first off, ive tried to gather as much data on both these head phones as possible but im still having trouble making up my mind.

my question is what are yalls opinions on each of these headphones [er-6 and e2]. im shopping for extreme portability, comfort [yeah i know, in ear is generally less comfortable but between the two..], and bang for buck [sq/$].

from what ive been reading it sounds like the ety er-6 is going to sound better for sure but is it really worth 40 extra bucks? lemme tell you my proposed setup since i imagine it will help: 60gb zen xtra [probably end up using 256kbs mp3s], no external amps.

so basically im trying to figure out if there is a justifiable reason for ME to spend the extra 40 bux on the er-6's. are the 40 bux more comfortable? sound 40 bux better taking the lack of amp into account? are they 40 bux more portable [cord noise etc]?

given head-fi's notoriety im sure you guys will convince me to spend the extra cash one way or another but i wanna feel like im definitely making the right decision

thanks guys

To me it is easily worth the money. I have no experience with the Zen, but the iPod drives them fine.

I felt comfortable when I ordered the e2's + xtra 30g today. Mainly because of the numerous threads here and @ headwize leading me to believe they would be better for exercising (less microphonics due to the cord 'round' the ear). My fav mag, maxpc wrote em up in their gifts for the holidays special this month, and that was the clincher. My audio tastes have always lined up with their picks. They may not be the almighty the Head-Fi, but they give me the more "rational, sane" approach. Maybe it's just my ears I'll let you know what I think when they arrive, but good luck!

There really aren't any microphonic issues with the Ety's anymore. There never was a problem with the 6's, and with the new cord on the 4's, they have successfully addressed the complaints.
Love the Avatar.

Will I notice a major difference between e2's and eggos?

The fitting/wearing issue with the Ety ER-6 and E2c leads down to more or less a personal preference rather than if one's truly superior than the other. E2c has a design that goes above your ear and behind your head, which lends to a very good looking presentation, and some limber exercise to learn how to get them into your ear.

ER-6 is the traditional straight plug-in design... Which means it's easy to put in, but nothing special about its presentation. These thing comes down to personal preference really.

As far as sound quality, ER-6 is not really $40 better than the E2, but it's not really any worse than the E2. They have different sound signatures, E2 is more "bassy" in most respects, and lack a little bit in the high ends.

If the $40 difference was comparing the same sound signature, then it's easier to say whether or not the ER-6 is worth $40 more. However, they are pretty different, so it comes down to a matter of personal preference.

I'd say wait for the E3, it's coming out soon anyway, and it's cheaper than ER-4, and sure to blow ER-6 out of the water by the looks of it.

If you dont mind waiting then I have a review of the Etymotic ER6 vs the Shure E2c coming up in two weeks time if not sooner.

And I will be reviewing them with the iPod and the Rio karma with and without amps (See my sig)

cheers!!

Quote:



sweet mother that'll be the review of the year for me. thnx!

also, mebbe i will wait for the e3, i didnt realize they had new ones coming out.

wow, now im really excited. i want it now!

Quote:



If you like one's "sound" signature better than the other, the $40 difference is easily worth it

Let's focus on sound signature:

The ER-6 has better high-end and a more neutral bass. To some, this is an ideal quality when listening to acoustic, Jazz, and classical music. But folks who listen to pop or rock on their boomy Portapros will definately be disappointed with the lack of any visceral bass. I don't want to confuse this with lack of bass in general; you can definately hear it and actually discern that it is much tighter than the portapros, but you just won't get that BOOM BOOM feeling. The e2c has a slightly louder bass but still nothing close to the Portapros. Unfortunately, this is an inherent trait among canalphones with single drivers. If you think this will bother you I'd recommend the e2c or even the Sony 71SL, which has the boomiest bass of them all.

However, I do believe the ER-6 has slightly better clarity and the neutral performance is more accurate in that you feel as if the singer is actually in front of you. Most audiophiles appreciate this quality over boosting artificial bass so that is why you see more enthusiasts recommend them over the e2c.

Now to put this in perspective, are the differences really that significant between the e2c and the ER-6? I would say they are discernable but not more significant than any ergonomic preferences you may have between them. If one earphone is more comfortable to wear than the other than I would factor this over any sound signature differences because it doesn't matter how good an earphone sounds if you don't want to wear them. Don't decide until you've tried both phones. In any case, either of these phones sound better than other earbuds including the 71SL and the MX500.

