The ultimate headphones for portable use!
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Topic: The ultimate headphones for portable use!
Posted By: oliverstoned
Subject: The ultimate headphones for portable use!
Date Posted: December 01 2006 at 13:06
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Etymotic Research ER-4P Headphones 
In Edward Tanner's 1997 book Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences, Tanner proposes that solutions cause problems. Well, not exactly. What he really reports is that solutions to obvious problems frequently cause unforeseen consequences that may actually create bigger crises than the ones they are designed to "fix." A classic example is the way air-conditioned subway cars raise the platform temperatures by as much as 10 degrees, or how severe bone and muscle injuries have increased since the adoption of armor-like football protective gear. However, unintentional consequences don't have to be negative. While many audiophiles have determined that MP3s and portable players like the iPod are the work of the devil, they also represent a tremendous opportunity: every one of those iPods is going to require a pair of headphones. Oh sure, those cute little players all come with a pair of earbuds, but even the best of them sound so bad that they represent an opportunity to introduce people to real high fidelity. Wouldn't it be ironic if the scorned MP3 caused a hi-fi renaissance, hipping "ordinary" listeners to the simple fact that they can hear a difference -- and that it matters to them? If that does take place, the headphones that people will aspire to very well may be the Etymotic ER-4Ps. They ain't cheap at $330 USD ($250/street), but neither is a good MP3 player -- and I'd cheap out on a player before I gave up my ER-4Ps. I've been addicted to Etymotic's headphones for going on a decade, having first fallen in love with the company's flagship ER-4S, and later succumbing to the siren spell of its more affordable sibling the ER-6. Both are excellent products, but the ER-4P manages to combine the extreme fidelity of the hard-to-drive ER-4S with the portable-friendly impedance of the ER-6. Now that's a combination to reckon with. Truth or consequences Etymotic Research really does research -- into audiometric design, actually. Mead Killion, the company's guiding light, has been active in the design and construction of earphones and hearing aids since 1983. Killion has been issued more than 18 different patents for headphone and hearing-aid advances, and has been credited by more than one industry source as having revolutionized hearing-aid design. Etymotic Research also developed technologies that have been employed by the military in a variety of personal communications devices. Recently, they've begun producing in-ear accessories for cellular phone use as well. What is most obviously different about Etymotic's in-the-ear-canal design is that the transducers don't rest in the outer ear -- like earbuds -- but get inserted firmly into the canal itself. And when I say firmly, I mean shoved in there, creating an airtight seal. This may very well be a make-or-break proposition for most listeners. Over the years, I have come to welcome this sensation, but I've met many people who are just creeped-out by it. Get over that "stick it in your ear" queasiness, however, and you'll notice two things: a drastic reduction in external noise (about 23dB) and dynamic sound with overtones of warmth and fullness almost never associated with portable listening -- at least not without some form of amplification. And that's the big difference between the ER-4Ps and the ER-4Ses: the 4Ps have greater sensitivity (9dB greater output for a 1mV signal), which has an (ahem) intended consequence of equalizing the frequency response to produce better bass from the typically wimpy output of a portable player. In other words, the ER-4S remains the king of the hill for in-the-ear listening to a no-holds-barred hi-fi system (and that includes portables driving headphone amplifiers), but for no-muss, no-fuss music on the run, the ER-4P is your go-to guy. Logical consequences are the scarecrows of fools But let's slow down for a minute and examine the ER-4P. Superficially, it resembles all those disposable earbuds out there, but the Etymotics are not your typical $10 throwaways. The 4Ps consist