Quote:
Originally Posted by
dSONIQ
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This could be possible in several months if we manage to find them. After your message, we have checked requests and found Etymotic ER4-XR are quite popular considering that these are quite expensive IEMs.
What can you tell about their sound?
For us, it was a pretty serious question, are IEMs really used for mixing tracks? We added IEM support because there were requests, although it is still difficult for us to understand what the real demand for their use is (although we were really happy with the result). It was even more difficult for us to develop a reliable protocol for IEM measurements so that the measurements matched the sound of our reference monitor system.
We suppose that this can be a very convenient option for the road, because usually, IEMs are compact headphones with high sensitivity, detail and good transient response.
I do understand that measuring IEM responses is MUCH more difficult, particularly because even a bare-bones IEM comes with multiple eartips, usually varying in size, shape, and even material. I have many different sets if IEMs (at least 20 or 30), but the only ones that I trust for mixing or mastering are my Etymotics. While no monitoring system is perfectly flat, they are the closest that I've found. They are the deepest insertion IEMs that I've ever used, and passively block out more sound than any others I've ever tried. So much so, that if I was in a pinch, and was at a concert and needed hearing protection, these would probably block out as much sound as many of the dedicated earplugs, on the market. I also have a good number of over-ear headphones, and while there are many things I prefer about those, none of them come close to being able to let me hear the smallest level of detail (particularly with regard to setting reverb and other effect levels) than my Etymotics do. That is also true for being able to hear both micro, and macro, dynamics. I can spend hours dialing in a mix on my HD600s, or even my Slate VSX, and then listen to the mix on my Etymotics, only to find that I hadn't been hearing a pumping, or compression, issue the entire time. So, yes, I do think these, in particular, excel in revealing transient detail. All of the newer Etymotics feature replaceable cables, and I have both of my pair running balanced cables, so I can get more power out of my portable DAC/Amp. In the US, on Amazon, the ER2-XR (dynamic driver) is constantly available for around $85, and the ER4-XR (balanced armature) is around $200. Compared to other high-end IEMs, those prices are EXTREMELY low. Even compared to most reference-class over-ear headphones, they are affordable, considering the sound quality. And, yes, IEM's (especially these, because they are tiny, even for IEMs) are far more portable than any over-ear headphone. I'm not saying that they are superior to full-sized headphones, in every area, but, at least to me, they are an indispensable part of my mixing/mastering toolkit.
