Etymotic ER6

I have always wished for a pair of Etymotic earphones. I wrote about it here but held off ordering a set from the US, having had a really bad experience at Canadian customs. Several weeks ago, Ditdo, a Canadian distributor approached me... and my own ER6 came last week!

I have been wearing them for about a hour a day, listening to Indian-inspired jazz from Germany on a run-of-the-mill Panasonic portable CD player, without amplification. Exactly how good are they? Without experience with other similar products, I doubt I can do a better job than dgs on Head-fi.org. This is an account of my personal experience so far.

Etymoptic headphones, of which there are 2 models: ER4 (ER4S and ER4P) and the cheaper ER6, are basically earphones embedded in earplugs, able to dampen surrounding sounds (-20db) and let you listen in peace, whatever your sound input may be. They are apparently widely used by sound technicians and music professionals, not that I am one of them. I was just sold by the promise of "music in isolation"! You can order special custom fit versions of the earphones.

My ER6 came in a nifty plastic case that resembles a soap box. Also enclosed are a set of alternative closed cell form plugs, extra set of filters, a metal filter removal tool, and a nylon pouch. My first impression was that the wires were too thin, even thinner than, say, a cheap Walkman-style earphones. I wore it while doing some outdoor clean-up and feared it would get caught and damaged. The wires also get tangled in the pouch! A wind-up case should be included. I will have to find cheap earphones that comes with one, so I can use it with the ER6.

The instruction booklet repeatedly stresses the correct way to insert the phones into your ears. failure to do so will result in bad sound! I have no problem on that front--I sleep with similar ear plugs every night. They may be uncomfortable to some people but I find them unobstrusive now. Taking them out of the ears however is much more problematic. It is not easy to simply pull one off to answer phone call for example. The wimpy wires don't help. I don't know if this is a problem with the more expensive ER4 and certainly hope it gets fixed in future models.

In theory, "music in isolation" sounds fantastic! Manufacturers have been exploring this. Sony and Bose have several models of noise cancelling headphones using generated sound frequency to cancel out background noise. However they tend to be bulky due to a battery and extra mechanisms. Also, I understand that they only cancel sounds of certain frequencies (please correct me if I am wrong). The Etymotic solution is simpler and probably more effective. Try this as I did: play a good recording of a piece of music with plenty of silent moments. I listened to Coltrane's solo on "Giant Steps", while walking through a busy market place. The sight of people moving about in utter silence and in suspended animation to the music in your ears is an experience!

I am not an audiophile, my hearing is not great. I only seem to hear too well in my sleep! My classification of a good sound output device is when it offers me a clear illusion of where the sound is coming from. That, and when I listen to familiar song, I notice sounds I have never previously heard before. My Grado SR60 headphones are superior in these respects, but I don't like their clunky industrial design. The major drawback of the Grado is that it is of an open design and music does leak out--definitely undesirable in a crowded subway. That's where the ER6 is better: its size and completely sealed-off environment can only make you look like a non-responsive log, at worst. The ER6 headphones don't sound better than the Grado, neither are the Grado better phones than the ER6. They are both fabulous phones for the price. I will be making a trans-pacific trip in a week or so, I am looking forward to putting the ER6 to the test of silencing airplane hum...

Another note about ER6, its bass is not a heart stopping pulsating experience. Rather it is just a hinted illusion of bass. It is a completely different feeling.

If you are interested in a pair of Etymotic earphones, especially if you are in Canada, contact me or www.ditdo.com's ER6 page and www.ditdo.com's ER4 page.

Similar products:

• Etymotic ER4
• Ultimate Ears UE5c, a US$500 custom fit earphones. A review on iPodLounge
• A MacSlash discussion about replacement phones for iPod (18th March 2004)