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I think the playback system owed at least some of its effectiveness to the room: 25' by 15' of golden-ratio goodness, with an 11' ceiling, decorated with rugs, kilims, original paintings, lots of record and amp storage, and two not-unpleasant old cats. And I know for sure the records owed much of their impact and color to the magnificent system: a pair of DeVore Silverback Reference loudspeakers; a pair of Shindo's new Lafon GM 70 monoblock amplifiers; various Shindo preamps, including a Vosne-Romanee, a Monbrison, and a variable-EQ version of the Aurieges Phono; and a really nice Garrard…
Ah, how the times change. When I reviewed Etymotic Research's ER-4S in-ear headphones in the July 1995 Stereophile, they seemed expensive to me at $330, but well worth that seemingly high price: at the time, they were the best headphones I'd heard. Nowadays, with reference headphones costing well north of a kilobuck, the price of the ER-4S seems relatively reasonable.
Conventional audiophile thinking would have Mead Killion, PhD, who founded Etymotic Research in 1983, introducing a new flagship model to take advantage of the new price paradigm. But Killion isn't so much an…
The hf2 and hf5 each come with a nicely designed carrying case, two replacement filters, a filter-replacement tool, and a small assortment of eartips. Fitting the eartip to your ear canal is crucial, for both good bass response and comfort, and Etymotic offers a much wider assortment of tips than are provided in the package. I generally prefer the three-flange models to the compressible foam or dome models, but choosing what to stick in your ears is a very personal choice. Later this year, Etymotic will introduce a program for custom-molded eartips for the hf2s and hf5s with a target price…
Kamikaze Ground Crew's setting of Shakespeare's "O Mistress Mine," from their Postcards from the Highwire (AIFF, ripped from the band's Busmeat CD), is a solid delight. Tuba, mandolin, and clarinet carry the melody, while Gina Leishman's relaxed voice convinces you that her offer to "Come and kiss me, sweet and twenty" is sincere. The hf2 captured her husky, 1930s-jazz–tinged voice without stinting on the tuba's bass or the mandolin's space. Sigh. Sweet Will sure could write a hit.
Get it in your head
To paraphrase Clint Eastwood: At some point you've got to be asking yourself, in…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Dynamic, diffuse-field-response, in-ear headphones with integral microphone (hf2) or without (hf5). Transducer type: single balanced armature. Frequency range: 20Hz–15kHz. Noise isolation: 35–42dB (depending on eartip used). Acoustic polarity: non-inverting. Sensitivity (1kHz): 105dB SPL for 100mV RMS input. Impedance: 16 ohms (nominal). Maximum output: 120dB SPL. Maximum continuous input: 550mV RMS. Microphone sensitivity (hf2): –40dBV/Pa.
Dimensions: Weight: 1.3oz (hf2), 0.5oz (hf5). Cable length: 4'.
Prices: $179 (hf2), $149 (hf5).…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Source: iPod Touch 32GB, iPod Mini.
Headphone Amplifier:
HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/headphones/906ray">Ray Samuels Audio Emmeline The Hornet.
Headphones: Etymotic Research ER-4S, Ultimate Ears UE-10 Pro, Shure SE530.—Wes Phillips
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I examined the electrical impedance of the Etymotic hf2 & hf5 headphones with my Audio Precision System One and with both pairs of headphones inserted in my ear canals. Fig.1 reveals that other than a small difference in the presence region, the two have identical impedances. The rise in positive phase angle with increasing frequency for both headphones is due to the armature's inductance; with earlier iPods and other players that have a high source impedance, this will boost the Etymotics' top-octave response a little.
Fig.1 Etymotic hf2 (…
The minuscule electrical output of an analog signal from a moving-coil cartridge needs to be boosted before it can be converted to digital and equalized in the digital domain. Of course, you could use your current phono preamplifier and record an equalized signal to hard disk, but then you wouldn't get to experience Pure Vinyl's digital RIAA correction—nor would you be able to avail yourself of all the equalization curves provide by Pure Vinyl, of which there are almost too many to count.
When I first wrote about Pure Vinyl in the March 2009 "Analog Corner," Robinson recommended…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state phono preamplifier with flat and RIAA-equalized inputs. Inputs: XLR (balanced); RCA (balanced; functions as single-ended/balanced adapter). Outputs: XLR (balanced), RCA (single-ended). RIAA compensation curve (with Hardware RIAA Correction Module) accuracy: ±0.1dB.Voltage gain (add 12dB for Hardware RIAA Option): 43, 46, 48, 52dB. Frequency response: DC–5MHz, –3dB at all gain settings. Maximum input resistance: 2k ohms; rear-panel rotary switches for selecting 25, 50, 100, 150, 200, 500, 1k ohms; custom-value plug-in resistors can also be…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn, Cobra, Castellon turntable, tonearm, stand; Graham Phantom II tonearm; Ortofon A90, ZYX R1000 Sigma 2 cartridges.
Digital Sources: Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD/CD player, Camelot Roundtable Anagram Technologies DAC, BPT-modified Alesis Masterlink hard-disk recorder, Sooloos music server, Macintosh G5 computer with Lynx L22 soundcard.
Preamplification: Abbingdon Music Research PH-77, Boulder Amplifiers 1008 & 2008, Vitus Audio MP-P201 phono preamplifiers; darTZeel NHB-18ns preamplifier.
Power…