Etymotic ER4XR IEM Review

[isostasy]

I recently received a pack of ER38-15S Frost 3-flanged eartips from Westone (I believe they're now the parent company of Etymotic Research).

They are different to the old ones, not frosted at all. More like the large clear eartips but even less opaque material.

I will update after some use if anyone is interested. Just like the old ones they're a bit hard and uncomfortable when new.

(duplicate post in ER2XR review)

And an update for anyone interested, I'm disappointed even after breaking in these don't seal properly like the old frosted tips. It's weird because they look the same size but either they're minutely smaller enough that they no longer fit, or the material is too pliable/slippery to create a seal.

It's annoying for me as the large tri-flanges have always been too big, whilst the small frosted were too short, so using the long stemmed small frosted tips and cutting down the stem worked perfectly.

What I really need is a size in between!

 

[SpaceMonkey]

To add to this: it basically depends on stage volume and how deep of a seal the user is getting with the foam eartips. The foam offers the most isolation (as high as 42dB), so that should offer as good isolation as one can get.

That said, if the stage volume is really high, sound will leak in via other cavities in the skull, so that's a major factor.

The ER2XR isn't linear in the low end (it's got a pronounced bass boost), so it really shouldn't sound linear at home, either. Hopefully it sounds good, but it's not flat. For that, you'd want the ER2SE.

Please do give me a chance to suck more people into Etymotic camp
Overall, you are right ER2SE are more linear. ER2SE/ER3SE/ER4S/P owner here.

 

[isostasy]

Please do give me a chance to suck more people into Etymotic camp
Overall, you are right ER2SE are more linear. ER2SE/ER3SE/ER4S/P owner here.

In what sense do you mean more linear?

Don't want to start another argument about Harman bass shelf etc.

However linear in the sense that it's a straight line on the graph seems meaningless to me if it's not actually perceived that way.

Even considering only the missing 6dB effect the SE line seems deficient in bass as they're only around 2-3dB above diffuse field depending where you normalise.

Fwiw I did use Etys with older style tuning (MC5 I think) and thought they were fine until I got the ER2XR and realised there's so much missing from the low end.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

In what sense do you mean more linear?

Don't want to start another argument about Harman bass shelf etc.

However linear in the sense that it's a straight line on the graph seems meaningless to me if it's not actually perceived that way.

Even considering only the missing 6dB effect the SE line seems deficient in bass as they're only around 2-3dB above diffuse field depending where you normalise.

Fwiw I did use Etys with older style tuning (MC5 I think) and thought they were fine until I got the ER2XR and realised there's so much missing from the low end.

I have this thing going always with SE/XR
During day, when noisy SE has missing bass.
During night I have enough bass from SE.

So objectively SE is more flat, but how it is perceived might be different. This is me.
People can do what they prefer of course.

 

[isostasy]

I have this thing going always with SE/XR
During day, when noisy SE has missing bass.
During night I have enough bass from SE.

So objectively SE is more flat, but how it is perceived might be different. This is me.
People can do what they prefer of course.

Interesting, I think for me SE would be too bass light even in a quiet environment.

earphonesarchive have measured all these on the 5128 now for anyone interested:

That's just DF with no tilt on the dotted line

 

[nigo983]

Is the THD measurement performed by fixing the volume at 94dB, 104dB, or 114dB at 1kHz and measuring the THD at all frequencies at that volume level? Or is the measurement performed while adjusting the volume level or applying an equalizer to achieve 94dB, 104dB, or 114dB for each frequency?

 

[staticV3]

Is the THD measurement performed by fixing the volume at 94dB, 104dB, or 114dB at 1kHz and measuring the THD at all frequencies at that volume level? Or is the measurement performed while adjusting the volume level or applying an equalizer to achieve 94dB, 104dB, or 114dB for each frequency?

When measuring THD, Amir adjusts the volume to 94/104/114dB SPL at 425Hz, then plays a sine sweep at that volume, capturing the earphone's natural frequency response and the corresponding THD.

