[GJC]

Thought I would pass on my opinions of the E4's that I have just brought from American Techpushers - cost $199.99 - guess thats about £125ish.

My previous phones before these were the Shure E2c's (which I still have) and used predominantley with the medium sized clear rubber tips), however I am on my 3rd pair in under 2years because: Left driver started to go quiet (Im not deaf , then the cable casing that wraps around the back of your ear started to crack. That hasnt changed my opinion of the E2c's and also Mercury-AV for sorting out these issues - both fantastic!!

My E4's arrivied in a nice small (12cm x 12cm )clear squarish box.

Enclosed:
A carry case for the E4's similar to the E2's case but without the cable spool and its covered in a smoother material as opposed to the E2's harder wearing feel.
There's an assortment of ear sleeve's:
(1) Orange Foam SLeeve,
(3) sets of clear rubber tips
(3) sets of Grey Soft Flex Sleeves,
(1) White Triple flange sleeve.

Also:
(1) In-line Volume attenuator,
(1) Wax clearing tool
(1) Gold Small to Large mini jack adapter
(1) Replacement nozzle that the sleeves slide onto - this requires the end of the E4's to be unscrewed.
(1) Small (5cmx5cm) user guide.


I left these to burn in for 20 hrs, volume level 16 on my Zen Micro music from MP3's ripped at 320kps - music range xmas carols to Electric/Dance/Rock genre's.

First thing this morning whilst commuting, used in the same conditions as my E2's and with the same Zen Micro & Mp3's here are the audio difference's.

Track used for direct comparison,Jem - 'Finally Woken' & 'Save me' ripped at 320kps, using the latest ver. of itunes. Eq off.

Bass

E4's used with Medium clear rubber tips: Dry sounding no boom or exageration (by exageration I mean the bass seems to crossover to the midrange better), the bass notes drop low they just dont have the same level of boominess as the E2's. Thats not to say the E2's sound bad, just that these are more refined. The quoted SPL for the E4 is 109db and the E2's 105db.

Midrange

There is a destinct punch to tracks now with a snap and verve to the sound, the E2's I thought had this, but they dont, not now anyway. Vocals are clearer in that words are more understandable, piano sounds better (even though I'm only grade 1) on the E4's obviously there is overlap here with bass.

The most instant and apparant difference between the two iem's for me is the Treble

Its quite remarkable the difference between the two the E4's sounding live, and not harsh at all there is now a ting to treble. The E2's treble nowhere near as clear or crisp sounding.

Overall the E4's driver units are smaller and more comfortable, much easier to insert into the ear. Cable construction same feel as the E2, however, the cable from the right angled mini jack to the splitter is thicker on the E4. The end of the driver unit is metal and has a quality feel and finish. Sound isolation is the same as the E2's in my comparison.

I'll expand on all of the above after I've had more time with these.

I paid £59.99 for the E2c's and about £125ish for the E4's and there definately worth every penny.

Regards,

GJC