Etymotic ER6i and Head Direct RE2

[jarrett]

This has probably been done to death, but from all my reading it's the logical upgrade for someone who has owned the ER6i and don't want to spend more.


Etymotic ER6i

The left channel died after 2 years. The only symptoms of this happening were audible signs of distortion or 'buzzing' in some high frequencies.


Head-Direct RE2

I'll make it brief for owners of the ER6i...

The most obvious differences are the improvement in detail, soundstaging(!), mids, and more bass. They aren't as accurate to my ears, but have the same sort of balanced sound signature if you're looking for more of the same. In my opinion you don't have to EQ the bass, like the ER6i, to get acceptable amounts - I'm a Classical and Jazz listener so for me 'enough' is enough. The highs are not as present or perhaps they are rolled off sooner. I don't know why people describe them as 'fun' sounding, if anything they are more laidback and have an aura of softness to them lol. Isolation difference isn't worth bringing up so I'm calling it the same. Honestly, I want transit noise to drain out, not isolate me from reality. The cord is stiff, 5' in length, round (ER6i has two joined wires until they split for left and right), and did not come with the extension I read about (Edit: A 5' cord ships with new versions). Also it comes with a clip which I found extremely useful with the ER6i. I think the ER6i and my Sony had better synergy because the RE2 doesn't have the same 'slam' to the sound I remember. There was no audible hiss when the RE2's were plugged into my Sony like the ER6i's had, but I wonder if this is more an issue of the phones not having the same high frequency reproduction.

It's a good upgrade, but don't expect positive improvement in every single area!

Things I've played thus far: Ali Farka Toure (In The Heart Of The Moon), Giacinto Scelsi (Works for Chorus and Orchestra), Charles Mingus (Epitaph), Bartok (Concerto for Orchestra, Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta), Bach Cello Suites (Rostropovich), FM Radio

They probably only have 10 hours of break-in if anyone was curious. I'm not one of those people who absolutely must burn-in for 50 hours before they allow themselves to enjoy what they have

Edit: A 5' cord ships with new orders stated here: Who Are Head-Direct?

[QQQ]

Are RE2 really anemic in bass? How their bass compares to KSC-75's? Other popular cans'?

[jarrett]

I can't compare to others because I don't own those. ER6i were definitely anemic even with +1 Clear Bass on the Sony. RE2's have more bass with the Clear Bass feature turned off.

[Scott549]

The RE2's don't have a lot of bass, so that's really saying something about the ER6i.

[jarrett]

Updated a little

If anything the 5' cord should be of interest to many people

[jarrett]

Left channel on the RE2's is making the slow-death buzzing sound occasionally. They are almost unusable now because the minijack connection on the headphones has something wrong with it. When they are plugged in it sounds like the minijack is only halfway in and has the sound signature of a telephone (limited frequency range). I tried another pair of earbuds and they work perfectly fine, so it's obvious the RE2's are passing on...sadly after just 8 months?!

What do people recommend in the <$100 price range guys? What are people talking about?

[ljokerl]

RE0 is the logical upgrade from RE2. Better in every possible way.

[jarrett]

I wonder if he'd knock off some dollars for the RE0 if I send back my RE2