ER4SR Studio Reference Earphone,Black

Don't be afraid of picking in between 4SR because it's "Studio Reference". These have great bass and is definitely there on all songs. It's a very clean quick punch bass that has is well defined (unlike the lower end IEMs in which all bass sound the same, the bass here has octaves). Instrument separation is a given as the detailing is phenomenal. Better than even thousand dollar IEMs like Shure SE846 in terms of sound quality. This is Etymotic's flagship model. The ER4 SR. The most accurate diffused neutral tuned IEM (outside electrostatics). Prepare to hear music like water. Clean and detailed. The "ear drilling" might take some people some time to get used to (for me, it was fine right away but I recall when I was younger, the "ear drilling" on the ER4P was definitely too uncomfortable for my taste). It's obvious the pros are as follows: 1. Sound quality. Sound quality. Sound quality. If you want to step up from here, you will have to spend thousands+ on IEMs and even then it's debatable. This is probably the best sound quality you can get out of an IEM under a $1000 in today's market. I hear good things about U12t, Andromeda, etc. but those are so far up the price point that it shows how great this IEM is sound quality wise. 2. Noise isolating. Cause it drills to your ears. 3. You will hear all the details in the piece because it is balanced in a diffused field manner (all frequencies should be able to be heard). The cons though to be aware of: 1. Cable is too long (1 ft longer than others). And the braided part (top) has quite a lot of microphonics which can be pain in the neck if you wear winter jackets. You will need to use the clipper that comes with the IEM in between your jackets when wearing winter jackets or otherwise, your earphone on your ears will feel heavy. 2. If you find drilling to your ears uncomfortable, well.. you should look elsewhere cause comfort matters. 3. If you have a girlfriend or a significant other, it's probably better going for another IEM as this IEM is really hard to share with others. No one wants to touch products that were already drilled into someone else's nasty ears and it's just difficult in general to share 1 plug to another with this type of drilling. 4. Sound stage and imaging can be 2-dimensional. This is what really separates the $thousands+ IEM from here. Not detailing. More of imaging and sound stage. This IEM has a soundstage of in between your two ears (aka head). Don't expect more. 5. If you want the best bass quality, opt for bassy IEM like Shure SE846. The "rumbles" don't exist with this IEM. Other than that, I wholeheartedly recommend Etymotic ER4SR at any price range under $1,000. And if you can't afford it, Etymotic ER2SE.

I have been a longtime (20 years +/-) ER IEM user; this is my third set. I use them primarily for mobile use (while walking) with my Astel and Kern personal audio player. I'll review some of the features of the product, which echo observations made by other reviewers: -- this IEM (SR version) is very accurate; I also have Sennheiser HD-600s (open air), HifiMan 400i (also open air) and Meze Audio 99 Classics (sealed); the ERs are at least comparable with those headphones in terms of accuracy. I selected the SR version instead of the XR (which bumps up the bass response) because the former is more accurate. -- achieving a sealed fit in the ear canal is essential... ER includes several tips of varying shapes and sizes; most users should be able to find a set that works well for them. The good news is that once a proper fit is achieved, they stay in place. I also find them to be very comfortable. -- having a sealed fit also results in the IEM being clogged with ear wax on occasion. When that happens, ER IEMs are equipped with filters that have to be replaced. ER provides a filter removal tool and a small set of filters. Replacing the filters is not an onerous task but prospective buyers should be aware of this need. Final thoughts-- I bought my ER4SR to replace an ER set (the ERHF5, no longer available) I purchased four years ago. The difference between the two in terms of sound quality is small (to my ears, which admittedly ain't what they used to be); in fact, when using outside I may not be able to tell a difference. My point is that some prospective buyers may be just as happy buying a lower-level ER IEM set and save $60 or so. This is NOT a criticism of the ER4SR but rather a compliment regarding the accuracy of ER IEMs in general.

Absolutely love the sound quality of these earphones, but can't afford to keep replacing when they fail. This our families 4th pair! (my son received a pair which failed, then replaced which also failed, I am now on my second pair and they have fortunately failed inside the two year warranty window so at least etymotic has to replace this pair for free). Same issue, over time one or both of the speaker drivers become distorted, slowly reduce output, and then blow. Very frustrating as the sound quality is outstanding. Four pairs that have failed over multiple years, however, do not lie.