of a molded right-angle 1/8" minijack attached to 42" of hefty 3/16" wire, which separates to two 14" flexible twisted-pair cables at a rugged barrel break-out (which also serves as the attachment point for the Etymotic-supplied clothing clip). The flexible leads are terminated by molded two-pin connectors (one red, one blue), which, in turn, attach to a stepped 7/8" cylinder, which contains the miniscule transducer and a screened protective filter. Slip-on "eartips" are supplied to create a tight in-canal seal between the transducer housing and, um, you. This seal is essential if you want to hear what the ER-4Ps can really do. If you don't get the transducers firmly seated within the ear canal, you'll hear tinny, bass-shy squawking. Etymotic Research supplies two types of eartip -- simple foam cylinders and triple-flanged cones made of silicon rubber. I find the foam cylinders uncomfortable, preferring the tighter seal and greater ambient noise reduction of the flanged cones, but I know folks who have the reverse reaction. The process of getting a truly good seal has been likened to "wrestling with your own head" -- you pull on your earlobe with one hand while inserting the eartip into the ear canal with the other. With practice, you can do this quickly enough to avoid people pointing at you and laughing; with enough practice, you can do it one-handed. It's always possible that your ears have odd-sized canals. If you can't achieve a proper seal any other way, you can order custom earmolds from a hearing-aid specialist. That's an expensive option, but I know a few folks who have done this and they all rave about the results. The Etymotic ER-4Ps come in a molded plastic case that contains several essential accessories in addition to the eartips. These extras aren't audio jewelry designed to make you feel as though you're getting your money's worth, they're essential tools you'd better keep close at hand. The most obvious is a small carrying case. Use it -- the ER-4Ps are rugged, but they'll last a lot longer if you don't put unnecessary strain on the cables by tightly wrapping them around the player and throwing them into your gym bag to rub up against your running shoes. Treat the 4Ps like the reference-quality transducers they are. That "shirt" clip is slightly less obvious, but no less essential to the 4P's performance. Attaching the cable to your shirt keeps its weight from pulling on the earpieces, but that's not its real purpose, which is cable-dress -- a term that may be unfamiliar to those of you unaccustomed to turntable set up. When assembling a sprung-chassis turntable, such as a Linn LP-12, for example, you have to pay attention to the way the tonearm cable is "dressed" between the tonearm and the plinth. If it just hangs down (or is stretched tight), the cable can transmit environmental vibration to the arm, where it can be picked up by the cartridge and pollute the sound of the disc itself. Achieving the right amount of slack (the right amount of "spring," actually) is considered an arcane art among set-up gurus -- and it's an essential skill in getting the most out of the ER-4Ps. Attach the shirt clip high enough on your torso that there's a slight bow in the flexible twisted-pair cable and you'll eliminate about 80% of all microphony caused by the cable itself. Before leaving the whole cable subject, that little bit of wire is another difference between the ER-4P and the ER-4S. The 4S's less-than-pliant cable was the cause of major microphony and many complaints -- including mine. You may have to pay more attention to the subject of cable dress with the 4P than with the average earbud, but the 4P's flexible dielectric has produced a noticeable improvement over the original 4S, at least in terms of using the phones on the go. If you only listen while sitting very, very still, this may not seem like too big a deal, but if you fidget or boogie when exposed to music, it's a very good thing. The other "extras" included with the ER-4Ps are Etymotic's "green filters," a filter changing tool, and a 1/8"-to-1/4" adaptor. The green filters are tiny little wire-screened hollow cylinders (smaller than half a grain of rice) which fit into the transducer housing, protecting the transducers from earwax and other detritus and providing some finely calculated EQ (think of them as speaker grilles for your ears). 
