Review: Etymotic Research ER-6i Earphones

MSRP: $149 USD
Rating:
Pros: Accurate sound, isolates outside noises very well, impressive frequency response
Cons: Not as sensitive as I initially thought it was
Similar products used for comparison: Sennheiser CX300

A while back, I was browsing through the ‘Photos from your contacts’ on Flickr and stumbled upon a photo of Derek’s wallet which was later used towards contents of an interview for My Mint:

I saw a note for the earphones and when I read that they were the ER-6i’s, I recalled a post also from Derek which was aimed towards college students and his recommendations on necessary college gear. He mentioned the Etymotic ER-6i’s were great at isolating outside noise so I thought, hey I could use these during final exam study sessions.

First off, I scoured the net for reviews on these earphones after seeing the expensive price tag on the Etymotic Research website. If I’m going to invest a suggested $149 USD in a pair of earphones, the sound quality better be damn worth it. Reading review after review, it seemed there was going to be nothing another customer wrote that would change my decision on these earphones. I had to get them.

This morning they arrived in the mail and like a child during Christmas time, I ripped open the parcel and was excited to see what I ordered.

Inside the package were the earphones, 2 pairs of different size replacement flange eartips, 1 pair of foam eartips, 2 replacement filters, a filter changing tool, and a classy pouch to store everything in.

I immediately wanted to try them out. But once I saw how they were, I got the first impression that they were delicate. Not wanting to risk breaking these expensive earphones on arrival I wanted to be cautious. Then came the rare moment of me actually consulting the user’s manual before trying out the gadget.

The manual actually has some useful notes for using these earphones properly, but its nothing I didn’t already know. For those who’ve used in-ear earphones before, it’s likely you’re all too familiar that these need a deep seal in your ear in order for these to sound any good.

Achieving isolation is a strong point of these earphones. Other users weren’t kidding when they said that these earphones could be dangerous when used outside. When I had these on with no music playing, just to test how well they blocked outside noise, I couldn’t hear anything at all; this included water which was running from the kitchen faucet, and the microwave. Etymotic Research put a nice caution note in their user manual too:

ETYMOTIC Isolator earphones exclude most external sounds even at low listening levels. It is unsafe to use insert earphones while driving a motorized vehicle, operating machinery, bicycling, or jogging, because you may not be alerted to potential danger.

For a student however, these earphones are ideal. I take transit to school and the commute can range from 1-1.5 hours. It’s usually the only time I listen to my iPod and the buses are loud. I regularly have to turn up the volume much more than I need to so that my music can drown the mechanical noises of the bus, now I shouldn’t need to and it will be much better for my hearing.

With all the precautions out of the way, I hooked these buds to my iPod and decided to test these out with a little bit of Tiesto’s new album first.

The verdict? Wow, these earphones sound amazing. The biggest feature going for these earphones is their frequency response. The range of highs and lows these earphones can achieve is very diverse. I swear, if you compare the listening experience of a favorite song you’ve listened to many times on your iPod with the standard issue earphones from Apple — compared to these earphones, there will be something subtle that you’ve never heard before.

To nitpick at the frequency response some more, I’ve read reviews from users who’ve said the bass response from these earphones takes some getting used to as they don’t provide that typical ‘thump’ you would get from a subwoofer. I disagree with these claims. I think the bass response on these earphones are perfect, as the bass response is well balanced and doesn’t drown out everything else. I compared these to the bass response of my dad’s Sennheiser CX300’s. On a song with female vocals and deep bass, the Sennheiser’s bass output was drowning out the vocals. On the ER-6i’s the vocals were still strong, crisp, and clear.

However, the CX300’s beat these earphones when it came to the sensitivity (basically, which one is capable of sounding louder at max volume). At max volume, the ER-6i’s were weak compared to the CX300’s, but I believe there is a benefit to this. I won’t be able to damage my hearing as effectively as if I had the CX300’s. When I compared the size of their drivers, it was evident that because the CX300’s were capable of achieving higher sensitivity because of their much larger size.

To end the review, these earphones really are the best upgrade any student with an iPod should consider. It achieves great isolation and has great sound to boot. If you’re looking for earphones that can really give a good thumping bass though, consider the Sennheiser CX300’s, they’re usually advertised for cheaper and have better sensitivity than the Etymotic ER-6i’s.

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