Music Genres:Classical, Electronic, Hip-hop, Jazz, Metal, Pop, R&B, Rock, World
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Good beginner IEMs
Come with lots of earpiece options, the ones preinstalled were very uncomfortable but there were four sizes of silicone three-flange tips that are more comfortable and make a better seal in my screwy ear canals (the seal is VERY important, both for sound quality and attenuation of background noise). They come with a card showing specs from testing for sensitivity, distortion, and polarity, which makes me wonder if they need to be burned in (I've been listening for about 20 minutes). The connection is 1/8" and they do NOT come with a 1/4" adapter, so be prepared for that if you plan on using them in a professional setting. They block as much noise as Etymotic's earplugs, give or take, and I plan on using them live at some point and replacing both monitors and earplugs with them.
TBSoxWhere is the balanced cable?!? (And you can’t burn in a balanced armature!! When will people ever learn?) No IEM I’ve tried in all my years in this hobby (since 1992) is better than the single 7mm dynamic transducer with their X3R Helmholtz Resonators: Sennheiser IE900 (which unlike multi-driver IEMs with out of phase incoherence are gimmicks). And I didn’t pay $1,500 for them. I got them when they were on sale for $1,000 - a $200 coupon = $800. The best purchase I’ve ever made in this hobby.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my custom bloodwood 200 ohm Audeze LCD-4 which were $4K and have incredible bass, natural tonality, superb mids and great treble make for superb listening enjoyment (and I think sound better than the 5s which have a more “neutered” sound; yeah, it sounds like their balls were cut off), but I haven’t found a more accurate and enjoyable headphone that I can put in my ears or wear over them than the IE900. They are only 16 ohms and only weigh 8g per piece, but even so you’ll want to give them around 500mW if you really want them to shine! I don’t get to listen often so when I do I like them fairly loud. And don’t ever buy them on eBay where you see $150 fakes running rampant. I can’t believe eBay even allows that b.s. Buy them from an authorized dealer. (I’ve had an HD820 sitting on my shelf in the box for about 3 years that I need to try. I have a bunch of phones.)
These Etymotics sound superb. I couldn't find a better sounding IEM under $750. I use them mostly with a Earmen Sparrow dongle-dac and the sound is clean, crisp, fast and very, very neutral. The way they reveal every tiny detail in the music is stunning. Standard cable is a bit microphonic, so you could upgrade there. For the money....unbeatable.
Audio engineer by trade, currently operating a project studio doing mostly pop, rock and roots stuff, and I can recommend the ER4 for anyone who wants a neutral but not sterile IEM. The inner canal fit won’t work for some people because of the deep insertion, but if you’ve ever had a deep ear mold done, it won’t feel foreign. It took me two different tip changes to get a proper seal and a comfortable fit and FIT definitely affects their performance, especially in the bass region.
Playing tracks back through either a Metric Halo ULN-8 interface and Mac Mini, or with a Pico portable DAC, high resolution material sounds spectacular in both timbre and balance. Stereo balance is as accurate as an IEM can render. It’s a steal at the price and punches well above its price class.
I like these for their extreme sound isolation. Once inserted correctly, I cannot hear the world.
The headphones sound neutral. But it is lacking in treble sparkle. Although the frequency range did states that it extends to 16,000 Hz, it drops off quite significant starting around 12,000 Hz. So, it is lacking that air that I looks for in acoustic music.
But it could be my hearing though. So, read this with a grain of salt.
Am a frequent air traveler, have owned highly rated noise cancelling headphones of various brands over the years.. These aren't active noise cancelling earphones but they are practically as good as the bulky ones made you know where. They really shine in voice clarity and are able to separate music instruments; in this respect leave the noise cancellers in the dust plus they are small and pocketable. I now own two pair and one pair stays permanently in my business travel bag. My ears had to get used to the the silicone ear adapters and they suffer from microphonics from cable movements, but that is a very small price to pay for overall superlative performance ,in my experience.
There are tons of reviews out there for Etymotic IEMs, so I won't go into the sound too much. These are a reference neutral IEM with great clarity. I will compare them to the ER4XR - I got both in order to see which I preferred. I previously had the ER4PT which I used with its impedance adaptor, giving it a slight bass tilt, so I thought I would prefer the ER4XR. However, the XR's built-in bass slope (I wouldn't even call it a shelf in the Harman sense), while moderate, seemed to obscure the mids just enough that the SR had an obvious mid-range clarity and presence advantage. The SR is still not as clinical as the previous ER4S or ER4PT without impedance adaptor though, so it strikes a perfect balance for me. Other people may prefer the XR tuning, but I would recommend trying both to compare.
The only controversial part of the Etymotic IEMs remains their fit - the deep ear penetration takes some getting used to, but also contributes to the excellent sound isolation which allows for lower and safer listening levels. Try different tips to get the right fit, I prefer the included foam tips to the silicone...it seems my ear canal bends a bit so they work better for me. They also have the most sound isolation of the tips afaik. I've also tried Comply Professional tips, and they are even more comfortable, but do reduce mid and high detail very slightly - some people may prefer that sound change.