Reviews

81

I decided to purchase a pair of these based on reading all of the above comments.

These are great earplugs for the money. The ipod earphones were really uncomfortable for me and I had to turn the volume to the max in order to hear anything. As suggested in previous posts, I had to trim off the last ear plug, leaving only two. Once I did this, the plugs sealed fine and a whole new world of sound opened up for me.

I'm really pleased with this purchase. Now I can leave the ipod at about 70% volume and it's plenty.

Posted by Tucsonbroker in Tucson, AZ on January 19, 2005 at 4:24 PM (PDT)

82

they sound really good i wish i could afford them

Posted by chicken_salt in australia on January 21, 2005 at 2:23 AM (PDT)

83

Wow - these do sound amazing... I used to be an audio engineer, and to me the sound reproduction is very 'real' (ie close to studio sound). You may not like it, of course, as most people are used to enhanced bass and other aftereffects of listening to music in a 'leaky' or reflective sound environment. But, for my money, it's crystal clear with excellent separation.

Like others, I had to cut the outermost tip of the flange off before I could get a comfortable fit (it made the bass sound much better, too). I'm a little disappointed that the majority of the ipod's EQ functions cause the earphones to distort, but that's mostly apple's fault for having crappy EQ in the first place.

I'm a bit scared, however, that the ER6is are bad for my ears. I have tinnitus, and I hoped that the ability to listen to music at a reduced volume would help alleviate some of the symptoms.

However, I get the feeling that the earphones sit so close to the eardrum that they may be causing more physical damage to my ear... I know etymotic are specialists in the hearing aid industry, but I'm not sure that having the headphones lodged so deep in the ear canal is healthy.

Posted by mark savage in London, UK on January 25, 2005 at 5:42 AM (PDT)

84

I mainly use my ipod for running and working out at the gym. Do you think that these will sound better even though I'm working out with them. Also do they stay in while being active ie. Running? Lastly, I own the sony EX71SL, Do you think it's a big jump up in sound quality if I buy the ER6i. I appreciate any help.

Posted by imuphere on January 26, 2005 at 7:55 AM (PDT)

85

I am 5'2 and have very small ears (at least seems that way to me as all earphones hurt my ears). Do you think the er-6i would be too large for my ears? Any size difference between the er-6 and er-4? I'm not a audiophile just want a good fit and good sound.

Posted by HDBadKitty on January 26, 2005 at 9:18 AM (PDT)

86

Bought a pair of 6i's after reading all the posts and doing some research on alternatives. Planned on using them with my iPod and secondarily with my Powerbook and NAD home system. My first impression was that they were okay but probably not worth the $130 bucks I spent. Burned them in for 15+ hours on the home stereo overnight and tried different things over the next week. Since I bought extra eartips I did the two-flange mod on both small and large ends. Tried the foamies. Went back and forth between the home system, my Powerbook, and my iPod. Ripped music at different bit rates. Ran them through classical, jazz, electronic, and pop. Needless to say, lots of testing.

The conclusion - the foamies worked the best but still the sound isn't worth the money. I'm not going to say that they sound thin, but I expect a fuller and more pleasant sounding headphone/earphone over the $100 mark. And never really got used to the "something sticking in yer ear" feeling, although I would have put up with it for stellar sound, which I didn't get.

Either go for the full Ety 4P cash outlay or don't do it at all. Sent them back and got a set of Sony MDR-EX55LP buds for $40 at the local Best Buy and was instanty impressed by the bang-for-the-buck factor. The Sony's have nice bass, clean highs, and good fit. They also have a 90 degree connector which I love. Hugely better than the stock Apple buds but not as nice as say a Sennheiser HD497 or Grado SR60. For super nice hi-fi, I'll use my Sennheisers and NAD system. But for the price, my iPod and Sony's are great.

Posted by Haldir on January 31, 2005 at 2:38 PM (PDT)

87

JeffNNJ--I lick mine too and agree that it makes a world of difference in the seal; the instructions say to "moisten" before insertion, but plain water doesn't really work.

Pragmatist--I have several different kinds of earphones so that I can sing with the music sometimes and other times use the in-canal feature to simply listen to music at its best. The standard iPod issue pods aren't so bad with earJams. The best of both worlds--the sound is directed deeply into the ear, but not enough so you can't sing along.

Posted by Pragmatist on January 31, 2005 at 2:50 PM (PDT)

88

Mistake in last post. The Sony's are the MDR-EX51LP. In addition, I find that they are much easier to put on and take off than the Etys. The right angle connector work great with a Powerbook or my iPod mini sitting inside of a Booq PhonePAQ case. The wire is connected to the left earpiece and drapes around the back of the neck to the right earpiece. These earbuds are a great value!

Posted by Haldir on February 2, 2005 at 8:11 AM (PDT)

89

BIG DISAPPOINTMENT!!

