OT: Anyone have an opinion on these in-ear earphones?

dave999z · Post by **dave999z** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 9:16 pm

If anyone has used the Shure E2c (US $100), Etymotic ER6 (US $90), or Etymotic ER6i (US $95) headphones with an iPod for normal everyday use, I'd appreciate your thoughts. I am not intending to use them for mixing or live monitoring. I just want a set of really nice sounding, comfortable, and sound isolating headphones for my iPod. I've used Apple's in-ear headphones, which I found pretty good (much better than Apple's stock earbuds), but they broke.

Shure E2c...
http://www.shurestore.com/earphones/ese ... l#overview

Etymotic ER6...
http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er6.aspx

Etymotic ER6i...
http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er6i.aspx

Thanks!
Dave

dave999z · Post by **dave999z** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 8:49 pm

leisuremuffin · Post by **leisuremuffin** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 9:17 pm

oh man, any of those will blow the apple in ears out of the water.

I haven't used any of those, but i have a pair of cheap sony ear bud (same style as the ones your looking at, in ear noise isolating) and i love em. My old work actually bought them for me because they were the same headphones students got and i had to be able to reference their projects with them.... anyway, i had very low expectations, but i ended up loving them for my iPod.

.lm.

dj_statikfire · Post by **dj_statikfire** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 9:57 pm

caveat: i work for shure on these very products

I really like the E2's. They perform quite well for the price. I also have the E5's (the 500dollar ones), but I prefer the E2's mostly. If you can mix down to a pair of these, your 'choons will sound okay in a big club system. For personal listening, you have to get something that's good on the low end, since the bass is kind of funny on the ipods. E2's will do the job.

THX,
Jason D

jonathanpduffy · Post by **jonathanpduffy** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 10:47 pm

I second the above post.

I've been using E2's for a year or so. Afetr the initial period of getting used to them (they are quite awkward at first!)...I've found them to be fantastic.

I use a Rio Karma (old but gold) which has perhaps better sound quality than all but the most recent iPods, and a highly adjustable eq... and I've found the E2's respond wonderfully.

Highly recommended.

(I'd love the really expensive ones,...but they're REALLY expensive for something that a dog might chew...if you live in my world)

dave999z · Post by **dave999z** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 3:30 am

Thanks for the input. What is awkward about the E2?

Anyone have any experience with the Etymotics?

subterFUSE · Post by **subterFUSE** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 1:23 pm

My brother has the Shure's, they were about $250

In my opinion, they are decent sound quality, but the build quality is shit.

I prefer my Ultimate Ears. They were the same price, $250. Sound better to me, and they are more solid. The Shure's feel flimsy, and the silicone ear molds don't stay on well.

http://www.ultimateears.com/superfi/sup ... -white.htm

I have the SuperFi Pro 5, with clear cases. Got them at Guitar Center.
I highly recommend. I wear them at the gym when I workout, and they are very secure.

The difference in sound quality of the Shure's or Ultimate Ears is remarkable. You can hear so much more musical detail, particularly in the high-end. (ie extra sounds in the music you can't hear with cheap earphones)

mark h · Post by **mark h** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 1:37 pm

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/review ... ones-ipod/

i've got the Sony EX-70s and they've lasted me 18months of daily abuse, most other headphones fall apart on me after less than 3months - and they sound really good.

i mean really good.

my home-listening 'phones are Sennhieser HD-600s, and i've tended to use Sennhieser PXC-250s/PXC-300s as out and about headphones before that, and certainly out on the street (with background noise intrusion) there's very little difference between them.

don't see a reason to spend any twice the money on the Shures.

Fingers · Post by **Fingers** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 3:20 pm

I picked up a pair of ER6i's off ebay and they're excellent with my ipod. I haven't really used them with Live but out and about (especially on the Tube) the isolation is very good, as long as you put them in right.

Just be careful taking them out - I managed to separate the earphone from the bud once as I was removing it and had to spend a whole day with the thing lodged in my ear.

thx1138 · Post by **thx1138** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 3:45 pm

Shure E5, get on board

mcconaghy · Post by **mcconaghy** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 3:48 pm

ER6's, all the way. Better sound, and way more comfortable than the flimsy Shures (when I was in music retail I saw a LOT of Shure in-ears come back, the cable pulls out way too easy)

wood0292 · Post by **wood0292** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 4:11 pm

I have the e2c's and use them w/ my ipod all the time. They are nice b/c you can listen at low volume so you don't damage your hearing since they block out sound. With the original Ipod headphones it was rough going to the gym trying to compete with the top40 stuff they play over the soundsystem.

I got them for a bit over $50, which is the cost, so if I were you I would do some searching as $100 is 100% markup value.

inis · Post by **inis** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 4:34 pm

I thought i read an article recently about these types of headphones and creating more pressure or something along those lines causing permanent ear damage. anyone care to comment on that?

thx1138 · Post by **thx1138** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 5:08 pm

inis wrote:I thought i read an article recently about these types of headphones and creating more pressure or something along those lines causing permanent ear damage. anyone care to comment on that?

What? You say something?

Fingers · Post by **Fingers** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 5:24 pm

inis wrote:I thought i read an article recently about these types of headphones and creating more pressure or something along those lines causing permanent ear damage. anyone care to comment on that?

I dunno about that, but I've noticed I use my ipod at a much lower volume now it's not fighting with the background noise. Does that make any difference? I'd quite like to keep my hearing for the foreseeable future.