No clue why its 5 BA either when the tuning wouldn't even stress a Single BA set up like the ER4XR uses?
The ER4SR are already stressed too much. The FR is damn near perfect, but the power handling is not.
No clue why its 5 BA either when the tuning wouldn't even stress a Single BA set up like the ER4XR uses?
The ER4SR are already stressed too much. The FR is damn near perfect, but the power handling is not.
What do mean by power handling?. How are they stressed too much nothing i read even hints that?.
Fairly significant rise in distortion with volume. Right in the midrange too. Multi BA designs often fare better in the respect. Final's F series of single BA models seem to hold it together very well to my ear, though I haven't seen any distortion measurements to confirm that. Their FR's need more work than the Etys too.
I'm with you on most of the super expensive multi BA IEMs being overrated with weird tunings though. That's what sells though, for whatever reason.
People act like the Andro is world changing but it FR looks like something a cheap single driver IEM would have. Many Multi BA/DD hype how they can reach 20KHz, Yet quite a few tap out at 16KHz.
But that only 90 to 100db?, So multi BA/Single DD only win is at volumes no one would try?
Your F vs ER4 is as vaild as me saying Lame >> AAC/Ogg with no ABX proof.
From the marketing standpoint, most of the customers at that price range aren't really looking for a "relatively flat frequency response" sound and more of tuning preferences. The marketing people know that a lot of those customers like to make the sound "huge, authoritative, (and many more audiophool terms here)" and thus they tune those TOTL IEMs with weird tunings. The technical standpoint of resolution is way past the diminishing returns (any decently priced IEM can churn out every microscopic detail presented in the recording) and as such, it's purely the tuning of the IEM to one's preferences that matter. Sadly, the audiophools are willing to pay premium for that weird tuning.
I'm saying that none of them are perfect as they have tradeoffs in different areas.
If you cap the maximum volume, the ER4SR would end up being the best IEM I've ever heard. It's one of only a few headphones of any type that I don't think requires either EQ or mods. It is excellent. It's just not perfect.
Is not not praise enough? Or are you disputing if the distortion is even audible?
That our hearing isn't some powerful device it pretty flawed & easily fooled.
Right, but we're only talking -40dB here...and the Ety's already have that much isolation.
Also applies to the Grados...
ZMF Eikon
https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/ZMFEikon.pdfThis might be the first time I've seen someone call a ZMF headphone terrible. I've never actually heard one myself. Please do tell ...
https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/ZMFEikon.pdf
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xxt8liitfys9lt6/ZMF Eikon.pdf?dl=0
IF measurement shows bloated lower mids, oratory shows a lack of sub-bass. This could have something to do with the seal.
Both of them show a roller coaster response past 1 kHz with large dips (1.5 kHz, 7 kHz), a peak (5-6 kHz), and an overall subdued treble response.
To make matters worse, they are also highly variable when it comes to positioning, as you can see from the raw response of the IF measurement. Changing the position of the headphones slightly leads to huge variations in the FR.
ZMF Atticus are even worse sounding, and have the same issue with positioning, but I chose Eikon beucase it's more expensive.
Sensitive discussion
That [Tyll's pained expression] is how I feel when listening to the HD-800. They're not as bad as the Ultrasone, more like +6 dB @ 6 kHz, but they still make me wince.That was by far the best video he ever did and shows what +15dB at 6kHz does. ...
Muddy, dull, and with a hint of sibilance.How did they sound to you?
Muddy, dull, and with a hint of sibilance.
4.5/10, would not listen to again.
I've a pair of both. On the right day, love both. Not my favourites but begs the question, what's your preferred flavour?I've hated every pair of Mr. Speakers/DCA headphones I've tried. Don't understand the hype at all.
I've also disliked every Beyerdynamic I've tried, but at least many of them aren't TOO expensive and I suppose I can see how they might be good for studio work.