Etymotic ER2SE and ER2XR Impressions and Discussion

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by shotgunshane, Aug 11, 2020.

  1. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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    Etymotic has been gracious enough to offer SBAF both ER2 models for a tour of impressions. Please see the loaner sub-forum for tour thread and rules.

    Ety has long been the IEM standard for neutral, diffuse field type tuning, with the old, retired ER4S holding legendary status. Ety is mostly known for their single armature based products, and while they have dabbled with dynamic drivers in the past, none have received much fanfare in audiophile circles. Enter the new ER2 series- single dynamic driver in-ears with slightly bassier, more natural sounding tonality and timbre. Both models have been getting fairly regular praise on the internet, particularly in the audio Discords.

    It’s been a long time since I last owned the venerable ER4S. I have fond memories of it’s one of a kind treble (some of the best I’ve heard in an in-ear), as well as some not so fond memories of the itchy fit. I also recall the ER4S being a little bit shouty in the upper midrange for my ears and it benefited from a change of stock green Knowles filters to the red. EQ also did wonders for the diffuse field flat bass that rolled off in sub bass.

    The ER2SE is easily identifiable with the Ety house sound. However the dynamic driver doesn’t come across anywhere near as shouty (at least at lower to medium volumes), and surprisingly is a bit too relaxed in treble. Bass has a more natural and slower sound than it’s armature based big brothers. Pleasing and neutral; that’s the vibe the ER2SE evokes. Like it’s predecessors, the Ety tuning doesn’t lend itself to much in the way of soundstage. It’s still very much in-head and 2D but articulate and precise. The ER2SE doesn’t match the resolving capability of current ER4SE but does better it in overall timbre.

    The ER2XR takes the same tuning and gives it extra low bass response. The result is a more musical, less tool-like, presentation. In fact, the bass response is pretty darn good with surprising texture and tactile-ness. I think most in-ear users can appreciate and maybe even love the ER2XR tuning. “It’s an Ety with BASS!” That’s something many of us have been waiting to say for a long, long time. The ER4XR also attempts a similar sig but isn’t quite as successful, as it has a bit of haze in the midrange.

    Some other things of note:
    • Ety’s now come with removable cables but it appears to be a proprietary mmcx connector. However stock cable is pretty supple and flexible (unlike the old, awful fixed cables), so really it’s only needed for replacement if you break it.
    • Markings for right and left are tiny and impossible to see in the dark, and damn near impossible for those of us losing our reading sight.
    • I usually bypass all the stock tips and go for Comply P or Westone True-fit foam tips. Now that Ety and Westone are under the same parent company, it would be nice to see True-fits to come stock with Etys.
    • I always liked Ety zippered pouches. Their in-ears are very durable, so something easily pocketable is appreciated.
    • ER2’s are pretty easy to drive and sound great from a smartphone, but also sound very nice on the desktop system as well.
    • Amazon has these for $100 a pop right now. Ridiculous value.
    Both of these will be going up on my list.
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2020
  2. E_Schaaf

    E_Schaaf MOT: E.T.A Headphones

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    The ER2XR begs for a comparison against Aurisonic Rockets. What do you think?

    Edit - I always heard the Rockets as essentially perfect FR-wise save for extension on the top and bottom octaves. If there were a Rocket with a detachable cable, no driver flex, better extension and resolve, that'd be my perfect IEM.
     
  3. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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    Unfortunately I no longer own the Rockets. I'd have to guess the Rockets to be warmer and smoother and the 2XR to extend deeper. But that's reaching deep in the memory banks!
     
  4. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    This is exciting! How would you say the 2XR compares with the FDX1?
     
