[castleofargh]

To put it in very simple terms: when a flat sound travel over the air, reached our body, and recieved by our eardrum, it no longer stays perfectly flat due to diffusion and reflection (*a big part by our upper body and especially outer ears). However, we have evolved to hear such sound as 'flat'. When listening to headphone and especially IEM, such diffusion and reflection doesn't occur (or to a lesser degree), and so the frequency response of the headphone / IEM must compensate for it. That's why headphone / IEM's F.R. curve must not be flat - as a flat curve will sound very unnatural to us. Various studies by both headphone companies as well as academics over the years have aimed to develop their own "ideal curve" (*while plenty other headphone makers simply don't care). Etymotic is one of the very first among them, designing IEM that are meant to be sound as flat as possible to the human's ears.

So to answer your question: no, that FR curve you saw is not actually mid centric, nor required a V-shaped sounding source. It is in fact sounding flat to the human's ears.

agreed with all that, I'd just be extra specific and say that it's sounding flat to the average human ear. from people to people we can still have variations by a few dB here and there.

 

[dcharlie]

Hi everyone. First time poster here. I've been lurking since this summer when I bought the ER4XR. The sound quality is amazing on these! I have had custom ear molds made for me--they were expensive but are very comfortable. I will appreciate them on future international flights.

I just got the Radsone ES100 bluetooth device. A very nice recommendation from this thread. I would like to purchase a balanced cable that has a relatively short length. Perhaps a length of 30-32 inches total (76-81 cm), give or take a little length. The short cable would be excellent for clipping the ES100 to my shirt collar.

What would be my best option to purchase a short (24-36 inches / 61-91 cm) balanced cable to work with the ER4XR? From a previous post, I bookmarked a recommended item ("2.5mm TRRS 6n OCC Silver Plated Earphone Cable For Etymotic ER4 XR SR ER4SR ER4XR"), but that item does not tell the length of the cable.

Thank you for any advice, and thank you more for previous posts encouraging me to buy the ER4XR and the ES100. So far I am very delighted with them.

 

[ClieOS]

Hi everyone. First time poster here. I've been lurking since this summer when I bought the ER4XR. The sound quality is amazing on these! I have had custom ear molds made for me--they were expensive but are very comfortable. I will appreciate them on future international flights.

I just got the Radsone ES100 bluetooth device. A very nice recommendation from this thread. I would like to purchase a balanced cable that has a relatively short length. Perhaps a length of 30-32 inches total (76-81 cm), give or take a little length. The short cable would be excellent for clipping to my shirt collar.

What would be my best option to purchase a short (24-36 inches / 61-91) balanced cable to work with the ER4XR? From a previous post, I bookmarked a recommended item ("2.5mm TRRS 6n OCC Silver Plated Earphone Cable For Etymotic ER4 XR SR ER4SR ER4XR"), but that item does not tell the length of the cable.

Thank you for any advice, and thank you more for previous posts encouraging me to buy the ER4XR and the ES100. So far I am very delighted with them.

A short balanced cable that has Ety specific mmcx connector on one end and 2.5mm balanced plug on the other end will probably be impossible to find. You will have to custom order one.

 

[dcharlie]

A short balanced cable that has Ety specific mmcx connector on one end and 2.5mm balanced plug on the other end will probably be impossible to find. You will have to custom order one.

Thank you, ClieOS. I have seen previous postings where you have made cables. Very impressive. Do you still make custom cables or could you please direct me to any site where that can be done? Much appreciated. Charlie

 

[ClieOS]

Built this a few hours ago, originally intended for my other earbuds - but it will work just the same for ER4SR/XR if I used it with some right angled adapter. This particular short cable is made by FiiO for their own BT amp, but it can be mod'ed for balanced audio on ES100.

 

[YoengJyh]

hmm... after listening to ER4XR about 2 weeks... hmm... hmm.. and now i am listening back to UERM... hmm hmm.. I would like to say that still the UERM better to my ears...

