Etymotic ER-4P Portable In-Ear Earphones

by Etymotic Research

• Noise isolation: 35-42 dB
• Maximum output: 122 dB SPL
• Weight: less than 1 oz.
• Response accuracy: 86%
• Frequency response: 50-10 kHz ± 2 dB; 20-16 kHz ±4 dB

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 2.7 inches ; 1 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0007WZLDC
• Item model number: ER4P
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (209 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 14, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com

The ER-4P MicroPro noise-blocking earphones from Etymotic Research offer realistic sound reproduction and noise isolation that far surpasses that of active noise-canceling earphones. The ER-4P earphones--which require no batteries--can be plugged into any audio source. They can be used with portable CD, MP3, DVD, and other players without an additional amplifier.

The ER-4P earphones were designed to match the response of the ear, creating nearly perfect sound reproduction. They reduce external sound naturally by sealing your ear canals, without the added weight, bulk, or external power supply required for active noise-canceling. Their external noise exclusion (up to 33 dB using the supplied 3-flange eartips and 41 dB with foam eartips) lets you hear the full dynamic range of recordings without your having to play them at unnaturally high and unsafe levels.

What's in the Box
ER-4P MicroPro earphones, a 5-foot cord with 3.5 mm stereo phone plug, a .25-inch stereo phone adapter plug, six 3-flange eartips, 10 foam eartips, a filter-changing tool, 4 replacement filters, a shirt clip, a zippered pouch, a storage box, a user's manual, and warranty information.

Product Description

The ER-4P MicroPro noise-blocking earphones from Etymotic Research offer realistic sound reproduction and noise isolation that far surpasses that of active noise-canceling earphones.

See all Product Description

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

318 of 327 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Dynamics way beyond the ER-6: incredible performance for the money - if you use it correctly. October 14, 2006

By Joshua G. Feldman TOP 1000 REVIEWER

I'm on record with a total rave of Etymotic's ER-6 headphones - but the ER-4P is vastly more satisfying. The difference is bass (the most immediately obvious difference). The ER-4p has phenominal bass for headphones - probably state of the art in this reguard. But what makes the ER-4p really special is its amazing dynamics. The soundstage is huge, and sonic textures leap out of velvet silence. It's hard to characterize superb dynamics. Music sounds "bigger". Quiet passages have more presence - and louder passages have more inner detail. Another strength of the ER-4p is that the extra bass energy allows the vibrant treble detail to sound balanced - not strident or analytical (as the ER-6 can sometimes sound). Between the dynamics and the bass, the ER-4p ends up sounding more musical and alive than the ER-6 (and thus virtually every other earphone). There is a touch of mid-bass ripeness - sometimes deep voices like Mark Knopfler sound a little chesty. There's also a downside the huge dynamics - sometimes a touch of congestion can creep in during crescendo peaks. The flip side of this is that quiet passages can have enormous presence and emotional power. Small scale accoustic stuff and female vocalists shine and have amazing presence. Nora Jones, for example, has never sounded better. Big rock doesn't suffer either. The fantastic treble detail and huge deep bass makes both classical and rock really slam. These really are amazing phones.

There are the usual caveats of an in-ear-canal headphone: Ear-canal type headphones like these must be inserted ALL the way down into the ear canal to get good bass. The better the seal the better the bass. One of my ear canals isn't straight and I sometimes have trouble getting that ear's earphone properly positioned.... Once I do - the bass on these phones is amazing. This issue causes problems for some. Some people just can't tolerate something in their ears. My wife uses foam earplugs all the time but she's too squeamish to insert these earphones properly. I know plenty of people with this issue. Be honest with yourself about this before you make the plunge. If ear canal type earphones are not inserted all the way to make a good seal they sound tinny and lightweight with no bass.

Then there's the usual caveat for any high-end audio transducer: it's only worth the money if you've made sure the signal you're feeding it can do it justice. If your source material is great you'll thrill to hear all of it. You'll hear things you never heard before, guaranteed. If your source isn't good - you'll hear that too. I suspect this is the source of many of the complaints. There are a lot of people listening to low grade portable players - or to audio files with too much compression. Check out any peer to peer sharing sites and you'll find lots of audio tracks that sound like they were ripped off a poorly tuned AM radio station. If this is your music collection you should probably stick to cheap earbuds that soften and roll off the music. Etymotics will sound glorious if you are using lossless compression or high-bit rate encoding off good source material.

