Etymotic ER-4P mini-review

NOTE: Sorry for the pics ahead of time. They were taken w/ my cell b/c my camera is acting gay.

As some of you may know my old pair of ER-6 that I used with my iRiver H320 for almost 2 years died (cable damage that can't be fixed very easily). Anyway, so for the new school year (read: BUS with nothing better to do) I needed some new phones and went back to Etymotic (after considering Shure and UE).

OFFICIAL PRODUCT PAGE:http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er4.aspx

For those of you who don't know, Etymotic is a local (well, for us Chicagoans anyway) manufacturer of high end hearing aid, and professional sound equipment ranging from bluetooth headsets to headphones to whatever. Buying the ER-6 was an impulse buy, but these were quite a bit researched. I called tech support (local call ) and asked a few questions about my previous model, my current (err, at that time future) model, and general questions about the brand and products. The staff was very fast, friendly, and professional, answered all my questions.

I went ahead and ordered these things on Tuesday (?i think) from Blue Proton through Amazon for $162 shipped (not bad since MSRP is $299) . Pretty much the best price I could find from a TRUSTED (however not Etymotic Approved) reseller. About that, it was one of my questions and I was told that as long as its not ebay, and i buy it new the warranty will not be hurt as long as I keep a copy of the invoice. Some of you old timer etymotic users may remember having to register online or fill out a warranty card, they don't make you do that anymore (however even less than 2 years ago i had to register my ER6)

On to the actual product:

The Box:
They come in a 7" x 5" x 2" package....a plastic box. It comes loaded with accessories including 3 sets of 3-flange rubber tips, 5 sets of medium foam tips, some extra filters and a filter changing tool, a shirt clip, and a carry pouch.

The Package:

The Box:

Open Box:

Stuff Included:



The Construction:
I must say that these are built better than the ER6, but still not quite as chunky as E3c that I had a chance to play around with. As you can see from the pics the cable is thicker, and the earpiece itself is bigger on these than on the ER6. However, notice how the cable is also like a twisler with 2 smaller cables just twisted around each other, rather than it all be encolosed in 1 insulation.

Cable:

ER-4P in their naked glory:

ER-4 vs ER-6:


This Chart: http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/epcomp.aspx will help you compare the performance of my ER-6 to these ER-4.

Listening test is yet to come, but since my music is only in 192 vbr ogg I don't expect to hear much of a difference. Then why did I get them? Comfort! Why haven't I tried them on for this review yet? I still need to go take a shower.

my headphones are better than yours

why why not

a question came up that in the pictures, even on Ety's site the phones are color-coded Red and Blue for right and left......but not mine (as you see in teh pics) i emailed them asking why that is.....i guess now we wait.

no i still haven't test driven them. i know you guys are swearing @ me right now how can i buy a toy this nice and not play with it as soon as i get it....

so its been 3 days but i am actually finally doing the test...ehh. haha..

SOUND:
After listening to my crappy Senheisers for so long I forgot what music sounded like. The sound is excellent. I am listening to one of my favorite albums right now (O-Zone -- Disco Zone) and i am hearing things I didn't hear in the Senheisers, in the ER6, in my car, on my computer......yey reference quality headphones . The bass is WAY STRONGER than the ER6....its pretty powerful and adds to the effect of the music but it is not overwhelming by any standard.

Stethescope Effect:
Stethescope effect, which was my biggest worry about these headphones also seems to not be a huge issue. I actually got the new model (thats why they are not blue/red like in teh ety's pics) and the cable and overall build quality according to etymotic is a lot better on these. The cable bellow the pod (which is located on the Y) is insulated in extra rubber/plastic, above the pod (the \/ part of the Y) does not have this extra coverage, so thats the only area which generates this effect. Compared to the ER6 this is a huge improvement where the ENTIRE CABLE generated this annoying effect.

COMFORT:
I am using the stock plastic tips, initially they itch a bit, so have you asked me in the first few seconds what the comfort was I'd rate it less than ER6, but more than generic earbuds. However now that they settled in they are feeling really comfy. Can't wait to try out the foam tips . The cable is a really good lenght, same as on the ER6, so taht I can comfortably stand up with the mp3 player in my pocket w/o feeling it trying to pull the phones out of my ears...(unlike the Senheisers which had much shorter cable...) On a practicallity point (true to all headphones) you need to carry a pouch with you when you're on teh go to put them away. by wrapping them around the player (like so many people do) you risk wire damage (what put my ER6 in the shitter) so...be careful and don't be lazy. DONT wrap the cable around.

SOUND INSULATION:
Currently I am sitting in my room....except for my laptop there is no other noise....and with the headphones in (w/o music playing) i can't hear the fans. That doesn't prove anything though. So what I just did is set my laptop volume to 100% (which is pretty decent for 10w speakers) and turned on Digitally Imported: Trance channel. w/o the phones in at the distance i am sitting at its way louder than one would classify as comfortable listening (even for dance music), with buds in and no music playing, once in a while I would hear a background buzz or something, but nothing hardcore. With music on (Scooter -- Always Hardcore) I couldn't hear it at all....perfect quiet as far as I am concerned. I guess I can't wait to take them out on a busy street and see how it fairs with car traffic In either case I can tell you now its marginally better than my ER6....but I have a feeling thats because these sit in deeper and better than the ER6 because they are a bit smaller (and my ears aren't freaken huge : See biggest hole in the world thread).

VERDICT:
so far I am EXTREMELY pleased with my purchase. Have I loved the Shures (E3c-n) just the same.....or more...I guess I'll never know, but I am really happy with Etymotic as a brand and with the 2 products I tried and highly recommend them to anybody.

Speaking of which, if you have an ipod do yourself a favor and invest in a pair of ER6-i. Probably the best favor you can do your ears, and your ipod.

One thing thats huge is that whereas with my Senheiser buds I needed to have the volume set (on a -87 to 0 scale) at -50 to hear SOMETHING and at -30 for comfortable listening. With these phones I only need to set them at -85 to hear something and -50 for comfortable listening. I don't have to lose my hearing

SCORE: 1/2

yeah...the generic ones that iRiver gives you with the player at least i applaud iriver for going an extra mile and including a pair of Senns ....unlike...."Apple" branded headphones......i dont know about you but i dont wanna stick a fruit in my ear.