This is an excellent review af a very special head...

2007-11-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

This is an excellent review af a very special headphone. This headphone can be made even better by replacing the stock cable with a custom made one from APureSound.com. You order the cable from them and then just pull the pods of the stock cable and plug them onto the new cable. While this is possible it is not recommended to perform this change to many times as the connectors tend to get loose after a while. The cable can be ordered in the 2 standard Ety versions, P with a 25 ohm resistor in the jack or S with a 100 ohm resistor in the jack or to your own specification. Also you can have your choice of straight or right angle jacks and 1/4" or 1/8". The cable cost around $200 depending on length and resistor/plug specification.

The cable is braided from 2 thin wires leading to each pod and at the Y junction all 4 wires are then braided down to the jack. This wire is about as microphonic as the stock wire but thin enough to be used behind the ear style to all but eliminate the microphonics effect. The wire is somewhat stiffer than the stock wire which has the added advantage of working nicely as a memory wire when used behind the ear and thus giving a much better fit. At the pod the cable also uses a much smaller termination than the stock cable with the effect that the phones stick out a lot less and you can actually lie down on your side on a pillow without discomfort. Also since the resistor is build into the jack there is no pod at the middle of the cable.

I received a S version of the cable as I'm using it with a portable amp. The effect of the cable on the sound compared to a stock S cable is most noticeable in the bottom end where you get a bass volume/weight that is better than even the P version. At the same time you get even better detail and cohesion across the whole sound spectrum and a removal of the last bits of sibilance without loosing the sparkle at the top end. These changes are very noticeable but not huge or dramatic.

This is an expensive upgrade, more than you might be able to get the phones them self for so is it really worth it ? Purely based on sound quality improvement I'm not sure that they justify the price, around $100 would have been better, but when you factor in the effort needed to manufacture the cable and the improved ergonomics of the phone as a whole I think it is well worth it.

Comments on Sonus Canvas: Review: Etymotic ER-4P

This is an excellent review af a very special head...