohm output impedance, which could cause frequency response interactions with the 30 ohm 4P, but is unlikely to do so with the ~50 ohm XR. The pixel can still drive the XR plenty loud at about 75% volume though.
     
  7. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    Sorry haven't been on as I have been going through a lot of personal stuff and working my tail off. I just wanted to post my thoughts about the Etymotic ERS4 and ER4XR. Much of the findings I made with the much improved Ety's resemble much of what @Tyll Hertsens mentioned in his review. Enjoy.

    Preamble

    I used to own the ER4S from Etymotic a long time ago and I wasn’t pleased with how deep the barrels went into my ears. I also didn’t like the way the tips seemed to require you to make sure your ears were very clean prior to sticking them into your ears otherwise they would cause extreme discomfort during long listening sessions. I decided to give Etymotic another shot as they had received much praise for their new products.

    Comfort/Packaging/Extras

    As I mentioned earlier previous iterations led to some discomfort but in both these new models I feel they have made some improvements. One of them being that the barrels don’t seem to need to fit into your ears as far as the ER4S. The ear tips also feel much more comfortable and provide an excellent seal. Both earphones come with 5ft detachable cables, foam and 3-flange ear tips, and a pretty big case to keep them from getting damaged during travel.

    Treble

    I am not super treble sensitive but felt that both models didn’t have any treble issues. Karen Carpenter’s voice in “Superstar” sounded beautiful and wasn’t too much. Cymbals sounded natural and had no artificial tin sound. I felt that the ER4SR was the clear winner on this song as I felt the sound was cleaner and more accurate.

    Soundstage

    The ER4SR excels in providing the proper soundstage regardless of music. You can hear everything and it’s just so clear. There is no barrier or veil. Just pure music flowing through. The ER4XR has a good soundstage but I would say that due to the clarity the 4SR holds the advantage here. Instrument separation the 4SR just does so well and feels like the 4XR is outclassed here.

    Bass

    This is where the ER4XR really shines to me and makes it the favorite for me. Though the 4SR beats it for treble and soundstage I felt that the raw musical emotion went to the ER4XR. Listening to Dr. Dre’s “Kush” and Winger’s “Headed for a Heartbreak” I felt the emotion and low end thump that these songs require. It may not be as great as some of the balanced armatures I have listened to but the tightness and cleanliness of the bass makes it a top competitor. Too much bass can be a bad thing and Etymotic seems to have nailed just the right amount with the ER4XR.

    Overall

    I listen to a lot of Rock and felt for me overall the ER4XR was the winner. The extended response and clean, tight, bass really made these a winner for me. Though I felt that the ER4SR was superior if I was to do critical listening or listen to classical music which I do from time to time it’s not what I primarily listen to. Etymotic really stepped it up here and I felt that both earphones provide a superior experience to the previous iterations.

    Thank you, Etymotic, for allowing me to review these and congratulations for making two great products that your customers will greatly enjoy on both sides of the music spectrum.
     
  8. Degru

    Degru Facebook Friend

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    Wondering if any owners of Audeze LCD series can chime in with comparisons/impressions?
    Looking at graphs, I found that the response of XR/SR are remarkably similar to the LCD4, with the XR having a touch more bass, and the SR having a touch less, but the rest of the curve basically the same. At least according to Tyll's measurements that is.

    Before I got my HF5's, I found that I really didn't like the LCD series, but then when I went back to the store and listened to them again, I found that I liked them quite a bit more. I'm thinking this could be because I'd gotten used to Etymotic sound...
     
  9. Crinacle

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    You really shouldn't be comparing headphone and IEM measurements. The fit and placement techniques for the two are vastly different and results in different physical impedance characteristics. Compare headphones with headphones and IEMs with IEMs, and don't cross the streams.

    That said, I've never really had an experience where a similarly measuring headphone and IEM sounded even remotely the same. Hell, two different IEMs can be similarly measuring and they'll still sound completely unique to one another. FR is only one small part of the big picture.
     
