Etymotic Research ER6i Earphones

After researching high-end headphones to use in the office to improve my listening experience, I decided to go with IEM-style earbuds instead of full-size headphones. As it turns out, most high end cans intentionally leak sound to improve the listening experience...great for professional musicians in a studio or at a gig, not so much for me in an office unless your coworkers are cool with listening to your music too :P Anyhow, the above is just a tip to spare people who are looking to solve the same problem...onto my review of the Etymotic Research ER6i: The quality of the audio that these emit is outstanding. The midrange is crystal clear, and revisiting old music that I haven't listened to in a while has been a real treat. They are not particularly loud in the low range, so if you love to crank the bass, these aren't for you (nor are any IEMs because you can easily do damage to your hearing with in-ear headphones when you crank the volume). For someone with esoteric taste, however... Read more

I just love this earphones, this is my first pair of expensive earphones (I always used the included ones) and I am very happy with them, part of the magic is the isolation, after you plug them can barely hear the outside world, it is just you and the music, close your eyes and it is just magic. The bass is not too strong as-is but after you use the EQ to crank it up a couple of notch's it is perfect for me, but the beauty of this earphones is the middles and highs, clear, crisp, detailed, you will hear things in the music you never noticed before. My only complaint is that they are not easy to fit and get used to, and they only come with an extra pair of earplugs and a foam earplugs, all the same size, I still think the provided ones might be too big for my ears, but the only way to find out is to order five of the smaller ones ($15 + S&H;). For the price of this earphones one of each of the sizes should be provided so you can find out the best fit for you, Sennheiser's earphones cos... Read more

This is a first time I have ever written a review for any product, so this is a pretty big deal for me. I was skeptical when I first heard about these headphones, despite all the rave reviews. I never thought earphones could perform very well at this price, but I was blown away when I got them. First the downside that I encountered: it was, at first hard to figure out how to put these things on. Etymotic has a guide online for putting these on, but I was not able to follow too well, so I replaced the flanged eartips with the foam ones and found them much easier to use. At first I felt uncomfortable with shoving the earphones that deep into my ears, faring that it would damage my ears. I eventually found out how to put them on, slowly putting them into my ears until I felt a good seal. I found better bass with the flanged eartips than with the foam ones, but found the foam eartips much more comfortable. For people who need to be very alert of their surroundings, these headph... Read more

After burning it in for 24 hours, I tried them and compared them to my Razor m100s. First thing I noticed was that the bass was much lower and it didnt capture the deep feel of many songs. The plugs are uncomfortable at first and takes some time getting use to. One good thing is that the sound is very precise and clear and the earphones block out the environment very well. More nuisances began to show with some extended use. One thing is that they are very sensitive to volume changes. And sometimes the sweet spot seems to be between 2 levels, and you are stuck choosing between too loud and distant. Sometimes one song sounds great at a certain volume, only for the next one to be too loud or quiet. So you have to constantly tweak the volume. Another thing that might vary from person to person is the fit. It takes some time getting use to and after that its alright, but I sometimes develop this inner ear itch. Its too deep to scratch and it can get really annoying. My last issue with t... Read more

I got these headphones a few days ago and I just can't believe how noise cancelling they are. I put them on and i can't here anything. The TV was on and I couldn't hear a word of sound. Don't get me wrong the sound quality is amazing. I can hear parts of songs I have never heard before. In 'Back in Black' by AC/DC you can hear the singer in the back say 'Four' on the last beat of the hihat intro. They are also so comfortable. I could move my head however i wanted and they would stay where they were. Overall these are great headphones and they are much better than the previous headphones i had, the v-moda's bass frequencys.

Excellent earphones with a few covets. 1) you hear everything that hits the wire 2) you hear the wind 3) shirt clip is not detachable and kind of useless given the where it is located. Other than that good sound. Good isolation but don't except to block out everything. I listen to classical.