Drop + Etymotic - ER4XR

As someone who mostly uses BA IEMs the multi-flange tips aren't even exactly a matter of isolation, they always provide the best possible bass response and it's very noticeable. I guess that's part of the reason why Etymotic keeps shipping them since the beginning (ER4). Not as noticeable with DDs though

I had a pair of really terrific Klipsch ear buds & probably used them every day for about 9-10 years. Finally, a short developed on one side. I wore them out. Glad they lasted THAT long! I almost bought a new pair off EBay - new ones in original pkg. I have almost enough headphones for inside use. So I researched IEMs for a replacement for the Klipsch. It was between the Aful Performer 5+2, Kiwi Ears Orch Lite & Kiwi Ears huge planar, Aether. So I got the Aether when Amazon had a weekend sale of $139. Love it so far‼️More than enough sub-bass & bass for me, crystal clear mids & very airy, light treble. Have had difficulty finding memory foam ear tips - a set from Bulletz & Comply BARELY seal for me. The Arther has a very wide 6.5mm nozzle, & that nozzle is short. Wish I could find a foam tip to fit that X-wide bore AND, has a length 12 to 16mm. I also got the Etymotic ER4XR, likely closer to the Klipsch. You mention sticking an entire headphone can in deep ones ear🤣😩 That's the exact notoriety of Etymotic‼️Etymotic states clearly that, "if after a few days, doing so is painful, take a few days off & try again (try to deliver pain into your brain yet again)‼️"🔥🔥🔥🔥😩😎🥸😩😱

So I actually kinda bought a ton of IEMs to answer this question too. I was trying to find something that works for voiceover, for mixing, for critical editing, and for checking how mics sound in reviews. If I had to choose under $300, here’s my categories: * Mixing: Neutral enough to translate well on different setups (HD6xx, speakers, etc.) * Critical editing: Can it expose bad audio or does it hide flaws? * Monitoring: How good it is for hearing your own voice accurately. * Enjoyment: Just how fun it is to listen to. Letshouer Galileo Mixing: Excellent Critical Editing: Excellent Monitoring: Excellent (voice literally sounds just like me when monitoring) Enjoyment: Low Moondrop Blessing 2 / Blessing 3 Mixing: Excellent Critical Editing: Excellent Monitoring: Excellent Enjoyment: Low (pretty harsh, basically MDR-7506s in IEM form) Zigaat Lush Mixing: Excellent Critical Editing: Below average unless you crank the volume on sibilant spots Monitoring: Excellent Enjoyment: Good

Etymotic ER2XR / ER4XR Mixing: Below average (soundstage is too 2D) Critical Editing: Excellent Monitoring: Excellent Enjoyment: Okay Crinacle Daybreak (surprisingly) Mixing: Depends—more “Meta” neutral than Etymotic-style Critical Editing: Excellent (picks up sibilance like crazy, great for catching issues) Monitoring: Excellent Enjoyment: High Xuan NV (big surprise) Mixing: No, too much bass Critical Editing: Excellent (vocals are super accurate for both male and female) Monitoring: Iffy—low impedance can be weird with interfaces like the MOTU M2 Enjoyment: High Thieaudio Legacy 2 Mixing: Excellent Critical Editing: Excellent Monitoring: Excellent Enjoyment: Decent Cadenza 4 Mixing: Excellent Critical Editing: Excellent Monitoring: Excellent Enjoyment: Excellent Orchestra Lite Mixing: Excellent (surprisingly neutral—not bright like Blessing 2/3, not warm like Dusk or Lush) Critical Editing: Excellent Monitoring: Excellent Enjoyment: Excellent Basically the Studio4 but more revealing with sibilance instead of smoothing it out. Hexa I don’t really recommend it—too many fit issues and inconsistent impressions. If you do try it, use wide-bore tips (not narrow). Video explaining why: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x-T8el9fbs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x-T8el9fbs) Hope this helps.

Any of the the Etymotics (in order of cost): ER2SE, ER2XR, ER3SE, ER3XR, ER4SR, ER4XR. SE/SR models have less bass, XR models have a small bass lift (the ER2XR has a larger bass lift, but is close to Hexa for bass amount). These are extremely neutral, and all very detailed with fast (albeit not heavy) bass attack. Soundstage is tiny though. 

Etsy are excellent, I love my 4xrs.

I only own three pairs now (one full size headphone, one IEM and one TWS). I’ll rank them and other headphones/IEMs I’ve had but some of this is coming from memory: 1. Focal Utopia* 2. U12t* 3. Focal Clear 4. Sundara 5. Blessing 2 Dusk 6. HD6XX 7. EMU Ebony 8. AirPods Pro* 9. AKG K371 10. Etymotic ER4XR 11. B&O H6 Gen 2 12. Tin T2 13. Beyerdynamic DT177x GO 14. Meze 99 Noir 15. Beyerdynamic DT770 16. ATH M50x * is what I currently own. Everything else has been sold off.

Ugh, I know. I got the ER4XR and ER2 XR. I've flirted with the Hexa, Zero Red, S12 Pro and Letshouer S08, but I always keep coming back to Etymotic. It's insane.