If it's the business of consequence, do it yourself! Etymotic says it didn't make any mechanical changes in the 4S to produce the 4P. Instead, "slightly" modifying the frequency response (introducing "a gradual reduction of the mid-high frequencies") made the 4P's bass response seem slightly elevated. Etymotic Research publishes measurements for the two models, which highlight their differences in diffuse-field-referenced eardrum-pressure response, if that's the sort of thing that turns you on. What are the sonic differences? Warmth, mostly. Mostly? Well, assuming you can even drive the 4S with a portable in order to make the comparison in the first place. The 4S represents a 100-ohm load, while the 4P is a mere 27 ohms. What does that really mean? In measurable terms, that results in nearly 10dB of gain (although gain is frequency dependent and hard to quantify across the spectrum). In listening terms, the 4P is nearly twice as dynamic -- and one heck of a lot warmer. Now please notice that I'm emphasizing the differences between the two models when used with a portable, which, after all, is what the 4P is designed for. Etymotic says the P stands for power, but I know better: it stands for portable. (I recently received word from Etymotic that the engineers have finally convinced the marketing department that P should have meant portable all along, so that's what they're now telling people.) If you've got power -- if you're listening at home with a hefty headphone amplifier, say -- you probably want the increased clarity and uncompromised bass slam of the 4S, but if you want to travel as light as possible (and what jogger, or even commuter, doesn't?), the 4P is what you're seeking. I'm a big fan of the clarity and precision of the ER-4Ses, but they can sound chilly and a tad tipped-up -- or, on less-than-ideal source material, very etched and shrieky. When the transducer is shoved all the way down your ear canal within a fraction of an inch from your eardrum (and, let's not forget, sealing out 20dB of ambient noise), this can be waay too much of what, under more ideal circumstances, would normally be considered a good thing. Take the aggressive bite of Michael Mantler's trumpet on the 1982 Ballad of the Fallen [ECM 811516-2] by Charlie Haden and Carla Bley, for example. The 4S (again, driving a portable, such as my 30GB iPod) presents this with too much edge -- not quite an icepick to the ears, but painfully close. The 4P blunts the bleeding edge of Mantler's attack, leaving it sharp and properly blatty, but not too much so. There's an overall roundness of tone to the disc's big brass choirs, which is all to the good, of course, but Haden's acoustic bass also steps about ten paces further forward in the mix -- which seems quite apt since it is his disc, after all. Trying the same comparison using my HeadRoom Max headphone amplifier driven by the Classé CDP-10, I could hear that the 4P actually appears to boost the lower midbass rather than the deep bass. While this was noticeable with the Classé/HeadRoom combo, my perception with an unaugmented portable was that there was more low end overall. Since Ballad of the Fallen has a bright tonal balance in the first place, I still preferred the midrange to HF presentation of the 4P, even with the Max. What if you want the best of both worlds -- what if you want to listen at home and take it to the streets? Etymotic offers a conversion cable for $65 that, the company says, changes the 4P into a 4S. I haven't tried it, but if you need it, it's out there. The applause of a single human being is of great consequence Let us not get bogged down in comparing the ER-4S with the 4P. They're different, but not as drastically different as the Etymotics are to pretty much everything else out there. Etymotic also makes a less-expensive headphone, the ER-6, which is waay recommended, but doesn't offer either the bass or the detail of the ER-4 of either persuasion. What the ER-4P has going for it is balance. If you want to walk (or jog) around, experiencing the sort of feed-your-head aural envelopment that you get from the big home-based headphone rigs like the Sennheiser HD 600s, the 4Ps are the only rig I know of that will get you close. If you've only experienced an iPod playing compressed files through a cheap set of disposable 'buds," you have no idea what I'm talking about. But set the player to a high-rez bit-rate and plug in a pair of 4Ps and you'll start to think like an audio geek. I certainly did -- listening to the vast washes of cymbal sound Elvin Jones generates on Africa Brass [Impulse Import 9008], I began to imagine I could hear Jones choosing the precise position to strike, stroke, or strum each Zildjian. I engage in that kind of audiophilism at home all the time, but I seldom do it while blissing-out on an elliptical trainer. My recent flight to and from Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show was made immensely simpler by the ER-4Ps. In years past, I've taken a bag filled with CD player, HeadRoom amp, extra battery packs, and a stack of CDs -- this year, I just slipped an iPod and a pair of 4Ps into my jacket pocket. But I didn't sacrifice my musical enjoyment just to travel light. The 4Ps cut the jet noise down to a mild thrum, allowing me to lose myself in David Russell's Music of Giuliani [Telarc CD-80525 CD]. A solo guitar recording! On an airplane! It wasn't just the noise reduction offered by the Etymotics that allowed me to inhabit Giuliani's crystalline clarity -- it was the full-bodied presentation of Russell's vivid tone, the ER-4P's ability to capture both the percussive attack and the slow decay of his instrument's overtones. This is real hi-fi, not just a pale reflection of it. There