If you absolutely must have loud bass and high-end fidelity in addition to good ergonomics, then you need to decide whether they are worth $250 for the ER-4x because you won't get them any other way. If you are willing to spend around $160 then you can wait for the E3c coming out in a few months.

I hope this was helpful.

Excellent post, Doom

i agree, thanks a lot, it really did help

A very nice post Dr.DooM. I'm not even looking right now but you tempt me with your review.

Quote:



Wow, this really set me up for disappointment. Fortunately my ears disagree. The bass sounds VERY close to my portapro's. They are jrs. tho. I'm sitting hear right now listening to everlasting love, by DJ Epic (192 mp3), plugged into my audigy-->promedia headphone out-->cheap male to male cord-->cheap female to female adapter--e2, through mediasource, with the bass all the way up in sur mixer and hearing BASS! I did hear a tiny bit of distortion when the "low frequency solos" started tho.

Lol, maybe I have the worlds ****tiest ears, but this setup sounds great!

I'm so excited and just want to listen, but here's my thoughts. Sorry if I ramble at times

[size=medium]The experience.[/size]

The shipping.

After much help from all you guys, I ordered the "e2's standard shipping co/ J and R music" and "the 30g zen xtra 2day co/ Amazon" through Amazon on monday for 361 total. *I can't hear myself typing this, yea!* So this morning, 3 days later, I woke up to the ups man...what bliss, right? Of course, I beat him to the door, lol. He greeted me with both packages!! Order on mon, delivery on thurs

[size=small]The e2.[/size]

The prep.

Hands meet package. It never had a chance. I would take pics, but my camera sucks and you can check out the website/posts for those anyway, right? The fit and finish of these lil pups blew me away. The brown circular, zippered (think golf ball flattened and expanded a little) case puts your buds in the middle and you can wrap the cord around that. It also came with s,m,l flex silicon-like sleeves and s,s,l foam sleeves (think I got cheated) The manual tells you to put these little ear wax guards on the tips of the e2's. They're little stickers with miniscule screens in the center. I had a bummer of a time getting them off the pad tho. I kept trying to "poke" them through with the tip, since they didn't peel off very easily. Before I knew it 4 or 5 of those little buggers were stuck to my finger!! So I managed to stick those on and put the sleeves back on using a twisting and pushing manner.

The insertion.

Ok, so I just plug these things in my ears, right? Wrong. It took me quite a while to figure out the seal, but here's some tips:

1. Don't force them in, try the sizes, hehe. Ouch!
2. It helped me to hang the cords over my ears and pull the slip tube up in the rear first.
3. Pull your ear up and back, twist and push...but not to far. As others have stated, I do find the seal better when it's not jammed in your ear, causing mini-implosions and generally making life unpleasant
3. They fit in your ear diagonally and look good, but they fall out that way. Once I put them in with the "Shure" logo horizontal and the butt sticking out ever so slight (just like the manual says), they stayed in well.
4. The mirror is your friend.
5. After about the 5th time, it became natural...kind of.

They've been in for about 1 hour now and my canal feels slightly violated, but not too bad

The Sonics, simplified of course.

You can see the gear used in my sig. First up was the final track on the Gladiator soundtrack through my d-25's headphone out. As I just got these, they are factory fresh and unburned.

Creative budz
-muddy, of course
-lack of bass
-tinny

Shure e2
-not much better than the budz...

OHHHH, the seal matters, eh?

-much better, but still lacking definition between the ranges
-can't hear alarm clock by my side going nuts

Next, I listened to Live, Birds of Pray. I was looking for clarity here.

Creative budz
-distorting already
-t's and s's took over the whole word they started

Shure e2
-no distortion
-all the words seemed to flow instead of being hung up on the previous sound

Then I threw in Bond, Born, Quixote. This time looking for multiple variances in frequencies.

Creative budz
-more of the same, but this time the bass was like a popping, ewe!!

Shure e2

OHHHH, the seal REALLY matters, eh?

-The highs were good, but just good. Hopefully this will improve with burn in.
-The percussions could all be heard well.
-The bass finally arrived. I'm no , but I heard just about the same on the budz before I started "sealing" well.

My little toid helped out the e2's a little, but nothing I wouldn't miss if I left her at home.

Also, the microfonix didn't really bother me, but I've yet to workout with them. I'll post back with that and some other thoughts once I've had them for a bit. I've only had these guys for 4 hours, and although my canals are feeling them, they will stay. I'm sure the sound and comfort will improve with time. Time to fire up the Nomad!!

wow, thnx for the intro review man! sounds awesome. cant wait for a full write up =D