I got these to replace my Bang & Olufsen A8 headphones that I thought were big on DESIGN and small on FUNCTION. From the reviews, the Etymotic ER-6i seemed like the ticket. Well, they are small on BOTH. These things make my A8's sound nice and warm. That's not saying much. I don't have a problem with the fit, they're fine. They block out all background noise really well, but that's ALL they do well. They are not very easy to remove (don't use them at work if you get a phone call because by the time you get them out of your ears you'll be checking your voice mail) which baffles me. The functionality of these things from an ergonomic standpoint is poor poor poor. The function of them from an acoustic standpoint is not much better. They should sound good since the "diaphram" is so close to your friggin ear drum (push your normal earbuds into your head and it makes them sound better) but that is the ONLY piece of ingenuity these things posses. I'm sooo bummed things things don't sound better than they do. NO WAY would I spend the dough on the ER-4's if these are this poor. E-mail me, first $100 takes 'em.

Posted by DudeDah on February 3, 2005 at 9:03 AM (PDT)

90

enoucraged by reviews like these, i went out & purchased the etymotic earphones, spending about $140. when i got home & plugged them in, i nearly fell over laughing. the sound reminded me of those tinny AM radios i had as a child! i jammed those suckers in my head trying to find the bass--trying to find anything that sounded even half as good as the earphones that came with my mini--but no doing. because of "hygiene concerns," these earphones are not returnable, so i mailed them to etymotic with a note. they sent me new ones--to their credit--& i thought perhaps i'd bought a bum pair. but, alas, the new pair sounded as lousy as the old. is there something wrong with my ears? sure, they're more comfortable than the ipod 'phones, but they sound like HELL.

Posted by beldz on February 8, 2005 at 5:41 AM (PDT)

91

One question, how does the noise isolation with these headphones compare to that of the ER-4 headphones?

Posted by Luca on February 20, 2005 at 5:27 PM (PDT)

92

I tried very hard to make these work. But in the end, I can't stand them - the ER-6i's are the worst $100+ I ever spent.

They're painful to insert, wear, and remove. They're even more painful, the better the seal you try to obtain - and by the time you get a good seal, they're so far in your ears, you can't get them out.

They're overly sensitive to how they sit in your ear - the "sweet spot" of perfect audio is extremely small, and nearly impossible to find, let alone repeat.

And "perfect" is relative. While the midrange and treble are quite good, I'm convinced these earphones actively attenuate the bass response. I listen to a wide range of music, and tracks I know to be bass-y (even without any EQ) are flat and dead with these.

I exchanged the first pair I bought, thinking they were defective. The 2nd pair were no better. Etymotic Research sent me some 2-flange replacement eartips. (They were standard 3-flange white ones with the smallest flange cut off - sloppily, I might add.) These yielded a marginal improvement at best (with regard to both comfort and sound). I then tried the clear 2-flange tips from the ER-6 earphones. Comfort improved significantly, though they still hurt after a while. Sound was fuller, but the bass was still lacking.

I recently ordered some Sony MDR-EX81's from an eBay seller in Japan. When I have them in my posession, my ER-6i's are for sale :(

Posted by Helicon Twist in Thugden, UT USA on February 24, 2005 at 7:39 AM (PDT)

93

Shure 3c have a two year warranty instead of one year for er-6i and cost about $120 on comp-u-plus.com

Posted by dfumento in New York, NY on March 2, 2005 at 8:36 PM (PDT)

94

Got ER6i's last week.Sound is good but not stunning. Not sure of value for money with these earbuds, most are better than standard Apple Buds. Those of you in US are very lucky that your retailers take used earbuds back for refunds. Have compared Sennheiser MX500, Apple standard, Sony MDR71, Shure E3c back to back with a clean-eared friend. I think: Etymotics are better fit with their standard white covers than Shure. ER6i are slightly less sensitive than Shure and have flatter sound. Shure seem to have 'loudness built in' i.e. boosted bass and treble cf ER's. Both are much louder than Apple and Senn's. For me sound isolation is better with Ety's. Build quality of Shures MUCH better than any other. Ety's feel cheap even cf Senn's! With Ety's I like 'Bass Boost' EQ on, with Shures might want 'Treble reduced EQ' and with Senns they are just right with no EQ. Sony's bloated bass and shrill treble is just rubbish. IMHO If you listen in noisy area- Shure or Ety, otherwise save £100 and get Senn's.

Posted by TheRoth in UK on March 3, 2005 at 9:30 AM (PDT)

95

I have e3c's er6i and sony ex71.
With out a doubt the er6i's are the best... they sound wonderful and very balanced... forget about the low mushy ex71's but the e3c's are nice but not for the ipod... the mid is out of whack and there is no eq setting to properly offset.
I just cant stop listening too and enjoying these er6i's.
If someone says they have no bass I say they DO NOT have a proper seal... buy these headphones, figure out how to insert them and you wont regret your purchase...

