[jinx20001]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think I should offer a bit of explanation on how I rated the value of these IEM. There are two factors that I consider: The price I paid for and the price offered by online official dealers (who carry both), like Amazon, Buy.com, and a few of our sponsors. eBay and unofficial dealer are not in consideration. From all the price I gathered, SE530 is still more expensive than TF10, although in varying degrees across different sites. SE530's earpiece is more comfortable to wear, but the heavy cable (w/ no memory wire) is a downside. TF10's cable is stiffer in comparison, but at least the memory wire holds it behind the ear effortlessly. Because of the different in weight and memory wire, I often find myself in need of adjusting SE530 earpiece to give the best fit, and that reduce the overall comfort. If SE530 comes with UM2's cable (which is light enough not to drag and soft enough to confirm to ear w/o memory wire), than perhaps I will rate it higher than TF10. As for SQ, I have given my explanation of why I rated SE530 down in my review. Personal musical preference has a big role in determine why sounds the best, and as I said before, I did not deny that I prefer TF10 over SE530 because SE530 often sounds duller in comparison. My ER6i has seen active duty for a period of two years w/o giving me any problem, thus I didn't give it a poor rating on build quality. Hope these explanation help.

i see, i meant in general build, as in a thin cable and tiny earpeices is a recipe for disaster if not looked after. but your right again the earphones are durable if treated correctly. as sound quality goes im not a fan of ety so thats my reason for my comments. your also right about the se530 vs triple fi, its all about personal experiences and if you had trouble with the earphones i dont blame you for marking them down, i personally find the se530 much easier to fit, i found the memory wire of triple fi to be more troublesome than helpful, always having to adjust the memory wire to fit around my ear again everytime wheras the se530 you just have to pull up the cable tie in the middle and they stay flush behind the ear hence my reasoning for saying the se530 are much better thought out, but yeh as i said you have done a great job and enjoyed reading through it, thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by synaesthetic /img/forum/go_quote.gif I honestly have NO IDEA how you people destroy ER-6i so fast! I had a pair for four years that were totally abused--they were left out where cats could grab them and play with them, they were stuffed in pockets, in purses, wrapped around MP3 players, used without filters for most of those four years and "worst" of all every time I pulled them out of my ears I grabbed the wires instead of the earphones. And they still worked when I gave them away to a friend after buying ER-4P, and they still work for him even now, six months later. So really I do not at all understand how people can go through ER-6i so fast unless you guys are just unbelievably hard on your equipment.

x2 trust me i agree, i said i didnt like the build because in theory the thin rubbery cables and simple plastic housing is asking for trouble, but yeh as i just said i agree that earphones in general can last as long as you like really when treated correctly

 

[oldschool]

I'd really love to see the Ety ER-4x models added here

 

[jonathanjong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jinx20001 /img/forum/go_quote.gif x2 trust me i agree, i said i didnt like the build because in theory the thin rubbery cables and simple plastic housing is asking for trouble, but yeh as i just said i agree that earphones in general can last as long as you like really when treated correctly

I think I'm missing a piece of the argument. It sounds like the ER6i cables seem fragile, but are not, in fact fragile as demonstrated by syn's abuse of them. If so, shouldn't the reasonable person change his/her beliefs about the build quality of the ER6i cables? I suppose a larger sample is required: Does anyone else have actual problems with the ER6i cables? More abstractly, what we have here is a proposition that, prima facie, appears to be true but, upon empirical investigation, is false. I think...

 

[jinx20001]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonathanjong /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think I'm missing a piece of the argument. It sounds like the ER6i cables seem fragile, but are not, in fact fragile as demonstrated by syn's abuse of them. If so, shouldn't the reasonable person change his/her beliefs about the build quality of the ER6i cables? I suppose a larger sample is required: Does anyone else have actual problems with the ER6i cables? More abstractly, what we have here is a proposition that, prima facie, appears to be true but, upon empirical investigation, is false. I think...

no what you have here is me saying that the er6i isnt built like say...your typical shure or westone with particularly thin cables and a light construction. but...considering how one should treat thier expensive earphones they should still last you if your careful, wheras other earphones may be a little more rugged and take one or 2 beatings maybe the er6i wouldnt.

a small example would be say the sennheiser cx models, i would say the er6i is built to the same standards as the cx range and this isnt great considering the cx range is a pretty standard bunch of phones.

