Etymotic Convert

Whoa. These ER6 IEM phones are the f-ing bees knees.

I just received a pair from B&H Photo and am more than impressed. The first test I put them through was, of course, Brothers in Arms. I queued up track one (flac) and immediately heard something new. Jimminy Crickets, I've never heard the background vocals start that early in the song! And I've been listening to this album religiously since it was out and I was 8.
The rest of the album never sounded so good. The little details and echoes here and there that I may have never heard before are goosebump-inducing... It feels like I'm in the studio with them...

I was only a little wary of some headfi posts about how I may dislike my amps and speakers after using these uber-revealing little pods. Now I only hope I can contain my upgrade-itis for my home main rig.

Here in my work office, I first drove the ER6's with my Reference 650FET R receiver, which uses MOSFET outputs, and then with my little Creative Muvo MP3 player. Even the high bitrate MP3 versions, Brothers in Arms sounds wonderful. With the MP3'er, I had to add a touch of bass EQ to get it right, and on the 650 FET R, a little cut in 3 khz was needed. Nevertheless,

Whoa.




BTW, B&H has these for a very good price, and I got them in 2 days.

Absolutely yes. I had a pair (yeah, had. Sad story) of ER6s, and loved them. I used an iPod (with lossless/aac, not mp3) as a source, and occasionally ran them through a Cmoy I had built (they're efficient enough not to need an amp, but I found that it separated the load from the iPod, and just opened things up a bit. Brightened up the sometimes bass-heavy tendencies of the ER6).

Then one day I was using them as monitors for a live show I was doing, and they were lost to me forever. Literally lost (I suspect swiped). Hooray for jankity detroit-area venues.

Your post has inspired me. It's been long enough. I should bite the proverbial bullet and order a new pair.

For 70 bucks, I now feel this is an audio no-brainer.
Citizen Gain,

Do it.

OT, 200 posts! Wo0t!

Yep, I own a pair of ER-4P. It's like having the music wired directly to your brain!

I've been curious about these. I have the Shure E3-Cs, and I'm not really impressed.

von.ah, I'm glad you found something you like. I've never tried the ER6.

I'm also a fan of the Etymōtic sound, and I own 2 ER4P along with an aftermarket replacement cable.

I've owned my Etys for a few years now and I love them. They spend most of their time plugged into an iPod, playing lossless files at the gym, where the isolation they provide is a wonderful thing. All of those folks running earbuds loud enough to drown out the noise of the machines are going to go deaf! But I'll tell you what - when I occasionally plug them in at home through a headphone amp, they hold their own against my beloved Senn HD580s. It's a different sound, but a wonderful one. Not as warm, but expansive and wonderfully detailed.

Just imagine the cost of the room treatments and speakers that would be required to get anything close and you know you did the right thing.

Tim

I use the ER-4P and it is great. I never liked the feeling of traditional headphones, so the in-your-ear type appeals to me. Just the output from an IBM T60 laptop is stunning, let alone some nice R2R tape