Posted by dukka on March 3, 2005 at 8:03 PM (PDT)

96

Part 1
I purchased and received the ER6i headphones a little over a week ago. I was aware that a proper seal meant everything; I am grateful for posts like these as I was not able to find these locally and I knew once they were used I could not return them. When I first tried them I have to admit that I was disappointed. I did everything short of surgically implanting them in my head and still the bass response was weak. After carefully weighing my options I decided to trim the smallest flange off of the rubber inserts. Immediately I noticed a substantial difference in bass and an increase in overall sound quality and comfort. I am not a small person so I could not at first believe that I would need to shorten the inserts but it made all of the difference. It is important to note that I cut off the SMALLEST portion and not the first and widest flange. My problem was with the length of this product NOT the width. I talked to the people at Etymotic and they stated that I remove the largest portion and also that I buy a set of small (ER22-13C / 5 pair $14) 2 flange eartips. I did so just to compare the original set I had modified. I was told by Etymotic that I could not order the larger ER6 2 flange eartips as they did not fit the ER6i headphones. Let me tell you the result from putting the small eartips in was miserable. I could not achieve a good seal in any was as they were too narrow and as a result the sound was quite poor. Next time I need a replacement for these eartips I am going to buy the original 3 flange and just trim off the ends. I am quite surprised that they do not offer a large 2 flange for the ER6i. My trouble was with the length of the 3 flange NOT the width.

I have used these headphones several times at the gym and although there is a microphonic effect I have gotten used to it now and don't really notice it. For me the gain in audible quality over the stock Ipod earbuds is very much worth any tradeoffs. I used these with my leaf blower last Sunday which rather unfortunately exhausts near my leaft ear. With these headphones on I could still hear music clearly without having to jack the sound up to full volume. I have never had results even close to that using a variety of headphone styles previously.

Posted by BrownAle on March 26, 2005 at 12:41 PM (PDT)

97

Part 2
The clarity of sound with the ER6i headphones really is impressive; overall I love them. If you are someone who craves a lot of bass then these may not be for you. I purchased these instead of the ER4p model as I didn't want to chance blowing $250+. After hearing the excellent sound response from the ER6i I would not hesitate to buy the ER4p if money were not an issue.

Posted by BrownAle on March 26, 2005 at 12:42 PM (PDT)

98

if i were to spray paint the wire black, how well do you think it will turn out?

Posted by mediocrityohmy on March 29, 2005 at 11:07 PM (PDT)

99

I just got these, and URGH!! What a waste of my money. I don't know what the big deal is. They sound about 2% better than my US$9.99 Sony's from Wal-Mart. I'm sending them back, however I'll be stuck with a restocking fee and shipping charges. If there's anybody out there that knows an earphone that sounds equal or better than the AKG 240M, please let me know. As an audio producer and audiophile, the 6i really lack in the high frequencies, MP3 compression takes frequencies over 14 K and takes them out, that's how they get the small file size, however, when you rip at a higher bit rate, you start adding high frequency response to the MP3's, these earphones really do a BAD job at representing these high frequencies. Once you hear music throught he AKG 240Ms you'll know what I"m talking about. The only bad thing about the AKG's is that they have 600 Ohm capacity which takes a lot of power to drive, and they're kind of bulky. But like I said, if you know something smaller that sounds EQUAL to the AKG240M, please, please let me know. Save your money and get the Sony's EX71 instead, you'll have a better bass response, and about the same treble for less than half the price.

Posted by Robert Darke on April 8, 2005 at 9:16 AM (PDT)

100

I have just received my pair of ER-61's. I purchased them blindly based on reviews from around the web. My first impressions were "wow really clear, but no bass". Then I took the dive and cut of the largest flange from the eartips, leaving me with the two smaller ones.

I re-inserted them and I am super impressed with the balance between bass, mids, and treble. I am a professional musician and have listened to a wide range of recording studio monitors - both loudspeaker and headphone wise. The ER-6i's have a really good balance and a clarity that you can only get from really expensive monitors. Detail does jump out in the music, at a range of volumes as well.

I am completely happy with this purchase, although if you are a basshead you would probably wish there was a bit more bass. But, when I listen to these earbuds it sounds to me to be a pretty true representation of the music. When listening to bass heavy RnB the bass really kicks in too.

I tried a pair of those Sony EX series that everyone raves about and they sounded as muddy as could be. I think it has to do with the huge bass boost in them which actually wrecks the rest of the frequencies. There was no definition at all.

Alot of people have been trashing these earbuds... saying you have to get the perfect fit or they're crap, or that they don't have enough bass. I find that not to be true. Now that I have cut off the largest flange of the eartips I get a comfortable, consistent fit everytime. And the bass is clear, phat, and punchy.

TIP #1: I own a pretty expensive pair of Shure inner-ear buds from when I was touring about as a drummer. The cord on the Shure's actually wrap around the top of your ear from front to back... so I did that with the ER-6i's and it reduces the cord noise considerably.

TIP #2: The sumajin SMARTWRAP cord wrap works really well to manage the long cord length.

I think iPodLounge is correct in giving the Etymotic ER-6i's an "A" rating.

Posted by Jeff Consi on April 21, 2005 at 8:38 PM (PDT)

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