 

[synaesthetic]

I actually like the fact that the cables are thin on the ER-6i. The typical IEM cable is too heavy, too long and just causes problems. The ER-4P included.

They do seem a lot more fragile than they actually are, and the cable DOES have problems; it's far from perfect. The material used to insulate the wires is prone to stiffening with exposure to sunlight and varying temperatures, which makes the 6i's already-bad microphonics even worse. But due to the design of the earphones, wearing them "over the ear" is very easy, which pretty much eliminates microphonics altogether.

I hate Shure's cables. They are WAY too heavy, with the exception of the E4c/SCL4. The modular cable of the current SE line makes this even worse.

 

[mark_h]

I have had nothing but trouble from the UE cables, fragile and poorly constructed, and have nothing but praise for the etymotic cables.

 

[tonyep]

Do let me know when you head down to SG, I can loan you my APS ER4P/S to you to be added into your review.

 

[jonathanjong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jinx20001 /img/forum/go_quote.gif no what you have here is me saying that the er6i isnt built like say...your typical shure or westone with particularly thin cables and a light construction. but...considering how one should treat thier expensive earphones they should still last you if your careful, wheras other earphones may be a little more rugged and take one or 2 beatings maybe the er6i wouldnt.

Ooh, I see. So, is it an empirical fact that Etymotic cables are less durable than Shure/Westone cables? Is there really a correlation between, say, thinness and fragility? Even if so, is it the case that Etymotic cables are more fragile than Shure/Westone cables by virtue of their thinness? Or is it just the case that you're inferring the fragility (relative to Shures/Westones) of the Ety cables from the fact that they're thin, assuming that thinness entails fragility?

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkkopi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do let me know when you head down to SG, I can loan you my APS ER4P/S to you to be added into your review.

Thank you, sir!

 

[shrisha]

Thanx ClieOS for nice review. Very usefull. You just save my 30 bucks with last update

 

[ljcii]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkkopi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do let me know when you head down to SG, I can loan you my APS ER4P/S to you to be added into your review.

How generous!

 

[jinx20001]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonathanjong /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ooh, I see. So, is it an empirical fact that Etymotic cables are less durable than Shure/Westone cables? Is there really a correlation between, say, thinness and fragility? Even if so, is it the case that Etymotic cables are more fragile than Shure/Westone cables by virtue of their thinness? Or is it just the case that you're inferring the fragility (relative to Shures/Westones) of the Ety cables from the fact that they're thin, assuming that thinness entails fragility?

i never said etymotic cables are worse than shure or westone, but yes i do think the er6i in particular uses very thin tangle prone cables compared to the shure and westone cables.

and yes i do tend to think if a manufacturer uses more materials it does give the consumer comfort knowing they have put effort into making the cables strong, you know...kevlar weaving and all that sorta stuff does tend to make the cables a little more resistant to abuse, the er6i cable does not seem to incorporate any sort of extra strength to the cable, hence they do appear and feel fragile compared to say westone...who use extra materials and knowledge to make the cables stronger.

 

[synaesthetic]

I never had much tangling problems with the ER-6i cable. The unlamented Denon C551s, which had a much softer, more durable, nicer "feeling" cable, tangled horribly.

The ER-4P cable likewise never tangled, but that was largely in part due to how heavy and thick it is. But it was horrible in so many other ways (too long, too heavy weightwise, microphonic and had that annoying pod thing).

 

[jinx20001]

Quote:

Originally Posted by synaesthetic /img/forum/go_quote.gif I never had much tangling problems with the ER-6i cable. The unlamented Denon C551s, which had a much softer, more durable, nicer "feeling" cable, tangled horribly. The ER-4P cable likewise never tangled, but that was largely in part due to how heavy and thick it is. But it was horrible in so many other ways (too long, too heavy weightwise, microphonic and had that annoying pod thing).

i found the case i used pointless and made the cable tangle. i rarely get a tangle with thicker cables, suppose thats another up shot of thicker cables

 

[noahlapuz]

Quote:

+2 (Mostly agreed)

Being an open-minded, I have to somehow and/or most of the time agree with everyone else's opinion because it is what it is. We are all subjective in whatever we say or do. We have different prospectives so in some degree I have to disagree too. What matters is that you try to consider another person's opinion without totally believing as if your life depended on it.

IEM's are fun gadgets, I personally use a cheappy Creative EP-830 (originally opted for a IM716 or Atrio M5), my next project would be a full-size hp no doubt about it.