Category: IEMs

Etymotic EVO – What We Know So Far

On 1 Jan 2021, Etymotic announced they will be releasing a new multi-driver earphone, a first for them. Here is what we know so far about it.

  • It’s a 2-way, 3 BA driver configuration (2 for bass and 1 for mid/high).
  • It’s voiced more like the XR series and will have around a 5dB bass-boost with the corner frequency at 100Hz or lower (which is lower than the ER2XR)
  • It’s been in development for 2 years and has a custom stainless steel PVD-coated housing that utilizes the Estron T2 connector system and will ship with an Estron BaX cable.
  • It will be blue in color and come with the familiar combination of 2-flange, 3-flange and foam tips.
  • It will have the green damper in the nozzle.
  • It doesn’t have an ambient filter and is an isolating IEM design like the other Etys.
  • It won’t have the channel-matching compliance graph which is exclusive to ER4.
  • According to their social media posts, it’s supposed to be “designed for supreme accuracy and ultimate durability” and it’s “sound signature takes the ER4 to the next level with less canal resonance, increased sound stage and a faster response.”
  • As per Blake Gaiser, Director of Consumer Audio at Lucid, “The soundstage is wider, responsiveness is faster, clarity is better and ergonomics are more comfortable.”
  • On the new connector, Blake Gaiser, Director of Consumer Audio at Lucid, said “(MMCX) was never the right connector for earphones. Excited to share this new connector and we’re definitely looking at balanced variances.”
  • EtyMotion will have a version with the T2 connector that will work with EVO.
  • It won’t be priced under ER4, so price will be $300 or more.
  • Will realistically release in May.
  • You can register to get notified when it becomes available on the official EVO product page.

Join the Etyheads Facebook Group community to get the latest on, and discuss, all things Etymotics.

References

final A4000 / Etymotic ER2XR – Listening Session

Note: This is NOT a review.

Setup: DAP [Sony NW-A105] ➞ Music [Spotify (Downloaded at Very High Quality)] ➞ IEM [final A4000 / Etymotic ER2XR]

Track: Misty by Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio

  • Track: Misty
  • Album: Misty – Live At Jazz Is
  • Artist: Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio
  • Listening Volume:
    • A4000: 76
    • ER2XR: 80

What I hear on this track

  • On A4000, starting at around 0:01, I hear the drummer making what sounds like 2 circles on the snare with brushes which I hadn’t paid attention to on ER2XR. Once I knew it was there I could faintly hear it on ER2XR as well and by increasing volume I could hear it clearly but at the expense of making everything louder.
  • The piano sounds warmer, fuller and rounded/blunted on A4000 while on ER2XR the attack is more defined/sharper, has nice decay and sounding tonally richer and more “real” (actually sounds like piano keys being struck).
  • On A4000, cymbals and hi-hats sound more emphasized, splashy and have a lot of sizzle, drawing attention to them in the mix while on ER2XR they are just there, are more articulate and cymbal strikes actually sound like wood (drumsticks) hitting metal.
  • The upright bass is more emphasized and has more body and mid-bass on A4000. It stands out more in the mix than on ER2XR.
  • Imaging seems more precise on ER2XR, for example with the piano and especially on hi-hat, cymbal strikes and snare hits.
  • While the instruments seem to be panned to similar width on both IEMs, on A4000 the cymbal strikes sound closer and higher. I assume this is because of the boost in the highs. The A4000 also has a larger “sense of space” (wet/reverb).

Track Verdict

With ER2XR, the piano is the star of this track (which is how I think it’s mixed), while on A4000 the trio seem to be fighting for attention. The A4000 has what I call “emphasized detail” on this track where certain sounds/instruments are emphasized (which might make it interesting for some people) at the cost of tonal richness and sounding “natural”. This track is more engaging, immersive and richer on ER2XR for me.

See Also

final A4000 Measurements (Frequency Response Graphs) and Comparisons with Etymotic ER2XR

I had posted measurements (frequency response graphs) earlier for final A4000 based on my old rig. Here are the latest measurements based on v1.0 of my IEM Measurement Rig.

final A4000 Left and Right Channel Frequency Responses

3 samples each of the left and right channel. For each sample I remove and re-insert the IEM.

final A4000 Average Frequency Response

Average of 6 samples (3 samples of left channel plus 3 samples of right channel).

final A4000 vs Etymotic ER2XR (normalized at 85dB@1kHz)

final A4000 vs Etymotic ER2XR (normalized at 85dB@200Hz)

Etymotic ER2R Measurements (Frequency Response Graphs)

These are the first measurements from v1.0 of my IEM Measurement Rig.

Etymotic ER2XR Left and Right Channel Frequency Responses

3 samples each of the left and right channel. For each sample I remove and re-insert the IEM.

Etymotic ER2XR Average Frequency Response

Average of 6 samples (3 samples of left channel plus 3 samples of right channel).