If the earphone has a 10dB bass boost relative to 425Hz, then the 94dB THD curve will show bass THD at 94+10=104dB.

 

[nigo983]

When measuring THD, Amir adjusts the volume to 94/104/114dB SPL at 425Hz, then plays a sine sweep at that volume, capturing the earphone's natural frequency response and the corresponding THD.

If the earphone has a 10dB bass boost relative to 425Hz, then the 94dB THD curve will show bass THD at 94+10=104dB.

Thank you!!! Does it vary from person to person?

Also, the THD percentage is the percentage relative to the volume of the sine wave at each frequency at that point, with the volume being set to 100%, right?

 

[staticV3]

Does it vary from person to person?

Does what vary from person to person?

Also, the THD percentage is the percentage relative to the volume of the sine wave at each frequency at that point

Correct.

with the volume being set to 100%, right?

Not sure what 100% volume means in this context

 

[nigo983]

Thank you.

Does what vary from person to person?

The question was "whether not everyone uses the same method as amirm to equalize the volume levels".

Not sure what 100% volume means in this context

The question was, "For example, is the THD figure for 3kHz the THD figure relative to the volume at 3kHz (not the volume at 425Hz)?"

I apologize for asking such unclear questions.

 

[staticV3]

The question was "whether not everyone uses the same method as amirm to equalize the volume levels".

I think it's the most common method.

The question was, "For example, is the THD figure for 3kHz the THD figure relative to the volume at 3kHz (not the volume at 425Hz)?"

THD at 3khz is relative to the IEM's volume at 3khz, the volume that is the result of aligning 425Hz to the stated measurement volume, then playing a sweep which captures the IEM's natural frequency response.

I.e. on an IEM which has 6dB of ear gain at 3kHz, relative to 425Hz, the 94dB SPL THD sweep at 3kHz shows the IEM's THD performance at 94+6=100dB SPL.

 

[nigo983]

I think it's the most common method.


THD at 3khz is relative to the IEM's volume at 3khz, the volume that is the result of aligning 425Hz to the stated measurement volume, then playing a sweep which captures the IEM's natural frequency response.

I.e. on an IEM which has 6dB of ear gain at 3kHz, relative to 425Hz, the 94dB SPL THD sweep at 3kHz shows the IEM's THD performance at 94+6=100dB SPL.

Thank you!!!

 

[nigo983]

I think it's the most common method.


THD at 3khz is relative to the IEM's volume at 3khz, the volume that is the result of aligning 425Hz to the stated measurement volume, then playing a sweep which captures the IEM's natural frequency response.

I.e. on an IEM which has 6dB of ear gain at 3kHz, relative to 425Hz, the 94dB SPL THD sweep at 3kHz shows the IEM's THD performance at 94+6=100dB SPL.

May I ask one more question?

When calculating THD, do you subtract the difference due to frequency response? Or do you use the physical volume directly? (For example, if the volume is 5dB louder at 200Hz than at 100Hz in the frequency response curve, do you subtract this 5dB when calculating the THD?)

 

[staticV3]

May I ask one more question?

When calculating THD, do you subtract the difference due to frequency response? Or do you use the physical volume directly? (For example, if the volume is 5dB louder at 200Hz than at 100Hz in the frequency response curve, do you subtract this 5dB when calculating the THD?)

THD is the ratio of the fundamental and the sum of all harmonics at any given frequency.

No additional frequency response compensation is applied.

 

[Rja4000]

May I ask one more question?

When calculating THD, do you subtract the difference due to frequency response? Or do you use the physical volume directly? (For example, if the volume is 5dB louder at 200Hz than at 100Hz in the frequency response curve, do you subtract this 5dB when calculating the THD?)

"The THD Ratio is calculated as the RSS summation (square root of the sum of squares) of the harmonic components divided by the rms level of the fundamental signal. "

So, to your answer your question:
No. Only the fundamental and its harmonics are taken into account.