My apologies for the 'click-bait' title.
Having owned and used IEMs in various price ranges $-$$$$, I have never been satisfied. Extremely happy, but never content. Before the pandemic I used to travel a lot for work and adventure, hence spent a lot of time and money in perfecting my portable rig. PMPs from the likes of prohibitively priced A&Ks to the extremely affordable Sansas. Portable and desktop headphone amps and DACs, various stack kits and what not. Like most audio hobbies, this was a rabbit hole too. I spent a lot of money buying new gear and a lot of time researching and comparing. Everything I used had it's merits but none was perfect. Then came a day last year, where I got absolutely frustrated and decided to get rid of it all. IEMS, PMPs, headphone amps and DACs everything and adopt convenience over this obsession to find the best. I decided to sell it all and keep this 1 IEM that has been my favorite for some weird reason all these years, where I have gone thru multiple flagships and used or sold them but never sold this - the Westone UM Pro 3X RC.
Little did I know....
Within a week - the bug of discontent bit me again. That was a face palm moment and I cursed myself for selling everything. I was very happy with the UM Pro 3X playing from my laptop and Sony Walkman A Series, but you know how it goes. I even thought of asking my friends to send the stuff back that they bought and send the money back, but I resisted the temptation and decided to buy the Westone W80s instead and be done with. I love everything Westone. The sound, the form factor, the comfort, hell the way the UM PRO series looks. Having used the W60s for well over 3 years and having enjoyed them every time I put them on, the W80s were the obvious choice. So that was that. For the PMP, the ipod was a simple choice, comparing with most streaming capable PMPs, the UI and the battery life, well, enough said. Convenience over obsessions. An amp/dac was "obviously required" - wisdom said buy the Mojo. Well, convenience over obsession, came in the AQ Cobalt. That was that.
A few weeks went by, I tried every single way to get my hands on the W80s, but the stars weren't aligned. So to soothe the itch I bought the Etymotic Research ER4XR. I used the ER4S (not the ER4SR) a few years ago, and they were every bit resolving and full of details and dynamics, maybe even neutral, but I found them too sterile, for that very quality, hence I stayed away from the ER4SRs. Now please know that I really love my Westone UM Pro 3Xs (or Pro 3Xs), even while owning all those IEMs that were atleast 6-7 times the price of these, I kept going back to them again and again all these years whenever I wanted to really enjoy my music. They always travelled with me, they went with me everywhere as a back up. However they were the ones I used whenever I wanted to really get lost. So the Pro 3Xs are my personal reference IEMs.
Enter the ER4XRs - well in short, I haven't used my Pro 3Xs in well over 3 weeks.
In long - if you can get over the deep insertion and the 'getting used to' period of the ER4XRs, I 'believe' you will be rewarded. They are not the best IEMs out there, I will never make a bold statement like that as I have not heard everything out there, BUT, I am convinced they are outstanding. They are a very unique blend of resolution and fun. In my experience that is the thing I have been looking for all this while and Pro 3Xs were the closest that I ever got.
They are great for vocals, regardless of the gender, they have a good soundstage, they create a convincing three dimensional image of your music, they render instruments clearly, they have good timing, they have 'enough' low end and it is taut, they are composed and they are musical, they can be called analytical BUT they are FUN. That is hard to achieve in my experience. As I write this I am enjoying Etta James - One for my baby, Amy Winehouse - Rehab and Mark Knopfler - Quality Shoes on repeat.
Now I do not have the flagships I mentioned earlier as I sold them all. So I do not have an A/B comparison to the Shure Se 846s or the Westones W60s or the UE 18+ Pro or the Sony IER M9s or other such models in the price range. I however, have my Pro 3s which outlasted all these and I do prefer the ER4XRs over the Pro 3s. The only thing where I wish the ER4XRs were like the Pro 3s is the fit and comfort.
Am I still going to buy the W80s? - yes if I get them at a great price, I will even buy the UM pro 50s, they have been on my list for a very long time.
Are ER4XRs perfect? - NOPE, but they are engaging and fun.
Are they the end game? - nothing will ever be, BUT, if I only have the option to choose 1 IEM I have to live with for the rest of my life with no option to buy another I have my answer.
On that note - what I am really waiting for are the Etymotic Research multi BA IEMs and yes they are in the works
.
