Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review
(201 customer reviews) 297 of 304 people found the following review helpful
Dynamics way beyond the ER-6: incredible performance for the money - if you use it correctly.,
October 14, 2006 Joshua G. Feldman "Technophile" (New York) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Etymotic ER-4P Portable In-Ear Earphones (Electronics)
I'm on record with a total rave of Etymotic's ER-6 headphones - but the ER-4P is vastly more satisfying. The difference is bass (the most immediately obvious difference). The ER-4p has phenominal bass for headphones - probably state of the art in this reguard. But what makes the ER-4p really special is its amazing dynamics. The soundstage is huge, and sonic textures leap out of velvet silence. It's hard to characterize superb dynamics. Music sounds "bigger". Quiet passages have more presence - and louder passages have more inner detail. Another strength of the ER-4p is that the extra bass energy allows the vibrant treble detail to sound balanced - not strident or analytical (as the ER-6 can sometimes sound). Between the dynamics and the bass, the ER-4p ends up sounding more musical and alive than the ER-6 (and thus virtually every other earphone). There is a touch of mid-bass ripeness - sometimes deep voices like Mark Knopfler sound a little chesty. There's also a downside...Read more
90 of 92 people found the following review helpful
Hard to beat,
January 6, 2006 Michael Twa "mdt" (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Etymotic ER-4P Portable In-Ear Earphones (Electronics)
I owned the ER-6i headphones for about a year before I left them on an airline seat and made someone's day. I loved them and most of what I liked about them factored into my decision about what to replace them with. I shopped the Shure models and several others, but I really did like the performance of the ER-6i. So why did I go for the upgrade? While the ER-6i's were overall excellent (4 stars by me), at times they seemed incapable of providing a full bass response at reasonable volumes. They either were dull at low volumes or distorted at high volumes. Yes, there are times when I play my music too loud, that's why I choose headphones, so I do not annoy others with my often odd musical tastes. I do expect a good headphone to be capable of delivering good bass.
The ER-4p excels where the ER-6i fell a bit short. With either model it matters a lot how you seat the ear pieces. A poor seal (insufficient depth) results in very little bass. Correct insertion provides the best...Read more
67 of 70 people found the following review helpful
Very good earphones with a few flaws,
January 18, 2007 Steward Willons (Illinois) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Etymotic ER-4P Portable In-Ear Earphones (Electronics)
I recently purchased a set of ER-4Ps and while the glowing reviews presented here are pretty much justified, I must take issue with a few points. In my experience, these earphones do not have the bass presence that so many reviews mention. I would definitely describe it as anemic. Even bass-heavy music such as drum 'n bass or jungle comes across incredibly weak. It's as if listening to music through a high-pass filter. As a composer/producer, I've listened to a lot of audio transducers and I trust my ears. I am not one of those guys who turns the "bass knob" all the way up and such. I believe in flat frequency reproduction to yield the most accurate representation of the composer's creation.
That said, these largely depend on the style of music you enjoy. I find listening to acoustic music very rewarding with these earphones. Bartok's "Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celeste" has never had such amazing clarity. Bartok's dense weave of strings each find a space in the mix...Read more