are neither rewards nor punishments -- there are consequences The Etymotic ER-4P is exactly what the high-end road warrior needs. It is designed to work with the reduced output and rolled-off bass of portable players, enhancing them rather than simply coexisting with them. Is it unique in this? I can't say for certain. Shure has been getting a lot of buzz lately with its in-canal headphones, but I have yet to hear them. If you're staying at home, you have lots of choices, including the ER-4Ses, Sennheiser's 600-series phones, and AKG's justly acclaimed K 1000s, but of the 'phones I have heard that are designed to be taken out and about, nothing else comes close to the ER-4Ps. And that's almost certainly not unintentional. ...Wes Phillips [email protected] Etymotic Research ER-4P Earphones Price: $330 USD. Warranty: 90 days parts and labor. Etymotic Research, Inc. 61 Martin Lane Elk Grove Village, IL 60007 Phone: (847) 228-0006 Website: www.etymotic.com |
Replies:
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: December 01 2006 at 13:11
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Hmm ... I recall you heavily bashed the concept of in-ear/earcanal headphones in the past.
------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to: 
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Posted By: Jared
Date Posted: December 01 2006 at 13:21
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maybe he's changed his mind...
...but I'm not about to read thru his post to find out...  ------------- Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: December 01 2006 at 13:34
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I'm a really big fan of the in-ear concept ... it has many advantages. The headphones are very small, lightweight, and they consume very little energy, because they're so near to the ear that the volume they have to generate is much lower. And the air-tight seal of the ear canal means that environmental sounds are much reduced - not as efficiently as with active noise-cancelling headphones, but much more than the conventional walkman headphones. And you can use them while jogging without them falling out of your ears, as conventional headphones do (I mean those hook-like devices that you just "hang" on your ear).
------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
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Posted By: Jared
Date Posted: December 01 2006 at 13:36
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^^^ good, I'll remember that next time I go Jogging, Mike...
...like sometime in the next life....  ------------- Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson |
Posted By: Philéas
Date Posted: December 01 2006 at 17:13
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The looks of those are very simple, and that appeals to me. I'm tired
of cheap headphones attempting to look advanced and futuristic but
mostly failing miserably at both points. But I don't really like
wearing in-ear headphones with the kind of eartips these have got. They
may keep noise from the surroundings out, but I don't like having a
piece of foam/rubber (or whatever they're made of) in my ears. Feels
uncomfortable. I prefer using a normal, large headphones. It's more comfortable, even if some noise leaks in, a sacrifice I am willing to make on short journeys. |
Posted By: enigma
Date Posted: December 01 2006 at 19:25
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I use Shure's entry level E2C with my iPod, and they are great noise isolation phones. Soundwise, not as good as my Grado SR60's, but miles better than the standard Apple phones. The yellow foam tips provide the best fit for me. How much are the Etymotic's? I know the top end Shures are around £300, which is crazy money. |
Posted By: oliverstoned
Date Posted: December 02 2006 at 03:26
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330 $, 250 $ street price. Indeed, "Shure" compete with "Etymotic research", along with "Ultimate ears" in the in-ear field. |
Posted By: mystic fred
Date Posted: December 02 2006 at 03:57
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i've seen these on ebay for £63.00 or the whole kit for £115.00. My doctor says you should put nothing sharper than your elbow in your ear, but i would be willing to try them on approval - will they take them back for a refund if they don't suit me??? -------------  Prog Archives Tour Van 
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Posted By: oliverstoned
Date Posted: December 02 2006 at 04:01
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Well, your doctor was saying that about objects used to cure your ears, and he's true. The major risk is rather eardrum damage, at high volume. |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: December 02 2006 at 05:06
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^ the risk for eardrum damage is not much greater than with other types of headphones ... in-ear headphones are closer to the ear, but also have much less power to start with. Obviously you should reduce the volume if after listening for about an hour you take off the headphones and your ears are ringing or your hearing capacity is reduced (can't hear high frequencies as well as usual). But to be on the safe side you need to turn the volume down a good deal more ... but with good in-ear headphones you don't need much volume anyway, because environmental noises are blocked out. ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
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Posted By: mystic fred
Date Posted: December 02 2006 at 14:12
with these headphones being recommended by yourself, Olivier, i am very tempted to try them - watch this space!