Having owned and used IEMs in various price ranges $-$$$$, I have never been satisfied. Extremely happy, but never content. Before the pandemic I used to travel a lot for work and adventure, hence spent a lot of time and money in perfecting my portable rig. PMPs from the likes of prohibitively priced A&Ks to the extremely affordable Sansas. Portable and desktop headphone amps and DACs, various stack kits and what not. Like most audio hobbies, this was a rabbit hole too. I spent a lot of money buying new gear and a lot of time researching and comparing. Everything I used had it's merits but none was perfect. Then came a day last year, where I got absolutely frustrated and decided to get rid of it all. IEMS, PMPs, headphone amps and DACs everything and adopt convenience over this obsession to find the best. I decided to sell it all and keep this 1 IEM that has been my favorite for some weird reason all these years, where I have gone thru multiple flagships and used or sold them but never sold this - the Westone UM Pro 3X RC.
Little did I know....
Within a week - the bug of discontent bit me again. That was a face palm moment and I cursed myself for selling everything. I was very happy with the UM Pro 3X playing from my laptop and Sony Walkman A Series, but you know how it goes. I even thought of asking my friends to send the stuff back that they bought and send the money back, but I resisted the temptation and decided to buy the Westone W80s instead and be done with. I love everything Westone. The sound, the form factor, the comfort, hell the way the UM PRO series looks. Having used the W60s for well over 3 years and having enjoyed them every time I put them on, the W80s were the obvious choice. So that was that. For the PMP, the ipod was a simple choice, comparing with most streaming capable PMPs, the UI and the battery life, well, enough said. Convenience over obsessions. An amp/dac was "obviously required" - wisdom said buy the Mojo. Well, convenience over obsession, came in the AQ Cobalt. That was that.
A few weeks went by, I tried every single way to get my hands on the W80s, but the stars weren't aligned. So to soothe the itch I bought the Etymotic Research ER4XR. I used the ER4S (not the ER4SR) a few years ago, and they were every bit resolving and full of details and dynamics, maybe even neutral, but I found them too sterile, for that very quality, hence I stayed away from the ER4SRs. Now please know that I really love my Westone UM Pro 3Xs (or Pro 3Xs), even while owning all those IEMs that were atleast 6-7 times the price of these, I kept going back to them again and again all these years whenever I wanted to really enjoy my music. They always travelled with me, they went with me everywhere as a back up. However they were the ones I used whenever I wanted to really get lost. So the Pro 3Xs are my personal reference IEMs.
Enter the ER4XRs - well in short, I haven't used my Pro 3Xs in well over 3 weeks.
In long - if you can get over the deep insertion and the 'getting used to' period of the ER4XRs, I 'believe' you will be rewarded. They are not the best IEMs out there, I will never make a bold statement like that as I have not heard everything out there, BUT, I am convinced they are outstanding. They are a very unique blend of resolution and fun. In my experience that is the thing I have been looking for all this while and Pro 3Xs were the closest that I ever got.
They are great for vocals, regardless of the gender, they have a good soundstage, they create a convincing three dimensional image of your music, they render instruments clearly, they have good timing, they have 'enough' low end and it is taut, they are composed and they are musical, they can be called analytical BUT they are FUN. That is hard to achieve in my experience. As I write this I am enjoying Etta James - One for my baby, Amy Winehouse - Rehab and Mark Knopfler - Quality Shoes on repeat.
Now I do not have the flagships I mentioned earlier as I sold them all. So I do not have an A/B comparison to the Shure Se 846s or the Westones W60s or the UE 18+ Pro or the Sony IER M9s or other such models in the price range. I however, have my Pro 3s which outlasted all these and I do prefer the ER4XRs over the Pro 3s. The only thing where I wish the ER4XRs were like the Pro 3s is the fit and comfort.
Am I still going to buy the W80s? - yes if I get them at a great price, I will even buy the UM pro 50s, they have been on my list for a very long time.
Are ER4XRs perfect? - NOPE, but they are engaging and fun.
Are they the end game? - nothing will ever be, BUT, if I only have the option to choose 1 IEM I have to live with for the rest of my life with no option to buy another I have my answer.
On that note - what I am really waiting for are the Etymotic Research multi BA IEMs and yes they are in the works
.
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