Compared to KopiOKaya’s ER2XR Frequency Response (Average)

KopiOKaya was kind enough to share his ER2XR measurements (from his rig) with me for comparison and our measurements are pretty close.

Crinacle’s ER2XR Measurement

There are some differences but overall it’s pretty comparable.

IEM Measurement Rig v1.0

After struggling quite a bit with the DIY tube-coupler and in the interest of making my graphs compatible with other graphs out there for easy comparison, I decided to get an IEC6038-4/IEC60711/IEC711 coupler. This is a Chinese knockoff which is supposed to be pretty close to the real deal.

Setup

  • Hardware: Laptop > USB Audio Interface > Sound Card (Mic In) > IEM > IEC711 coupler > Sound Card (Front Out) > USB Audio Interface > Laptop.
  • Software: Room EQ Wizard (REW)

final A4000 measurement (frequency response graphs) and comparison with Etymotic ER2XR

Please disregard this post and see the latest final A4000 measurements (frequency response graphs) and comparisons with Etymotic ER2XR using v1.0 of my IEM Measurement Rig.

These measurements are made on my DIY IEM measurement rig and are not accurate, and don’t necessarily represent what you might hear, especially before 60 Hz (huge sub-base roll-off) and after 10 kHz (and maybe even after 3 kHz as my ER2XR graph is very different compared to Crinacle’s post that). You can use it just to get a comparative idea, hence the comparison with ER2XR to give you a point of reference. Improving the rig is an ongoing process.

Here is Crinacle’s ER2XR graph for reference

It looks like final went with the mids to bass rise like in the E series and the highs of the A8000 on A4000.

final A4000 ❤ Love at first listen – Initial Impressions

To start with I had very high expectations from the final A4000 with some early reviews calling it a “baby A8000”, the A8000 being final’s flagship earphone that cost $2000. Given my experience with some earphones from final’s E-Series (E500 and E3000) that seemed very pleasant and maturely tuned but lacked both in quantity and quality in the highs for my preference and the fact that final is one of those few companies that seems to be very passionate about what they do, I was really hoping to find a final earphone that came close to my preference. So clearly I was going into this very biased.

Before I share my initial impressions it’s important to understand some context. At this point my reference earphone is the Etymotic ER2XR and I would classify myself as being a neutral-head. I listen to any and all types of music but I generally stay away from most forms of electronic music. I’m listening to music from Spotify (very high quality – downlaoded) on the Sony NW-A105. These impressions are OOTB (Out Of The Box) with no burn-in and I’ve listened to them for a couple of hours. final recommends 150 to 200 hours of normal-usage burn-in which according to them is primarily for the adhesive in the driver unit as it may affect the slight movement of the diaphragm and usage over time might allow it to move more freely.

With that out the way, here are my initial impressions:

  • The first thing I noticed is the bass. It is slightly more than on the ER2XR but the delta feels like it’s a lot more than it actually is because of the emphasis in the mid-bass on the A4000. This gives it more thump and makes it punchier compared to ER2XR (which has a sub-bass emphasis with a lot more rumble and comes across as cleaner and leaner).
  • Mids and vocals seem more forward on the A4000 and also very slightly cleaner.
  • The A4000 has a noticeable boost in the highs compared to the ER2XR but without sounding harsh to me. You can “hear the metal” of the instruments on the A4000 without any resonances that might make it sound metallic. This area might be problematic for some people as I’ve seen tolerances vary a lot when it comes to higher frequencies.
  • Imaging and separation seems to be slightly better on the A4000 while transient response is slightly slower compared to ER2XR.
  • Need to spend more time with them to say anything about resolution/detail retrieval as they seem very close.
  • These are power hunger with only 18 ohms of impedance but a sensitivity of 100 dB/mW and require similar power as the ER2XR which has an impedance of 15 Ohms and sensitivity of 96 dB at 0.1v (98 dB/mW [1][2])
  • The A4000 is super light, fits very well in my ears and is super comfortable for me, but the cable is very thin (above the y-split) and I feel like I’m going to break it every time I take them of while holding it just above the 2-pin connector.
  • If you prefer a dark and smooth sound, the A4000 might not be for you.
  • Overall I think it has a well balanced sound signature, sounds very coherent, has great timbre for most instruments and is more “fun” than the ER2XR on most tracks, which is not necessarily a good or bad thing, just different and I think they compliment each other well.

These are very early impressions so take them FWIW. My impressions might change after I spend more time with them and get some “brain burn-in”.

P.S. I haven’t heard the A8000 so can’t confirm the “baby A8000” claim.

That’s all for now. I’ll be doing a listening session post with these soon, so subscribe to the blog with your email to get notified as soon as I make future posts:

References

  1. https://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/09/more-power.html
  2. https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/dbv-dbmw.php