I'm an audiophile. At home I tweak room accoustics, cable types, speaker placement and the like. My lifestyle dictates I end up doing much of my listening on commuter busses, airplanes, subways, and long walks across the city. The Etymotics and my iPod - filled with losslessly compressed tunes gives me an audiophile experience on the road. I frequently hear things on this rig that I don't hear even on my high-resolution home system. This kind of musical satisfaction at this price is astounding - a total bargain. Part of what makes it work so well for passenger transport use is the excellent isolation. These things are earplugs - plain and simple. They cut out ambient noise exactly like earplugs. Be aware that sonic isolation can be dangerous for pedestrians, bikes, drivers, and motorcyclists. You can't hear the car horn that might save your life. I walk NYC streets all the time with these on, but when I jaywalk I'm extra careful to look both ways.

I've used ER-6s for last 3 1/2 years or so and was deeply in love. I'm probably a good candidate for Sensas, Ultimate Ears, or other expensive exotic phones, but decided to upgrade to the ER-4ps on reputation when the ER-6s began to lose some sonic integrity after years of hard use and rough treatment. (I use the ER-6s at the gym now - where they sound great and stay put during vigorous exercise). At first the ER-4p's bass was over-ripe. They need some burn-in time. After 5 hours or so the bass came into line with the rest of the frequencies. It is still extremely strong - sometimes almost overpowering. I find this a rare and desireable trait for headphones. Most phones - even really great phones like Electrostatics or dynamic phones like Grados or Sennheisers have deficient bass. The bass and dynamic prowess of the ER-4p puts them in a different league than the ER-6 - which can sound a bit hard and analytical at times. The ER-4p sounds almost euphonic by comparison. I don't think it actually is euphonic. I've used them for about 75 hours so far and they reveal the source material. They just do so in a beautiful way. If you care about audio quality, can tolerate ear canal type phones, and can feed them high resolution source material, you'll probably fall as deeply in love with the ER-4p as I have.

A word about ergonomics. Some have criticized the ER-4P's microphonic cord and way they stick out of your ear - making them vulnerable to contact with hats and helmets. There is something to this criticism - especially in winter. The ER-4p sticks out of your ears, secured only by the friction fit of the earpiece itself. This can lead to annoying encounters with hats and scarves. It's not so easy to make these headphones happy inside earmuffs or ear covering hats. Etymotic was one of the first in-ear-canal headphones and the design lacks the ergonomic advances of Shure and others - principally the routing of the cord up and around the ear and a thicker, non-microphonic cord covering. I wish Etymotic would consider incorporating these advances. Etymotics have penetratingly transparent sound - transparency (ultimately, fidelity) that is impossible to match anywhere close to this price. I'll put up with the ergonomic issue (which are really only issues in winter - for me).

Follow-up - Last week I had an hour to kill at the airport and a nice salesman let me do a shootout with Shure E3cs, E4cs, E5cs, and Sennheiser CX-300s versus my beloved Etymotic ER-4Ps. I was able to eliminate the Shure E3c and Sennheiser CX-300 immediately - they sounded unacceptably muffled and congested by comparison. The Shure E4c and E5c were more interesting. The E5c had more powerful bass, but was ultimately less transparent than the Etymotic ER-4P. The E4c, however, really gave the Etymotics a run for their money. Shure's E4c had excellent midrange and treble transparency and strong powerful bass. I had to go back and forth between these and the ER-4Ps many times to get a firm fix. The major difference is EQ balance. The Ety ER-4Ps are flatter; the E4cs more tipped up at each extreme, as if you had turned both the treble and bass knobs up. The E4cs had a seductive sweetness in the treble and rich solidity to the bass that was very seductive. I was tempted to put my credit card down. The Etymotic ER-4Ps are less exciting - but ultimately felt a little truer to the music. I'd say both had about equivalent transparency and apparent fidelity. The E4cs are twice the price of ER-4Ps - underscoring Etymotics excellent value. The Shures had a nice wind-up case and, perhaps, better ergonomics, however. Food for thought.