  5. JellyRhino

    JellyRhino Facebook Friend

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    I bought the ER2XR to have better sound isolation while commuting than with the JVC FDX1, and a better tonality than with the Mee P1s (too warm). That is a success. While the FDX1 is definitely more engaging overall, the renditon of vocals with the ER2XR is definitely competitive. Lemmy's voice on No Sleep to Hammersmith is clear, coherent, and propulsive, as expected. I much prefer the timbre of the ER2XR, especially the midrange, to the BA iems I have : Massdrop Plus, Westone W40, and Shure SE420. The ER2XR is better, tone wise, than the Mee P1s and all of the forementioned BAs (no excess in bass or treble inconsistencies). However, there seems to be some kind of haze in the lower frequencies (some type of distortion, I guess), that is kind of unique to the ER2XR (AFAIK).
     
  6. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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    Like jellyRhino says, the FDX1 is more lively, more engaging, grabbing your attention. Rock guitars have more bit and edge. Vocally the ER2 is definitely competitive, as it comes across a little more mid centric in comparisons. Bass levels seem similar but I perceive the ER2XR as warmer than the FDX1, due to the greater upper mid/lower treble presence in the FDX1.

    Of course isolation is significantly better with the Ety but that also means it’s much slower to remove and insert, particularly if you use expanding foamies.
     
  7. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    I look forward to comparing them in the loaner! It’s a shame these require proprietary MMCX cables as I have multiple balanced IEM MMCX cables.
     
  8. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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    Ety sells a 2.5mm balanced cable, should you need one down the road. It’s labeled as an ER4 balanced cable but the description says it’s for ER models with mmcx connectors.
    https://www.etymotic.com/consumer/a...4-sr-xr-balanced-2-5mm-replacement-cable.html

    Also noticed they have an official tuning kit for the armature models. Comes with all the Knowles filters to play with. Pretty cool. Etymotic has come a long way!
     
  9. zonto

    zonto Friend

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    Thanks for sharing this! Do you have a recommended source for a short adapter with (1) female 2.5mm balanced jack on one end and (2) male 4-pin Neutrik XX 4-pin XLR on the other end? Based on a quick search, Amazon looks like a crap shoot.
     
  10. JellyRhino

    JellyRhino Facebook Friend

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    https://drop.com/buy/drop-4-pin-xlr-to-trrs-adapter
     
  11. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Off topic but I loathe 2.5mm balanced and I wish it would die.
     
  12. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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  13. wormcycle

    wormcycle Friend

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    I do not very often, if ever, buy right away after reading a positive review on SBAF, MD+ was an exception, and ER2XR is another one. Amazon delivered in one day,
    I owned ER4SR for two years now and was wondering what I was missing NOT buying the XR version.
    Then I bought Campfire Vega as my main IEM tool. Surprisingly ER4ES did not loose any appeal. I was still listening to both. Usually from Kann Cube or BHA-1 with balanced cable. But neither sounded really good from my phone. I wanted Etys bass and, after experience with Vegas, I had some preference for DD.
    Getting ER2XR for $140 CAD, particularly considering that I already have a balanced cable for Etys, and all kinds of tips, was no brainer.
    First impressions:
    The package is pretty basic and the quality of a stock cable would be disappointing, comparing at least to the ER4 cables, if it was not perfect when used with Redsone ES100. It simply disappears.
    After some burn-in it would be interesting comparing it to ER4SR. DD driver should get better with burn in if I am not mistaken.
    I have been listening for the last two hours and I think it was a good call. Nice relaxing listening without any weirdness, good details, there is certainly more and deeper bass than on ER4SR but not disturbing the rest of the spectrum.

    @shotgunshane, you mentioned the tuning kit.
    This one https://www.etymotic.com/tuning-kit-for-er-series-earphone-with-5-different-filters.html seems to be for ER models not only BA?
     
  14. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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    @wormcycle I think you’re right. Looks like the ER2 series comes stock with the greens.
     