After listening to Etymotic ER4xr about 4 months now. Actually i would like to admit that i would able to live with this etymotic without the ultimate ears UERM...

I do really enjoy about it and really love about it. cheers~

 

[435279]

After listening to Etymotic ER4xr about 4 months now. Actually i would like to admit that i would able to live with this etymotic without the ultimate ears UERM...

I do really enjoy about it and really love about it. cheers~

100% agree, this is my 1000th post over a number of years. I've spent a fair bit of cash over the last few years too. If only I had known how good the ER4XR was at the start compared to all the other IEM's I've tried I could have saved myself a lot of time and money.

 

[Pro-Jules]

I have the ER4 SR's here to test.

I have pushed them in deep to get the most bass I can find. (After expirimentation not enough for me I think I would need the XR's)

But the problem is, with the ER4's deep in place each of my footsteps makes a very loud sub bass "boom!" sound. (And that is just in soft slippers! - shoes on a sidewalk won't be tolerable)

I saw a YouTube video where a guy had a similar issue as his ear canals had a turn at the end.

Is this a known phenomenon with deep insertion IEMs? Some people get "footstep boom"?

I don't get this with my bose QC20 & 30 headphones. (I am trying to upgrade!)

Thanks in advance.

 

[csglinux]

I have the ER4 SR's here to test.

I have pushed them in deep to get the most bass I can find. (After expirimentation not enough for me I think I would need the XR's)

But the problem is, with the ER4's deep in place each of my footsteps makes a very loud sub bass "boom!" sound. (And that is just in soft slippers! - shoes on a sidewalk won't be tolerable)

I saw a YouTube video where a guy had a similar issue as his ear canals had a turn at the end.

Is this a known phenomenon with deep insertion IEMs? Some people get "footstep boom"?

I don't get this with my bose QC20 & 30 headphones. (I am trying to upgrade!)

Thanks in advance.

It's called the occlusion effect. It's actually not supposed to happen with deep-insertion IEMs like the Etys, because they're supposed to insert all the way to the bony part of the ear canal. Are you sure you've inserted them properly? If you're not feeling intense agony, you've probably not inserted them far enough (BTW, that was a lame joke. I take no responsibility for any ruptured eardrums.)

You might want to try a different style or size of tip. The Etys are pretty much the only IEMs I have where I don't get any occlusion effect at all.

 

[Pro-Jules]

OK Wil try different tips and thanks for the terminology definition.

 

[HAMS]

How I test it is if I can still hear my footsteps loud then im not inserted it deep enough. Actually it's good iem for exercises or running.

 

[Dobrescu George]

How I test it is if I can still hear my footsteps loud then im not inserted it deep enough. Actually it's good iem for exercises or running.

Woah, that's some seriously deep insertion you got going there...

 

[nellsworth]

I had some problems in the beginning with the tri-flange and went for shure olives and comply tips. But both the comply and the shure one makes the sound muddy and you will miss quite a lot of details in the bass department. Also some clarity went missing. Went back to tri-flange and could not be happier.

This is EXACTLY my experience as well. Tried a few foam tips and found the tri-flange are still the best. I used an HF3 headset for many years for running and the cable strain reliefs all gave out on the earpieces and the cable.

Since my HF3 was out of warranty, Etymotic gave me a nice coupon and I upgraded to the ER3XR and I have to say the sound is amazing. Still as clear as ever with a nice increase in bass response.

 

[ClieOS]

If you are new to IEM then occlusion effect can be annoying. However, most people will eventually learn to live with it. After awhile, you might even not noticing it at all.

 

[Pro-Jules]

Super loud sub bass "boom!" every footstep. I won't get used to that.

I think my ear canals aren't suited.

Dang.

Oh well - I wanted IEMs for a lot of reasons
* The look
* I wanted to hang them off a Sony LDAC neckband for wireless Hi Res
* Noise isolation

I bet the ER4 XR'S sound sweet - if only they fit me.

Enjoy yours!