Ok, I just got my ER-6s in the mail a few days ago from a fellow headfier, (thanks downingp! ) and I've been very impressed with the isolation, and how easy they are to drive out of my ipod. The question I have is this: does anyone else mix and match the silicone and fomie tips for a "custom" fit? With my ears, the silicone tip doesn't fit in my right ear very securely, and it's the same thing with my left ear and the foam tip. So, I just put the silicone tip in my left ear, and the foam one in my right. After I did that, I noticed that the sound quality improved a little bit, probably due to a better seal. It does look a little odd, but hey, anything for the best quality, right? Does anyone else do this? Also, if anyone else has any additional methods on how to increase the "impact" of these phones, (I know they're supposed to have a flat, neutral response, but they still sound a little flat, even with my META) it would help me a lot. Thanks to all of you for introducing me to the world of canalphones! Go Team Etymotic!

J.F.

I use the IPOD and I have the Ety ER4P, ER6, Koss KSC35 and Senn MX-400/500.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the best sounding headphones are the Ety ER4P's - they have only one problem - they're too damned expensive to take out with me and I find that the occlusion effect is just too much when walking around.

I love the sound of the KSC-35's - they really surprised me the first time I listened to them and I still haven't tired with their sound. They are an excellent match with the IPOD and they are efficient enough to go plenty loud.

I got the Ety 6's to try and get that 'Etymotic' sound on the cheap. The Ety 6's are not as efficient and do require a reasonably powerful amp to get the most out of them - I honestly don't thing that standard Sony stuff will have enough ommph. Even the Iriver SlimX struggles to make them go really loud.

The three top players are the Nomad Jukebox 3/Zen and the Apple Ipod. The Ipod is a brighter player than the Creative ones - and that is something that you perhaps don't want with the forward-sounding 6's. Having said that, I keep coming back to the 6's - trying them out to see if they have got better - and guess what - they have!

Obviously I'm now learning not only how to put these things in my ears but also how to listen to them. They do have a more forward presentation than the others and this can get tiresome. The soloution for me was to put a tiny amount of foam in the end pieces between the sound tubes and the rubber tips. That has taken some of the upper-mid brightness out and made them more listenable.

I think the biggest secret to getting the right fit is to not insert them too deeply, get the seal right and equalise the pressure. Exactly the same as the 4P but they definitely don't want to go in as deep to get the full bass.

Obviously everyone's different but this works for me. I'm going to try and listen to the 6's exclusively for a week or so and see if I can get used to them with the IPOD.