  15. scapeinator1

    scapeinator1 Once You Go Black You'll Never Go Back

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    Just adding another data point. I got the ER2XR based off of the recommendations above. These are my "contaminated" iems that will live at the lab (which is located at a med school). I'm just not comfortable bringing my andro S to school for a while. Mice excrete a large amount of waste that finds its way onto a lot of surfaces, current pandemic aside. Primarily I was looking for something that can isolate out most of the noise in the lab to make it easier to focus on studying, zoom classes, etc.

    Overall, I agree with the etys with bass characterization. Definitely really satisfying bass response with comply foam tips, but still pretty strong bass with the stock triple flange. I opted for the triple flange because they seem easier to wipe down. I'm listening through an LG quad dac cell phone with the stock cable.

    I think the thing that I am most struck by is the vocal presentation. It genuinely surprised me with how clean it was. I really didn't expect that at this price point. The caveats to this is that it can occasionally get muddied by some of the treble "haze" referenced above for ex. on Adele's "Hello". That being said for songs like Aretha's "Ain't No Way" or Lorraine Ellison's "Stay With Me" the body of the vocals really shines through which is nice.

    I mean you could obviously nit pick about the headphones not having the same sense of air as something like the DD of the FDX1, but the value proposition at roughly $100 is a good one here.
     
  16. wormcycle

    wormcycle Friend

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    My setup exactly with V30, and it works very well.
    I also tried ER2XR with balanced 2.5 mm cable to Kann Cube and bass definitely has more texture, is tighter but still well extended. With balanced cable ER2XR is my new "closed" headphone, after I sold TR-X00, for my desk setup.
     
  17. YMO

    YMO Chief Fun Officer

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    Gear Used for Impressions/Review:

    Thinkpad X260 via Roon or Foobar2000-UPnP > Schiit Eitr > Massdrop x Airist R-2R DAC (RDAC) > Zampotech SW51+

    JVC + Drop HA-FDX1


    I didn't know what to expect when getting the ER2SE and ER2XR today, but I always curious on other DD type IEMs in the market. I don't need either one of them, since the JVC Drop HA-FDX1 outclass the ER2s on just about everything (it better be, it is still $250.00 as of today from Drop).

    However, I like to try out cheaper IEMs in case my friends/locals ask me what are some basic upgrades from the included earbuds that come with phones/video game/etc. This would be one of them that I would recommend, well, the ER2XR that is.

    Yes, the ER2s are not detail whores and will lose when using better IEMs. However, you can do so much worse for $100 than these.

    To the point, the ER2SE I wasn't in love with it. I guess the Etymotic house sound may not be for me "as-is." Yes they are more neutralish as @shotgunshane said, but I felt that the ER2SE is missing sub-bass response and treble was too sleepy for me. I felt that the music didn't have enough balls with the ER2SE on musically enjoyment. They sound fine, but they aren't special. I got bored of them after about 20 or so minutes.

    ER2XR are more like it. The more sub-bass is quite helpful on bringing a more musical enjoyment out of them. The best part is that they aren't really boom-boom, so those who still like a "warm-neutral" like me would not be offended. I still think the treble is maybe a little more lively, but to be honest it is mostly the same on the ER2XR. Mids with the added sub-bass added some minor heft to the voices and made it a nice enjoyable IEM for more pop-turned recordings. Stage on both IEMs are still flat and they won't win on details. Nothing on both IEMs really didn't stick out on a serious flaw (I'm not detecting any serious peak issues, etc.).

    Both IEMs aren't offensive, but I really prefer the ER2XR here. I think it is stupid that you can get both the ER2SE and ER2XR for the same price on Amazon, maybe Etymotic should sell the ER2XR for a little more.

    These IEMs goes in quite deep in your ears. If you don't like the feeling that goes in long hard and deep, don't get these. However, for seal purposes they work great for me. I used the default tips and not the other pairs I have floating around.

    I'm sick of proprietary MMCX Cables! So stupid IMO to use the MMCX standard and then design it where it only works on Etymotic cables. As much as I'm sick of these, I have to remind myself that these are only $100 IEMs (which on the $260 oBravo Cupid those have proprietary cables and for the price it is supid).