I've had ER4Ps for over a decade and I finally decided to upgrade to the new ER4SR. I accidentally bought the XR but being a bit of a purist I quickly exchanged them for the SR. The 4P got me loyal to Ety. They replaced my cable and a broken armature on a couple of occasions for free which I thought was just brilliant from a customer point of view. I've also owned the headset HCxxx for Android and while I like the remote and mic on a headset there was a difference in sound quality. between them and the ER4P. These headphones the 4SR are simply better in every way. The sound quality is precise, on par w/ the 4P and w/ my new phone (Pixel) I find listening on them is very nice. I still need to dig my headphone amp out for more critical listening. If you have the 4P these are equivalent. I could have sent mine back for repair but decided it was time to buy a new pair after nearly 12 years of using them. The cord is much nicer than the original cord on the 4P but I recently got a newer cord when I sent them in for repair which is nearly the same. These also seem to get less tangled which is nice too. I wouldn't have upgraded if I didn't have a problem but it's a no brainer about which Ety to buy if you like music. As always the seal in your ear is critical with the Etymotics and with these in I can listen to classical music on the subway with very little of the outside world creeping in. Yesterday I was standing next to a guy playing the Xylophone on the platform and couldn't hear his racket thanks to the isolation these offer. There are different earpiece opitons. Personally, I like the silicone flanges (especially the new ones) for really good isolation but the foam tips can be far more comfortable on a flight. During decent the silicone plugs migrate further into my ears. Some people get tired of the feeling of in-ear buds but if you take time to get the right solution for you they can be far far more convenient and comfortable than over the ear or on ear headphones. I've listened to a number of other newer in ear solutions some costing nearly three times the price and others costing 1/10th. I honestly can't say I have found another pair on in ear buds that compare favorably to the Etymotic drivers. They're clean, unobtrusive in sound and in terms of convenience they're the best for people like me who commute and travel a lot.

These are nice. You can hear the difference from ER3SRs. I did not expect that as at the time I bought the ER3s, they were being billed as the same manufacture without the final human checking last step. Both put Shure to shame. My skin oils hardens Chinese made black plastic quickly. And the newer smaller third-party foam makes listening to either pair more enjoyable. I am sorry to see the company was sold and production moved overseas.

If you’re getting on the audiophile step ladder (like me), this is is a fantastic IEM for a neutral sound, with great precision, clarity and detail. Just make sure that’s what you really want. You may think you do but might then complain about the lack of bass. Well, the bass is there but requires a perfect seal and even then the bass might be less than you were expecting. Remember, these are Studio Reference earphones. Achieving a perfect seal is a story in itself. To achieve it requires deep insertion in the ear canal, which in my case meant a lot of trial and error with the supplied tips, not to mention discomfort, before finally settling on the tips that were both sealing and comfortable. The supplied foam tips proved to be both sealing and comfortable but in most cases impractical as they are so isolating that conversation is impossible. With the silicone tips you can at least make out that someone is trying to talk to you, with the foam tips, no chance. Although, come to think of it, depending the relationship, this might be a plus.

Over the years I've been a self professed audiophile, I've owned a variety of mid to high end audiophile products and over time they have been outdated. I also noticed that as opposed to when I was younger I like my audio experience to be in more private environment without a dedicated audio room. I ventured into high end headphones and I bought the senheisers which were an absolute delight. The sound quality was just amazing. The issue was they were over ear and bulky. Though the audio quality was spot on the bulkiness of the headphone made it inconvinient for long term usage. I knew I liked in ear headphones, so I was leaning towards the grados since everyone knows grados are so good. In my research I came across the etymotic brand and I had no idea who they were. After researching for about 2 weeks and reading a lot of reviews I realized that I absolutely needed to try these out. I like clean sound unmodified sound so I went for the "studio reference" ear buds. My set up is as following : Google pixel XL phone (music is on this) Audio format :flac Media player : poweramp. I gotta say these headphones knocked me off my boots, the sound isalation is awesome, the er4sr gave it perfect bass and if needed more bass I'd just increase the bass on my virtual equalizer. The sound was rich and immersive and the clear mids and trebles and bass was almost like I was redicovering music. These are hands down the best headphones for me. They shine on where the emphasis is, which is music . Only recommendation I'd have is to listen to flac files or better. Mp3s and aac file formats do show their lack lustre with these earbuds. Not that they sound bad but you just get so much more from higher bit rate file formats. I will buy these again if I ever have to.

In February ‘25, I decided I wanted a really high quality set of wired ear buds. I went to Best Buy and they recommended Sony ear buds for less than $20. I decided to do some research and ended up paying almost $200 for Etymotic ER4SR Studio Reference Earphones. Big mistake. I didn’t find the quality or features any better than the cheap ear buds they hand out on airplanes. Worse still, the volume on the right ear bud went to an absurdly low level after just a couple of months’ use. Then in April, the volume in the left ear bud also dropped. At this point, the ear buds were basically useless, so I threw them out and bought the Sony buds, which I’m very happy with so far.

