I've had my Etys for many years, I forget if I bought them in '94 or '95. I've travelled with them extensively. I have always tried to take care of them but I'm not real anal about it. I have not had any problems with them in all this time. Just by looking at them, you'll know that they will not handle the same abuse that something like a V6 may take. If you are willing to take some care, they are great phones to have.

BTW, the pic I just posted is of a 7+ year old ety with a lot of use on it. Keep in mind that it is really difficult to photograph black cylindrical objects, especially with a simple digital camera with no control over the flash

i'm not buying ety's until they make them out of something other than lightweight plastic. I've seen several threads/posts about cracks in the housing despite careful handling. a lightweight metal would be more appropriate for the cost. I'm sure they sound heavenly, but at $275, those guys are laughing all the way to the bank.

The quality of the ER-6s are really nice, they have a metal thing for the earpeices to go on and this lovely rubber housing covering How do they compare to the ER-4s?

There is nothing inherently wrong with using plasic in a design like this if it is used correctly. The only concern that I have with the ety that I have is the inside radius where the tube meets the main part. Although the radius is there, it is not a continuous radius. Right at the tube is a sharp corner, which can be a starting point for cracks. If you look carefully at the pic I posted, you can see what I mean. I've read the posts of the people who have had them break after a very short period, so perhaps quality control needs to be improved. But assuming the one you get is fine, and you take care of them, they will provide years of trouble free enjoyment.

The plastic is Lexan which is a very good plastic used in many parts such as your car headlights.

The cracking we occasionly see has nothing to do with the eartip. The cracking is coming from the inside caused by pressure from the metal filter. Some runs of the plastic seem to be more brittle, most likely due to slight changes in the molding process. Changing the radius or the thickness of the plastic at this point won't improve the problem. THere are other plastics we might try, but we eould have problems with attaching the socket to the end. Metal wouldn't crack, but working with the metal canned filters is a problem.

We don't have a permanent solution to the problem yet, but we are working on several ideas. We due replace the parts at any age with this problem.

The lack of adhesion of the outer insulation to the strain relief is only a problem on the ER-4P, and I believe we do have this solved.

Don Wilson
Etymotic Research