Dazerdoreal
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- Oct 5, 2022
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I recently purchased an Etymotic ER4XR. If you do so, you get a certificate with measurements that the drivers are matched within 1 DB.
They already sounded pretty great to my ears out of the box. Still, I was curious how they sound if I EQ them to the Harman Target.
I used the Harman tuning of Oratory1990.. it sounded super "off" to me. Cheap, wishy-washy, no mids, very "incorrect". And to be clear, this it is surely not Oratorys fault. I am just surprised how this target can be considered a serious standard among audiophiles.
This is not the first time where I didnt like the sound of a harman-tuned phone. I thought the main reason for this was unit variation. But in case of the ER4XR, I can safely assume that the unit variation is low. My resonance peak is also at the same point according to pink noise (~9500hz). So this really seems to be how an IEM is supposed to sound according to industry standards. Urgh.
Afterwards I vaguely tuned the ER4XR to the Crinacle Target (IEF Neutral) and added 4DB additional bass. Now *that* does sound right. I saw that the high-end "Monarch" IEM is tuned similarly to mine now. By the way, Crinacle himself also seems to prefer it this way according to many phones he tuned, e.g. the Dioko.
This might sound elitist, but maybe the IEM Harman target is too "mainstream"? Or otherwise, are the measurements of the Etymotics maybe not transferable on other phones because of their deep ear fit?
They already sounded pretty great to my ears out of the box. Still, I was curious how they sound if I EQ them to the Harman Target.
I used the Harman tuning of Oratory1990.. it sounded super "off" to me. Cheap, wishy-washy, no mids, very "incorrect". And to be clear, this it is surely not Oratorys fault. I am just surprised how this target can be considered a serious standard among audiophiles.
This is not the first time where I didnt like the sound of a harman-tuned phone. I thought the main reason for this was unit variation. But in case of the ER4XR, I can safely assume that the unit variation is low. My resonance peak is also at the same point according to pink noise (~9500hz). So this really seems to be how an IEM is supposed to sound according to industry standards. Urgh.
Afterwards I vaguely tuned the ER4XR to the Crinacle Target (IEF Neutral) and added 4DB additional bass. Now *that* does sound right. I saw that the high-end "Monarch" IEM is tuned similarly to mine now. By the way, Crinacle himself also seems to prefer it this way according to many phones he tuned, e.g. the Dioko.
This might sound elitist, but maybe the IEM Harman target is too "mainstream"? Or otherwise, are the measurements of the Etymotics maybe not transferable on other phones because of their deep ear fit?