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It is the end of Etymotic for me.

transmaster

transmaster

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Sadly I am going to say goodbye to Etymotic earphones. I love the sound of my ER4SR but the build quality just isn't there anymore. Fragile cables, with no alternative replacements that are not custom made and very expensive. The earpieces are no longer the solidly assembled units they once were. I lost yet another cable on ER4SR, I had its replacement and went to install it. I have the separation tool for MMCX plugs they work on the Ety's version of it. Yesterday in the process of pinching off the plug the entire MMCX jack snapped out of the earpiece I snapped it back in place. Everything seemed fine until I tried to remove that earpiece from my ear and I pulled all of the wiring out. A replacement in $298 USD. For that price there are alternatives. I have Shure SE-215's I have a worn out set that are over 7 years old, they still play just fine but the earpiece are starting to come apart. I have a new set that replaced them. The don't quite sound as good as the Eytmotic I am thinking of going up the line with Shure, or one of the FiiO earphones, I know about the Shure earphones is there anyone who can clue me in on the FiiO's

I am looking at two possible replacements. The Shure SE535-CL, or the FiiO FH7S.

I decided to go halfway. I purchased a set of Shure SE425 Pro's. I have a very long history with the Shure brand. Its 2 year warranty is one of the decision points. Plus the SE425's have a 21% discount.
 
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By the way there is a thing you do with Shure earphones, they require a burn in. They don't sound at all bad out of the box but if you compare one right out of the box with a set that has 100's of hours on them there is a difference. I have done this. I have had SE215's for over 10 years and I have a couple that have 1000's of hours on them. The new ones are a little edgy coming out of the box, the old timers are so beautifully smooth and mellow. The thing is you have to have earphones that will last that long.
 
colortrakker said:
Etymotic got purchased a few years ago...I'm trying not to put pieces together here, but the drop in quality could be more than just coincidence.
Click to expand...
Yes Westone Audio bought them. It is a good match but Westone makes a series of high end professional Musician grade earphones. I have been told the custom fitted EIM's are primo on stage. The Etymotic ER series are sort of down class from the Westone's.

I am using and really enjoying the SE-425's its pair of Shure Balanced Armature driver sound very good. There is just more there than the ER4SR. It isn't the bass thing people complain about with Ety's but just more there bass yes but great midranges, and upper octaves as well. I installed a FiiO MMCX cable that has interchangeable plugs for 2.5mm Balanced, 3,5mm unbalanced, and 4.4mm Balanced. Balanced sound from a DAC/Amp that support it is so much better than a unbalance feed.
 
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