Yet another follow up: a word about the fact that the new ER-4Ps are black and the old ones were blue and red. I imagine that Etymotic stopped making the blue/red cable boot models because people thought it looked funny. Now that they are all an attractive black some mourn the lost functionality of immediately being able to see which one is left and which right at a glance. There is an easy way to do this with the new black ones (I own the black ones BTW). Hold one out in front of you and look for the shiny circle. If you see the shiny circle, stuff it in the ear it's pointing towards. If not, shove it in the other ear. Perhaps my words are not clear, but try it once and you'll immediately see my logic. Once you learn this move you'll never have any issues about which is right or left - except in total darkness. If spotting the shiny circle isn't easy for you, add a drop of nail polish on the right one and you'll be able to grab the right one that way.

Update 1/13/12: I recently purchased and reviewed Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10s and compared them to the ER-4Ps. Here is part of that review:

"How do they stack up against the Etymotic ER-4P specifically? These two headphones are top contenders for best of the non-custom headphones - along with the more expensive Sure offerings. Bottom line they do very well. The UE 3Fi 10s have superior bass to the ER-4Ps and don't give up much in the mid range. They have superior dynamics and larger and more exciting sound stage in general. Treble is close between the two. The Triple Fis actually have slightly better extension in the treble, subjectively, but are a bit more hooded in the low treble. Sounds like a rout, but it isn't. The Etymotic ER-4Ps manage to remain competitive by virtue of their seamless coherence. The ER-4P is a single driver design as opposed to the TripleFi's 3 driver design. That means less air moving, less explosive dynamics, less bass extension and weight. But it also means no crossovers and no integrating the sounds of different drivers into a single sound stage. The Etymotic ER-4Ps thus have no seams. Soundstaging is amazing and the music across the sound stage is in scale and hangs together beautifully; giving the impression of perfect accuracy. The Triple Fis sound subjectively more exciting, pounding and dynamic - but subjectively seem to get some of that via the passive equalization effects of its multi-driver design. Another differentiator is that Etymotics also like to be seated deep. This gives them superior sound isolation. A good 10db or so better than the isolation you get with the Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10. However Etymotic recently raised the price of the ER-4Ps to $300. The value equation has thus been reversed."

The Etymotic ER-4Ps are very special. They still do the seamless coherence and total accuracy thing better than the multi-driver more punchy and dynamic competition from Ultimate Ears and Sure. However there is something quite satisfying about the bass heft and dynamic slam of those UE and Sure phones. Read more ›

93 of 96 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to beat January 6, 2006

By Michael Twa

I owned the ER-6i headphones for about a year before I left them on an airline seat and made someone's day. I loved them and most of what I liked about them factored into my decision about what to replace them with. I shopped the Shure models and several others, but I really did like the performance of the ER-6i. So why did I go for the upgrade? While the ER-6i's were overall excellent (4 stars by me), at times they seemed incapable of providing a full bass response at reasonable volumes. They either were dull at low volumes or distorted at high volumes. Yes, there are times when I play my music too loud, that's why I choose headphones, so I do not annoy others with my often odd musical tastes. I do expect a good headphone to be capable of delivering good bass.

The ER-4p excels where the ER-6i fell a bit short. With either model it matters a lot how you seat the ear pieces. A poor seal (insufficient depth) results in very little bass. Correct insertion provides the best external sound isolation and the best bass reproduction. I find the white plastic flange type earpiece comfortable for long periods of wear, but your experience may differ if you have an anatomically smaller than average ear canal. There are foam inserts as an alternative and you can even purchase optional smaller foam ear pieces that I have not needed. Since they do fit so snug and deep in the ear you will soil them. I only hope whoever decided to keep my ER-6i's enjoyed that mine were well used. The ER-4p comes with two spare pairs of flange earpieces and 5 pairs of foam covers. You will use them.

The sound isolation is excellent. I share an office with two other mates without cubicles. The in-ear design has been a lifesaver.... I find it easy to concentrate on projects that require my full attention or merely chug through a mindless task with some good tunes to comfort me without annoying my mates.