    If you really, really don't want to spend no more than $100ish on an IEM, ER2XR should do the trick. It is a good step up from the basic included earbuds on plenty of electronic devices.

    However, the HA-FDX1 are still the price/performance King of lower-end IEMs for me. I still think for most people that IEM might be the only one they need, and it plays nicely with t00b amps.
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2020
  18. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    https://www.etymotic.com/consumer/a...series-earphone-with-5-different-filters.html

    Wow, totally forgot what I went through trying to source these filters when ER-4Ps were my only IEMs. Ended up getting Knowles here in Taipei to send me some with metal housings. Big mistake as they were almost impossible to get out without breaking the nozzles. Eventually ordered the plastic ones from Ety. Red filter mod FTW!

    - end OT -
     
  19. Bobcat

    Bobcat Friend

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    I got the plastic ones through Mouser electronics.

    Rob
     
  20. Jinxy245

    Jinxy245 Vegan Puss

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    Thanks to all who had a hand in organizing the loaner, it is a true pleasure and a privilege to take part.

    I've always been somewhat IEM agnostic, mostly due to funky fit issues. Oddly enough I haven't had a huge problem with the Etys I've tried. It might be because my tip of choice with these is the Shure foams, but I haven't had much of a problem with the flanges either. Regardless, I'm very glad to have been able to take a listen to these.

    As I'm sure you've already surmised from the above, all my impressions were made with my Shure foam tips. I wound up using it a lot from my desktop (HP PC>Bifrost 2/Unison USB> either ifi Pro iCAN or Pendant) as well as a Fiio X1 Gen 2 and my Samsung A10. They sounded good from all of the above (even the Pendant). I wouldn't say they scaled tremendously.

    I can't really compare the ER2SE & the ER2XR in too much depth since I quickly settled on the 2XR as my preference, and I did most of my listening with them. I will say quickly that the 2SE I found to be totally listenable, and more in line with what I've always thought of as the "classic" Ety sound. There's plenty to like here, with no annoying peaks/valleys really, so if you like a bit less bass quantity, the 2SE should definitely be on your list. However, much like @YMO , I prefer a bit more authority in the lower registers, and that's exactly what the 2XR brought to the table.

    The 2XR I found to be just about right bass wise, and the tonal balance wasn't too skewed in any direction to be bothersome or a distraction. An analogy that might be apt is with the HD650. No these are NOT 650s in an IEM, but the bass has a similar presence to me EDIT: it should be noted with better sub bass extension. Not the deepest dive into bass, but enough to do EDM justice. Enough to get my toes-a-tapping, but I never found it intrusive.

    I found the mids to be pretty Goldilocks for me as well, no irritation and wonderfully clear from both male & female vocals. I didn't feel they pushed vocals to the forefront so I found that recordings with "hot vocals" were entirely listenable and enjoyable.

    Treble is on the polite side, but I had no issues. With my aging ears I'm likely not the best judge of treble anyway, but I did hear plenty of clarity and a good amount of "air".

    Detail retrieval was good, especially for the price. They're not going to win any awards for "aha" moments, but I never felt I was missing out. The detail is there...if not obvious, it's not buried either. Headstage is rather unremarkable, which has been my experience with most IEMs I've tried. There is a sense of space, but it is limited. Better width than depth or height.

    The biggest nit I have to pick is the absolutely lousy L/R markings. As @shotgunshane noted the black lettering on the black plastic base of the cable is all but invisible in anything but direct sunlight, and practically illegible without glasses for me. I had no issues with the cable, so I wouldn't be looking to replace it, but it definitely would be a bonus if those with good aftermarket cables could utilize them.

    In the end, the Etys do a helluva lot right, all at an attractive price. The 2SE may not be my cuppa, but they're perfectly listenable, and the 2XR are right up my sonic alley. Both are definitely worth checking out IMO.
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2020

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