Etymotic ER-4SR Studio Reference Earphone Quick Review by mark2410 Brief: The king is dead, long live the king!!! Price: £330 or in the US US$350 Specifications: Frequency Response 20 Hz-16 kHz, Accuracy Score 4SR (92%), Transducers High performance balanced armature micro-drivers, Noise Isolation 35-42 dB, Impedance (@1 kHz) 4XR (45 Ohms), Sensitivity (@1 kHz), SPL at 0.1V 4XR (98 dB), Maximum Output (SPL) 122 dB, Cable 5 ft. Detachable, Warranty 2 years Accessories: A bunch of tips and huge that case are mostly useless. Order a usable case and either some small olives or Comply’s when you buy them. Build Quality: Ety’s had a stellar build quality reputation when they were plastic, these are now metal and will likely out live you. Isolation: Ety’s are the kings of isolation, they are rated at up-to 42dB reduction. No other earphone or headphone can match them nor can any earplugs. The things you hear are because the sounds have travelled through your jaw rather than in your ears. Microphonics: If you wear them up nothing but they are angled so you probably will want to wear down and the chin slider and shirt clip will help there. Comfort/Fit: A contentious issue. The included tips all suck, pick up some small olives or Comply’s and then with a little lick for lubrication you can insert them. You will feel violated the first time you do this. However once you get used to the strangeness of it they are actually comfortable. I can wear them for hours and hours with no issues so long as I don’t have to repeatedly take them out. That is very wearing on the ear. Aesthetics: They look not bad, though they sit entirely internally in use so who cares, no one can see them. Sound: Well the old ER4 was the reference king. A paragon of neutrality and these are the same. They are slightly more easy to make sound their best as with the lower impedance over the ER-4S you can get a sound quality improvement if you insist on using an inadequate source. Yet I really wonder how many people did that? Were there many ER-4P users out there clamouring for the refinement of the S but weren’t willing to add in the impedance? Still if we ignore that then this is the same sound, in a slightly nicer housing. The old ER4 did look a bit naff and these look much more sleek. Of course since they are brain implants no one can actually see them in use sooooo, yeah who cares? Their audio is as it always has been, largely perfect. They are massively detailed, insanely detailed compared to the likes of most earphones. These are less devices to listen to music than they are an acoustic microscope made to analyse it. If you want all of the details, yey, you have found pretty much the perfect IEM with which to do so. Note that they will expose all flaws so feed them crap at your own peril, they can ruin formerly loved tracks by exposing its flaws you hadn’t noticed before. Value: Wallet ouchy but they are paragons. They are as reference grade as the old ER4 has been for decades and these will be for decades going forward. You want that, and something with a build that means you could do it with one pair, your wallets taking a short term pounding. Pro’s: They are the ultimate in reference quality perfection. Ultimate isolation. Con’s: The XR can do all these can but with a smidge more bass.

These might be the best IEMs I’ve tried—really flat frequency response, super accurate, and just perfect for anyone who wants that studio-reference sound. No extra bass boost needed—just pure, enjoyable, high-fidelity audio. I’d totally recommend the Etymotic ER4-SR.

Très bons IEM, très linéaires, propices à l'EQ'ing extrême vous en faites ce que vous voulez, vous les faites sonner comme vous voulez. Ils sont très fournis de base avec différents très bons embouts, câbles, filter kit etc. J'utilise perso les Dual Flange car les Triple ne me vont pas du tout et sont désagréables, ils conservent la signature voulue par Etymotic vous pouvez ainsi utiliser les AutoEQ. Mais perso je reste sur un Shelve de 3db sur les Low end j'aime beaucoup leur signature aucune raison de passer sur du Harman IE. Faites vous une faveur en revanche, quand le matériel fourni sera usé évitez de renouveler avec les accessoires Etymotic pour les câbles et bluetooth, je les ai tous testés ils sont très cher pour rien du tout et extrêmement fragiles. Edit 2025: Les meilleurs pour ce modèle resteront les triple flange. Les fameux. (en vrai on s'y habitue et on ne peut plus s'en séparer), regardez du côté de AZLA ou Spinfit CP155 ou CP240 pour de nouveaux Embouts. Les câbles sont fragiles, mais après avoir testé Lunashop, restez sur des câbles Etymotic honnêtement. 5 étoiles même avec des points faibles, ce sont le seuls écouteurs ou je suis tout le temps impressioné par leur qualité et leur précision, et ça fait 1 an que je les ai. Je n'ai jamais été autant épaté par des écouteurs.

They are very neutral and provide exceptional noise isolation which I like. But the sound is not satisfactory for me, because it sounds narrow and sibilant. It’s the first time I complain about sibilance ion my life having many high end headphones.

El hecho de que el mismo nombre tenga la descripción del sonido es un legado de la confianza que la compañía tiene en su producto y firma de sonido. Los ER4SR (Etymotic Research 4, Studio Reference) son eso, una referencia de estudio, significando que todos los sonidos que reproducen son controlados, neutrales, y sin ninguna coloración. En comparación a muchos audífonos, es cierto que todo en éstos es neutral. Incluso llendome más allá y comparandolo con algunos audífonos sobre oreja, éstos son lo más neutral de sonido que he escuchado. El talle puede que no les sea adecuado o cómodo a muchos, pero es necesario en éste caso. También son muy analíticos y estériles, lo cuál puede hacer pensar a muchos que el sonido no justifica el precio, pero no pueden estár más equivocados. Cuando compras éstos audífonos, compras más de 30 (1980~ si mál no recuerdo) años de investigación y desarrollo en cuanto a acústica y audición. Los compras de las manos de una compañia pionera en el campo de la salud auditiva. 🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕/5