I have auditioned these headphones on my home audio system and would describe the performance as stunning. When I travel I like to use my Palm T5 and find the volume levels very acceptable and sound reproduction with the Palm T5 is outstanding as well. One problem I found was the plug has a rather large blocky (1 cm x 1 cm) base that fits poorly in this particular female jack. I have had to reseat it repeatedly to keep the tunes coming, but only with this particular device. It fits my ipod nano just fine and here too the sound reproduction is head and shoulders above other headphones I have tried. At work I use them with a typical computer workstation and plug into the headphone jack in the desktop speakers. I use Winamp as my player and find that the sound is very good although it is not what I get from my home system. Line buzz in a problem here, but that has nothing to do with the headphones it is from the source.

In short, a good player will yield the best results from these outstanding ear-inserted headphones. The sound isolation is excellent and is a nice way to better appreciate the nuances of your music and shut out the noise of the world. I found this especially true during airline travel. Finally, shop this product. I found them available from several retailers well below the MSRP and if the price is still too steep the ER-6i is an excellent option that I would have been happy to continue to use for years to come had I not lost them.

p.s. One other thing I like about the in-ear design is that they work well as earplugs during air travel. Even when I am not allowed to use "apporved portable electronic devices," they help take most of the edge off of that screaming child who usually sits near me. Read more ›

72 of 76 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good earphones with a few flaws January 18, 2007

By Steward Willons VINE™ VOICE

I recently purchased a set of ER-4Ps and while the glowing reviews presented here are pretty much justified, I must take issue with a few points. In my experience, these earphones do not have the bass presence that so many reviews mention. I would definitely describe it as anemic. Even bass-heavy music such as drum 'n bass or jungle comes across incredibly weak. It's as if listening to music through a high-pass filter. As a composer/producer, I've listened to a lot of audio transducers and I trust my ears. I am not one of those guys who turns the "bass knob" all the way up and such. I believe in flat frequency reproduction to yield the most accurate representation of the composer's creation.

That said, these largely depend on the style of music you enjoy. I find listening to acoustic music very rewarding with these earphones. Bartok's "Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celeste" has never had such amazing clarity. Bartok's dense weave of strings each find a space in the mix and the dynamic range is quite good. Feldman's "Rothko Chapel" is also particularly nice with its haunting mixture of small, delicate sounds. However, if you're a fan of electronic music (or any music that has a strong bass component), these are going to disappoint. You're much better off with a pair of headphones (such as the Grado SR60s) than the ER-4Ps.

I know the idea of the 4Ps is to work well without a dedicated headphone amp (are they are much more efficient than the 4Ss), but I'm not satisfied using them with my iPod nano. While I've never thought the iPods had amazing sound quality, the 4P/nano combination is particularly bad.... I'm sure part of it has to do with the use of MP3s instead of uncompressed WAV or AIFF files, but since most people load their iPods up with MP3s only, this is an important point. If your music is compressed, these earphones will only exacerbate the problems. A lot of people still claim they can't tell the difference between compressed and uncompressed audio, but with these earphones, you surely will. The sound is just a little too analytical to make a bad recording (or a compressed recording) sound good. Where other headphones, such as the Grados, provide a very smooth, rich sound that glosses over imperfections, the 4Ps simply reproduce the audio with painful accuracy. Again, this is invaluable for a lot of occasions, but if you're planning to use MP3, ACC, or whatever, these will not sound as good.

Finally, nobody has sufficiently stated the annoyance of the cable sound. Of course, when you stick something this far in your ear, any motion in any part of the cable is amplified substantially. It really is a big problem. You simply can't move when you're using these. Sure, you get a shirt clip with the set, but that doesn't come close to eliminating it. It's very distracting and sometimes painful. If you're going to use these, plan on sitting still.

I don't mean for this to be a negative review. Not at all. These are some of the finest audio transducers that I've ever heard. The midrange is flawless. I just wanted to bring up a few points that I would have liked to know before I bought them myself. The ER-4Ps are not perfect, but they're worth the money. Read more ›