  10. LSW

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    I don't have any audeze headphones, but I have the Mr. Speakers Aeon, which is a planar magnetic headphone like the audeze. It sounds very very different from the etymotic. Almost as much different as you can get and still be comparing high end headphones. When I go back to my etymotics after a few days of listening to the Aeon, they sound very shrill and thin; they get a bit screechy if you try to listen to heavy guitar music loud. When I go back to the Aeon, it sounds very dark and a bit midrange recessed, but overall I'd much rather listen to the Aeon, because I like hard rock and some industrial/metal, which can be fatiguing on brighter headphones like the Etymotic, or AKG K7 series. I get reaccustomed to the etys after a few hours of listening again, but the Etymotic sounds much closer to something like the K701 or even HD800 to me, which I think are a fair bit brighter than the LCD-X, from what I understand.
     
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2017
  11. james444

    james444 Mad IEM modding wizard level 99

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    I'd be careful about that conclusion. A coupler is only a crude imitation of the human ear canal, even if it's 711-compliant. While you may be able to fit those two different IEMs consistently into your coupler, their different housings, nozzles, tips, angles against the ear canal, etc.. may result in significantly different frequency responses at ear drum level in humans.

    Personally, I think that FR is a substantial part of the big picture, but comparisons would have to be made consistently at ear drum level.
     
  12. Crinacle

    Crinacle Friend

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    I'm not sure what you're getting at here. I mean, what you just wrote was in agreement with what I said, but you say you aren't...
     
  13. james444

    james444 Mad IEM modding wizard level 99

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    Sorry, I (mis)understood your second sentence as general remark on frequency response. Now I see that you actually meant FR measurements from a coupler. All is well, lol.
     
  14. jowls

    jowls Never shitposts (please) - Friend

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    I just picked up a second hand pair of ER4SR as a replacement for my beater IEMs that shat themselves.

    Holy balls. Once you get past the deep insertion (which had always put me off Etymotic in the past) you are greeted with some of the most tonally correct headphones I have heard.

    Absolutely nothing sticks out in the frequency range. Clarity is through the roof (seemingly without relying of treble boost trickery) and soundstage (while modest) is evenly proportioned and precise.

    Timbre has the usual BA flavour, although for some reason to a lesser degree than a lot of other IEMs I have heard (another advantage of single driver perhaps?)

    It’s astounding that Etymotic can pull this off with one tiny BA, while a lot of the ‘TOTL’ manufacturers utilise a bazillion drivers, dip switches and replaceable butt-plugs (and still manage to mess it up).
     
  15. deafdoorknob

    deafdoorknob Almost "Made"

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    should anyone want to maximise bass impact of their etys without f'ing up the rest of the range, i found that the combo of the red filter and westone's longer sillicone star tips to work wonders, and for me, more comfortable than the triple flanges.
     
  16. smithj

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    Yeah, I'd agree with jowls' assessment of the Etymotic ER4XR/SR series. They're exceptional "beater" IEMs, I love the compact singe piece aluminium shell.

    I also agree that they don't have a bad soundstage, despite being noted in a lot of reviews. Too many IEMs on the market suffer from soundstages where the sound feels hard panned, which is something I feel the Etymotic pair thankfully don't do.
     
  17. james444

    james444 Mad IEM modding wizard level 99

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    Very much agree with your observations (although I have the older ER4S). As for timbre, I think bass is pretty typical BA (i.e. "too fast for its own good"), but the high range is less "BA sounding" than a lot of multi-armature or hybrid IEMs I've heard.
     
  18. jowls

    jowls Never shitposts (please) - Friend

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    An IEM with ER4 tone and DD timbre/macrodynamics would be pretty...

    4B084883-F723-4615-9435-537C2885BA7B.gif
     
  19. likearake

    likearake Acquaintance

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    Can you use these Etys with comply tips, or will a shallower fit than with the usual Ety flanges ruin the sound?
     
  20. maverickronin

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    A shallower fit will usually make them much brighter but Comply also has set of long foam tips which are designed for Etys.
     

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