 ------------- Prog Archives Tour Van
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oliverstoned wrote:Posted By: enigma
Date Posted: December 02 2006 at 17:26
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Another advantage of these type of phones is that they are 'fellow commuter' friendly. They are completely inaudible to those who aren't wearing them, so no 'tish-tic-shhhhh-tissss.....' to annoy those sitting next to you. They are hearing friendly, less external noise = lower volume level. (This can also sometimes lead to longer battery life, depending on their current requirements). Yes, you must take care when positioning them, and it does take practice to get the right fit and choose the right tip for you. I have read that the lower end of the Ety range is supposed to have less pronounced bass compared with similar models from Shure, but with a more detailed open sound. I cannot vouch for this, but it is worth investigating the various makes to get a model which suits your tonal preference. These babies are expensive, so if possible, try before you buy (admittedly, some shops may have problems with you auditioning ear canal phones, but it is still worth a try - borrow a friends perhaps.) For more info, check out http://www.head-fi.org/ - http://www.head-fi.org/ At the lower end of the price bracket, Sennheiser do a model that is supposed to be a good value upgrade to the standard buds. |
Posted By: oliverstoned
Date Posted: December 03 2006 at 03:04
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You maybe allude to Sennheiser PX100? Indeed, it's good for the price, with soft highs, but these are certainly not real good headphones. On another hand, the higher models in the same range (PX250, PX 300, etc...) are to avoid cause it features a noise cancelling system which make it sound bad; Other good references in the same price range has been quoted here, among which: "Grado SR 60" and "Koss Porta Pro", all great for the price. For higher budget (100 to 300 dollars and more) turn to in ear models from Etymotic, Ultimates ears and Shure. |
Posted By: N Ellingworth
Date Posted: December 03 2006 at 03:13
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I once used a pair of Sennheiser in ear phones but despite great sound quality they weren't very strong and only lasted about a month before starting to fall apart, now when buying headphones for portable devices I look for strength rather than sound quality. Anyway it's hard to reduce the quality of mp3s any further  |
Posted By: enigma
Date Posted: December 03 2006 at 04:49
the Shure customer service is superb 
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Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: December 03 2006 at 05:31
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^ falling apart ... what were you doing with them?
------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
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Posted By: N Ellingworth
Date Posted: December 03 2006 at 06:49
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I'm not sure, I only paid £6 for them so I didn't really care but you'd think that they'd last longer. |
Posted By: goose
Date Posted: December 03 2006 at 08:48
| If they were £6 new I can't see them being Sennheiser... I may be wrong?! |
Posted By: N Ellingworth
Date Posted: December 03 2006 at 10:38
clearance sale 
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Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: December 03 2006 at 11:10
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I got my new Sennheiser for €70 ... I've been using them almost every day for the last 2 months, they're still as good as new.
------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
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Posted By: Angelo
Date Posted: December 09 2006 at 05:37
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I just got a fresh set of Koss Spark Plugs. Cheap (16 euro) but amazingly clear sound and background isolation - especially compared to my Sony, Samsung and Philips in-ear headsets. I wanted Sennheiser CX300s, but they were not available while these were. No regrets so far.  ------------- http://www.iskcrocks.com" rel="nofollow - ISKC Rock Radio I stopped blogging and reviewing - so won't be handling requests. Promo's for ariplay can be sent to [email protected] |