No I think there might not be enough bass and a lower mid, when compared to the 2K peak. However, maybe that will be OK when you take into account the occlusion effect. Also - just as a point, I personally don't agree with having a 'vocal' IEM, or a 'Drummer' IEM, etc. I think they should just be engineered to sound good at a reasonable volume level. Obviously IEM's have some limitations, but even a single driver can sound really, really good - Etyomic ER4 is a great example. I'm still very interested to see some hard, measured data on actual phase and frequency response from 5 or more driver IEMS, because I'm not convinced that they are actually better.

1. HEK Stealth: I expected them to be too bright for me but they appeared to be perfect. Bass is well detailed and in good amount for my liking -not a basshead- mids are not as forward as I would like, but still intimate enough, and highs are of course detailed but not to a fatigue threshold. Soundstage here is narrower than the HD800S but more "holographic", the imaging is perfect, you can pinpoint everything. 2. HD800S: I am probably biased but I really love the mids on these, trebbles can be a bit too hot for me though. Of course soundstage is very wide and the imaging is excellent only second to the HEK. Bass are the real weakpoint barring them to be an all rounder imo. 3. Arya Stealth: Very detailed but a bit sloppy in its execution. It can get a bit overwhelming on some kind of musics where your mind is just attracted to every bit of information. Feels like the headphone is trying to shove the details in your throat. Too bright to my likings but mids were nice and bass really good. Soundstage is on the narrow side but in a holographic sense "taller", imaging is very good but detrimental to the overall pleasure. 4. HD560S: was not expecting them to be that good honestly. Got them during christmas as a gift, and I must say that I am very pleased: very detailed, they are tuned in a way that makes me rediscover some aspects of my music which I find quite enjoyable. Trebbles are not harsh at all -we're talking about Sennheiser so that's normal- mids are really good, although not as good as the HD6XX series imo. The bass are in the average when compared to other HD5XX series, although they feel tighter: maybe because these are newer than my previous HD5XX headphones. Only exception would be the HD58X which have more bass in quantity. Soundstage here is not the focus of these headphones but wide enough, imaging on the other hands is excellent and on par with the above IMO. 4. ER4XR: these IEMs are really good, really good clarity, bass are tight and trebbles not aggressive at all, the mids feel a bit too recessed to my likings but still okay overally. Soundstage wise they are on the wider side, as for imaging they are excellent. 5. HD598: I may be biased as they are my third "audiophile pair of headphones" after I sold the HD599 and the HD598CS. I love them to bits, and I always get impressed by their sound signature everytime I put them on. Trebbles are not harsh at all, mids are forward and bass can be considered as a lackluster but when you become accustomed to its sound signature you can often find yourself wondering why there is too much bass on some tracks. The imaging in these in is not as precise as the above -of course we are hundreds of dollars below the previous sets- but still quite good if you want to really focus on details. Of course the soundstage is quite wide for its price tag. However these are very old and I suspect that most users here would consider these as a relic of the past: understandably so. 6. ER3XR: really similar to the ER4XR, I would say 90% similar, they just lack a bit of clarity: that bit makes the ER4XR shine in comparison. However the ER3XR still keep the same sound signature as their big brother. So overally really good pair of IEM. 7. HD6XX/HD58X: The two of them are quite similar in their presentation, rolled of trebbles, forward mids -even more as they age- a good amount of bass but a clear lack of sub bass. The difference I hear is that the bass region in the HD58X is more bloated than the HD6XX. Other than that on a quick blind test I would often fail to distinguish one and another. However if I had to keep only one I'd go with the HD6XX as I feel like the bass area in the HD58X can often be detrimental to some genres. These two are "fun" headphones and by no means neutral. On the soundstage side, they are on the narrow side, I have often seen people calling them claustrophobic, the imaging can be a mess sometimes but if you concentrate yourself you can still pick a good amount of the details, which are believe are more present in the HD6XX. However I must say that they are on the same league as the ESP95/X although very different in their presentation.

Issue: I own and have used the ER4XR daily for the past 1.5 years. I love the sound signature, but the fit sometimes hurts and is very becoming concerning. Personal search: In similar threads, I found people generally siggest Harman tuned iems; ex. Moondrop, theiaudio etc., I'd like to maintain Etymotics more flat response. From further research I've started to believe what I really want are typically described as reference monitors, typically used by live-sound engineers and musicians, examples include Alclair Studio 4, Ultimate Ears, JH Audio etc. The problems I have with this conclusion are that these iems are all 1000+, custom molded and all reviews tend to reference their performance in a live music environment. Cost is not necessarily an issue, however with so many options at various price points it's hard to believe the 300~ to 1000~ jump is necessary. As a footnote I have tried the ERX. Its advertised as an ER4XR with a EVO shell which is essentially my dream. Unfortunately I dont believe the advertisement is accurate. They sound close but the ERX has a very sharp spike in its higher frequencies that made me return them. In addition, I found their soundstage very forward and shallow which in combination with its harsh treble made them sound cheap. Does anyone have any recommendations? Do you believe I am right to look toward the reference monitor iems I referenced?