The Etymotic HF5 - It's New, It's Etymotic, But Is It Good? [Work-In-Progress Review] - Page 2

I doubt it makes that much of a difference honestly... At least not enough to justify the extra 150 bucks?

As far as I know that is how all the other universal fit iems's from all the other manufacturers are done. Only Etymotics (again as far as I know) do an actual hand by hand matching of the left and right driver.

Also important to note that using the same drivers doesn't necessarily mean the sound will be the same. There aren't all that many manufacturers of balanced armature drivers.

After all the im716 uses the same drivers as the ER-4 and HF5, and none of the three sound the same.

very nice review. i am taking notes!

Not true.

mmm...a iM716 and HF5 comparison is definitely on the cards here as reading up here = looking that both sound very very close in signature. Anyone want to do it?

Yay for 1000th post!

Edit: too tired to argue.

To nc8000.... just to make sure, the HF2 have no issue on standard stereo headphone jacks, correct? A phone I'm getting later this year has the same 3.5mm stereo headset jack as the iPhone and I would love for a set of these to use with it, but I'd have to be able to use them with other devices as well before it'd be worth it.

Also, the HF2 doesn't seem to include a shirt clip. Does that cause any microphonics issues? Coming from the ER4P I'm sure it'd be an improvement regardless but still. Also, if necessary does the profile of the cable allow you to put it over the ear to stop further microphonics?

And finally, tips and filters for the ER4P and HF2, those are interchangeable right? I'd assume so since its the same drivers, but they're marked as different model numbers on the Etymotic website.

HF5 has been out about a year now hasn't it? I thought is was marketed as a cheaper ER4P hybrid marketed for gaming. Sounded like a downgrade to ER4P. But they look nicer.

With my son's older Zen mp3 player the HF2 does not connect proberly so the sound is all funny but other than that I have had no problem using thme with normal headphone outs.

The HF2 cable is hugely improved compared to other Ety cables so even though due to the microphone I can't use the HF2 over and behind ears style as I normally do with all iem's I have no problem with microphonics with them.

Regarding filters I don't really know if they are the same. I don't use filters with any Ety but rather just small pieces of nylon stocking held in place by the tips to protect from earwax in the tube.

Are these new Etys still handmade in their Illinois facility?

I don't think so but I don't know for sure either. They are deffinately not hand matched as are the ER4.

Okay, I received my new HF2 yesterday, which from what I understand is the HF5 plus microphone. I decided to sell the ER4P and go with the HF2 for convenience with my smartphone. I bought the headphones primarily for the next phone I'm going to buy, which has a 3.5mm 4-conductor jack just like the iPhone. My current smartphone though, has a 2.5mm 4-conductor jack, and as it turns out, I'm going to have to make my own adapter to get the microphone to work, so I'm waiting on the components to arrive here before I do that, so I can't comment on that.

Now, other than the microphone, my impressions: first of all, aesthetically, the angle of the wire in the HF2 is far superior to the ER4P. Its probably a 100-degree angle as opposed to the 135 degrees or so of the ER4P, so in combination with the small frost tips, the wire basically just follows my earlobe straight down and doesn't look like Frankenstein-style screws coming out of my ears. So far I've mostly only used them in my living room for testing purposes, so I can't comment on bone conduction, but the microphonics issue is still there, but improved quite dramatically from the ER4P (and mine were the all black ones, which if I remember correctly had a slightly improved cable from the original blue and red ones- I could be mistaken on that though.) The cord is a little thinner than the ER4P, but doesn't feel fragile either.

But anyway, what everyone cares about is the sound quality and how it compares to the ER4P. I've never heard the ER6i, but I would be willing to bet that Synaesthetic's description of them being a "super-ER6i" is pretty accurate. To my ear (which admittedly, I do have a very mild case of tinnitus but otherwise perfect hearing), the HF2 is slightly less detailed in the high-end, which also can make them sound less 'harsh' on the cymbals. The bass is improved slightly, but its still a very clean and tight bass, not the kind that you can feel, so if you don't like the ER4P's bass, you won't like these either.

Basically, I'm very happy with my switch to the HF2. While it's technically not as high-end a model, it doesn't feel like a downgrade but more like a step to the side. While some might be disappointed in the slight decrease in the detail, to me this was a pretty big upgrade, for me the sound quality is improved ever so slightly, and the other aesthetic/practical issues are improved as well.

Edit: a few things I remembered that I should probably point out:

1. I've never used a headphone amp, so I can't really comment on that.
2. I sold the ER4P before I bought the HF2, but my points of comparison are with tracks I've gotten very familiar with over the year and a half I've had them.
3. It's not exactly a apples to apples comparison, because my ER4P had the silver tube filter, and these have the newer green tube filter. I'm not sure if that affected anything at all, but I thought I should mention it.

Once you get it working please let us know how the mic on the HF2 works... please. Been eyeing one myself.