Etymotic Research ER4S MicroPro Reference Stereo Earphones

These things ROCK! Honestly, I'm having a hard time understanding how anyone could possibly dislike these. They are NOT harsh or cold or without bass. They are very balanced and very, very smooth. I am convinced that anybody who finds these harsh or having too much treble are either not getting a good seal, or are just hypersensitive to high frequencies. To me, the treble is absolutely pleasing. Listening to these, I can't believe how rolled off my E4Cs really are in the treble region. The bass is similar to the E4C's, and is very tight and deep and quite punchy to boot. I tested it all the way down to 30hz (the lowest I could hear) and it performed admirably. I have no problems with the bass response of these phones. Listening to Jamiroquai's Virtual Insantiy and Cosmic Girl, the bass is very deep and pleasing.

And I must say it, these are definitely more detailed than the E4s. Everything just sounds so much more crisp and defined, and it is easier to tell the instruments apart from each other. Things like accidentals on guitars and the timbre of the instruments themselves are all frighteningly accurate and detailed. Separating certain instruments from others is easier. I'm hearing things I never heard before. There is absolutely no muddiness here. Soundstage doesn't seem to be much smaller than it was with the E4Cs and the crossfeed effect with my TBH would take care of that anyway. The cable is very microphonic. That being said, I barely have any problems at all when using the shirt clip, even while going for a walk.

Getting a good seal is easy, it only takes me a few seconds to roll up the foamies and shove them in. I have never bothered with the triflanges, they hurt the crap out of my ears. I trimmed the foamies so that the edge was flush with the nozzle. They still isolate very well and sound fine. These phones have a lightning fast attack and almost no decay. I like this, it feels like the sound is flicking my eardrums. I haven't noticed any problems with cymbals.

I think I have finally found the headphone I have been looking for. I'll never buy another pair again...

Really!

Having used the 5 Pros, E4Cs, and now these Etymotics, I have to say they are by far the best of the three, hands down. I would recommend them to pretty much anyone except the most intense bassheads.

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My first pair had intermittent sound problems in both earphones when I moved. The sound and volume would slowly fade in and out, and oftentimes cut out altogether with a hint of static. I RMA-ed them back to Etymotic Research and was quite pleased with their 2 day response time (not including shipping time).

As for the sound quality themselves, I was disappointed to have a difficult time differentiating the sound quality between the ER-4S and the much more cheaply priced ER-6i while listening to my MP3s which were encoded between 192kps to 320kps. The treble sounded less tinny than the ER-6i, but the bass sounded weaker. From the manual included with the ER-4S, Etymotic Research claims that the ER-4S has a 10% improved sound accuracy over the ER-6i, but none of this is substantiated with any additional testing conditions.

Furthermore the ER-4S has a earphone profile much longer than the ER-6i. The earphones will protrude from your ears quite a bit. This may not be a big problem to most, but it is worth noting when it is 1.25" long with the 3-flange eartips.

On the bright-side, the ER-4S really shines when you use the disposable foam eartips. The foam eartips are a bit of a hassle to put on, but they feel a lot better than the 3-flange eartips over a long period of time. Furthermore, the foam eartips isolate noise significantly better than the 3-flange eartips (42dB of average noise isolation versus 35dB of average noise isolation).

What may be a better and cheaper alternative to a pair of costly ER-4S is to use the foam eartips on a pair of ER-6i. If you are an audiophile like me, and love perusing the boutique audio shops listening to Martin Logans and B&Ws, a pair of ER-4S may be worth a try.

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